The Man Who Hated Walking

Book excerpt: From 1969 to 1979 Overend Watts recorded and toured extensively with Mott The Hoople, Mott, and British Lions before shunning the limelight and turning his hand to record producing, gentlemen's hairdressing (briefly!), and dealing in antiques. At this point, however, most of his spare time was spent in the pursuit of large carp and he became a well-known figure on the gravel pits around the London area, where he always used luminous pink carp rods, so his mates, and the carp, could locate him easily! After a few years of antique fairs and auctions he concentrated on recycling and painting furniture and restoring antiques before opening a large "retro" department store in Hereford, which proved popular with customers from both Great Britain and abroad, with its specialist clothing, unusual antiquities, instruments, and rare music. After leaving the retro store in February 2003, Overend then aged 55, and The Man Who Hated Walking, attempted the S.W Coast Path National Trail - the greatest challenge of his life - all 650 miles of it. Or in Overend's case, more like 680 miles as he frequently got lost over the two months it took him to achieve this incredible feat of endurance.The Man Who Hated Walking, Overend's first book is a wonderful document of this amazing achievement, which is explored and described with more than a smattering of his macabre humour. Although undoubtedly a book that all Mott The Hoople fans will want, it is also an essential read for the walking fraternity, and is a massive inspiration for anyone who has the urge to do some serious walking.