Steve Blease had never done any serious walking in his life so his decision to ‘do End-to-End’ – walk the 1,100 miles from Land’s End to John O’Groats – was both brave and puzzling. What on earth was the point? Well, there were some attractions. See more of the country, sample as many of its local beers as possible and also raise money for the NSPCC. But best of all, just take off. Leave the worries and responsibilities behind.

Steve gets lost twice before even leaving Land’s End and it doesn’t get any easier. He’s lashed by rain, attacked by bullocks and driven to fury by the hapless incompetence of the England football team. But he’s fuelled by best bitter and sustained by the generosity and humour of his travelling companions and the people he meets along the way.

For anyone who has ever fancied a really long walk (but never quite managed to get round to it) this is an unfailingly humorous guide to what it’s really like.