UK Member of Parliament, James MacCleary talks about his visit to Ukraine in 2026

Posted on August 3, 2026

James MacCleary, MP for Lewes in Sussex and his visit to UKRAINE

In this podcast we are looking at one of the most challenging issues of our time. The war in Ukraine. Our special guest is James MacCleary is the Liberal Democrat MP for Lewes. He is defence spokesperson for the Lib Dems.

He has BA in politics and international relations, and an MSc in Russian and East European studies. Before becoming an MP he was Campaign Director for the European Movement. He also has had a long career in local government.

We are now all aware that there has been an ongoing invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces under the control of President Putin. It has now lasted four and a half years. The war has been devastating with over a million Ukrainian and Russian deaths and casualties . It’s terrible isn’t it………… but we also need to be informed about what is going on inside Ukraine and we are lucky to have James McCleary describe some aspects of his recent visit. James MacCleary’s visit was linked with his attendance at the Black Sea Security Forum 2026, held at Odesa, Ukraine, in May 2026. Attendees included: international military personnel, analysts, lawmakers, and experts to address regional resilience, defence capabilities, and geopolitical strategy.

James MacCleary said

“Ukraine is doing for Europe in 2026 what the UK did in 1939. Standing up to a dictator and being clear that we will not back down. I hope that our own young people never have to fight a war in the same way Ukraine is, but we need to do so much more to prepare for it”!.

Great trip + meeting wonderful people!

Posted on July 30, 2026 Please Donate

Day 19/20: Tues 29th/30th July

Sometimes tough but fascinating and unforgettable and meeting wonderful people!

If someone were to ask me what the best part of this journey has been, my answer would be immediate: meeting interesting people. Throughout the trip, I have encountered some truly wonderful characters, many of whom appear in my daily diary. Even during the final hours of the journey, in Saint-Malo, I continued to meet people whose kindness, energy and friendship will remain among my strongest memories of what has been a remarkable adventure—even if it was gruelling at times.

Last night, I had dinner with Don from Australia, a fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable companion. He discovered cycling later in life, and whenever he and his wife visit relatives in the UK, he takes the opportunity to escape across the Channel and explore France by bicycle. I think he has now become as much of a Francophile as I am. Here we are, enjoying a wonderful fruits de mer dinner in a local Saint-Malo restaurant.

I was also delighted to meet up again with Greg and Joy, who I met on the ferry out to Bilbao on 9 July. They are wonderful people, and I greatly enjoyed their company whenever our paths crossed. We kept bumping into one another along the route, and it seemed entirely fitting that we should finally come together in Saint-Malo to celebrate the end of our respective journeys.

This morning, while having breakfast at the hotel before leaving for the ferry, I was fortunate enough to meet another remarkable person: the historical novelist Griff Hosker. Since retiring from teaching in the north-east of England, Griff has written an astonishing 204 books. At 76, he remains full of enthusiasm and creative energy. In some ways, I felt we had something in common: he continues to devote himself to the marathon task of writing historical novels, while I am still fortunate enough to have the energy to undertake marathon cycle rides.

One of the strongest impressions I will take from this journey is the extraordinary kindness of strangers. When I arrived in Saint-Malo, I discovered that my hotel had nowhere secure to store my bicycle. An older gentleman sitting in the hotel lounge overheard my predicament and came over to offer me the key to his own garage, where I could safely leave the bike. It was an exceptionally generous gesture from someone who had never met me before. Thank you, Francis Caradec. There was kindness from the younger generation too. While I was cycling through the town, I apparently dropped the piece of paper containing the address of the garage. A boy of perhaps seven or eight years old saw what had happened and pedalled furiously to catch up with me. He told me that I had lost the paper and showed me where it had fallen. Thanks to him, I was able to cycle back and retrieve it from the middle of a busy road. What a determined and thoughtful young man he was.

I am now aboard the ferry heading home, reflecting on everything that has happened. I am looking forward to meeting the Ukrainian Hearts group in Lewes and reporting back on the journey. Over the next couple of weeks, before the fundraising closes, I will also be publicising the ride and encouraging any remaining contributions.

Naturally, I am disappointed that I was unable to complete the full 800 miles I had originally planned. The extreme heat and the illness I experienced along the way left me in a very poor condition for a while. Also the French holiday season also made hotels and other accommodation more expensive than planned and difficult to find. Nevertheless, it has been a magnificent journey. The miles, the heat and the difficult days will gradually fade, but the people I met and the kindness they showed me will remain. I sincerely hope that I will stay in touch with many of the remarkable people who helped to make this adventure so memorable.

Day 18: Final ride into St Malo!

Posted on July 29, 2026July 30, 2026 Please Donate

Day 18: Tues 28th July

A picturesque end to my marathon cycle ride from Bibao in Spain

Today is my final cycle ride, and I’ve achieved about 650 miles with 26,000 ft of ascent from Bilbao in Spain to here, Saint-Malo. I was hoping to have completed the ride all the way to Dieppe, but the heat has affected me and I’ve had illness on the route. By all accounts, the weather is going to be very hot in the next week. So I hope everybody will be happy that I’ve had a good crack at it and they will continue to make donations to fund medical aid and ambulances for Ukraine.

The final day’s cycling has been extremely pleasant, leaving behind the beautiful river port of Dinan and its picturesque buildings and restaurants.

I cycle up alongside the canal and then up onto the hillside to join the former railway line, now another one of those marvelous cycle paths, this time going into Dinard. The route takes one almost into the centre of Dinard.

I turn off so that I can use the little ferry which runs across the mouth of the river Rance to Saint-Malo itself. A pleasurable end to what has been a tough cycle ride with many challenges, but nevertheless well worth doing.

I’ve raised nearly £3,000, and I hope that we can turn that into much more once I arrive back in England. Thank you.

Day 17: Super cycling alongside the Le canal d’Ille-et-Rance

Posted on July 29, 2026 Please Donate

Day 17: Mon 27th July

Beautiful scenes alone the Le canal d’Ille-et-Rance

A beautiful day cycling alongside the River Rance and its canal. Here are a few photo.

When you’re cycling on the side of the canal, you’re cycling on what’s called the Chemin de Halage, and this is where the horses would have walked, pulling the great canal barges along back in the day when the canal was built.

The canal itself stretches all the way from Saint-Malo, out into the English Channel, right down to Nantes, which takes it into the west coast of France and the Atlantic. In its day, it was a major transportation route for goods, only becoming redundant because of the railways. Now it’s a recreational route, and the French regional government here do work hard to keep the canal open. As you can see below, there’s a machine here which gathers up all of the surface weed and algal bloom to ensure that both the canal remains navigable and also the canal is not starved of oxygen.

I stopped for coffee at a wonderfully sunny open-air cafe en route and turned off the canal into a nearby town at one point to get a fantastic meal for just €18.50. Three courses, absolutely delicious, including wine. This is my kind of France. Thank you to José Julio the proprietor of Chez Myriam in Montreuil-sur-Ille

At one point, there’s a massive flight of locks, which I’m sure canal enthusiasts would love. It’s quite picturesque as well.

Day 16: A very pleasant day cycling to Rennes

Posted on July 29, 2026 Please Donate

Day 16: Sun 26th July

Shady cycling on old railway lines and along peaceful canal paths

Today has been a very pleasant day cycling from Bains-de-Breton through the countryside, sometimes using an old railway track. The French are good at this. I did try and follow Google at one point, but they got it wrong (again!) for me. However, I was soon at Messac where I stayed some years ago with some of my Lewes cycling chums. I is on the which is on the River La Vilaine, which takes me north to Rennes. The river is also a canal, and this means there’s a towpath and therefore a good cycling path. It’s route number 42, which actually goes on eventually to Saint-Malo.

So there’s nothing more to do but just cycle along what would’ve been the haulage track alongside the canal and enjoy the ride. Shade sometimes, quite often, and it’s been very pleasant. The temperature’s been very pleasant, and there’s been very pleasant views, and it’s very calming compared to the stress of cycling up through those pine forests further down at Cap Ferret, where, as we know, a short while after I was there, they went up in flames. But even before that, it was very hot and very tiring. Today is a dream compared to that. Very enjoyable.

And so I arrive in good time to check into a hotel in the center of Rennes. I selected a hotel very close to where the La Vilaine canal and river join up with the River La Rance, and that means in the morning of the following day, I can just cycle a few hundred yards and get on the track. Going through Rennes on the cycleways is a dream, quite frankly. Superb. Only a short piece had to be done on a road. So all in all, it’s been a very pleasant day.

Day 15: 100km Cycling north from Nantes to Bain-de-Bretagne

Posted on July 28, 2026 Please Donate

Day 15: Sat 25th July

Great ride and ran of charge for my electric bike as I arrive at my destination! Phew!

104 km (65 miles) and 883 m (2,900 ft) of ascent

Finally, I’m feeling better, and I leave Nantes on Saturday morning. I’ve already got directions from the tourist office to guide me onto the EuroVelo Route one (La Vélodyssée), I shall be travelling over the next three days to Saint-Malo. There is no major issues on this route, and indeed, on Sunday, it’s going to rain!!

I cycle north from my hotel on extremely well-provided cycle paths, and I’m soon onto the Velo route next to the River – L’Erdre.

I pass over the Brest to Nantes canal – I cycle route I am tempted to follow. But that is for another day!

It’s very pleasant, and I’m making good time, although there are some odd little deviations as you get further up. And so I decide not to stick wholly to the EuroVelo route, which has lots of twists and turns at certain points. Finally I break away from the EV1, and head north to Châteaubriant. Initially, I was going to follow a cycle path, which was marked on the IGN French equivalent of the Ordnance Survey. But that would take ages and goes in and out of many villages.

So I decide to take myself up one of the very straight, well-made-up roads, and I make good time. Not too much traffic. It’s Saturday, and as ever in France, the motorists are very almost universally caring about giving you plenty of space.

On the way I pass a cycle repair café – so they have this in France as in Lewes!

I’ve got a long way to go on this route, and it’s much further than I estimated when I was checking the distance with Google. But I’m reasonably confident I’ve got my strength back, and when I get to Châteaubriant, it’s clear from the IGN map that there’s an old railway line, which has turned into a cycle path heading northwest, which takes me some way towards my final destination of Bains-les-Bains de Bretagne.

It’s been a hot day, not as hot as previously, but fortunately, a lot of the route has been in the shade of the trees on cycle paths, so it’s been good. But I realize as I’m nearing my destination, I’ve done over 100 km, and my battery’s running out. What I didn’t bargain for is that to get to the town and the hotel where I am, I have to go uphill into the town. I just about make it, leaving 5% of my battery free! Still, it’s been a good day!

Lucky escape from the fires at Cap Ferret!

Posted on July 28, 2026 Please Donate

Watching the TV at the hotel in Nantes, I find that there had been a tremendous forest fire on Cap Ferret in the Gironde region which I had passed though on the 18th/19th July. The blaze seems to have started on the 21/22nd July. Here are the pictures of last night from the TV report tonight. The forest where I was cycling through 3 days ago was completely on fire. TV reports say says some 250,000 people had to be evacuated. Another report says that 50,000 hectares (124,000 acres) have been burnt along with home and holiday resorts! The fires are reportedly 15km from g for Bordeaux!

BBC image. BBC Report

I witnessed that the land everywhere is tinder box dry. Photo of the TV in my hotel room:

Day 13-14 Train to Nantes and a tourist for the day

Posted on July 28, 2026July 28, 2026 Please Donate

Day 13/14: Thurs 23rd & Fri 24th July

Further bicycle problems & I am still not well, Ugh!

Today, Thursday the 23rd, I’m still not feeling well, and I have an electrical problem with my bicycle. The nearest specialist for this type of bike is miles away, so I’d have to take the train north to Nantes, which is a pity, but I’m not feeling up to it.

The train was an interesting experience. The company are employing young people with special uniforms to help the many cyclists board the train with their bicycles. They even dedicated some of the seats, as you will see in the photograph, to bicycles. They really are trying to help people travel in a sustainable way here in France.

In Nantes, I’m lucky enough to find a ‘vélo atelier’ who can fix my bike. It had a series of problems, and so I am glad that I found him not far from my hotel in the centre of Nantes. Still not feeling very well. I decided to stay here a couple of nights and set off on Saturday morning.

So on Friday, the 24th, I’m a tourist looking around Nantes and its wonderful Chateau, the historical home of the Dukes of Brittany. Nantes is the ancient capital of Brittany.

It’s a lively town with lots of art, and it’s somewhere where I’ve made a note to come back, as it would be a great place to spend a few days shopping and I can enjoy the atmosphere of the place. There’s plenty of art here, and here is one peculiar piece of art outside one of the public buildings.

Oh and this (??) from a past era:

Day 12: Rochefort to La Rochelle

Posted on July 26, 2026July 29, 2026 Please Donate

Day 12: Wednesday 22nd July

Very please ride but ended with bicycle woes

I left Rochefort after what should have been a couple of days’ rest. But unfortunately, I’d had an upset stomach for some reason, and I spent most of the time mooching around the self-catering apartment.

I met with and cycled a while with two French guys, Jean-Marie and Siri, father (72) and son, and we had a conversation while cycling along. Most enjoyable. They asked about what I was doing, where I was going, and were supportive. Interestingly enough, what they said was, “cycling at an older age keeps you alive,” which is exactly my own thoughts!

It was a lovely day when I ventured forth, although the predictions were yet another hot day so I set off fairly early. The EuroVelo 1 route, (the La Vélodyssée) takes you onward in a somewhat circuitous route up to La Rochelle. It’s a good idea to follow this because it’s clearly marked and often the surface is really good. It follows the River Charente, which is the reason why there was a naval base at Rochefort in the 17th/19th C, because sailing ships could come in and out on the wide river.

It wasn’t a long cycle ride, and I was grateful for that because of not feeling too well. But coming closer to La Rochelle, it’s pleasing to cycle through along the edge of the sea, with lots of little restaurants selling huîtres and seafood.

I pass by a ‘Cabane de pêcheur de moules et d’huîtres sur le quai’ and there is fascinating machine for sorting the mussels:

Coming into the environs of La Rochelle itself, I enter the suburb of Châtelaillon-Plage, and was pleased to note that outside the Mairie, the town hall, the Ukrainian flag was flying prominently.

I found a budget hotel on the edge of La Rochelle with a fairly cheap restaurant nearby. That did me for the night. I was impressed with the Ibis Budget Hotel, as in the garage below, there was a special cage for bicycles.

But I had bicycle troubles, one of my panniers nearly fell of with a broken clip so I have to spend the earlier part of the evening finding a place where I can buy another one. After a hot ride out to the outskirts of la Rochelle a massive Decathlon store has the very thing!

Day 11 – A Day off from cycling – in the historical French naval base of Rochefort

Posted on July 21, 2026July 21, 2026 Please Donate

Day 11: Tuesday 21st July

Day 11 is a day off. I’ve already completed 418 miles, and 19,458 feet ascent. ( 674 km, and5,931 meters ascent)

.A break is needed, so I’m glad that I’ve got two nights here. The place is absolutely fascinating. It’s a former French naval port, and now is a major tourist centre.

From the local tourist office:

Rochefort lies on the river Charente, close to its outflow into the Atlantic Ocean. It is about 30 km southeast of La Rochelle. In December 1665, Rochefort was chosen by Jean-Baptiste Colbert as a place of “refuge, defence and supply” for the French Navy. The Arsenal de Rochefort served as a naval base and dockyard until it closed in 1926. Jean-Baptiste Colbert was a French statesman who served as First Minister of State from 1661 until his death in 1683 under the rule of King Louis XIV. In addition, he founded France’s merchant navy, becoming Secretary of State of the Navy in 1669.

Here are some photos. I hope you enjoy. The site is absolutely massive, and the residence where I’m staying looks like it could contain a whole squadron of navy personnel!