TV presenter Timmy Mallett will pop up all over the Western Isles as he cycles 200 miles across the isles.
Timmy, best known for his work as a presenter of the Wide Awake Club with Michaela Strachan in the 1980s, is now making videos and painting watercolours as he takes in the beauty of the Hebrides.
He has already travelled 600 miles in total, it took him 22-and-a-half hours. He used five trains, one ferry and a “tiny bit” – one-and-a-half miles – by bike.
He thanked staff on the Caledonian Sleeper and Scotrail, who he said shared jokes with.
Timmy Mallett saddles up for 200-mile journey in the Western Isles
He even interviewed CalMac staff ahead of getting on the ferry.
It is not the first time Timmy has visited the west coast, last year he followed in the footsteps of his aunt – using her diary as a map.
This time he has taken the “longest trip” from the south of England to Barra by public transport.
He left the station nearest his home in the Home Counties at 8pm on Tuesday night travelling by train.
He said: “It is one of the longest journeys by public transport in the UK.
“I started out with my Giant UK Spokes Timmeee bike from my little GWR station in the home counties, and on Transport for London Elizabeth line.
“I then had a comfortable bed on an overnight Caledonian Sleeper to Glasgow.
“I then travelled the three-hour ScotRail journey to Oban and a spectacular five-hour Calmac ferry to the Western Isles arriving at Castlebay – Whisky Galore country, on the MV Isle of Barra at sundown, nearly 24 hours after leaving home.
He said he was travelling to cycle and paint the Hebridean Way, some 200 miles along the Atlantic coast.
He continued: “I will be visiting around 10 islands by causeways and ferries with stories and paintings to follow.”
In Oban, he spoke to Fiona Borland a member CalMac staff. She told him Barra was one of the longest ferry journeys the ferry operator undertakes on a daily basis.
‘Is it a smooth crossing?’
He asked Fiona: “Tell me, is it always a smooth crossing?”.
She said: “It is a big boat so you should be ok.
“As long as the captain is ok, you’ll be fine.”
Fiona said CalMac were “really pleased” to have him on the MV Isle of Lewis for the trip.
Timmy has built up quite a following on social media, with 87,000 following him on Facebook.
In a video from Barra, he said: “The outer Hebrides the Western Isles it is exciting and I also have a little bit of trepidation.
He said he was quoting the patron saint of travel St Brendan saying: “Take me out of my comfort zone and give me a little bit of curiosity and a sense of adventure.
“Wish me luck for my big adventure!”.
After his long journey to Barra, across The Minch from Oban, he painted a sunset.
It shows the sun dipping behind “scurrying” Hebridean clouds.
He said: “Everything changes constantly in the western wind.
‘They call it Castlebay because there is a bay with a castle in it’
“In the shelter of Castlebay, the Calmac ferry MV Isle of Lewis settles down for the night after a five-hour crossing of the 14ft swells in The Minch.”
In a Facebook from Barra, he joked: “They call it Castlebay because there is a bay with a castle in it.” He was, of course referring to Kisimul Castle.
In Castlebay he walked up the hill to visit The Church of Our Lady Star of the Sea.
Inside he placed a “Martin name tag”, Timmy’s way of keeping the memory of his brother alive.
He also asked the church to say a prayer for his grandson Jack.
Timmy’s artworks are often for sale, you can buy one by following this link.
