-- Newspaper and Website Reviews
A MAN & A PRAM
Essex Life Magazine
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There's no place like home
By Tom King
Home for Christmas - Mark Cundy
THIS week, Mark Cundy enjoyed what appeared to be an unremarkable family Christmas at his parents' home in Shoebury High Street.
Siblings and in-laws gathered round the table, crackers were pulled, presents were opened.
Every moment of Christmas at the Cundy home was traditional and to an outsider, unremarkable.
Yet for Mark, 41, it was truly an experience to cherish - one he found hard to believe was happening at all.
"I see Christmas with new eyes now," he admitted.
This happy, if conventional Christmas was in stark contrast to Mark's previous three festive seasons.
December 25 2004, for instance, was spent in a cold flophouse with nothing but a bottle of vodka for company, the frozen, dreary, featureless plains of Poland stretching for hundreds of miles around.
Essex adventurer Mark, 41, threw over a safe career in management training and set out to walk alone around the world for charity.
He had a few thousand pounds in the bank and a wheeled buggy acquired for £10 in a Southend charity shop in which to carry his worldly possessions across the planet.
There were times when he faltered, but Santa saved the day for him. The thought of family Christmases kept him going - especially during the final gruelling leg of his trek along the wintry highways of America.
"I could have pressed the button at any moment, headed for the nearest airport, and just gone home," he said.
"It was the thought of crossing the finishing line at Christmas which gave me the motivation to carry on putting one foot in front of the other."
So Mark did indeed keep going, completing the 5,500-mile round-the-world walk on schedule, almost to the hour, on December 18, 2005.
That day, he posed for pictures outside Buckingham Palace, his starting and finishing point, before heading for the Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square where he drank in the wonder of the festive decorations as if he had never seen such things before.
"It was the thought of crossing the finishing line at Christmas which gave me the motivation to carry on putting one foot in front of the other."
Worldwalker Mark Cundy
His walk completed. Mark says he now appreciates the apparent ordinariness of his family Christmas in another way.
And by this time next year, life for him could be very different again.
His book, A Man and His Pram Walking the World, is due out on the spring. Meanwhile, life for Mark is unlikely to be conventional again. As he waits for the book to make its impact, Mark has had time over Christmas to reflect.
"At first, I just basked in the sheer exhilaration of completing the adventure," he admits.
"Then I started to think about how I'd changed as a result of the walk. I've become much more appreciative of things I used to take for granted.
"I've now seen places where people have next to nothing, yet they get by. I'll never feel sorry for myself again if I can't afford a new car or a new suit."
Mark also remembers the hospitality he was offered.
"So often I met strangers on the road who would throw open their doors for me for the night," he says.
"Now I'm home, I want to do the same for people like me who are strangers in my country."
For some adventurers, the thrill of their exploit simply feeds a hunger for new adventure. Not so with Mark, who reckons he is all walked out.
He has now back at work, doing the same job as he did before.
"My adventure has made me calmer," he says, "I don't feel the need to look for kicks. I'm just appreciative of home comforts."
Yet however unmaterialistic he has become, there is one material object by which he does set high store.
Mark keeps this valuable and irreplaceable object carefully hidden and under lock and key - that £10 buggy which accompanied him around the world.
Southend Echo
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One morning, at the start of May 2005, Mark Cundy set out on his daily stroll – pushing a pram full of his belongings on a 19 km saunter from the Moscow suburban town of Krasnogorsk to Red Square. By itself, it was a quite a robust workout to be sure. What was far more impressive was that he had walked all the way from London to get there.
In fact, the walk from London to Moscow was just the first leg of a ‘world walk’, which also saw Cundy saunter from Melbourne to Sydney as the second leg and from the west coast to the east coast of the USA. While the walk was done for the benefit of Cancer Research UK, more than anything Cundy set out on this amazing journey in pursuit of a dream and a sense of achievement. And now he has documented his incredible adventures in the soon to be released book, A Man and a Pram.
Starting out with an explanation of what possessed him to go on such a seemingly absurd journey and how he went about planning it, A Man and A Pram goes on to recount Mark’s day-to-day life on foot: the obstacles he encountered, the people he met and the places he saw. One can’t begin to imagine how the sight of a man in his late 30s, trundling along the world’s busiest highways and pushing a pram must have shocked passing motorists. The sheer strangeness of Cundy’s venture makes the book a very different sort of travelogue.
Of particular interest to Way to Russia readers would be Mark’s adventures in Russia. Cundy walked from the border town of Sebezh to Moscow as the final part of the European leg of his trip, and then took that most famous of all train journeys along the Trans-Siberian to Vladivostok. Beginning with his trepidation at crossing the border and documenting his time in, and walks between, obscure towns all the way to Moscow, the Russian chapters are perhaps the most entertaining in the whole book. Along the way he encounters all the prototype Russian characters and describes them with humour:
The guards on the train were all female and there was absolutely no doubt about the fact that they were in charge. I caught mine on the first morning gazing wistfully out of the window, no doubt reminiscing about her Olympic shot-putting days.
Likewise, he experiences the inevitable run-in with the law and perfectly captures the fear that this experience can put into the foreign traveler. Upon dutifully reporting to the police station in Vladivostok for a registration offence, “I found the reception area with glass frontage and to the side a small metal desk, reassuringly occupied by a uniformed man holding a semiautomatic rifle.”
But along with the usual difficulties and peculiarities of travel in Russia, Cundy develops that same respect for (maybe even infatuation with) the people, which is so common among those who venture to the country:
The Russians with whom I had direct contact were bluff, lively characters. There was a great energy about them, in the way they walked, talked and indeed how they helped me along the way… Once I had got over my brush with the authorities, I found myself in a land of undoubted harsh conditions but tough natives with good hearts.
Filled with countless funny anecdotes and trenchant observations, A Man and a Pram is a great light and entertaining read for any armchair traveler. But, more than anything, A Man and a Pram is a testament to wanderlust – that inescapable desire that causes people to abandon reason and stability and head out into unknown lands simply because they feel the need to experience it for themselves. And, more than that, it is an inspiration for those who would love to escape the grind of their daily routine to pursue a dream.
Greg Klemm, Moscow Times
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Tarrant's foreward for Pram-man's book
CELEBRITY Chris Tarrant has written the foreword of book by a Southend adventurer who walked across three continents pushing a pram.
Mark Cundy has published A Man and a Pram describing his 5,500-mile walk across Europe, Australia and the USA raising £3,000 for Cancer Research.
In his foreword, the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire star says he thought he was on a safe bet when 42-year-old Mr Cundy, from High Street, Shoebury, asked him for sponsorship before setting out on his trek.
He said: "I thought, yeah, right, walking round the world? Of course you are.' But it was a good cause and I thought he might get as far as Belgium so I sent him a few quid.
"A long time later I was watching the local news in some small town in Australia and they carried a brief report about some lunatic Pom pushing a baby stroller round the world."
Mr Cundy set out with a £10 pram from a charity shop to carry his possession on the 5,500-mile round-the-world walk which he completed on December 18, 2005.
Copies of the book can also be obtained from his website http://www.markcundy.net
Southend Echo
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Mark Cundy is a man who decided to walk around the world to raise money for charity, and there, in a nutshell, is the substance of this incredible book.
My first impressions when reading about Mark’s global exploits concerned the number of uncanny similarities between he and I. He had been a training development manager, as I had once been. He’d given up the job to do something infinitely more fulfilling, as had I. Mark hates it when people use the phrase “statistically speaking…” I use the phrase all the time, much to the annoyance of my colleagues, I’m sure. There are other similarities, but more of those presently.
If there’s a fault with this book it’s simply that it is too short. As Mark travels from country to country with all his worldly goods packed into a “stroller”, he details every walk and ride in his heroic effort to complete his mission. Breakfasts in seedy motels, encounters with the police, chance conversations at dilapidated gas stations…they’re all in there. You just wish there was more.
Mark - I’ve never met him – has a heart like a lion. As he trotted the globe and recorded his exploits as he walked literally thousands of miles along deserted highways and byways. And yet – and here’s the amazing thing – he both acts and reacts as if he’s taking his pet dog for a walk before Sunday lunch. Never once does he draw perilously close to the edge of insanity, even during the scarier moments. The reader can sense that deep down he just knows that everything will turn out okay in the end.
Whilst travelling through Germany he found lodgings in a hotel for the night. It had just closed for the season, but the management simply handed Mark the keys and told him to lock the building up when he left. Somehow you couldn’t imagine this happening in Hammersmith. Cundy either has the luck of the Devil with him or the rascally charm of Hugh Grant. Maybe it’s both.
Almost predictably, Cundy’s scariest exploits took place in the good ol’ US of A, and a chance encounter with a mountain lion was only the beginning. This would be bad enough for the hardiest of travellers, but when you’re also suffering from a huge abscess very close to the end of your digestive system that lies below the equator it just seems worse.
Mark also had the opportunity to take part in a Native American sweat lodge ceremony, as did I once in Louisiana. His experience was so uncannily similar to mine I could have written the account for him – or vice versa. And then there was his run-ins with the constabulary. I had two in the USA myself – once for photographing a tree without a license and another time for reading a newspaper whilst standing next to a car. Cundy’s encounters were altogether scarier, although thankfully not absolutely terrifying.
I could go on for ages, but I won’t. Just by the book, but heed my warning; don’t start to read it unless you’ve got time to finish it in one sitting. This may take a day or two, but you won’t be able to put it down.
Mark Cundy is the sort of guy who encapsulates everything we want to be but haven’t got the bottle to accomplish. You’ll just love this page-turner from the outset.
Mike Hallowell, The Shields Gazette
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A MAN & A PRAM
The Weekly News
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Tarrant backs new book
Reading son Chris Tarrant has written the foreword for a book about one man’s walk across three continents.
A Man and a Pram by Mark Cundy describes Mr Cundy’s 5,500-mile walk across Europe, Australia and the USA raising money for Cancer Research UK and its overseas equivalents.
Mr Cundy, 42, an adventurer from Southend-on-Sea in Essex, approached Mr Tarrant for sponsorship before setting out on the walk, during which he pushed a pram the whole way.
In his foreword, Mr Tarrant wrote: “I thought ‘Yeah, right, walking round the world? Of course you are!’ But it was a good cause and I thought he might get as far as Belgium so I sent him a few quid.
“A long time later I was watching the local news in some small town in Australia and they carried a brief report about some lunatic Pom pushing a baby stroller round the world. ‘My God,’ I thought – ‘it’s him!’ ”
The account of Mark Cundy’s journey was published on Thursday, May 1.
Reading Evening Post
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A MAN & A PRAM
Basildon Yellow Advertiser
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A MAN & A PRAM
Essex Chronicle
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A MAN & A PRAM
The Leigh Times
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A MAN & A PRAM
Colchester Gazette
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A MAN & A PRAM
Chelmsford Weeley News
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CHILDREN IN NEED WALKER HEADS TO HARBOROUGH
WEARING a coat covered in Pudsey Bears a fundraiser will be stopping off in Market Harborough for a walk taking him from Sheffield to London in support of Children in Need.
Charity walker Mark Cundy, a training consultant, will set off from Sheffield this Sunday, November 2 and will finish in Piccadilly, London, on Saturday, November 15.
Wearing the three-quarter length coat covered in Pudseys and pushing his trademark pram, Mark, 42, from Essex, will take in 15 different locations. He will arrive in Market Harborough from Leicester on Friday, November 7 and go from Market Harborough to Kettering on November 8.
Mark will also be doing a book signing in Market Harborough’s Waterstones on November 8, from 10am-noon.
The book tells the story of a previous charity walk that covered 5,500 miles.
Before reaching his final destination in Piccadilly, Mark will stop off at the BBC’s television centre in London’s Shepherd’s Bush on Children in Need appeal night Friday, November 14.
Full details of the walk can be seen on Mark’s website http://www.markcundy.net
Harborough Herald & Post
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A MAN & A PRAM
Hooker: Ireland's Premier Rugby Lifestyle Publication
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A MAN & A PRAM
Nuneaton News
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A MAN & A PRAM
Tenerife Property Guide
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A MAN & A PRAM
Metro Life
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A MAN & A PRAM
The Brit (Madeira Newspaper)
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HE'S A MAN WITH A PRAM
Charity champion Mark Cundy will don a Pudsey Bear coat and dust off his trademark pram for a trek from Sheffield to London for Children In Need. And the 42-year-old renowned adventurer will be dropping in to Luton en route.
Mark, who previously walked 5,500 miles across three continents for Cancer Research UK, has written a book about the epic journey called A Man And A Pram. He will signing copies of the story in Luton's Waterstones on Wednesday, November 12.
The Luton News
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A MAN & A PRAM
East Anglian Daily Times
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* Last Saturday, renowned charity walker, adventurer and author Mark Cundy stopped off in Harborough during his expedition from Sheffield to London. Mr Cundy was at Waterstone's, in The Square signing copies of his new book, A Man and a Pram. He is due to arrive in London tomorrow for the Children In Need special.
Harborough Mail
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A FUND-RAISER who is walking 200 miles in aid of Children in Need has told of his trip through Derbyshire.
Mark Cundy, 41, stopped off at Waterstones, in St Peter's Street, during his journey from Sheffield to London. He signed copies of his book 'A Man & A Pram', which tells of his epic 5,500-mile walk around the world in 2004-5.
His latest trek began on November 2 and he hopes to have raised £750 by the time he completes the challenge today at Shepherd's Bush, in London.
Mark described his walk through Derbyshire as one of the highlights of his journey.
"Even the smallest roads have footpaths," he said. "Derbyshire is a beautiful county and I wish I could have spent more time there talking to the very friendly locals."
Thousands of people in Derbyshire will be taking part in Children in Need events today.
Among these are 400 pupils of the Helen O'Grady Drama Academy, at Duffield Meadows Primary School, who have been dressing up in their favourite fancy dress costumes all week.
Joint principal Tom Cheshire said: "The kids have been donating money in order to dress up and we're hoping to raise £500."
Elsewhere, Chaddesden Park Junior School teacher Luke Samuels will have his long hair cut off for the first time in 20 years.
And at the Bonnie Prince, in Chellaston, teacher Tom Howard will be sitting in a bath of baked beans from 11am until 9pm. Kitchen and bar staff will also have their legs waxed from 8pm.
Derby Evening Telegraph
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A MAN & A PRAM
Watford Observer
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TRAVEL WRITER LOSES WAY IN NETHERFIELD
A travel writer who trekked 5,500 miles across some of the roughest terrains in the world was stumped when he tried to navigate through Milton Keynes.
Training consultant Mark Cundy, 42, admitted that the city's roundabouts left him completely lost as he tried to make his way from the city centre to Luton on Tuesday morning.
The experienced hiker, who has written about his travels through Russia, Australia and America, is travelling from Sheffield to London to raise funds for Children in Need.
Mark, from Chelmsford, Essex, said: "How many roundabouts does one city need?
"It's so difficult to find your direction.
"I started well this morning but ended up totally lost.
"It's difficult when you're walking along paths at a subterranean level.
"I got to Newport Pagnell yesterday and it took me two-and-a-half hours to find the Travel Lodge."
After a book signing at Waterstones, Mark ended up lost on Netherfield Estate was forced to knock at the parish council office for directions.
Local business owner Paul Griffiths said: "He called in for directions so we pointed him towards Luton.
"It can be difficult here because the signs just take you from one estate to another."
Mark uses a pram to carry his luggage, which is limited to five t-shirts, five pairs of boxer shorts and a couple of maps, and spends his nights at B&Bs.
He penned his first book, 'A Man And A Pram', after a 14-month walking odyssey from London to New York in 2005, surviving deep depression in Poland, bitter cold in Russia, and New Year's Eve alone at a run-down bedsit in Eastern Europe.
Mark's latest expedition will finish on Friday night at BBC Studios in London, where he will join Terry Wogan for the Children in Need programme.
Signed copies of Mark's book are available from Milton Keynes at thecentre:mk, priced £7.99 (25 per cent of each copy sold will be donated to Children In Need).
Milton Keynes News
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A MAN & A PRAM
The Self Publishing Magazine
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CHILDREN IN NEED WALKER HEADS TO HARBOROUGH
WEARING a coat covered in Pudsey Bears a fundraiser will be stopping off in Market Harborough for a walk taking him from Sheffield to London in support of Children in Need.
Charity walker Mark Cundy, a training consultant, will set off from Sheffield this Sunday, November 2 and will finish in Piccadilly, London, on Saturday, November 15.
Wearing the three-quarter length coat covered in Pudseys and pushing his trademark pram, Mark, 42, from Essex, will take in 15 different locations. He will arrive in Market Harborough from Leicester on Friday, November 7 and go from Market Harborough to Kettering on November 8.
Mark will also be doing a book signing in Market Harborough’s Waterstones on November 8, from 10am-noon.
The book tells the story of a previous charity walk that covered 5,500 miles.
Before reaching his final destination in Piccadilly, Mark will stop off at the BBC’s television centre in London’s Shepherd’s Bush on Children in Need appeal night Friday, November 14.
Full details of the walk can be seen on Mark’s website http://www.markcundy.net
Kettering Herald & Post
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A MAN & A PRAM
Man Unlimited Magazine
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BOOK TO THE FUTURE
Dave Magazine
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A MAN & A PRAM
Hidden Europe: The Magazine Exploring Europe's Special Spaces
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A MAN & A PRAM
The Star
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ONE LONG TREK FOR A PRAM...
Coast Gazette
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-- Book Signings and Events
Mark Cundy signed copies of his book 'A Man & A Pram' at Waterstone's, Southend (High Street).
Waterstone's, Southend (High Street)
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Mark Cundy signed copies of his book 'A Man & A Pram' at Waterstone's, Southend (High Street).
Waterstone's, Southend (High Street)
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Mark Cundy signed copies of his book 'A Man & A Pram' at Waterstone's, Basildon.
Waterstone's, Basildon
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Mark Cundy signed copies of his book 'A Man & A Pram' at Blackwell's, Tottenham Court Road, London.
Blackwell's, Tottenham Court Road, London
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Mark Cundy signed copies of his book 'A Man & A Pram' at Waterstone's (High Cross), Leicester.
Waterstone's, Leicester (High Cross)
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Picture Left: Mark Cundy signed copies of his book at The Southend Book Fair (Southend Festival). Picture Right: Mark Cundy with Apex Publishing Ltd authors Mark S. Bennison and Chris Cowlin.
The Southend Book Fair (Southend Festival)
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Mark Cundy with all of the authors that attended The Southend Book Fair (Southend Festival).
The Southend Book Fair (Southend Festival)
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Mark Cundy signed copies of his book 'A Man & A Pram' at Waterstone’s, Orchard Square, Sheffield.
Waterstone’s, Orchard Square, Sheffield
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Mark Cundy signed copies of his book 'A Man & A Pram' at Waterstone’s, Meadowhall, Sheffield.
Waterstone’s, Meadowhall, Sheffield
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Mark Cundy signed copies of his book 'A Man & A Pram' at Waterstone’s, St Peters, Derby.
Waterstone’s, St Peters, Derby
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Mark Cundy signed copies of his book 'A Man & A Pram' at Waterstone's, Loughborough.
Waterstone's, Loughborough
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Mark Cundy signed copies of his book 'A Man & A Pram' at Waterstone's, Colchester (Culver Square).
Waterstone's, Colchester (Culver Square)
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Mark Cundy signed copies of his book at The Southend Book Fair (Southend Festival).
The Southend Book Fair (Southend Festival)
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Mark Cundy signed copies of his book 'A Man & A Pram' at Waterstone's, The Harlequin Centre, Watford.
Waterstone's, The Harlequin Centre, Watford
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Mark Cundy signed copies of his book 'A Man & A Pram' at Waterstone’s, Market Harborough.
Waterstone’s, Market Harborough
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Mark Cundy signed copies of his book 'A Man & A Pram' at Waterstone's, Kettering.
Waterstone's, Kettering
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Mark Cundy signed copies of his book 'A Man & A Pram' at Waterstone’s, Milton Keynes.
Waterstone’s, Milton Keynes
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Mark Cundy signed copies of his book 'A Man & A Pram' at Waterstone's, Luton.
Waterstone's, Luton
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Mark Cundy signed copies of his book 'A Man & A Pram' at Waterstone’s, St. Albans.
Waterstone’s, St. Albans
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Mark Cundy signed copies of his book 'A Man & A Pram' at Waterstone’s, The Harlequin Centre, Watford.
Waterstone’s, The Harlequin Centre, Watford
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Mark Cundy crosses the finishing line at London having walked from Sheffield for Children In Need. He then signed copies of his book 'A Man & A Pram' at Waterstone’s, Piccadilly, London.
Waterstone’s, Piccadilly, London
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Mark Cundy signed copies of his book 'A Man & A Pram' at Waterstone’s, Harrow.
Waterstone’s, Harrow
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Mark Cundy signed copies of his book 'A Man & A Pram' at Waterstone's, The Harlequin Centre, Watford.
Waterstone's, The Harlequin Centre, Watford
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Mark Cundy signed copies of his book 'A Man & A Pram' at Waterstone’s, Chelmsford.
Waterstone’s, Chelmsford
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Mark Cundy talked about and signed copies of his book 'A Man & A Pram' at Central Library, Southend on Sea.
Central Library, Southend on Sea
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Mark Cundy signed copies of his book 'A Man & A Pram' at Waterstone’s, Bury St Edmunds.
Waterstone’s, Bury St Edmunds
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Mark Cundy signed copies of his book 'A Man & A Pram' at Essex Country Show 2009.
Essex Country Show 2009
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