Ray took early retirement in 2016 which gives him plenty of time for hobbies: bell ringing, going on holiday, walking, searching for bench marks, quaffing single malts, and steam locomotives. Ray even 'owns' one church bell, Tunstall in Kent, and a couple of large bolts and two boiler tubes on the Gresley A4 Pacific Class No. 60007, "Sir Nigel Gresley".

Ray started looking for bench marks in February 2017 after seeing them marked on 1913 6 inch Ordnance Survey maps. His first find was the flush bracket G2509 on St Andrew's Church, Leyland. flic.kr/p/2j3U5fC

During the first lockdown of 2020, Ray and his wife Donna started walking along the towpath of the 127¼ mile long Leeds & Liverpool canal. So far they have completed the section between Liverpool and Rodley and they have around 7 miles remaining to the Leeds basin. Once they reach Leeds they will have covered 254½ miles and simultaneously walked from Liverpool to Leeds and Leeds to Liverpool.