A FORMER Maldon policeman hopes to raise £100,000 for charity by driving 8,000 miles to Norway and back – on a 13mph tractor.
Intrepid Peter Matheson, 50, is driving from Land's End to John O'Groats, via Essex. He will then catch a ferry to Denmark and head for the Arctic Circle in Norway, then return to Land's End – a trip that will take four months.
On Tuesday (September 16), he stayed with a fan of his pursuit, the secretary of the East Essex Smallholders Group, Donna Perkins, at her farm in Mundon, and enjoyed a trip back to his favourite pub in Maldon, the Blue Boar.
He told the Chronicle: "I worked in Maldon for many years and my sister still lives here."
Peter, of Colchester, dreamed up the idea with his son, Alastair, 18, after wondering what he could do to help the Tom Bowdidge Foundation, started in memory of Tom, who died from cancer aged 19, in October last year.
Peter said: "I have a son who is blessed with good health and I can't imagine what my friends have had to go through and are still going through."
But Peter does concede his idea was formed after "too much whiskey" during a trip to his former home in Scotland in July.
He estimates he has to stop 60 times a day and is joined by one companion, his pet Labrador Amber, for the trip through the freezing Scandinavian winter all the way to Nordkapp in Norway.
"I've heard that Scandinavian people are very friendly – and they may have to be," he said.
Mr Matheson bought the vintage 1972 Massey Ferguson tractor for £7,000 on eBay and will spend an estimated £16,000 getting to Norway and back, with 20p from every £1 donated spent on fuel. The money will be divided between the Tom Bowdidge Foundation and Unicef.
To donate and find out more about Peter's journey go to www.tractorbumble.com
