One Man and His Dog to the Source of the Thames

Boogie Up The River

The sequel to "500-mile Walkies". When the author set off in a 100-year-old camping skiff to find the source of the Thames, he didn't want to take his dog, Boogie. He would have left him in kennels but the other dogs complained and things do not work out as he planned.

Five Hundred Mile Walkies

Classic humour in the English countryside - 500 Mile Walkies.

The humorous travel book we've been waiting for

Mark Wallington was born in Swanage in Dorset in 1953. He worked for a while as a gardener in London before becoming a scriptwriter and a journalist. In 1982 he walked the South West Coastal Path and his subsequent book, 500 Mile Walkies, became a bestseller. In 1992 Mark Wallington published his novel The Missing Postman and then wrote the script for the award-winning television play starring James Bolam. He is much sought-after as a film and television writer, working from his home in the High Peak in Derbyshire, where he keeps a truly wonderful garden. He is married with two children.

Boogie is an unattractive but street-wise mongrel from Stockwell, used to travelling everywhere on London Transport. His two-legged companion is Mark. This is a heroic study of survival against the odds, as together they take a journey, up hill and down dale, with rucksacks full of kennomeat, along Britain's longest coastal footpath - from Somerset to Devon, from Cornwall to Dorset.

Destination Lapland

From the author of the bestselling 500 Mile Walkies, this is the true story of one man and his bike ...

From the author of the bestselling 500 Mile Walkies, this is the true story of one man and his bike ... 
 
It was a cold, bleak, British summer morning when intrepid Mark set out to travel the seventeen-hundred miles to Lapland on his bicycle. The land of reindeer nomads and the Midnight Sun had him under its spell. 
 
Suitably equipped with a new locknut A and pivot bolt B, a compass, a pair of sunglasses with only one lens and a Norwegian phrasebook, he was soon to discover the joys of Central Milton Keynes, win a marathon he never ran in Brassington, become stranded on the Yorkshire Dales, pick raspberries in Northumbria and finally catch a train from Newcastle - back to London! 
 
His dreams of obtaining a genuine reindeer hatstand were shattered forever!

Adventures of a Jobbing Gardener

The Day Job

Mark Wallington's incompetent early career as jobbing gardener to the middle classes, hilariously revealed in this comic memoir.

An affectionate account of a year he spent fleecing the residents of north London as a jobbing gardener... Likeable and generous

Mark Wallington was born in Swanage in Dorset in 1953. He worked for a while as a gardener in London before becoming a scriptwriter and a journalist. In 1982 he walked the South West Coastal Path and his subsequent book, 500-Mile Walkies, became a bestseller. In 1992 Mark Wallington published his novel The Missing Postman and then wrote the script for the award-winning television play starring James Bolam. He is much sought-after as a film and television writer, working from his home in the High Peak in Derbyshire, where he keeps a truly wonderful garden. He is married with two children.

Mark Wallington has a dream. He is going to change the face of British comedy. 
 
Unfortunately for the residents of north London, he's going to finance this dream by becoming a gardener. 
 
The result is The Day Job, an account of a year spent working in other people's gardens: people like Mrs Fleming who is convinced there is buried treasure in the bottom bed; Mr Walters who is trying to create a fascist state policed by gnomes in his well-guarded plot in Gospel Oak; Mrs Glover who is probably the most attractive woman living in Britain; and poor Mr Nugent, who likes to save his urine in jam jars and pour it over his compost. 
 
Over four seasons Wallington crosses Hampstead Heath from job to job. He survives brushes with the evil contract gardeners who keep trying to knock him off his bicycle. He strives to impress literary agent Herman Gapp who might represent him - depending on what sort of job he does on Gapp's Alpine Terrace. He even finds time to fall for a housecleaner-cum-actor named Helen, as he becomes part of a strange band of artistes, each with a day job of their own, all waiting for that first break. 
 
This is the story of long nights spent in the back room of a pub trying to write unsolicited scripts, and of much longer days spent trying to understand the British and their strange obsession with gardening.

500 Mile Walkies and Boogie Up the River in One Volume

Travels With Boogie

Classic humour in the English countryside - 500 Mile Walkies and Boogie Up the River now in one volume.

Travels with Boogie is the story of two city slickers - one an unattractive but streetwise mongrel from Stockwell, the other the long-suffering author - and how they came to terms with England's countryside and waterways. 
 
First they had to survive against all odds as they embarked on a heroic journey up hill and down dale, with rucksacks full of Kennomeat, along Britain's longest coastal footpath - from Somerset to Devon, from Cornwall to Dorset. And they did it. Then, undaunted, they took on the treacherous waters of the Thames. Not exactly as Mark had planned, however: this time his companion was to be the delectable Jennifer - but she was held up at the office, and when Boogie was dropped off at the kennels the other dogs complained. 
 
Travels with Boogie is a witty and fascinating account of a mismatched couple and of the people they meet and places they visit.

Pennine Walkies

The original Boogie, reluctant hero of the South West Peninsular Path, was the Mongrel from hell. Mark Wallington's New Boogie, like New Labour, appears a much trendier and more wholesome incarnation -until, that is, Mark gets him on the Pennine Way. This is the big one in every sense. Clearly Boogie will do fine -but will Mark be up to the task?

Mark Wallington

Timothy Spall

Ronald Herdman

Carla Mendonca

Full Cast

A Full-Cast BBC Radio Comedy Travelogue

A full-cast BBC Radio adaptation of Mark Wallington's comic tale of one man and his dog, starring Timothy Spall 
 
In a bid to impress his not-quite-girlfriend Jennifer, Mark persuades her to accompany him on a journey to discover the true source of the river that flows past her London flat. Setting himself up with a classic Victorian camping skiff, he's ready for adventure and romance - but his plans are scuppered at the last minute by his manic mongrel mutt, Boogie. 
 
Boogie has bad breath, terrible wind and a tendency to moult all over your toast - and on top of all that, he can't swim. But Mark can't leave him behind - his friends refuse to look after him, and he has a reputation at all the kennels (the last time he stayed in one, even the other dogs complained). 
 
Taking to the water, Mark comes face-to-face with a colourful assortment of river dwellers and dreams of Delia Smith, while Boogie meets his first Canada goose - and headbutts a swan... As they scull upstream, they pursue the elusive Jennifer, who leaves a trail of terrible poems, exotic takeaways and answerphone messages, but is somehow always elsewhere. Will she ever join Mark on his quest? Will they ever find the source of the Thames? And will Boogie ever learn to curb his disgusting habits? 
 
Adapted by Mark Wallington from his own hilarious novel, this light-hearted, engaging dramatisation will delight fans of Three Men in a Boat and Bill Bryson. It stars Timothy Spall as Mark, Ronald Herdman as Boogie and Carla Mendonça as Jennifer. 
 
 
Adapted by Mark Wallington from his own novel 
Produced by Caroline Leddy 
 
Cast 
Mark/Narrator - Timothy Spall 
Boogie/Dorchester Man/Landlord - Ronald Herdman 
Jennifer Conway - Carla Mendonça 
Michael - Gary Parker 
P.A/Royal Lady - Ainslie Foster 
Fiddy - Jon Glover 
Dario/Boat Guide/Boater/Farmer - Mark Straker 
Pensioner/Landlord/Fisherman 1 - John Church 
Douglas/Fisherman 3/Archie - David Holt 
Marsha - Melanie Hudson 
Mrs Matheson/Graveyard Woman - Ann Windsor 
Lock Keeper - Terence Edmond 
Kevin/Fisherman 2 - Rod Smith 
Rita/Christine/Dorchester Lady - Jill Graham 
Delia Smith/Sandra/Betty - Melinda Walker 
Cruiserman/Cricketer - John Fleming 
Fisherman/Barman - Jonathan Adams 
Cox - Jonathan Tafler 
Mrs Byron/Shopkeeper - Margaret Stallard 
Percy - Eric Allen 
'A Bit of Alright'/Curator/Canoeist - Nicholas Murchie 
Sam Tucker - Geoffrey McGivern 
Laundrette Attendant/Girl - Kate Binchy 
Barman - Simon Godley 
Adolescent Girl - Julie Gibbs 
Old Lady - Jillie Meers 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 17 December 1992-21 January 1993 
 
© 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Mark Wallington

Books by Mark Wallington

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