Harry Bucknall

Last updated

Harry Bucknall
BornHarry Corfield Bucknall
(1965-11-27) 27 November 1965 (age 56)
OccupationRetired Army Officer, Author
Nationality British
Alma mater Harrow School
Notable worksIn the Dolphin's Wake, Like a Tramp Like a Pilgrim
Website
www.gamekeeperpr.com

Harry Bucknall (born 1965) is a British writer best known for books In the Dolphin's Wake and Like a Tramp Like a Pilgrim. [1] [2] He drew inspiration for these books from several major trips he took throughout his life. [3] Bucknall has written for multiple newspapers and outlets, including The Spectator , The Scotsman , and Country Life .

Bucknall was educated at the Harrow School and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and served as an officer in the Coldstream Guards for 12 years. [4] [5] He is the grandson of Lt Gen Gerard Bucknall and younger brother of James Bucknall. After retiring Bucknall set out on a 5,500 mile journey from Venice to Istanbul via 36 islands and every island chain in the Greek Archipelago. [6] It included 57 sea passages on 35 ferries, four landing craft, three hydrofoils, a fishing caique and a sea plane. The story of the trip became his first book, In the Dolphin's Wake.

In 2012 Bucknall embarked on another trip, where he walked 1,411 miles from London to Rome following the Via Francigena, an ancient pilgrim path. [7] [8] The story of this journey, Like a Tramp Like a Pilgrim, was published by Bloomsbury Publishing in July 2014. [9] [10] [11]

In December 2014, Buckall and his former army driver Jock Davis, now a sergeant in the Metropolitan Police, walked 133 miles from Dorset to London in order to raise funds for homeless former servicemen and women. [12] [13] A year later, they followed it up with a 335-mile walk from the Scottish borders to St Paul's Cathedral in London, following the journey made by George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle when he marched from Coldstream to London enabling the Restoration of King Charles II. Their 14-day walk raised £28,000 for homeless veterans. [14]

Bucknall was admitted as a Freeman of the City of London in 2015. [15]

His new book A Road for All Seasons, telling the story of his 6,518-mile journey across the length and breadth of Britain, will be published by Little Brown in August 2022. [16] [17]

Related Research Articles

Dorset Ceremonial county of England

Dorset is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of 2,653 square kilometres (1,024 sq mi), Dorset borders Devon to the west, Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north-east, and Hampshire to the east. The county town is Dorchester, in the south. After the reorganisation of local government in 1974, the county border was extended eastward to incorporate the Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch. Around half of the population lives in the South East Dorset conurbation, while the rest of the county is largely rural with a low population density.

Hobo Migratory worker or homeless vagabond

A hobo is a migrant worker in the United States. Hoboes, tramps and bums are generally regarded as related, but distinct: A hobo travels and is willing to work; a tramp travels, but avoids work if possible; and a bum neither travels nor works.

Coldstream Guards Infantry regiment of the British Army

The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the monarchy; due to this, it often participates in state ceremonial occasions. The Regiment has consistently provided formations on deployments around the world and has fought in the majority of the major conflicts in which the British Army has been engaged.

Poole Town in England

Poole is a large coastal town and seaport in Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is 21 miles (34 km) east of Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east. Since 1 April 2019, the local authority is Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council which is a unitary authority. Poole had an estimated population of 151,500 making it the second-largest town in the ceremonial county of Dorset. Together with Bournemouth and Christchurch, the conurbation has a total population of nearly 400,000.

Shaftesbury Town and civil parish in Dorset, England

Shaftesbury is a town and civil parish in Dorset, England. It is situated on the A30 road, 20 miles west of Salisbury, near the border with Wiltshire. It is the only significant hilltop settlement in Dorset, being built about 215 metres above sea level on a greensand hill on the edge of Cranborne Chase.

Blackmore Vale

The Blackmore Vale is a vale, or wide valley, in north Dorset, and to a lesser extent south Somerset and southwest Wiltshire in southern England.

Swanage Human settlement in England

Swanage is a coastal town and civil parish in the south east of Dorset, England. It is at the eastern end of the Isle of Purbeck and one of its two towns, approximately 6+1⁄4 miles (10 km) south of Poole and 25 miles (40 km) east of Dorchester. In the 2011 census the civil parish had a population of 9,601. Nearby are Ballard Down and Old Harry Rocks, with Studland Bay and Poole Harbour to the north. Within the parish are Durlston Bay and Durlston Country Park to the south of the town. The parish also includes the areas of Herston, just to the west of the town, and Durlston, just to the south.

Coldstream Human settlement in Scotland

Coldstream is a town and civil parish in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. A former burgh, Coldstream is the home of the Coldstream Guards, a regiment in the British Army.

Satish Kumar Indian activist and editor

Satish Kumar is an Indian British activist and speaker. He has been a Jain monk, nuclear disarmament advocate and pacifist. Now living in England, Kumar is founder and Director of Programmes of the Schumacher College international center for ecological studies, and is Editor Emeritus of Resurgence & Ecologist magazine. His most notable accomplishment is the completion, together with a companion, E. P. Menon, of a peace walk of over 8,000 miles in June 1962 for two and a half years, from New Delhi to Moscow, Paris, London, and Washington, D.C., the capitals of the world's earliest nuclear-armed countries. He insists that reverence for nature should be at the heart of every political and social debate.

Ibberton Human settlement in England

Ibberton is a village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southern England. It is situated in the Blackmore Vale under the scarp face of the Dorset Downs, five miles south of Sturminster Newton and 7 miles west of Blandford Forum. The parish covers 1,382 acres extending over the chalk downs that lie to the south and includes the hamlets of Leigh, and Kitford. In the 2011 census the parish had a population of 101, a reduction from 134 in 2001.

1st Armoured Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom) Military unit

The 1st Armoured Infantry Brigade is an infantry brigade of the British Army with a long history including service during both the First and the Second World Wars. It is based at Tidworth Camp. Previously, it has been designated 1st (Guards) Brigade, 1st Infantry Brigade, 1st Mechanised Brigade, and under the initial Army 2020 reforms assumed the title of 1st Armoured Infantry Brigade. Under the Future Soldier programme, the brigade will merge with 1st Artillery Brigade to form 1st Deep Recce Strike Brigade Combat Team.

Dorset County Museum Museum in Dorchester, Dorset

The Dorset County Museum is located in Dorchester, Dorset, England. Founded in 1846, the museum covers the county of Dorset's history and environment. The current building was built in 1881 on the former site of the George Inn. The building was designed specifically to house the museum's collection and is in the neo-Gothic style.

Weymouth, Dorset Town in Dorset, England

Weymouth is a seaside town in Dorset, on the English Channel coast of England. Situated on a sheltered bay at the mouth of the River Wey, 11 kilometres (7 mi) south of the county town of Dorchester, Weymouth had a population of 53,068 as of 2018. It is the third largest settlement in Dorset after Bournemouth and Poole.

Suffrage Hikes

The Suffrage Hikes of 1912 to 1914 brought attention to the issue of women's suffrage. Florence Gertrude de Fonblanque organised the first from Edinburgh to London. Within months Rosalie Gardiner Jones had organized the first American one which left from The Bronx to Albany, New York. The second hike was from New York City to Washington, D.C., and covered 230 miles in 17 days.

Richard Drax British politician

Richard Grosvenor Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax is a British Conservative politician, journalist and landowner, serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for South Dorset since 2010.

James Bucknall British Army general

Lieutenant General Sir James Jeffrey Corfield Bucknall, is a retired British Army officer and former Commander of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps.

Diamond Jubilee Armed Forces Parade and Muster

The Diamond Jubilee Armed Forces Parade and Muster was a military parade held at Windsor Castle and Home Park in Windsor, Berkshire, England, organised as part of the Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee celebrations. Performed as a tribute to the Queen on behalf of all three branches of the British Armed Forces, it featured a review of members of all three services by the monarch, a military parade through the town, and flypasts by current and historic military aircraft.

Bob Lilley (British Army soldier) British Army soldier

Ernest Thomas "Bob" Lilley M.M., B.E.M. was a British Army soldier. A founding member of the British Special Air Service Regiment, he formerly served with the Coldstream Guards. Lilley was one of the first four men selected by Colonel David Stirling to comprise L Detachment 1st S.A.S. in Middle East Headquarters at Cairo in 1940. He took part in many operations behind enemy lines in Libya against Italian and German forces during World War II.

Charles Church (artist) British painter

Charles Church is a British painter best known for his portraits of racehorses.

References

  1. ↑ Finlayson, Ian. "Like a Tramp, Like a Pilgrim by Harry Bucknall". The Times. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  2. ↑ "Actor Martin Sheen praises Dorset author Harry Bucknall's pilgrimmage book". Blackmore Vale. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  3. ↑ "Harry Bucknall walks 1,411 mile pilgrimage". Daily Echo. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  4. ↑ "Army commission". No. 7 October 1985. The London Gazette. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  5. ↑ "Army retirement". The London Gazette. 4 March 1996. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  6. ↑ McCarthy, John. "Greek islands - Ireland by Kayak". BBC/Excess Baggage. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  7. ↑ Coles, Richard; Mir, Aasmah. "Katy Brand and Harry Bucknall". BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  8. ↑ Balding, Clare. "Interview 17/08/2014". BBC Radio 2. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  9. ↑ "As a pilgrim, you never walk alone". Church Times. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  10. ↑ "After 1,411 miles, I'm still a Sinner". The Catholic Herald . Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  11. ↑ "Harry Bucknall's pilgrimage". BBC Radio Bristol. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  12. ↑ Bolado, Catherine. "Former army officer to tackle epic walk in aid of homeless ex-servicemen". Dorset Echo. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  13. ↑ "Harry Bucknall and Coldstream Guard comrade Jock Davis raise £13,500 for Walking with the Wounded". Blackmore Vale. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  14. ↑ "Ex-army pair make it home for Christmas". Northern Echo. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  15. ↑ "List of Applications for the Freedom" (PDF). City of London. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  16. ↑ "My friend, travel writer and retired Coldstream Guards officer Harry Bucknall set off on his epic walk from Mull to Dover". Tan Twan Eng Facebook page. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  17. ↑ "A Road for all Seasons: From Mull to Dover". Waterstones. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.