An off-the-cuff quip that backfired resulted in one tractor, five farmers, and a 300- mile adventure raising £1,000 for Devon Air Ambulance. Bovey Tracey farmer Eric Parker, and four farming chums have just completed the epic journey from Cambridge to Bovey Tracey behind the wheel of a vintage 1959 International McCormick B275. Each took it in turns to drive and at a top speed of just 12mph the trip took three days to complete using A and B roads. The slow speed adventure was sparked off by a comment made by a Cambridge tractor restorer, Jerry Bosworth. 'It was a practical joke that backfired on him,' explained Mr Parker. 'The tractor had just been restored by Jerry and his colleagues in Cambridge when he said wouldn't it be nice if it was driven back down to Devon.' With generous support from the unlikely alliance of Exeter spare parts firm Vapormatic, and Kenny Jay, former member of the R & B group, The Drifters, the five men took up the challenge which ended up with a rousing welcome and tractor cavalcade at Bovey's Riverside Inn. 'We had nothing but good responses on the road despite our speed and lorry drivers and everyone tooted as they went by,' said Mr Baker. 'We all had a good laugh and while some of us slept in a caravan overnight Jerry slept in a tent that he erected on a trailer behind the tractor. 'The only time tempers got frayed was when we were lost.' Mr Baker said that with donations still coming in he hoped the trip would meet the £1,000 target the team had set itself and that other stunts might be in the pipeline although on the details he was remaining tight-lipped.