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Experimental Travel

...then caught the next bus out, heading to Truro.
But I wanted now to do something different, so I got off at Playing Place, walked to King Harry Ferry, crossed the Fal, and carried on to a village called Philleigh. I'd hoped to find another bus there, but it seemed I'd found somewhere about three light years from any bus route...
Philleigh is mentioned in the following story. It's not exactly experimental travel, as it has a definite destination in mind, but the mode of transport is unusual enough to deserve a mention here:

Steam engine begins epic journey to Dorset fair
27 August 2015

A Cornish fish merchant with a passion for steam has set off on a 189-mile (304km) trip from Cornwall to Dorset.
Rob Wing is driving his 104-year-old steam road locomotive "Clinker" to the Great Dorset Steam Fair.
The 60-year-old, from Philleigh, near St Mawes on the Roseland Peninsula, expects to use 80 bags of coal and 3,080 gallons (14,000 litres) of water on the two-and-a-half day journey.
His aim is to raise about £10,000 for Cancer Research.

Mr Wing will be joined on the Burrell 3257 locomotive by his 19-year-old son Jack, plus cancer survivor Jon Eastman and his wife Sam.
Mr Eastman, also from Cornwall, was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2008 and says this is his way of being able to "to give something back," with more than £4,000 already pledged.

Mr Wing told BBC News: "Most enthusiasts will drive a steam road locomotive for between five and 20 miles, but we're aiming at nearly 200 miles.
"Each of the 80 or so bags of coal weighs 25kg and it will all have to be hand-shovelled to keep Clinker going."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-34065791

Best of luck with that!
 
Philleigh is mentioned in the following story. It's not exactly experimental travel, as it has a definite destination in mind, but the mode of transport is unusual enough to deserve a mention here:

Steam engine begins epic journey to Dorset fair
27 August 2015

A Cornish fish merchant with a passion for steam has set off on a 189-mile (304km) trip from Cornwall to Dorset.
Rob Wing is driving his 104-year-old steam road locomotive "Clinker" to the Great Dorset Steam Fair.
The 60-year-old, from Philleigh, near St Mawes on the Roseland Peninsula, expects to use 80 bags of coal and 3,080 gallons (14,000 litres) of water on the two-and-a-half day journey.
His aim is to raise about £10,000 for Cancer Research.

Mr Wing will be joined on the Burrell 3257 locomotive by his 19-year-old son Jack, plus cancer survivor Jon Eastman and his wife Sam.
Mr Eastman, also from Cornwall, was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2008 and says this is his way of being able to "to give something back," with more than £4,000 already pledged.

Mr Wing told BBC News: "Most enthusiasts will drive a steam road locomotive for between five and 20 miles, but we're aiming at nearly 200 miles.
"Each of the 80 or so bags of coal weighs 25kg and it will all have to be hand-shovelled to keep Clinker going."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-34065791

Best of luck with that!

On a slight side note, me, the missus and a mate are all going to this 1940's inspired event soon, complete with working steam trains ... can't wait!

http://www.nnrailway.co.uk/page.php?pid=7
 
I like the cut of your jib, sir.
Cheers and as we'll be traveling on the Poppy Line, she wants to look the part :cool: ... we've found this link to work with, I'm definitely going to try and build a gas mask box for her if I can ..

https://hathawaysofhaworth.wordpres...40s-weekend-a-cheats-guide-to-the-1940s-look/

edit: her dress, back seamed tight and shoes have arrived today as well as our G.I. outfits .. she's currently biding on a 40's handbag for 99p that's got 35 mins to go !
 
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It's not proper experimental travel, but one thing I've done on and off for many years is a random A to Z of places in the United Kingdom. I pick one place beginning with a, b, etc. by a random process involving a pack of cards and a gazeteer, and then visit them in turn. There's 25 in a full cycle as there is no village or town beginning with 'X' in the UK. The arbitrary rules I impose are that no part of the journey can be by car, it has to be all public transport or walking. I've had some great experiences in the two cycles I have completed, the first going from Ae in Dumfriesshire to Zennor in Cornwall, and the second from Aston Ingham in Herefordshire to Zeals in Wiltshire. I'm looking forward to starting the third cycle with Acrefair in Clwyd when I get a couple of days to spare.
 
What a great idea. Those trips would make a compelling blog, or even a travel book - there are so many mediocre ones.

Good BBC radio program here (but only available till midnight tonight - Thursday November 19th) on the art of getting deliberately lost, aka Experimental Travel.

The Loss of Lostness


If anyone is particularly interested I have the 'everlasting' version ;)
 
I used to do a lot of Experimental Travel ten years ago, when I started this thread. I can still do the random bus thing, but it's not so much fun now I can't walk very far. The walk to another bus stop on a different bus route was the interesting part. Still, I have a collection of photos showing places I'm unlikely now to revisit in real life, and they can still spark my imagination.
 
I love just trucking around with a map and a video camera, poking my nose into places the rest of the world drives past on their way to elsewhere. I do visit the odd ghost town on occasions when I can get away from the kids for more than an hour or two. About 6 years ago I visited a few abandoned homesteads out near Burra in the state's mid-north where I was born. I videoed the interiors and they were quite spooky experiences. They've obviously been squatted in on occasion and the sheep get in and leave droppings everywhere. There is still some old home material laying about, lamps and such. I'll upload some to youtube while I'm on recovery leave. Might get to it right now.
 
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