Bro Barry Coleman of Graham Milton and Coritani Lodges and his good friend Dave Craddock (who is not yet a Freemason – Barry will work on that) have qualified as members of the Ironbutt Association.
To qualify for their certificates the duo completed the Four Corners Challenge from Lowestoft on the East coast, via Lands End in the South and St David’s on the West coast to John O’Groats. They had to complete this journey - a 1,500 miles round trip - in less than 36 hours.
Their journey actually totalled 2,400 miles when the trip from Northampton to Lowestoft for the start and home from John O’Groats is taken into account.
All this was with the aim of raising money for two charities - the Air Ambulance and Service and Emergency Rider Volunteers (SERV OBN) for which Barry is a volunteer rider.
SERV OBN is a volunteer rapid response medical transport service delivering all manner of medical items – out of hours and free of charge to the NHS. The service has eight motorcycles to be replaced as soon as possible. It receives no government funding, relying solely on donations and sponsorship.
On Thursday 1 May 2014, after careful planning to ensure compliance with the Ironbutt’s strict guidelines, Dave and Barry left Northampton on their Kawasaki ZZR 1400’s for Lowestoft.
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Starting at 6am start the following day they arrived at Lands End about 2pm, two hours behind schedule, and enjoyed a well-deserved Cornish pasty. They were four hours behind schedule by the time they arrived in St David’s in Wales about 10pm. Although they had now been on the road for about 24 hours, seeing the sunrise on a gloriously sunny Saturday morning on 3 May gave them a second wind.
However, after two hours of daylight, tiredness overtook Barry and the pair pulled into a motorway services. After a half hour power nap they continued north. An hour further on, Barry was in danger of falling asleep again so stopped for over an hours power nap which did the trick.
From then on the journey continued virtually nonstop apart and despite slipping behind schedule they both completed the journey within the time allowed.
Barry’s efforts have so far raised over £3,000 for SERV OBN. He is grateful to those who have contributed through his Just Giving page and donations from Graham Milton and Coritani Lodges and his wife’s company, Cummins UK.
Anyone interested in becoming a SERV OBN volunteer should contact Bro Barry Coleman.