A former children's TV entertainer has been touring Kent on his bike - and painting what he sees,

Keen cyclist and artist Timmy Mallett, who used to hit kids over the head with a toy hammer on his TV show, has been exploring Britain on his bike after packing paint brushes in his panniers.

This week, he made whistle-stop visits to Gravesend, Rochester, the Isle of Sheppey and Reculver.

Zany Mallett, 66, was known in the 80s for his "utterly brilliant" and "blaaah" catchphrases as well his outrageous colourful glasses, loud shirts and giant pink foam hammer dubbed Mallett's Mallet.

He is a little more restrained these days but still makes a striking sight in his cycling jacket and safety helmet.

During lockdown, he came up with the idea of a grand tour of the UK's coastline following in the footsteps, or brush strokes, of classic British artists like Turner and Constable. He has averaged 40 miles a day, having set off from Paddington Station in mid-March. He completed his pedal-powered painting expedition in July but is now on a second trip to Kent, making short videos on his phone as he goes.

At St George's church, Gravesend, he posed for a selfie next to the statue of American Native Princess Pocahontas. She married an Englishman and was a regular member of King James' court. Her story was later turned into a Disney cartoon.

In Medway, Mallett filmed himself in front of Rochester Castle, talking about how King John smoked out the barons in the 13th century by setting fire to 40 pigs in tunnels dug beneath the battlements. He also visited Cooling Castle where learned of Charles Dickens' connection to the area and was reunited with his former TV-am cameraman 'Shaky'.

At Rochester Cathedral he stopped to talk about the shrine of St William of Perth and painted a watercolour of Rochester Castle, which he posted on his Facebook page and Twitter accounts.

In Swale, Mallett posed in front of the Welcome to the Isle of the Sheppey sign and then visited Sheerness for a selfie at the town's recently renovated clock tower.

He painted a view of the Sheppey Crossing, writing: "Love the way it sweeps high above the river (sic) Swale to allow boats to navigate, and dwarfs the cows grazing on the marsh."

While at Sheerness, he spotted Environment Agency engineers repairing part of the seawall near the Isle of Sheppey Sailing Club and quipped: "Either rebuilding sea defences or getting a head start on the next sandcastle."

He also snapped a car parked in front of the town's controversial 'You'll have a blast' moody mermaid mural at Beachfields portraying the Island's bomb ship the SS Richard Montgomery and commented: "A new way for traffic wardens to deal with parked cars" before heading off to Queenborough.

His solo cycling adventure, part of a 4,000-mile epic trek around Britain, also took him to Reculver Towers near Herne Bay.

He joined the new breakfast television station TV-am in 1983 after a career in local radio and ended up presenting the live Saturday morning show the Wide Awake Club with co-presenters Michaela Strachan, James Baker, Arabella Warner and Tommy Boyd. It later became the spin-off Wacaday.

In August 1990, the son of a vicar topped the UK charts with his cover of the single Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini and in 2008 he found new fans when he appeared in series eight of I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here in 2008. He finished ninth.

His paintings can now be bought from his online art gallery Mallett’s Palette (mallettspallette.co.uk) from £250 to £3,250. For details of his latest exploits, visit TimmyMallett.co.uk

Mallett was born in Cheshire, the youngest of three boys, and says his love for art was inspired by his dad Michael, who worked in advertising before joining the clergy. Mallett went on to study history at Warwick University which is where he kick-started his media career by working on the student radio station.