You know, I’ve suddenly realised that I’ve been “green” for most of my life, all be it unwittingly and long before being “green” was even invented or Greta Thunberg was a trinkle in her father eye. I’ve avoided flying abroad whenever possible, other than a secondment to work in Saudi Arabia many years ago. I’ve avoided buying a gas-guzzling planet-destroying Range Rover and did once wonder, back in the days when all your rubbish went into the same galvanised metal bin, would it not be better to find a use for all this rubbish rather than filling a big hole in the ground. Must have been ahead of my time, I suppose.
Anyway, I’ve put a few miles on the car these past few days, about 1000 miles at a rough guesstimate, from Edinburgh down to Worthing and back, and that’s not very green, is it? Sadly, it was the only way we would possibly achieve the UK Explorer medal, take the car. Mr Google Maps says it would take as 14-days walking and 4-days cycling, which is a laughable. 4-days in the saddle for me and ChoccyMuffin to cycle 1000-miles on our Brompton’s. 250 miles in a day! I think Mr Google Maps is having a laugh!
Having managed to collect 11 of the 12 required regions towards the UK Explorer medal, I had the crazy idea to work out just how much money that cost us. I thought about trying to calculate how “green” that trip wasn’t, or how much carbon we used, but both are too much like rocket science. So, I decided to see what it cost us instead. What with the travel, the accommodation, the breakfasts, the dinners, the coffee, the scones, additional scones and so on, it would have probably come to a pretty penny.
However, living north of the border, we were off to a good start with the Scottish region literally on our doorstep. In fact, zone Pittendriech is only around 100-meters from the front door and downhill all the way. A single kick on the kirk scooter, one turn of the pedals on the bike and you can freewheel all the way to the zone. Sort of cost free but not quite.
I guess I must have expended some energy and we all know energy costs money. So, I burned some calories and I’ve estimated about 70 calories for the return trip. 70 calories, as it turns out, is the same as that provided by a plain McVitie’s Digestive biscuit. So, what’s the cost? A 360g pack costs £1.95 at Tesco, there are 24 biscuits in a pack, which means one biscuit costs around 8p. Probably the cheapest zone taken towards the UK Explorer medal.
Another region already in the bag was North East England, picked up during turf session down the east coast back in March 2025. The round trip in the car was around 110 miles and taking the 45p per mile car running cost suggested by HMRC, that’s gives me a cost of £22.78. Now, there is a slightly closer zone, Englishmen, at the Scotland/English border which would save about 8 miles travel reducing the car running costs to £20.66.
The third region we also had with was North West England. This was gained during a trip to the Lake District for a family wedding. We managed to wangle some time to take a few zones in Keswick, along with the zone at Castlerigg stone circle. Not sure I can reasonably include the cost of this wedding trip, which was not inexpensive I might add, because we were there anyway and the zones could be said to be a bonus.
However, there some zones slightly closer to home, in Carlisle. Driving is about a 180-mile round trip, and at 45p per miles will set you back £81.00 for the pleasure. Note that 45p includes all running costs for a car, not just fuel costs. Public transport, Bonnyrigg to Carlisle, by train, will take a little over 2-hours. Bus travel is at least 4-hours. Costs for both seem to vary depending if you book in advance or not.
Now for the big one, the long drive to the south of England and back again. Of course, we did a lot more than just take zones in the 8 regions we were after, spreading the trip over 12-days and also staying with friends. However, an approximate cost for the two of us was as follows:
- Accommodation: 8-nights at various Premier Inn, £538.00
- Breakfast: 8 days Unlimited breakfasts at £12.00 each, £192.00
- Evening meal: 8 days for two dining out, approx. £60.00 a time, £480.00
- Coffee and cake: 8 days at various cafes, £15.00, £120.00
- Mileage, 1000 miles at £0.45 per miles, £450.00
So, roughly calculated, the cost of our trip to collect 8 regions towards the UK Explorer medal was, wait for it, £1780.00 or £222.50 per region. There was also a 50p toll for the Dunham Bridge crossing over the River Trent and another £3.50 for the Dartford Bridge crossing over the River Thames. Interestingly, when we came to pay the Dartford Crossing toll, typing in the car registration, we discovered that my Ford Focus was exempt, probably due to the previous owner having an exemption. We decided to pay it anyway.
But what about alternative ways to complete the above trip. Driving the 1000-miles round trip could feasibly be completed in a single day, or two, if you were that way inclined and shared the driving. You could hire a coach and split the cost between passengers/turfers or even plan the trip using public transport, and good luck trying to work that one out.
And, believe it or not, it also seems possible to do the trip by private helicopter, possibly in less than a day, and if you have deep pockets. You can charter a helicopter for around £1000 per hour. Main issues are refuelling stops, weather conditions, landing permissions and likely a few other factors as well. It would certainly need considerable planning to pull that one off. But wouldn’t it be amazing. Challenge Anika for Turfers!
Now, 11 out of 12 region is great but that still leaves one outstanding region, Northern Ireland. We have our flights and accommodation booked and will be jetting off to the Emerald Isle for a few days soon. Don’t have all the costs for this one yet but flights were £231.00 and Premier Inn is £348.00 and no doubt there will be more to add when we get there. Back soon.
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