by Joe Jeffrey
Peter Matheson travels a further 3,500-miles on tractor with caravan and faithful dog in tow
You may recall last summer CaravanTimes reported on Peter Matheson, who drove from Scotland to Norway on an 8,000-mile caravan journey with a difference as part of his very own Tractor Bumble charity drive. The ex-policeman from Inverness decided – in his infinite wisdom – to tow his Elddis Crusader Sirocco by tractor with just his trusty pet Labrador, Amber, for company.
Well, Peter has since decided to do it all again and has just returned from a tour of Ireland – all in the name of a couple of more good causes.
The 3,500-mile trip, in a bid to raise money for the Irish Cancer Society and the Teenage Cancer Trust, saw Peter push his tractor, affectionately named Annie, even further to the extreme, beginning his journey at Larne Harbour in Co. Antrim and completing a drive which saw him finish a full lap of Ireland – a journey which took two months to complete at his tractor’s top speed of 15mph.
Similar to his journey to Norway last year, the spritely 51-year-old had no concrete plans other than to complete the journey – a move which saw him make his way from north to south and back again, whilst enabling him the opportunity to meet generous people on the way, as he told The Irish Post.
“The people really made it,” he said. “I had so much great support along the way. The Irish people really lived up to their reputation of being welcoming.”
“The people in Ballymaloe House were incredibly generous. They were holding a garden festival and invited me to stay for the weekend and I managed to raise 500 euros there alone.”
In total, Peter managed to raise more than £2,000 through his efforts, with charitable donations continuing to flood in by way of his fundraising website, which can be found here.
You’d think that, two journeys later, Peter would want to put his feet up, but it really seems as though there’ll be no slowing down.
“Next year I’ve something big planned but I don’t want to give too much away yet,” Peter said. “But I’ll be doing something afloat!”
To take a look at Peter’s journey in pictures, visit his Facebook page here. Meanwhile, if you want to donate to a worthy cause or two, click here.
