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They made it back in one piece

Darren Ward, who studies at Cambridge Regional College, and his partner in crime, Miles Garnham, have returned from their 1,770 mile round trip of the UK - and the milk float they travelled in is completely intact.

With the mean machine

The boys set off from Cambridge at the end of April and took their modified milk float to Lands End, the most southerly place in the UK, then trekked up to John O' Groats, the most northerly location and then headed all the way back to East Anglia again.

I took them a little more than two weeks, leaving on 21st April and returning on 8th May, 2008, with the pair sleeping in the cleared out back of the vehicle.

We persuaded Darren to take a video camera along with him and you can see his whirlwind trip condensed down in to two minutes.

On top of that, the trip has raised £2,500 for Cancer Research. If you'd still like to add to their total, you can get in touch with Darren by emailing him.

It looks like we made it!

The aim now is to soup up the milk float even more in order to take it across America, via Route 66. They've definitely got a lot of bottle.

Milk float update: a run-in with the police! Saturday 3rd May

Heya, its Darren, just letting you know that on Wednesday we got pulled over by the police, because they had a VOSA inspector with them and thought the vehicle was un-roadworthy so they gave it a good going over as if they were looking for an excuse to stop me. But it passed with flying colours (and to the upset of the officer).

While driving through Landsend yesterday we also experienced a puncture whilst climbing a steep hill, which was fun!!!! So this is now fixed and we hope to be home for Monday. We have had loads of support from other drivers, (mainly they think we are mad!!!) lol! But apart from the minor hiccups everything's going great!!! And we are really enjoying it!

Daz

Milk float update - Friday 2nd May

We received this message from Darren's friend, Emma:

Hi all - my name is Emma and I'm writing on behalf of Darren. He and Miles left home at 4pm on 28th April and stopped at 10pm for a nap. They got to Landsend at 8.30am. They left Landsend at 10am and the most recent we heard was that they were 200 miles from Scotland.

They are loving it apart from the bad weather and the traffic - and of course going really slow. When they were in Cornwall there was a hill with a 50% climb and the milk float couldn't handle it on its own. A lovely man in a van had to give the float a push so it could get up the hill.

Darren has asked me to give everyone a 'thank you' and also say that everyone is really friendly.

Milk float update - Wednesday 23rd April

Hello - on Thursday 24th I am going to pick the sponsorship banners up from the design company and then we are going to start fitting the lights and equipment to the float and hopefully set out on our journey late Sunday evening (27th April). If we have time we hope to give the cab a quick spray over on Saturday.

Also, Travelodge have granted me and Miles permission to 'borrow' their internet connection for the duration in which we need it. So I will be able to keep the blog updated with pics and our progress. So everything is coming together (touch wood).

Regarding the whole milk float on a motorway thing, we have been given certain hours to avoid the motorway and use 'smaller roads' but during times when it is quieter then we can use it.

I'm going to get a crash course in milk float mechanics this Saturday. I should imagine it will be fairly straight forward, looking at the size of the engine - ha ha!

That is pretty much the story so far - I will keep you all posted.

Darren

They've got a lot of bottle...

The Land's End to John o'Groats trip is not exactly novel. Hundreds of people raise much-needed funds for charity on this route every year. But, most of them do it by bicycle. Not so Darren Ward - a student at CRC in Cambridge - and his friend Miles Garnham from Norfolk.

Two wheels bad... four wheels and a hefty supply of dairy produce are much more to their taste. Yep, you've guessed it. They're doing the journey in a souped-up milk float!

Setting off at the end of April, they're planning to complete the 874 mile journey in around a week. It's going to be a non-stop marathon with the pair taking it in turn to drive and sleep in a converted 'bedroom' in the back of the vehicle.

Apparently, according to Darren, there are quite a few milk floats out in "the sticks" where he lives, so heck, it stands to reason that he'd pimp one up, convert it to run on petrol and turn it into the Lewis Hamilton version of all milk floats.

Complete with flashing lights, a General Lee horn and adorned with sponsorship and charity banners, this is one vehicle you just can't miss.

Having checked with British Rail, it's clear that transporting a milk float on a train is simply not an option. So, what are they doing? Well, they're going to have to drive it all the way to the start of the route in Cornwall, and then drive it back home once they've reached the tip of Scotland.

And their planned route? "Is it legal to drive a milk float (with a top speed of 45mph) down the M11 and around the M25?" I ask.

"Um... I'm not sure," replies Darren.

I think he's joking.

"Perhaps we'll be given a police escort," he offers, hopefully.

Yeah, right. You'll attract the police, without a doubt. But it won't be a friendly escort.

Still, their hearts are in the right place. Both Darren's and Miles's families have been touched by cancer, hence their chosen charity - Cancer Research UK - will benefit from their mammoth effort.

Blog-tastic boys

And to add to their burden, we've helpfully suggested that they kit themselves out with a laptop and a digital camera so that when they're relaxing in their milk float boudoir, their can email photographs and chart their progress in a blog.

So, keep it here for the world's first milk bottle blog... coming soon to a screen near you!

You can listen to Darren talking about the milk float and their journey to BBC Cambridgeshire's Antonia Brickell by clicking on the link below: