27/07/2026
I was so excited and tired when we arrived back at Preston Bissett that I forgot to post an update. So here we are after getting back home and a good night sleep.
We arrived back at our start point at 6 minutes after 5 PM. We took 47 hours and 6 minutes to complete the drive and covered 1906 miles, a fantastic result. We started out in glorious sunshine but that changed as we neared Inverness. Wind and rain followed us pretty much all the way to Lands End only changing back to sunshine as we headed back to Preston Bissett mid Sunday morning. We had hoped to do the entire journey with the roof down but sadly that was not to be.
It was certainly a challenge, but we had some great fun. Driving some of the single-track roads in Scotland was amazing, the scenery beautiful but unfortunately, we didn’t have time to stop and take it all in. Our drive through central Wales was a not easy, it was raining and windy and we drove during the early hours of Sunday during the dead of night. By this time, we were changing drivers every 45 minutes, it was so difficult staying fully focused for any longer than this.
All in all, a challenging adventure but having raised over £3000 between the tree charities and more to come in, well worth the effort we put in.
Finally special thanks to the people who made this happen and helped us on our journey.
First of all, my co-driver, my son Marc, we spent 48 hours together and had some great father son talks and not once got annoyed with each other, couldn't have done this without you. My wonderful wife, Ann who not once tried to talk me out of doing this, she should try harder next time 🤣.Alan and Tun and Chris and Sally who made up the other two cars in our three car convoy, I couldn’t have done this on my own and your company and good humour made the challenge much more enjoyable.
Oak at Preston Bissett Nurseries and Country Shop who arranged to have us start at his Autoculture event and finish at the Garden Centre. Some great cars on display and a great event.
Greg in the black Aston Martin Vantage who gave us a big wave as he passed us and later donated to our charity. I don’t know who you are or where you are but that really made us feel great a few hours into the start of our trip
Gavin from the MX 5 owners club in the Highland who met us at Inverness at a really unsociable hour on Saturday morning and drove along with us all the way to a very wet and windy John O'Groats
Debbie, her sister and sonat the Clachan Cafe, Bettyhill. Debbie opened up early so we could have a break and breakfast. Thank you so much, after 14 hours of driving we were ready for it. If you are in the area or driving the call in and have a cuppa, their sausage rolls with haggis are wonderful.
Wes and MadAnn at the Full Throttle Café in Winterbourne Abbas. This was our last food and break stop before the end and the Thai food they prepared for us was superb. Just what we needed to keep going. If you are ever on the A35 and passing through then make time to stop at their café.
Joanne and Emily SpecialEffect for all the help and encouragement for my mad idea and Millie for coming across to set us off.
Jason Matt and Denise at Evesham Signworks for all the graphics on the car. Think I will be leaving them on as long as possible; they look great.
Ellie and Jane and everyone else from the Oxford MX5 owners club who came along to see us off and greet us when we returned, it really was appreciated.
Finally everyone who donated to my Just Giving page, you made it all worthwhile and your donations will change lives. If you haven't yet donated there is still time.
Help Alan Lewis raise money to support SpecialEffect
