'I'm spending £90,000 to visit every civil parish in England - there's more than 10,000'

Andy Smith, 41, was gifted a GoPro for Christmas by wife Nicky, 51, and got hooked using it to document exploring his local area near Rotherham.

After a couple of test outings, Andy decided to use the device to fulfil his dream to visit all England's civil parishes, which he started in January 2021.

Each week he picks a county, and visits five parishes each Friday, and two over the weekend.

Andy drives - spending £30 on fuel every weekend, and £40 to £70 on hotels if he needs to stay.

He has been to around 1,880 parishes so far and spends £250 a month on the project - costing him £16,000 so far.

Andy estimates it will take 30 years to complete his project - and set him back £90,000.

He has electronic maps of different counties and districts where he marks off the parishes he has visited, and a spreadsheet to keep track of the project.

Andy, a parcel-delivery driver, said: "I think going from place to place is in my blood. I just really enjoy walking around and exploring.

"This is such a rewarding project, I'd do it for my day job if I could. I love getting out in the fresh air, and I can be at the seaside one week, and up a mountain the next.

"It's so exhilarating and makes me realise how beautiful England is. I loved geography at school and I've never lost that passion for it.

"I spent all my spare time looking at maps and I still do. I'm so glad that Nicky bought me the GoPro.

"She's my number one supporter. She checks all my filming and helps make sure I'm producing the right material for my fans."

Andy, who lives with Nicky and two of his three step daughters, grew up in the small village of Saxilby, Lincolnshire.

He loves geography and maps and spent hours looking through his twelve encyclopaedia and five atlases when he was a kid.

He visited his first civil parish in January 2021 - choosing Harthill with Woodall because it reminded him of his childhood village.

Now each week Andy pulls up a map of England and puts a pin in a county he hasn't visited yet.

He finds a list of civil parishes in that county and selects five close to each other to visit on the Friday, and two more at the weekend.

He shares his explorations, posting one a day, on his YouTube channel @TheVillageIdiot - and has earned £12,003 so far from his content creation.

Andy, who first shared his story via Talk to the Press, said: "For me this became a way of reconnecting with rural life. I'm really drawn to the fact that everyone seems to know everyone in a village.

"Initially my videos were all about the visuals, but I've started to research and include a lot of local history which has been really interesting.

"I'm just a places person, I'm fascinated by places and spend hours going down rabbit holes looking up local points of interest online.

"I love the idea that my videos might form some archive - that a historian in one-hundred years time might use it to show how people lived."

Andy says the best parish he has visited so far is Belton in Leicestershire.

He found the village ambiance, the Grace Dieu Woods, the old priory ruins and the old Railway Viaduct and the beautiful stream very beautiful and peaceful.

The most friendly is Wigginton in York and the prettiest is Bishop Wilton in East Yorkshire.

Andy became his own piece of local history in North Witham, Lincs, when he remarked that there should be a footpath to form a circular walk, and got an email from a local councillor the following week to say one had been created.

"It was fantastic and also quite funny," he said, "I didn't intend for that, it was just a thought I happened to voice on my video, but it's great to have had an impact."

Andy plans to finish in exactly 30 years, in January 2051, in Cornwall or the Isles of Scilly.

He calculated that posting one of his videos each day will take 28 years and seven months, allowing him about 15 months to take days off if necessary.

"Thirty is a good round number, and I'll be on the verge of turning 70, that feels like a good age to retire," he said.

Andy’s top places to visit

Best cafe - Village Green Cafe in Eyam

Prettiest - Bishop Wilton in East Yorkshire

Most friendly - Wigginton in York

Favourite overall - Belton in Leicestershire