Spin Cycle Torcuil Crichton Begins His Epic Journey From Land's End to John O'groats, As He Cycles Through Great Britain Over the Next Four Weeks Sampling the Mood of the Electorate

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AS Tony Blair took a short drive up the Mall to see the queen last Tuesday, I took a long train ride to Penzance, as far away by rail from London as Edinburgh is. Cornwall, all breezy and sunny, feels a long way from innercity London although the Penzance Arts Club lends it easy sophistication if the Tate St Ives is too far away.

It's only a 10-mile cycle from the station to Land's End, which I'm glad to find is shut when I arrive. The sight is a rather gaudy collection of buildings with Blackpool-style attractions. I register in the End To End book and note that only two other fool cyclists have set off on this journey so far this year. The time for idle words is over; I turn the bike and head back east.

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Spin Cycle Torcuil Crichton Begins His Epic Journey From Land's End to John O'groats, As He Cycles Through Great Britain Over the Next Four Weeks Sampling the Mood of the Electorate

Newlyn, tucked into the corner of a tidal bay by Penzance and once the busiest fishing port in England, would still give places like Peterhead a good run for their money. The volume may not be there for the 7am Wednesday morning market, but the ice-packed monkfish and hake, the odd porbeagle shark and all kinds of flatfish, look enormous.

Kenny Downing, the skipper of the Golden Harvest, plays close attention as the auctioneer sends the price per kilo ever upwards. The Golden Harvest, a 16-metre trawler, might...

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