Lost boy's long walk back home
Teenagers are often unfairly accused of having no sense of direction.
But that can't be said about James Mos.
When the 15-year-old got separated from his dad at the Isle of Wight Festival he walked a gruelling 11 miles home – via a free trip on the Wightlink ferry – having no money and a broken mobile phone.
He went to the festival on Sunday, June 14, with his dad Charlie Mos and step-mum Belinda Goldring.
But after going to the toilets he lost them and couldn't contact either because he had broken his phone earlier that day.
The worried teenager of Copper Beech Drive, Farlington, then spent three hours walking around the festival site looking for them but by 10.30pm hadn't spotted them.
So he decided to make the journey home himself – even blagging the ferry ride back from Fishbourne to Portsmouth. He said: 'I was looking round everywhere for them and it was getting dark so I didn't know what to do.
'I walked to the car ferry and that took about two hours, I asked people for directions on the way.
'When I got there I told the lady I didn't have any money and I had lost my dad so she let me on.
'When I was on the ferry it felt quite lonely and I didn't want anyone to worry about me.
'I was thinking about other options of getting home like getting a train or a taxi but there were no trains running and I had no money.'
James, who goes to Springfield School, Drayton, got into Portsmouth at 2am and asked a nearby taxi driver the nearest route to get back to Farlington.
He added: 'All I wanted to do was to get home, I didn't have a clue what to do. I kept thinking "I'm knackered".
'It was a long walk – I sort-of knew where I was going.
'When I got home it was about 4.30am and my mum looked at me in disbelief.'
His mum Debbie Mos said she was very proud of her enterprising son.
The 46-year-old added: 'All the way home he was worried about my reaction and whether he was doing the right thing.
'I wasn't worried about where he was because I thought he was with his dad but then at 4.30am the doorbell went and it was him. I'm very proud of him.'
LONG HISTORY
The Isle of Wight festival is held in Newport every year in June. People can choose to stay from a day to four nights.
The festival, which recently won an Arthur Award at the annual International Live Music Conference, was first resurrected as a one-day event in 2002.
It had previously secured legendary status in the late 1960s, hosting Jimi Hendrix, The Who and The Doors.
The festival is thought to boost the Isle of Wight's economy by around 15m.
This year saw acts including Prodigy, Neil Young, the Ting Tings and Stereophonics take to the stage among many others.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Portsmouth
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 13 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 24 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 12 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: South
