Lincolnshire-born Andy Smith is on a quest to visit every one of the 10,449 civil parishes in the country- a challenge he estimates could take up to 30 years.
Over the course of the past year, he has visited 374 civil parishes across the country and his Youtube channel has gained over 3,000 followers.
“I didn’t expect the channel to grow as fast as it has to be honest, but people have joined on as I’ve gone to different places. I’ve started to expand and go further afield and now it actually feels like I can do this.”
He documents his travels on his channel- The Village Idiot- which was set up in January 2020. However, he says in that time he ‘hasn’t taken his foot of the gas’ and his determination ‘hasn’t wavered’.
Smith, 37, currently films around three days a week while working for Hermes and aims to upload a video every day; with this schedule it should take him around ’25 to 30 years.’
The YouTuber grew up in Saxilby and lived there for 20 years before moving to Rotherham after he got married. “Rotherham isn’t a village, and I missed that village life. I’ve also always had a nerdy passion for Geography, so I decided this was the way to glue the two together. My wife brought me a GoPro for my birthday, and finally I had something to tangibly do this with.”
Smith’s wife, Nicola, sometimes joins him on his videos too: “When I go, I have nothing but support, I have quite a keen architectural eye so certain buildings or features I like to give my input on, and people have found this helpful.”
Before visiting each village Smith looks on google maps to check the boundaries of the civil parish and plan his route. Following this he vlogs his walk round the area, while taking shots of anything he sees of interest.
The ‘Village Idiot’ will travel up to Burnley in the coming weeks to complete the nine parishes there and hopes that whilst visiting he can further grow his following.
“There’s a lot to get through but I’m determined to do it.”