Alcoholic who would catch trains hundreds of miles across the UK so he could drink celebrates sobriety after 45 years

A former alcoholic who would hop on a train for journeys to nowhere so he could travel across the country and drink has quit after 45 years but says he is still able to be “an entertainer” in a “measured way”.

Peter Murray, 63, who owns a perfumery, recalled how his shop was his stage and he loved to entertain customers with silly costumes, but he did not know how to “end the party” and would drink at home regularly.

As his addiction worsened, Peter began drinking gin in the morning and said it got to the point where his partner thought he was going to die.

Often disappearing on a train to drink on the journey, Peter would find himself hundreds of miles away in places like Edinburgh or Penzance, but things came to a head in March 2023 when he was taken home from a pub by police.

Since detoxing in rehab and opening up at Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), where he broke down in tears, Peter has been sober for nearly a year and says he does not for a “millisecond” miss alcohol.

Peter, who lives in Knutsford, Cheshire, with his partner Melanie, 60, who is a part owner of his business, told PA Real Life: “To understand my character, you have to know that I’ve always been effectively on stage – even at the age of seven, I was creating dance routines to entertain the parents at functions and school events.

“I’ve always had this immense energy or desire to do things different from the norm.

“I had believed alcohol was part of me as a person, I could not imagine my life without alcohol. I found though that I was still an entertainer but in a measured way, not a crazy alcohol-induced way.”

Peter said he began drinking as a teenager attending family parties and, from an early age, was a larger-than-life character.

In adulthood, he started social drinking regularly but said it did not begin to affect his daily life until recently.

He said: “No one ever commented on my drinking or pulled me to one side, and there was nothing that indicated within my mind and heart and body and soul that I was becoming an alcoholic.”

During lockdown, Peter and Melanie cut down on their drinking but when Covid restrictions began to lift, Peter found himself drinking more and more regularly.

He said: “When small, independent businesses could open to the public with screens and mask wearing, I bought a spaceman outfit to give people a Covid-safe hug.

“I was still being a character, ‘crazy Peter’, and if people are laughing then everything is fine, but I really began to drink more and more regularly on a daily basis.”

Peter started to drink from mid-afternoon to evening but soon began having gin mid-morning.

He found himself searching for excuses to drink, sometimes booking a train ticket to drink on the journey.

Peter said: “I would walk out of the business, pack a bag and get on the train.

“On one occasion, I ended up in Edinburgh and another time I ended up in Penzance without telling my partner, without telling anybody. I even left my phone.”

In March 2023, he disembarked at a remote station he thought was “miles from home” but was actually in his local area.

Peter was surprised when a van pulled up beside him and the driver rolled the window down to ask if he was OK.

He said: “I knew him from the local area. He offered to give me a lift home but I said no so he rang Melanie to say he was concerned.

“I was drunk, wandering on a station.

“I disappeared to a pub where I ordered two large double gins. I was chatting to the barman thinking everything was fine and the next thing I know police arrive and ask me to have a chat in their car.

“They brought me home and I knew I was in a mess.”

Peter sat down with Melanie to have an honest conversation about his addiction and he promised to ring a rehab centre the following morning.

He added: “She told me, ‘You’re sick, you’re really, really sick. You’re ill and you really need help but there’s nothing more I can do’.

“I vowed to speak to someone the following morning before saying, ‘I’m going to go out now’, and she said, ‘I know you are’.”

Heading out to a pub, Peter walked by an AA meeting and spoke to someone he knew outside.

He went into the meeting and broke down in tears as he explained his situation.

The next morning, Peter and Melanie spoke to a rehab centre before calling the Delamere addiction rehab clinic in Northwich, where he would be admitted the next day.

Waiting out the day, he was advised not to stop drinking as it could be dangerous without supervision.

Peter said: “I stayed in the spare bedroom where I knew I had two litre bottles of gin and I was disappointed when I realised one bottle was empty and the other was only three-quarters full.

“I was up every 30 minutes, looking out the window, sweating, smelling horrible.

“At 6am, I was up and I reached under the bed for the remainder of the gin which was half a bottle and I drank it neat in 15 minutes.”

That morning, Melanie drove Peter to the Delamere and he was so ill she feared he would die during the journey.

He added: “This poor woman had three years of serious concern, stress, tears and I almost broke her heart, but she believed that the Peter she fell in love with many years ago was still in there.”

Peter spent two and a half days in confinement where he detoxed before integrating with other guests of the rehab centre.

On his first day mingling at the centre, he made a beeline for a piano he had spotted and performed I Feel Good by James Brown for the other residents.

He said: “This was my chance to discover if I could live without alcohol, and I found that I was still an entertainer, but in a measured way, not a crazy alcohol-induced way.”

Peter stayed at the Delamere for 28 days before returning home, and has remained sober, saying he has not for a “millisecond” thought he was missing alcohol.

Melanie has also noticed a difference in Peter, as he added: “She said it’s like the most amazing miracle.

“I’ve since been to weddings, a 60th birthday party, a golf club, Christmas events going on in Knutsford, where I’ve reflected on what I would have been like, holding court with a bottle of something in my hand.

“Being sober is magic – I love it every second of every day.

“It’s the most wonderful, magical place to be, and the place is in my head.

“I know that my life is going to be lived to the end of my days to the fullest in sobriety.”

Peter still attends a weekly AA meeting and is impressed by the young people who attend and are able to recognise at a young age that they have a problem.

He added: “When I was in my 20s, 30s, 40s, and even 50s, I didn’t see that I had a problem at all.

“I’m still me, still a character who loves entertaining and I’m loving entertaining without booze.”