My name is Ruth Livingstone. In 2010 I decided to start walking around the coastline of the British mainland. I’d never done any long-distance hiking before! But once I started, I was hooked.
This blog documents my walks around the coast, starting in North Norfolk, and heading clockwise around the shore. I follow paths and tracks, take plenty of breaks for photographs and snacks, and in general I make very slow progress.
But why hurry? I’ll never walk this way again, and I intend to enjoy every minute of my walk. (Well, OK, nearly every minute.)
In the nine years since I began my trek, I’ve covered over 4,000 miles of coastline and met many other walkers (some in real life and some via the magic of the Internet). I’ve become fitter and tougher, and I’ve also suffered multiple blisters, knee swelling, hip pains, and developed a strong aversion to cows. It’s been a wonderful, exhilarating, and – sometimes – terrifying experience.
Why am I doing this?
Hmmm, good question. I’m not entirely sure and, no, I’m not raising money for charity. Actually, this expedition is entirely selfish. After researching coastal walking on the internet, I discovered only a handful of people have completed a walk around the whole of Britain. I both love the sea and love the idea of undertaking an epic trek – while not straying too far from home. And, importantly, I know I can do it.
Ruth's Coastal Walk (UK) 
Just found your post through the tag line.
Good luck with this, and I’ll follow the blog with interest.
Good for you Ruth.
We look forward to seeing you in the far north of Scotland!!
You’re very welcome to come and stay with us as we live right on the north coast close to Dunnet Head which is the most northerly point on the British mainland.
Best wishes
Lynne and Rob
Hi Lynn
Yes, would love to stay. At this rate, I should reach Dunnett Head in 3 years and 150 days time!
Setting off with John tomorrow to do the next stage and might get as far as Cromer.
Love, Ruth
Hi! I finished walking around Scotland last year and I can honestly say it was the best theing Ive ever done – although hard work! Im planning to carry on and see if I can walk around the rest of the UK next year – good luck with the rest of the walk! Im also trying to get a Scottish Coastal Path established – see http://www.nationalcoastalpath.co.uk for info.
Gil
Hi Gil
Your walk sounds amazing and I like your website.
Scotland is going to be a little bit more difficult than Norfolk, I think.
But I remain optimistic!
Hi Gil
Belatedly added links to your site from my Ruth’s Coastal Walk site and had a really good look at your site – which is marvellous. I am going to find it very useful when I finally get up to Scotland. At the moment I am still in Essex!
Good luck with your campaign.
Best wishes, Ruth
I’ve just come across this website and how interesting. I’ve walked the coast of Essex, the longest coastline of any English county, and described the walk, places, history, stories and people in my book ESSEX COAST WALK. Reading you blog makes me wish I was back walking it again. I will again one day but I’m working on another coastal project at the moment and will have a new book out next year. Perhaps you will publish your blog as a book when you’ve completed the walk.
Best wishes for the walk. I’ll keep reading.
Peter Caton
Hi Peter,
Thank you for making contact and I am very interested in your book. In fact, I have ordered it and looking forward to reading it. Wonder what your other coastal project is?
Best wishes, Ruth
Just want to add that your book has arrived and I am very much enjoying it.
Hi Ruth
We were walking the Suffolk Coast at the same time last year – I don’t remember you overtaking me (I certainly wouldn’t have overtaken you) – my exertions were for my new book Suffolk Beaches which I’m sitting here putting it together at the moment – which is what prompted me to write to you. I walked the Norfolk Coast in 2008 and produced Norfolk Beaches as a result. I live in Norfolk so this my home territory and it is something of a retirement hobby – but I won’t be going further afield. Anyway I will watch your further progress with interest and wish you well in 2011.
Kind regards
Steve Appleyard
http://www.redflannel.co.uk
Good luck with your new book. I loved Suffolk. Enjoyed viewing your photos on http://www.redflannel.co.uk. I am now in Kent – but been unable to continue walking with the bad weather and short days. Looking forward to getting back to the coast soon!
Hello Ruth, enjoying your walking blog and it’s great to catch up with fellow lovers of the countryside and coastline.
With my partner Pam we’re walking the 210 miles of The Severn Way (miniscule compared to your ambitious trek!) but we have a blog also and write up each stage of the walk with a few pics.
It’s unlikely that our paths will cross en route unless you happen to be around the Bristol Channel this coming summer when we hope to finish!
Will add your very fine blog to our links section at http://www.followmywalks.com – perhaps you’d like to reciprocate?
Have subscribed to your email alerts to get all the latest info.
Will keep in touch
I like the idea that blogs are connected to one another. I am glad to bump into your blog, Miss Ruthl. 🙂
Just come across your blog. As an East Kent chap, I know our coast very well from Whitstable ( where I live ) down to Ramsgate ( where I work and was also born there ). I’m off to the North Norfolk coast next week, so your earlier walk acts as a great guide for me. I’ll follow your progress and wish you well on the way.
Well! And I thought my idea was original! It came to me this evening and while researching distances I came across your blog – I am thinking of doing what you’re doing and had even decided to start in Norfolk as that’s where I spent many a happy year. Good luck – will let you know when I start.
Tricia
Hi Patricia.
Great minds think alike! I woke up one morning (sometime back in Spring 2010) with the firm idea of walking round the coastline. Haven’t looked back since. If you are serious about starting, suggest you take a look at David Cotton’s excellent website. He walked around the coast (non stop) in 2002/3. http://www.britishwalks.org/walks/Named/CoastWalk/index.php
Are you going to keep a blog? Please do let me know when you start.
Best wishes, Ruth
Hi Ruth,
Thought I’d let you know how I’m doing. On the Norfolk coast I’ve done Titchwell to Mundesley and on the south coast Camber Sands to Shoreham – all in short stages. Your blog is great for info on pain and pleasure ahead, although some experiences have got to be subjective (effect of blisters, weather, tides, hunger, people etc.)
All the best
Patricia
Hi Patricia,
Well done on walking. Doing short bursts of different sections must be interesting – flat Norfolk and then the cliffs of Sussex.
Hope you haven’t had too many blisters!
Yours, Ruth
Finally got round to putting all my notes into a blog and here’s the address http://joiningthedotsblogdotcom.wordpress.com – I was wondering if you would add it to the list of walkers on your blog. I would also like to do the same for you and all the wonderful people out there doing walks around the coast, but I haven’t worked out how to add a second sidebar! Anyway, I’m on my last walk in the south east and soon I can go back to the south coast and REAL sea instead of muddy estuaries!
All the best
Patricia
Dear Patricia, absolutely delighted to add you to the list of coastal walkers. Enjoyed reading your account of Allhallows to Rochester. Yes, I was dying for the sea at that point too. It gets better when you get to Conyer. But Whitstable is the beginning of real seaside again – yippee! To get a sidebar on your blog you need to go to Appearance in your dashboard and go into Widgets and pull Links into your Widget Areas (or, at least, that’s how it’s done on my blog).
hi ruth
we are hoping to see you when you get to Dorset – hopefully in the company of john and ella.
if the time and weather is good we would like to join you for an evening or even to walk during the day.
good luck with the section before Dorset.
Barbara
Hi Barbara
Would love to see you when we get to Dorset. Hopefully it will be in September. Will email you about contact details.
Ruth
What an interesting blog, Ruth. Your latest post just happens to be from my part of the world (Portsmouth), although I have lived in Cheshire for 23 years, which unfortunately is nowhere near the sea. We have decided to take a bit of a gap from working and do some travelling which will involve lots of walking and cycling. We’ve just returned from our first jaunt – 5 weeks in Europe. The coastline of the UK is stunning. Our next foray will be to the coast, so I’ll follow your progress with great interest. Good luck.
Hi Ruth, Just found your blog…heres mine! http://walkaroundbritainscoast.blogspot.com/
As I live in Dawlish, Devon I firstly went West and ended up at Barry Island! Then I headed East and have made it to Southwold
I started nearly 2 years ago and have covered just over 1200 miles, next section is Southwold to Kings Lynn.
Martyn
Hi Ruth
Your (fantastic) project is quite a bit more ambitious than my fairly modest one and I really wish you the best. I walked the Pembrokeshire coast path once which was really lovely and a bit of coast I’m sure your going to love. I also have a relative who lives in Kessingland and I’ve done the walk down to Southwold many times. Glad you got out of that one ok!
Good luck, hope you manage the lot!
Cheers, Jason
Hi Ruth
Most interesting blog, beautifully presented. I’m writing a ‘then and now’ book on the Sussex coast & wanted to ask you about the two benches on Thorney Island. Could you contact me by email when convenient doug@denno.org.uk ? Many thanks!
Douglas
Hi Ruth – You asked about my coastal project following on from Essex Coast Walk. Well it’s finished now and the book is out. No Boat Required – Exploring Tidal Islands. I have visited the 43 tidal islands (meeting my definition) that can be walked to from the UK mainland and claim to be the first person to have done so. You will hopefully walk past them all (as others have done), but I’m not aware that anyone else has actually walked to all the islands – some are well known, some very remote & obscure.
No Boat Required is available post free from http://www.swanbooks.co.uk.
I’m still enjoying your blog very much by the way.
Hi Peter, Congrats on your new book. I have ordered from Amazon and looking forward to reading it. Sounds like a really interesting project and a unique idea.
Best wishes, Ruth
Hello Ruth,
I have just read you post on your walk around Thorney Isalnd. Your script made the walk sound so interesting. Indeed it is, as I am aThorney Islander. I had the pleasure of living their as a child in the late 60’s, before moving to RAF Lyneham and then back again in the 70’s until the RAF vacated the Island. I have nothing but treasured memories of my time their with my late twin brother. I have been back to the Island once since returning to the country, I drove to the church to visit some names buried there from the past.
I have always wanted to do the walk around the Island, which prompted me to go online, and your post came up. I intend to do the walk in the New Year and take lots of pictures. I would like to visit Pilsea Island, which in the 60’s was the RAF station’s private beach, it was lovely and spent many happy days in the summers and, as you said in your script, there are some lovely blackberry bushes on the way, which my mum used to pick and make delicious pies. Also my late brother and I used to go with the fireman early morning walking around the airfield picking mushrooms.
Anyway, I digress, thank you for your post, it was lovely to read. I will post a script on my walk, soon as I have completed it. Very best wishes with your walk.
All the best.
Gary Peacock
garypeacock1@hotmail.com
Hiya Ruth!
Thanks for adding my blog to your site it’s very much appreciated. I’ve just been having a look through some of your posts. There’s some great photos in there. I guess you’ll be on the South West coast path soon, it’s hard work but well worth it!
Hi Nat,
I have been inspired by people who have done the route before me and you did it in one go – so much more difficult than the way I am doing it.
Yes, I am looking forward to the South West Coast path and have just started on it. But not looking forward to the ups and downs.
Yours, Ruth
Hi Ruth, I’m enjoying following your journey and as you are now on the south west coast path can tell you it is great. (i did it in 2010 and am continuing coasting but in the opposite direction to you so your description from norfolk to kent is proving very usefull. all the best at this rate we may pass each other some where on the west scotish coast in a few years time.
Cheers J.P.
Hi John, Just done a long weekend doing Swanage to Lulworth Cove, along the South West Coastal Path. Wonderful path! But very tiring on my legs (I am used to the flatlands of Lincolnshire!). Are you doing the whole of the coast? Or sections? Best wishes, Ruth
Hi Ruth, you are in a tough patch, soon it will ease for some time.
I gess i will do the whole coast if i get time, i did lands end to john o groats in 2010 followed by the south west path and seem to be still going as time allows.
My hiking is a bit (lot) jumbled as i keep doing other canal paths, old railtrack beds and whatever else i spot on the map, so John o groats to lands end return trip is planned for some when, Along with coasting i did Wales west point to England east point last year (St Davids to Lowestoft) which was absolutely brilliant. I really enjoyed Wales so to keep up the jumbled theme i’m attempting the Welsh coast starting late March, after that if nothing else i will continue up the east coast which you have reported on nicely. enjoy.
Cheers J.P.
Will put a link to your blog on the front of mine.
Hi Ruth. I found your blog this morning after doing a search for people that have walked the entire coastline in the UK mainland. I suffered a lot of mental and physical trauma last year after a stressful relationship breakup. I ended up in a Portuguese hospital after having a heart attack. Bought on by stress according to my UK doctor. Twelve months tater I’m ok. Mentally scared but ok. I sat at home in Leek Staffordshire last March 2011 and woke up one morning and after praying in desparation I got up and bought a ticket to Brasil. Since then I have been traveling backwards and forwards between the UK and Brasil and three months in Australia. My plan at the end of this year is to return to the UK and walk the coast of the UK mainland camping and living rough. At 55 years ols and having had those experiences I know this is my time to start my bucket list. So this walk is one of my dreams. Any advice or information you can give me will be most appreciated. I do have a blog about my travels to date if you are interested and I intend to add this walk to my writing to date. I hope I hear from you and we can swap ideas and experiences.
All the best. Steve. My blog address is http://www.imkillingtime.wordpress.com
Hi and I am very sorry to learn about your various troubles. It is interesting to hear about your adventures. Yes, walking around the UK coastline could be wonderfully therapeutic. You are braver than me – with your plan to camp and/or live rough! If you are serious about the trek, then don’t forget to visit David Cotton’s web site – in my links section – as he walked around the coast in one go and he stayed at campsites or hostels on the way round. Hope all goes well and let me know if you get started. We might meet up – as you are highly likely to overtake me! Very best wishes, Ruth
Hi Ruth. Thanks for your quick reply. I will and I hope we do.
Steve
Hi Ruth I have just come on to your page i think you are very brave if you need a place to stay if you are near shoreham by sea west sussex I have a room, I myself and some friends at the moment are walking the north downs way which we do over a long weekend as one of them still works, we have also done south downs way most of the isle of weight yorkshire east coast last year which I wasnt that impressed with, perhasp Im spoilt living where i do I can walk to coast and the downs from home with in 25mins, I wish you well Lin.
hi Lin, the South Downs Way looked lovely and I was kind of sad I had to give it a miss and stick to the coast (maybe another day….). Thank you very much for the offer of a place to stay – very kind of you. But, too late! I am now in Weymouth. You live in a lovely part of the countryside. Thanks for dropping by 🙂
HI Ruth. Thank you for the offer. I will keep in touch. STEVE
Hello Ruth! Greetings from Nottingham. I came across your page while planning a possible walk around the new Wales Coastal Path that’s opening in May. Pob lwc i chi! (Something along the lines of ‘I wish you the best of luck’ in Welsh). Take care on your journey x
Hi Liam
Well, we are almost neighbours! The new Wales Coast path sounds wonderful. Would be interested to hear how you get on. I’m looking forward to walking there, but have the beautiful Devon and Cornwall coastlines to enjoy first.
Hi Ruth – Good to see you are still going! As you know I am going the other way and just off on thursday to walk days 229 – 233 Ravenglass to Grange over Sands having started off year seven in Carlisle. I think you have changed your email because my blog update emails are bouncing back undelivered. Please drop me an email to john.gale@me.com if you wish to remain ‘in the loop’ – and of course feel free to add my site to the growing list of other walkers on your site http://web.mac.com/john.gale/Personal/Coast_-_Blog/Coast_-_Blog.html
Ruth have just found you your blog, good luck
Hey Ruth
I have just stumbled across your blog which I will read properly later. I decided when I hit 40 that I would walk the coast too and I was delighted when my eldest daughter asked if she could come too! We started in 1999 and do a day or two at a time whenever we can. We have got as far as Swanage in the west and this weekend we reached Margate.
So far we have nbot set up an online blog but I have been thinking about it for a while,
All the best Jane
Hi Jane, How wonderful to have your daughter walking with you. And wonderful to find another coast walker and YES, you really must set up a blog (you don’t have to write as much as I do!). It’s a great way of keeping in contact with other walkers and of recording memories of your adventures. Yours, Ruth
I have written up all the walks as we have gone along, so I just might do a blog as you say, to keep up with others.
Hello Ruth
You are on a most beautiful bit of the coastline now. If you and you family would like to stay in Kingswear, just along the coast from Brixham, you would be most welcome, we have a holiday home there and it is a lovely place for a holiday. If you would like to use it, just let me know when you think you will be there, and what dates. Your blog is wonderful, I do so enjoy it, great photographs, very thoughtful comments and well done.
Jill
Hi Jill, I meant to say before, THANK YOU, for your very generous offer. And I am so glad you enjoy my blog. I am a little behind in updating it and I have now reached Dartmouth! You must have some wonderful holidays in Kingswear. It was a beautiful place. As to when I’m walking again, fingers crossed for some good weather….. BW Ruth
What a wonderful blog! I’ve added you to my blogroll. Just couldn’t resist.
Hello Ruth
I’ve just stumbled on your great site whilst researching for my possible UK coastal walk next year. Well done so far ! trust me I know what you are going through, I did the 630ml SWCP last year (In the other direction) and Lands End John O’ Groats 950ml this year.
I was interested to see that you are in the South Devon area now, Carol and I (fellow fifty something’s) live on Dartmoor a few miles inland. I would really value a chat about your experiences to date ahead of my trip, perhaps joining you one day as you walk through our patch ?
Just a thought… Oh and if you ever decide to do LEJOG after this you will be supprised how easy it is after the SWCP, a lot less up’s and down’s lol.
Keep up the good work, my simple LEJOG blog on http://www.walkwithjon.co.uk is a fraction of the effort you are going through, a lot of work but for us brilliant.
Best of luck.
Jon and Carol.
Hi Jon – Glad to hear you are considering a UK coastal walk – I have now completed over 4,700 miles of my solo walk, starting from London and walking counter-clockwise having reached Bangor. My website may be helpful to you. Best of luck. John
http://jgacs.co.uk/personal
Hi Ruth names Mark 20 I’m a gardener for Aston Martin and the black horse at beamish north east england I’m looking to do a walking challenge of some size looking to tag a long with some one I was thinking all of the British coast as example.
Hi Mark, I’m interested to hear you are looking for a walking challenge and certainly the coastal paths provide plenty of challenges! I have to confess, I prefer walking alone – and I think you would be much fitter and much faster than me (my average speed is 2 miles an hour!). Maybe you can link up with some of the other coastal walkers? I provide links to the blogs of a number of other people doing the same thing. Good luck with your walking and best wishes, Ruth.
any chance of sharing some of your photos with my holiday guests in return you can stay here
http://www.dogfriendlydevon.co.uk, it will take you on to your next stage! Look forward to it
Hi Sally, that is a VERY kind offer! By coincidence, I picked up your comment on the very day after I walked through Challaborough. It was a lovely area and I look forward to writing up the walk. Just spent 4 more days of coast walking and I am now in Noss Mayo. Will be hanging up my walking boots until the days get longer and the paths get drier and the ferries start running again. Of course you can share my photos with your holiday guests – all I ask for is a mention if you use them. Best wishes, Ruth
Ruth , so glad to have found your site. I’ve started travelling along the coast and shall start publishing my first post by the end of the week. Why? Just because I wanted to get to know this amazing coastline better. Will be following your blog.
Welcome to the club and good luck! http://jgacs.co.uk/personal/Coast_-_Blog/Coast_-_Blog.html
Please let me know when you get your blog up and running, and I will add you to my collection of links to other coastal walkers. Wonder where you are starting from and if we might meet up along the way?
I stumbled over your blog and have loved reading it. Wonderful pictures and beautifully written.
Good luck with the rest of your walk
I must get mine started too, although I think it is unlikely we will walk any more of the coast until next Easter. Unless we have a mild Christmas and are tempted back 🙂
Hi Ruth
I just found your blog and will follow here and on twitter. I really like that you are doing this just for you. I’ve nothing against charity walks but its refreshing to read that you are doing this just for you. I’m doing that too, Do have a look at my Wales Coast Path walks blog . I’ve gone from Chepstow to Pembrokeshire so far and will pick it back up in the Spring. Do ask if you need any suggestions about places to stay etc. Best of Luck,
Charles
http://www.charleshawes.veddw.com
PS it would be great if you could add me to your coastal walkers blogs!
Hi Ruth
I really enjoyed reading your blog, particularly the areas near to where I live in Herne Bay. Some of your light-hearted comments about the more grim places make me laugh. I work for the local newspapers, Whitstable Times, Herne Bay Times, Isle of Thanet Gazette and thisiskent.co.uk. I’m publishing an advertising feature on the local area and wondered if I could use one or two of your images, in particular the one across the Margate sands with Turner Contemporary: 13-thm-turner-contemporary. I would be happy to accredit you by putting your name next to the image. Please let me know if this is okay?
Best wishes
Kris
Yes, happy for you to use my photographs. I have some higher resolution ones if you want them. Am emailing you. Ruth
Hi Ruth,
I stumbled across your site tonight. I am equally enthusiastic about coast walking and started walking the scottish coast with some friends in 2007 from the border at Berwick on Tweed (obviously travelling anti clockwise). I have completed the east and north coast and we are currently making our way down the west coast.
We are off again for a weeks walking in May , picking up where we left off near Little Loch Broom south of Ullapool.
I have a web site for my walk where I record a write up for each days walk, a map and a selection of photographs. My web site is http://www.walkingscotlandscoast.co.uk
I too plan my own routes and we walk as near to the sea as possible avoiding road walking at every opportunity.
When you venture north of the border you might find information on my sight helpful.
I should say that due to a technical difficult there are 16 days walking still to be uploaded to my site. I am assured the problem will be rectified soon.
Best wishes
Morris Blair
Hi Morris, your walk sounds amazing and you have a very impressive website. Just looked at Gills Bay to Dunnet section, and you would have walked across the bottom of the ‘garden’ belonging to my brother and sister in law, at Brough. I am a long way from Scotland and am fearful of the terrain and lack of public rights-of-way. Will certainly use your site as a guide. Have added you to my list of coastal walkers. Best wishes, Ruth
Hi Kris (and apologies Ruth for muscling in on your page),
I will be passing through your areas on a trip of my own later this year and wonder if we can chat about a little interview.
Many Thanks
Hi Natalie, in respect of Ruth’s blog and your own tour, could you look me up on LinkedIn and drop me a line on there. Cheers, Kris
Hi Ruth
I have finally got round to starting a blog with my coast walk. It is here .
http://wallkerofthecoast.blogspot.co.uk/
I am adding the walks from the beginning in 1999 up to last summer’s a few at a time and soon there will be photos. We didn’t acquire a digital camera until 2002, so the photos before that are few and very bad.
It is lovely to keep up with your walks and I can’t wait to get back to the sea in the Easter holidays
I don’t know whether it’s just me or if everyone else experiencing problems with your site.
It looks like some of the text in your posts are running off the
screen. Can someone else please comment and let me know if this is happening to
them as well? This could be a issue with my web browser because I’ve had this happen previously. Appreciate it
I think it is just you. Taking this at face value. You may be another damn spammer. Ruth
Hi Ruth, I think what youºre doing is fantastic. I have also found that few people have circumnavigated the UK coast on foot. I’ll be following your progress with much interest.
Beginning August 1st, I will be on my own trip around the UK coast. starting in St Ives and travelling anticlockwise. The twist is that I will rely soley on regualr service, public buses for the whole journey.
Wish me luck!
Hi Natalie, yes – more people have climbed Everest than have walked around the UK! Are you doing it in stages? Or all in one go? Best of luck with your adventure. Using public transport will be a challenge and I hope you keep a blog so that we can follow your progress. Do let me know the URL, please. Peter Caton walked the Essex coast using only public transport – no blog, but he has written a book: http://www.petercatonbooks.co.uk/.
We may meet in Cornwall, unless I have managed to get past St Ives by the 1st AUgust. Keep in touch. Ruth
Hi Ruth,
I just found your blog and it is so inspiring!!!
I’m 22 and have never walked much in my life, but I’m really ambitious to change that.
My first goal is to complete the South West Coast Path, but since I live in Lincs and don’t have a car, it’s a bit expensive getting around and staying at places.
Can you recommend any nice walks that would be good to start with and aren’t too hard to get to? I love your plan of walking the entire coastline and will definitely keep reading your blog!
Lisa
Hi Lisa, the problem with Lincolnshire is the flatness of the landscape – which makes walking in Lincolnshire a bit boring. If you want a gentle coastal walk to kick off with, I recommend the North Norfolk coastal path. The great thing about the North Norfolk coast is the regular little bus service that runs along the coast road. This means you can make your base somewhere (maybe a cheapish place along the road) and take the bus to and from your start and stop points. Best of luck with your walking. Yours Ruth
Hi Ruth
I did the North Norfolk coastal path last year. I am keen to do somewhere else this coming year – where would you recommend? Coastal, pretty views, not too steep (50 something myself). Now I have found your blog I shall watch with interest.
Kind regards Chris
Hi Chris,
I enjoyed the white cliffs of the Kent coast (from Whitstable round towards Dover and Ramsgate).
And Devon is lovely (I recommend from Lyme Regis to Exmouth or, a little wilder, between Brixham to Salcombe).
Cornwall is glorious but the coastline gets pretty rugged and it takes longer to get down there.
Whatever you decide, have fun!
Yours, Ruth
Hi Lisa, I picked up on your comment to Ruth. I am also walking the British Coast Path but in the opposite direction having started out from London and am currently in Pembrokeshire. I remember walking the Lincolnshire coast back in early November 2006, I had lovely sunny days but of course it was to say the least a bit cool! I have done my whole walk using trains and buses and have found that by booking fares 2 to 3 months in advance online you save a fortune. It only cost about £15 from London to Pwllheli and fares rarely cost more than £30 each way – I even got to Thurso for only £25! If you want scenery as good as the Southwest Coast Path but without the crowds and expensive accommodation, I recommend the Lleyn Peninsular in North Wales and in fact that whole Welsh coastline running south to St Davids is absolutely magnificent – see my blog http://jgacs.co.uk/personal/Coast_-_Blog/Coast_-_Blog.html
Hi Ruth,
Im interested in using one of your pictures on another website todo with margate.
Can you get intouch please
Thanks
Hello Ruth
Just found your Blog. My wife and I started walking around the UK coast in July 2007. We left from Dover walking in a clockwise direction. So far we had one year when we unable to do any walking. We finished the South West Coastal Path on Friday last week having done a final week from Westward Ho! When we return in December we will pick up the West Somerset Coastal Path but will aim to stick to the coast rather than go too far inland. Good luck. Seems there are now several people doing it.
Andrew
Hi Andrew and Lynda
How wonderful to hear of your progress round the coast. You are ahead of me. I wonder if I will ever catch up? Yes there are a few of us doing the same thing. I am worrying that everything will be an anti-climax after the wonderful South West Coast Path, but I guess we have the beauty of Wales to come…
Dear Ruth
I am just about to reach the SW coast path having arrived in Bridgwater last Sunday (going anti-clockwise from London). I can assure you that the best is yet to come – Pembrokeshire is simply magnificent, Lleyn Peninsular lovely and as for Argyll, the Western Highlands of Scotland and Skye…….. simply breathtaking! We should pass each other soon!
John
Hi Ruth
We are really looking forward to Wales as this is really new territory for us. We are not back down until December, then only for a couple of days. Might get to Bridgewater.
Enjoy
Andrew and Lynda
Hi Ruth
What an inspiring blog. I have a plan to do the same. I am 50 next year, have some running goals for that year and then would like to walk around the coast of Britain between the age of 50 and 60. Might take me that long as I have so many other commitments to juggle. Anyway – thanks for the inspirational blog which I will follow with interest.
Hi again, It is lovely to see so many other people walking the coast now. We have reached North Kent which is yet another totally different landscape. I think that is one of the things that makes it so interesting, don’t you? I am way behind with updating my blog but will catch up eventually hopefully over the winter as we probably will not pick up the walk again until Easter now.
Hi, and just been to check up on your blog and enjoyed re-reading your last post. Hope you’re still walking!
Andrea – that was exactly what I did – I set out from London in January 2006 after my 50th birthday, walking anti-clockwise (why does everyone want to go clockwise?) and have just reached Bridgwater in Somerset having completed just over 5,500 miles, a little under 700 a year. It will take me another two and half years to get back to London from there. Be prepared for some camping, there were parts of Scotland when I walked for five days without passing a shop and barely seeing another human being! My web side contains maps, photos, accommodation list and a blog of the walk to date http://jgacs.co.uk/personal and I would be happy to provide you any helpful information.
Thanks for the reply. I imagine that is about what I will do. I also do some running so may run a little of the way. We live in a rural part of Scotland so I am very used to camping and outdoor living! I’ll enjoy following your blog.
Brilliant blogs and photographs Ruth. I am enjoying seeing parts of the country I would otherwise never see.
Awesome and good luck for your continuing journey. I am working my way around the mere 300 miles of Cornwall for similar reasons as you stated for your incentive to head out. Maybe if that’s successful I might set my sights a bit bigger…
Hi Ruth
You’re doing really well and clocking up the miles that’s for sure. I love the idea we’re doing this just because we want to which somehow makes the journey more special.
It’s also great to see the amount of coastal walkers out there.
I hope to bump in to you somewhere along the way which is entirely possible as I’m walking anti clockwise.
Regards
Rob
Ruth you did fantastic things as a clinical leader great to see taking on such a wonderful challenge.
Will look forward to reading of your adventures. Derek
Hi Derek, how wonderful to hear from you. Sending you email…
Hi Ruth – I came across your website by accident, and what you are doing is very similar to me, with quite similar rules, although I do walk around peninsulas. Although I started in 2009, I hardly did any walking in the first couple of years as I was walking with a friend who could not find the time. For the last two years I have been doing about ten weeks a year. I started in Rye in East Sussex and I am going clockwise. Currently I am about to walk the Lynne peninsula in North Wales and my goal this year is Liverpool. My goal for 2015 is Glasgow and my goal for 2016 is Fort William. I aim to finish in 2022, all being well. I wish you and all my fellow coastal walkers well in your endeavours and look forward to reading more about your walk another time. Regards Chris
Hi Chris, how nice to hear from another coastal walker 🙂 You have made great progress and are well ahead of me. Do you keep a blog? If so, would love to add you to my list of coastal walkers.
Hi Ruth – I do not keep a blog although I did join Facebook specifically to do a weekly summary on my timeline about my walk, as so many friends were interested. I only started doing this in January 2014, when I got to Wales. So I am afraid the answer is no. However depending on what family and friends make of it, I am planning to publish a series of books on my walk, as I write detailed notes as I am walking. The first volume covers Rye to Chepstow and it is almost finished, but I plan to knock it into shape over the winter when I am not walking. If my family think it is any good, then I am likely to publish it on Amazon and Kindle next spring, for some nominal sum. The second volume would be on Chepstow to Liverpool, and this volume is pretty much up to date too, as far as Porthmadog, which is where I am at present. I hope I would finish this one too, by next Spring but I would not publish it until Spring 2015, as I would want to publish them annually, and always have one in the pipeline. I will not decide on whether I am going to publish them until the Spring once my family have reviewed the first one. I am not interested in publishing them professionally as I am really doing them for my own benefit / to be of interest to my family. They are also not exactly guidebooks although they could be used as such as I describe my route in detail, but they also include recollections and reminiscences; plus details of people I meet and a limited number of historical facts or interesting anecdotes or snippets of information I have either picked up en route or discovered subsequently. If I do publish them I will let you know in the Spring. All the best – Chris
What a good idea to publish regular books about your walking adventures! Wish you luck with the project and please let us know when the first one is available as an ebook.
Hi Ruth,
glad to see you are still making good progress. Our new website detailing our walk round Scotland’s coast is up and running with lots of information, maps and photographs which I hope will help you and other coast walkers.
The East coast (41 days walking) and North coast (13 days walking) have been completed and we are making our way down the more challenging West coast (38 days walked so far)
The old website http://www.walkingscotlandscoast.co.uk has been replaced with
http://www.walkingscotlandscoast.com
Best regards to you and and all other coast walkers,
Morris
Hi Morris, thank you for the info about your website. I’m sure this will be of use to lots of other walkers. A great resource. Have updated your link with your new web address. Will be keeping an eye on your progress 🙂
Hi Ruth,
My hubby and myself started walking the coast many years ago, beginning at King’s Lynn and going clockwise exactly the same as you! So I was really interested to come across your blog and have found it very useful info when prepping each stage. Unlike you however, we haven’t managed to do it very often, so we’ve only got as far as Dover!
Very well done on what you’ve achieved.
Best regards
Joyce
Hi Joyce and what a coincidence! Did you walk along the sea wall from Kings Lynn to Snettisham, or did you go inland? I can’t believe I was such an intrepid trespasser. Well done on your progress. It’s not the distance, nor the finishing, that matters. It’s the joy of walking 🙂
Hi Ruth, great project, the fitness and achievement is what make it all worthwhile. No other reasons required. Your disappointment is shared about the section of beach on the Solent between Lepe and Calshot that is supposedly closed to the public. We ignored the English Nature notices and walked along the beach complying with the wildlife and countryside act 1981 by not harming or disturbing the wildlife by walking in the sea. Too many beurocrats making too many rules. This is our country and many people gave their life for it. There should by no such thing as private beaches or riverbanks, nature is for us all to honour and share. In Germany one can cycle or walk the length of the Rhine,it belongs to the people not as here the wealthyThames dwellers and English Nature. Rant over!! Enjoy your walking
JOS
Hi Jos. absolutely agree with you! Wish I was braver about trespassing. Thanks for sharing your rant and experiences 🙂
RUTH WE CONTINUE TO REJOICE IN FOLLOWING IN YOUR WAKE… SATURDAY IS CHESIL BEACH!!!!.. THANK YOU FOR ALL THE TIPS .. WE ARE 100 MILES IN
Hi Paul and glad to hear you are walking the wonderful South West Coast Path. Good luck with Chesil Beach. I assume you are taking the inland route rather than the shingle?
Great idea Ruth. Will look in from time to time to check on your progress. Good Luck !!
Thank you for visiting 🙂
Hi Ruth – I just thought I would give you an update on my progress. I reached Liverpool last November as planned, and have just completed my first week’s walking of 2015, and got to Lytham St. Annes. Not the greatest week as the Ribble estuary is pretty bleak, but Sir Antony Gormley’s sculpture ‘Another Place’ on Crosby Sands was interesting. Best of luck for when you start out in 2015. The Welsh coast is really rather special. From Swansea to Llandudno the entire coast is fantastic and you will love it.
Hi Chris. I’m looking forward to seeing Antony Gormley’s statues. Recently walked along the Thames Path and saw Peter Burke’s figures in Woolwich and they reminded me very much of Gormley’s work (must post the photos on my Ruthless Ramblings blog!).
Well done for getting past Liverpool. I have been plodding through the industrial landscape of South Wales. Should reach Swansea in another couple of days of walking and sounds like I should then begin to enjoy some more scenic coastline. Looking forward to that!
Ruth – just came across you and your website when I was looking for John Gale who I bumped into on Preston/Paignton (Devon) seafront one morning as he was continuing, about a couple of weeks ago, on his round the British coast pilgrimage. I spotted the epic nutter by his demeanour and gait. I had cycled past him but turned around and went back and had a really nice contact chat. I haven’t really studied your website in detail yet but just loved your initial description of who you were and why you were doing it. This January/February I had my own pilgrimage walk of 800 km-ish on the Camino de Santiago walking from Saint Jean Pied de Port to Santiago de Compostela.
I will check in a moment but get the feeling you have completed your mission and are now looking for new challenges. Well done !
Whoops – just checked and looks like you have a little way to go yet Ruth – one step at a time !
Hi Peter, your walk sounds amazing. I’ve heard of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimages, but never met anyone who has completed one. Yes, your addendum is correct. I have a little (or, more truthfully, a LONG) way to go yet 🙂 Interested to hear you met John Gale. Many of us coastal walkers keep in touch via our blogs and on Twitter. Sometimes I pass though a place and discover another walker was there a few days before or a few days after, but I’ve never met up with anyone yet! Maybe one day…
Best wishes.
Hi Ruth – I just thought I would give you an update on my progress. From your recent postings it sounds as if you are enjoying Wales. You’ve taken some lovely photographs. I think that May is the best month to walk in Britain as the wild flowers are so good, even if in Wales they are not quite as good as in Devon / Cornwall as the agriculture has impacted on them. I was interested to learn you thought Cornwall was better than Wales. I agree with you, although I think most people would probably prefer Wales. The reason for the update is I have now arrived in Scotland and am at Caerlaverock Castle just south of Dumfries. I have to pinch myself that I have reached Scotland. This is where life gets difficult. (Well, north of Glasgow anyway – for the rest of this year it is not too bad.) Unlike you (I think), I have decided to camp where I need to, in order to follow the coast. Anyway enjoy the rest of the west coast of Wales. It is all brilliant.
Hi Chris, wow you’ve made fantastic progress! I agree that May is a lovely month to walk in Britain. Actually, apart from the short daylight hours, I like walking in winter too – you get wonderful views without all those damn leaves getting in the way 🙂
I wish you all the best with Scotland. I don’t dare think that far ahead. Please keep me posted with your progress.
Hi Ruth, I wish I was one of these people writing to tell you of my walks around UK but live in the US and am living your wonderful adventure through your blog. I have visited a lot of England and Scotland and think it is such a beautiful part of the world, Cornwall being one of my favorites. Thank you so much for the beautiful pictures and writings. I am living one of my dreams through you and look forward to each blog.
Hi Cheryl and thank you for visiting and taking the time to leave a note. Cornwall is fabulous, but I’m beginning to think Wales comes a close second. Can’t comment on Scotland, because not got there yet. Best wishes, Ruth
I am enjoying your posts, Ruth. Here is one for you to look forward to https://sueswordsandpictures.wordpress.com/2015/06/19/a-coastal-walk/ Sue
Hi Sue and enjoyed reading about your walk and looking forward to arriving at St Bees beach. So much coastline still to go…
Yours is an ambitious project! Sue
Hi Ruth, I was wandering what you intend to do about Anglesey? I think its something like 125miles from Bangor to Bangor. Reading you “rules” it maybe that you will bypass it? Because I’m doing the WCP I will be obliged do it. Anyway, good luck north of Dale. I stayed for a night in the Harbour Inn at Solva – smashing little pub.
Hi Alan
I think I’m going to walk around Anglesey. You’re right, I don’t have to, but I can if I want to. I have friends who live on Anglesey, and I hear the walk is very lovely. I didn’t realise the official Wales Coast Path goes round the island – and that makes another good reason for doing it. 🙂
Hi Ruth – Anglesey is well worth doing and I certainly enjoyed my eight days on the Island. My distance from Bangor back to Menai bridge was 139 miles, but that included Holy Island and Ynys Llanddwyn. You certainly don’t want to miss out on North and South Stacks on Holy Island and a short detour to the summit of Capa (Holyhead Mountain) more than repays the effort.
You will shortly be approaching the Llyn Peninsular – definitely one of my ‘highlights’ – You’ll need to brush up on your Welsh though, I heard nothing else spoken in the area!
Hi Ruth, Ok this is a few years away, I think; but what about Scotland, in particular the NW coast north of the Clyde?
May I suggest that you have a look at http://www.scottishhills.com/html/index.php . I have been on this site since 2007 and have made many friends at meets and shared a night or two in a bothy with some of them. They will provide a wealth of information on some of the remote parts of the coast. They do trip reports on Munros, Corbetts, Garhams, etc as well as low level walks. I have contributed some TR’s over the years and are known as Owd Jockey on the site.
Anyway, just a heads up.
Wednesday will now be my final 21 miles of the SWCP. Cheers for now.
Thanks for this info Alan. I’ll take a look at the site, am sure it will be helpful. I try not to think too far ahead 🙂
Enjoy your final few miles on the SWCP. It’s stunning, isn’t it.
Hi Ruth, lovely today from Conwy to Bangor. This may spur you on to get to the Barmouth before they close the bridge over the Mawddach to pedestrians.. I signed the petition.
https://www.change.org/p/gwynedd-council-keep-barmouth-bridge-open-to-walkers-and-cyclists?utm_source=action_alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=370640&alert_id=ELnzDQHyHH_yrjiiO1LDZzFVVcJi3CvdyOn%2FH8SC3BmrhcYpghJRONQQCCblEotQWiQqQe7eqyk
I will let you know if i hear anything
I signed too. Fingers crossed.
Hi Ruth, after doing my next leg Llanddona (Anglesey) to Bangor I thought this might interest you.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/uk/wales/11493814/Anthony-Garratts-transforms-the-coast-of-Anglesey.html
Its a shame actually, because I doubt you will get around to Anglesey before the paintings are removed in October. Anyway, I came across one of them at Penmon point yesterday.
Finally, a heads-up regarding the WCP section from Menai Bridge – Beaumaris, don’t be tempted to walk along the main road (the A454). Although the road has a footpath for most of its length, there is a 1.25 miles section where there is no footpath, as the busy road curves and twists. There is no verge, just a steep wall either side of the road. Better to ollow the official WCP route
Oh wow. Those paintings look amazing. Sorry to have missed them, but I certainly wont be in Anglesey by October! And thank you for the tip about not walking the road.
I’ll try again
http://s237.photobucket.com/user/OwdJockey/media/OwdJockey040/DSC06474_zpsn5sechhw.jpg.html
http://s237.photobucket.com/user/OwdJockey/media/OwdJockey040/DSC06475_zpsaboe5t90.jpg.html
I had to rescue your post from the spam bucket! Dramatic paintings. Wonderful.
Hi Ruth, think your amazing and it’s what I’d love to do myself. I’m currently doing the Welsh ciastal path in stages. Not sure if you’ve done the Wirral peninsula yet but your welcome to stay with us if you need a bed. Only 20 min walk from the coast at Thurstaston. Good look
Hello Di and well done for embarking on the Wales Coast Path. It’s a fabulous adventure and a big challenge. Don’t know if you’ve done the Pembrokeshire coast yet, but it is absolutely wonderful. I started in Chepstow and am working my way upwards so, no, I haven’t reached The Wirral yet. Thank you for your kind invitation. I’ll remember it if I get stuck for accommodation when I get up there. It will be next year! Best wishes, and maybe we’ll meet somewhere on the path 🙂
Hi Ruth, sorry so late in replying to your message. I’m still plodding on with The Welsh Coast and loving it. Have done some of Pembrokeshire and due to more in June. Just checking out your walks on The Llyn peninsula as I’m heading that way in May, we are a bit concerned public transport is s bit thin on the ground though! Keep enjoying your walking Ruth. Where are you up to now? Good luck
Hi Ruth found the second of Anthony Garratts paintings at Lligwy Beach> Looks an awful lot like the painting at Penmon Point, to my untrained eye. Hopefully the links work below.
Tuesday saw a real heatwave on Anglesey, which made the 22 mile jaunt from Llanddona to Amlwch a grueling challenge. This was coupled with a change of underfoot walking conditions more akin to North Cornwall.
I estimate that we are still on to ‘cross’ somewhere in Ceredigion.
I see what you mean about the paintings. Similar style and colours. I like it. The first one was more dramatic. Lucky you having good weather – although it makes walking difficult. We’ve had a miserable week in Lincolnshire. Dull and cold.
Earlier in the year I was delighted to find your website Ruth. I’ve been walking the SWCP with friends in recent years (Poole to Looe so far) and you’ve inspired me to extend my walking further eastwards along the south coast – I’ve stretched to Brighton so far (walking by myself) and I’m absolutely loving it. I always check your notes before I go and they’re proving very useful. Not sure I’ll make it all the way around the UK, but I hope to do much of the southern coastal areas, which are in touching distance of home in Hampshire. I would never have thought of doing this without your website! I love following where you’ve been – brilliant photography and very Wainwright-esq (that’s very high praise indeed). Keep it up – there is definitely a book to publish at the end!
Hi Jonathan and thank you very much for your kind words about my blog. So glad I’ve inspired you to keep walking. Sounds like you are making good progress. Also you’ve discovered an important secret about walking alone. It’s wonderful!
Best wishes, Ruth
Hi Ruth
Just spent rather too long looking at various parts of your blog. Thanks so much for it. You are past us now (Deal in Kent) and I came across your blog when searching for things about Happisburgh and Norfolk – we are due there at the end of November. I look forward to continued reading and some catching up. Have already checked out my area and around Porlock in Somerset.
Now what are you going to do about Skye? It is a long way around – and the subject of at least one book.
Regards
John
Hi John, and glad you found my blog interesting. I loved Porlock and the walk between Lynmouth and Porlock Weir was one of the best walks I’ve done – despite the rain! I wonder what you’ll make of Happisburgh. I felt it was a mournful place, perhaps because I know it will one day be lost to the invading sea.
Skye? No idea how I’ll tackle Scotland – but it still seems a long way away 🙂
Best wishes, Ruth
Hi Ruth – as I have just returned from completing my last walking of 2015 I thought I would give you my latest update. This year I walked from Liverpool to Garelochhead just north of Faslane and more importantly beyond Glasgow, so I feel I am now into Scotland proper. I also spent three extra days doing research on particular parts of the coast to see precisely what was do-able next year. From Garelochhead next year things will get difficult as I will be carrying a 70 litre pack plus camping equipment and food, whereas to date I have just carried a 45 litre day pack. I have had to re-plan what I was proposing for Scotland. I had originally intended to go up by train and not take a car, but I found on a test walk in Kent my pack weighed too much to carry enough for ten days walking. I am thus going to use my car as a base and just do 5 days walking at a time and then go back to collect my car and re-stock before doing the next 5 days. When you get to plan your Scottish walk if you want any input from me do feel free to email me on ‘chrisrfelliott@btinternet.com’. Next year I will be walking far less than for the last two years. I plan to get to Loch Aline west of Fort William next year and Scourie the year after. I’m only planning on doing ten miles a day instead of 15. The issue being if I am camping for three days and then have a B&B, I need to make sure I’m going to get to the B&B when I say as it is likely there will be no mobile reception. Liverpool to Garelochhead has had many lovely parts and been quite educational historically wise in places. I’m glad you’re enjoying Wales, I very much like reading your blog. I am hoping I might publish my first book from Rye to Chepstow this coming Spring. My manuscript is currently being reviewed and so far comments have been good, although it is a year later than I originally intended! I hope you continue to enjoy Wales. All the best Chris
Hi Chris, sounds like you are making excellent progress. I am not sure how I’m going to cope with Scotland, as I’m only used to carrying a 20 litre day pack, so your 70 litre pack sounds terrifying! You seem to have a good plan worked out and look forward to hearing of your continuing progress. And let me know when your book is published.
Best wishes, Ruth
Hi Ruth, congrats on completing the PCP section of the WCP. After yesterdays 19 mile jaunt I have just 14 miles to go to complete the Anglesey section. My attention is now turning to the Lleyn Peninsular – thought the following links may be of help to you.
Click to access Map-of-the-Gwynedd-bus-network.pdf
https://www.gwynedd.gov.uk/en/Residents/Parking-roads-and-travel/Bus-timetables/Bus-timetables.aspx
Thank you Alan. I’m making good progress and am now in Aberystwith! These will be useful very soon.
Hi again Ruth,
This may seem like a daft question, but what made you decide to walk clockwise rather than anticlockwise? In your opinion are there any particular advantages in one direction over the other? I notice that the majority of people favour this direction.
Enjoying reading your blog as always!#
Joyce
Joyce, just realised I never replied to this question. Sorry! I didn’t make a decision to go clockwise as such, I just decided to head south, which was in a clockwise direction. Why? I think I was heading for parts of the coast I already knew.
That’s ok, thanks for replying! I’ve missed reading your blogs of late, have you decided to wait until the weather improves for continuing? We’re carrying on slowly and have now just reached Winchelsea Beach, so we’re looking forward to our next stage towards Fairlight Cove and on to Hastings.
All the best, Joyce
Yes, I’m waiting for the weather to improve. Poor old Wales has suffered storm after storm this winter. Hopefully March will be better 🙂
Fabulous blog, thanks for sharing your walks.
Having planned to just walk the Jurassic coast as a one-off holiday with a friend 8 years ago, we got the bug and have completed the whole of the SWCP and are now approx. half way along the WCP. Nothing to beat it, no matter what the weather. Just wish we’d started years ago as it’s going to take us a long while to get around the whole coast with only 10 days per year to dedicate to it and we’re not getting any younger! Oh well, at least I’ve found your blog now, so can do it vicariously!
Keep on walking, keep on enjoying.
Tracey
Hi Tracey and pleased to meet you. The trouble with coastal walking – once you start you just can’t stop! Hope you are enjoying Wales. It’s a huge project to undertake in 10 days a year, but I’m sure you’ll do it 🙂
Hi Ruth – well done in having your blog put onward for award – I think it is excellent. Just touching base again as I have just self published my first two books on Amazon – ‘Recollections of a Coastal Walker’ volumes 1 and 2. The first covers my walk from Rye to Land’s End, the second one Land’s End to Chepstow. I hope to publish two more in 2016 covering Wales and then up to two each year until I complete the coast walk. I’ve published them under the pen name ‘Richard Whiting’ but please note I am nothing to do with the Richard Whiting that has published other books. You can find them on Amazon under the title ‘Recollections of a Coastal Walker’. Any publicity / feedback to Amazon you can give would be much appreciated. I wish you all the best next year with the rest of Wales. It’s nearly all fabulous. All the best Chris.
Hi Chris and well done on your publishing ventures. I’m going to pop over to Amazon and take a look 🙂
Hi Ruth,
You left from Norfolk where I was born and you must have already passed through East Sussex on the Downs, where I live now. They’re both lovely areas – it must be extraordinary to see the whole coast by foot!
I’ve stumbled on your site having googled for walking blog. I’m afraid I’m contacting you hoping that two iPhone Apps I produce might be of use to you, and could be something that would interest your readers! I am sorry if they are of no interest.
1. Splendid Tides is a tidal forecast. It works offline so you can use it when you don’t have an internet connection. It’s aimed at recreational beach users and is free.
2. Skywire is a weather forecast. It gives really good insight in to what you can expect from the wind, rain, cloud and temperature. It’s rather unusual in that you get both a quick graphical overview and also the numeric detail. It’s currently priced at £1.50, but I would be delighted to pass on a free copy if you are interested.
All the best with your journey!
Hi Ben and thanks for getting in touch. Yes, this coastal trek has been a wonderful experience. I’m a bit of a gadget nerd and am interested in trying both your apps. Will give them a go. Yours, Ruth
Hi, Ruth
I just found you whilst researching public transport ideas for SWCP. Call it serendipituos! My husband and I decided to walk Coast to Coast, al la Wainwright to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary and achieved our aim to do it using only our campervan and bus passes in April 2007. In need of something to follow, I bought a book on Walking the Wainwrights thinking it would take care of the next few years – by that September we had completed 100, nearly half of them, and my husband decided he would like to finish them on his 65 th birthday the following May, which we achieved despite the horrendous flooding which affected not only the fell walking but transport to access them as so many bridges were closed. We also had to abandon some for snow before reaching the summit, so had to do them again.
Our walking tally between April 2006 and May 2007 was Coast to Coast St Bees to Robin Hoods Bay, all 214 Wainwrights ( some more than once), Hadrian’s Wall Coast to Coast and the wonderful Pembrokshire Coast Path. Our only accommodation was our campervan our only other transport was using bus passes. Unsurprisingly, I then needed a hip replacement, but now, six month post surgery, I am back on the Cumbrian Fells and ready for my next adventure, my goal being to walk the whole SW Coast Path next summer finishing on my 70th birthday.
I don’t think I will follow you footsteps all the way round – I am very much a hill walker and the flat industrial bits would not be pleasurable, and I am getting to old to forfeit the joy of walking for the sake of achieving set goals! Good on those who do – I love hearing about your adventures.
Bejaysunny
Hi there, and what an amazing accomplishment to have achieved so many of the Wainwright walks, and so much else as well! Very well done. I think after the Pembrokeshire Coast Path you’ll have nothing to worry about when you walk the South West Coast Path. And, you’ll probably enjoy the hills more than I did. Keep in touch. I would love to hear how you get on. Best wishes, Ruth
I see you have just set out for 2016! Enjoy the rest of Wales. In 2 weeks time I will be setting off once more myself and heading for Garelochhead. Can’t belief I will be camping in Scotland in March – Brrrrrrrr ! Enjoy the rest of Wales it is just as good as Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion. All the best
Chris
Hi Ruth – I have just returned from Scotland and I wanted to relay to you some information regarding what David Cotton wrote concerning walking the west side of Loch Striven, which he described as a ‘pig of a walk’, which he regretted ever doing. If you don’t want any advice and want to discover everything for yourself, then apologies and don’t read the rest of this message. However I am contacting you this time from a safety point of view. David Cotton walked the west side of Loch Striven along the ‘low’ route, although not at low tide. He recommended if you tackled this you do it at low tide. Contrary to advice from the Forestry Commission who I contacted, I do not believe the low route on the beach is walkable even at low tide. There are one or two rocky bluffs that prevent this. I reconnoitred this route last year and walked about 1.5 miles of it. This means if you go low you have to tackle the forest where there are no paths until south of Ardbeg. The high route is a long way up but is meant to be quite spectacular in fine weather. I actually did neither high route nor low route as I was so tired from the walk from Glen Striven, I decided to walk around the issue, but I did walk down to the most fantastic hotel at Colintraive (the Colintraive Hotel), which I highly recommend. If you do decide to go around it too, then do visit Colintraive as the area is fantastically beautiful. I spent 2 nights in Colintraive and walked up Loch Striven past Coustonn in order to do as much of the loch as I could and it was well worth it. Many people I met (including the owner of the estate) warned me (some afterwards) not to tackle the forest to the west of Loch Striven. Sadly Patricia the owner of the Colintraive hotel had a guest who went for a short walk on the peninsula seven years ago, and despite saying she was an experienced walker, the lady concerned got lost in bad weather and found herself in the forest not far from Ardbeg. Her body was only found comparatively recently three years ago. She had obviously got lost and not had the energy to fight her way out of the forest. I promise not to give you any more advice, and I do so only with your safety in mind. Keep up the excellent work on your blog. Kind regards Chris.
Hi Chris and thank you so much for posting this information. Very helpful. Terrible story about that poor lady. Safety must always come first. And please don’t hesitate to give advice, as I need all the help I can get! Best wishes, Ruth.
Took me 3 and a half hours to do this section to Troustan following the shore in 1998. Very tough scramble in places. I will go up to the track shown on the map after Ardbeg this time round in May possibly. Definitely doing it again at lowest possible tide! Ian
Is your email address somewhere here? I was pretty excited to find this blog, and I want to send a couple photos and see if you agree with what I think the location is
Will help if I can. Email on its way.
I think we’ve found a bunch of spots. I’m so thrilled. I will look for your email. Thank you
Hi Ruth. I have enjoyed reading your posts and looking at your great photos. Many thanks.
I have a favour to ask – it would be great if you could email me. No pressure though. I won’t be offended if you would rather not.
A
Ruth. Having recently completed trefor to nefyn myself it was great to read your blog. Hope all is going well.
Hi Keith, it’s a lovely walk isn’t it? One of my favourite sections and with wonderful views as you climb over the hills. Best wishes, Ruth
Hi Ruth
Just wanted to say well done on your walk so far and thank you for writing such an entertaining and useful blog. Good luck with all the next stages as you head for Scotland.
I am a photographer and am planning a “one-journey” clockwise walk around the coast next year 2017. By logic I will be almost certain to catch you at some point on some day, and it would be great to make your acquaintance. I am just building my walk website now, but will link you when I am done soon.
With every good wish
… Ken Scott
Hi Ken and best wishes for your coming adventure! You are one of the rare breed I admire – an “all-in-one-go” coastal walker, and much braver than me. There is another photographer going round the coast, but in stages, called Quintin Lake, theperimeter.uk and I wonder if you know him? I look forward to following your progress on your blog. Let me know when it’s up and running so I can do a link 😀 Best wishes, Ruth
Great, thanks Ruth; I will look out Quintin. Keep walking …
… K
Hello Ruth
Happy New Year and good luck with whatever your quest brings in 2017. You might like to know that my website is now live and being filled in with details gradually prior to my departure. I’d be most grateful for a link, which I have already reciprocated. With very best wishes
… Ken
http://www.touchingthelight.co.uk/coast
Will do, Ken. And best of luck with your adventure. Sounds wonderful and challenging. I like the idea of your wife supporting you in a campervan. (I’m trying to persuade my hubby this would be ideal for us, too!) Best wishes, Ruth
Hi Ruth
I’m writing some Story Maps for educational use and one of them is about Kenfig Dunes NNR. Almost all the photos I’m using are mine, but I wondered if I could include a reference to your Kenfig Dunes to Port Talbot walk in a ‘Further Details’ section and links to a photo or two from your blog? I can send you a link to it so you can see it. Would this be best done via Twitter DM or email?
Thanks
Brendan
Hi Brendan, happy for you to provide links to photos and the blog. Sending you e-mail. Ruth
PS I should have said – great blog!
Hi Ruth – I thought I would give you my annual update to my coastal walk. I have just come back from Scotland and I now have the winter off until April 2017. This year I reached Ardgour just around Loch Linnhe from Fort William. I walked 631 miles, which is less than usual but that was because I was carrying a big heavy pack. I have now walked 3,167 miles with 282,000 feet of ascent. I camped for 12 nights in 2016 of which 7 were wet. Next year will be the toughest yet. The highlight of the year was the scenery in Argyll and Bute. You will absolutely love it. Even better than Pembrokeshire. As you are not far away from Scotland do let me know if you are interested in getting any more up to date advice / help than you already make use of from say David Cotton’s blog. This year I have met several fellow coasters. On Tuesday I met Wayne Dixon who is walking the coast with his dog Koda and raising money for Help for Heroes and collecting litter as he goes. The week before I met Tony Vincent who is going anti clockwise and hopes to finish the coast next year at the Severn Bridge. You might meet him early next year! Anyway I hope you enjoy the rest of northern England and the Lakes. Until next year – All the best Chris Elliott
Hi Chris. Wow, you’re making great progress. 631 miles sounds pretty good to me, especially if you were doing some serious back-packing. I might well be in touch for some info on Scotland, although I’m trying not to think about it at the moment. One OS map at a time is how I plan my walks! If I look too far ahead I feel overwhelmed by the enormity of it all. I think I’ve heard of Wayne Dixon, the litter-picking man. And I wonder if I’ll meet Tony Vincent. There are lots of people walking the coast at the moment, either continuously or in stages, but it’s surprising how few proper coastal walkers you actually meet on the path. You did well to meet two others. Enjoy your winter break. And please do keep checking in with updates. Best wishes. Ruth
Your blog — and your walking — is inspiring! I thoroughly enjoy all of the walks I have taken on various paths around north Wales, and I keep talking about walking the Wales Coast Path. Every time I start seriously planning, though, I get a bit overwhelmed. Your approach makes it seem much more manageable, just taking it one section at a time and not planning too far in advance. Perhaps I will get started soon. 🙂
Hi Rachel, I admire people who do it all in one go, but I know that is beyond my capabilities, and beyond most people I assume. So yes, one step at a time has been my approach. Well, to be honest, more like one weekend at a time! 😀 Walking the Wales coast has been one of the highlights of my trek so far. Well worth doing. Best wishes, Ruth.
Just started reading your blog after seeing article in countryfile magazine. I am working my way through from the beginning. Cornwall so interesting as it is our dream to retirement place. Also the coast of South Wales from Cardiff around to Pembrokeshire. Our stomping ground, good to see through someone else’s eyes. I am totally in awe of you, what an achievement.
Keep walking.
Hi Annie and welcome to my blog! Cornwall and Pembrokeshire have been my favourite places so far, and I loved The Gower too. Please do feel free to comment on any of my posts, especially if you can add some local info that might help other walkers. Best wishes, Ruth 😊
Ah! I’ve now found out how to comment on your blog! I’ve just posted a comment on facebook, I hope you get it. It was about my frustrations with my knee giving out, but now I have a new one the future looks more hopeful. Also wishing you luck when you reach Scotland. We have walked the entire coast of Scotland, and found it to be “challenging”, shall we say! Our proudest achievement was to walk Cape Wrath, and my account of this walk was published last year in a book called “To Oldly Go” compiled by Hilary Bradt.
Hi Rosemary. It’s very frustrating – and annoying – when we get let down by our body! Glad you’ve got a successful new knee. Well done for walking the entire coast of Scotland. And I must confess I’m feeling an increasing sense of trepidation about crossing the border! The book sounds intriguing. And I love the title. Have just bought a copy 🙂
My new favourite website 🙂 I just stumbled upon it while trying to find out what was at Cabin Hill Nature Reserve (Near Formby, Merseyside), its about 30 mins from where I live.
I’m not as much of a keen walker as you,one of your bad days is normally about as far as I went, even before I had children! However its really interesting to see the places I’ve been and read your experiences of them, some nice photos too
Hi Karl, and thank you for your kind words about my blog. I loved Formby beach, and the wonderful iron men at Crosby.
Hi Ruth – I’ve just come across your site whilst searching for photos of the Essex Coastal Path. I work for Rural Community Council of Essex and am pulling together our magazine, due to be published in February. I was looking for some photos to go with the item on the Coastal Path and would really love to use some of your photos, if you would be happy with that.
Perhaps you could let me know if this is OK (I would obviously credit you with the photos). Additionally, I wonder whether, in a future issue of the magazine, you would be prepared for me to include some of your walks?
I look forward to hearing from you and thank you for walking in the wonderful county of Essex, with the longest coastline of any county in England!
Best wishes, Beverly
01376 574339
Hi Beverly, would be delighted to share some photos in your magazine. Am sending you an email. Best wishes, Ruth
Beverly & Ruth
A few years ago I walked the Essex coast & published Essex Coast Walk which recounts my walk, the people, places & stories found on the way. The book has now been updated & reprinted. http://petercatonbooks.co.uk/books/essex-coast-walk/
Then a couple of years ago I thought about writing a walking guide to the Essex coast. Ruth was one of the people to say yes there was a need for this, so I went ahead. 50 Walks on the Essex Coast has just been published.
http://petercatonbooks.co.uk/books/50-walks-on-the-essex-coast/
If you need any more photos I have a lot in my latest book and many others that haven’t been published, and I’d be pleased if you want to use any.
Peter Caton
Hi Peter, and how nice to hear from you. Have enjoyed your Essex and your island book too. Best wishes.
Hi Peter, I too am walking the coast and we have just crossed from Kent to embark on Essex. I have a copy of your book, which I enjoyed very much, but had completely missed the updated version. It will be of great help to us and I will certainly buy a copy. My daughter and I only walk occasionally so are making slow progress but looking forward to discovering Essex. We stopped last summer at Leigh-on-Sea.
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Just picked up your website when I was looking at some of David Cottons work.
I am also in the progress of walking around Britains coast. My rules are pretty much the same as yours and I have just read your notes on your walk to Gretna. I started in Skegness in 2006 walking clockwise and have done 4350 miles plus to date and have just walked over the Erskine Bridge on the Clyde. My wife and I are away next week on our first (delayed) trip of the year coast walking. I am not using ferries and have done plenty of Island walks, Isle of Wight, Lundy, Angelsey etc and got on to many more as I have gone along (walked half way round Arran at present). Every day has been great and I do what you do and that is listen to what is going on around me – thats all I need after years working in noisy underground workings as a miner. I can help your planning if you need any help – especially with Scotland where you are now. I was born in Scotland but have a love/hate attitude to their access to the countryside. In England and Wales you generally follow public rights of way and in Scotland they say it is better as you can ‘go where you like’ there is no private land – rubbish. Look at a Scottish map and thats where the problem starts as it is ok for people like ‘us’ but where can you walk, where are the paths as very little are shown. When it comes to many river crossings in England and Wales you know there will be some means provided but not in Scotland in a lot of cases. I can find my way past most things but I think it is hard for say a family with younger children and maybe older members to look at a map and walk in Scotland. So far in Scotland I have crossed so many barbed wire fences it is untrue!
That said things are better now from when I first walked around, took 8yrs, used ferries and missed all the islands. There is David Cottons website (brill), googlemaps/earth and my OSmaps subscriptions. Hopefully we will encourage many others to do the same.
I can obviously help with routes in Scotland that are definitely worth doing, many better than David Cottons, some that must be avoided or what to expect if tried.
Hi Ian
So glad you made contact. I know you completed your round-Britain walk back in 2001. Can’t believe you’re doing it AGAIN. Is your wife doing it with you?
I share your mixed feelings about Scotland, and miss having proper legally-recognised public footpaths. Makes planning walks difficult, not to mention the problems with barbed wire and overgrown paths too.
Currently reached Gatehouse of Fleet and am about to start writing up the walks. Any tips for the next stretch around to Ayr? I haven’t looked closely at the maps yet!
Hi Ruth – I don’t want to spoil your ‘discovery’ of the route to Ayr but I will give you one tip – look at a copy of the Ayrshire coastal path book on the internet as there are a couple of places between Girvan and Ayr that are tide dependent. I don’t know if you carry a copy of the tide timetable with you on your walk but it is well worth it. Just remember it is in GMT and so you have to adjust for summertime! Otherwise it is pretty straightforward although it may depend on how close to the coast you try to get around the Rhims. There are lots of paths ahead of you that are not marked on the maps, so just carry on doing what you are doing. If you want more info I can send you copies of maps I walked in 2015. All the best Chris
Thanks for the tips about the tides, Chris. I certainly got caught out a few times in Pembrokeshire. Might even buy that guide book 😲 I use OS maps and the Core Path website. Do you have access to better maps? Because, yes, I would be interested in copies.
Good afternoon,
I am writing from the property Llety Ceiro Country Guest House. We are currently updating our website and wish to include a local area tab to promote tourism within Ceredigion. As such we are in the midst of choosing picture to promote the area, it is for this reason I am sending this message. One of the chosen pictures originate from your website. We would like to request use of this image on our site.
The photo in request is set in the following link:
Regards,
Aarron Marshall
General Manager
Hi there, and happy for you to use the photo, as long as there’s an acknowledgement with my name and a link to my blog at http://www.coastalwalker.co.uk Please let me know if you do decide to use it, and I’ll do a social media shout out!
Ruth, I’m so impressed with this. I started walking from Cley in Norfolk in August 1999 and so far have only got as far as Grange over Sands in Cumbria, so you’re beating me by eleven years! Unfortunately, along the way, I’ve got distracted from coast walking and have completed the Pennine Way, the Thames Path, the GR20 in Corsica and various other walks, too numerous to mention. You’ve inspired me to get going again though ….. and I’m reading your blog from the beginning to prompt me! Good luck! Regards. Susan
My word, Susan, you’ve achieved a fantastic amount! One of the downsides of my obsession with this coastal-walking malarkey is the feeling I can’t spend time pursuing other routes. (I would love, for example, to do Hadrian’s Wall. And the Transpennine route.) The Pennine Way sounds far too tough for me! Anyway, glad to have inspired you to get back to the coast… maybe you’ll catch me up soon 😀 Best wishes, Ruth
Hi Ruth
I am slowly making my way around the southern half of the Wales Coastal path from Chepstow clockwise and I am in Fishguard at present. I get out usually once a week and have been two years at it so far!
Many thanks for your enjoyable and informative blog which I refer to before I start each section.
Llongyfarchiadau/Congratulations on your wonderful achievements.
Diolch/thank you.
Colin D.
Hi Colin, bore da, and what a wonderful walk. I remember feeling sad when I reached Fishguard because the famous Pembrokeshire Coast Path was behind me. But I loved the Ceredigion Coast Path, and then there’s the wonderful Llyn Peninsula… you have so much wonderful coastline still to enjoy. And now I want to go back and do it again!
Hi Ruth,
Great to find your website. I began walking the coast of Britain with my children this year in a vain attempt to show them that there is more to life than computers and iphones. We started in Weymouth and have made it to Charmouth so far – work, school, social lives(theirs!) seem to get in the way. It has turned me into a bit of a fibber too as I tell my less than enthusiastic children that ‘this walk is the hardest/ longest/ steepest one you’ll have to do’ but I’m determined to keep going however long it takes. I’ll definitely be referring to this site before each walk. Thank you.
Hi Jo, and I admire you for walking with your children. Much easier, I’m sure, to walk alone! You might be interested in Nic’s blog: https://thecoastalpath.net/
He set off walking with his children, but after a few years they became teenagers and lost interest. He and his wife are continuing, sporadically, and have now reached Portland.
Yes, my 17 year old is finding excuses not to go but my 12 year old can still be persuaded by promises of pub lunches and icecream. I’ll definitely check out Nic’s blog, thanks.
Hi Ruth, What a brilliantly inspiring blog! I look forward to taking a good look through your posts. I share a similar ambition to walk the entire coast (you are quite a bit further ahead than I am!). A couple of weeks ago I walked the Suffolk Coast Path. There is something serene about walking. Each experience is unique. It enables connections and encourages reflection. If you are ever doing any stretches of the Essex coast, do send me a message and I’d happly walk with you. I blog about this and that at thinkingcountry.com . Happy walking. Ben
Thank you Ben. Yes, indeed, there is something serene about walking. When I get into the rhythm, I find it a meditative experience and deeply refreshing. Will take a look at your blog, thank you for the link.
I’m sorry to say I’m unlikely to return to Essex in the foreseeable future, because now the north of Scotland looms… and that’s going to be quite a challenge. Best wishes and Happy Walking!
This just arrived in my email from the Ramblers. Seems you are famous now!
We are an island nation and it is hard to find someone who doesn’t love the coast. Whether you’ve enjoyed bucket and spade family holidays, long clifftop walks, or fish and chips on the beach, we’ve all got a story that defines our relationship with our coast.
For Ruth Livingstone, coastal walker and Ramblers member, that story has been her mission to walk the entire length of the coast…
“After 3,000 miles (and nearly 7 years later), I’m still slowly working my way around the coast. This January I walked to St Bees on a beautiful winter’s afternoon, across an empty beach, surrounded by stunning scenery. It’s what coastal walking is all about.”
If I click the link it takes me here.
Ooh, famous! I wrote a guest blog post for them some months ago, and they’ve just published it, so that explains the sudden flurry of interest 😊
I can send on the email if you haven’t got it.
I haven’t got it. Weird, because I am a member of the Ramblers, but maybe I opted out of emails… anyway, please send, thank you.
Hi Ruth
I am still following you and loving every update. I find it fascinating how different people approach the same project in completely different ways and I love your determination to stay as close the the sea’s edge as possible. I have now created a website for our coastwalk so the link you have for me in your list of coastal walkers could do with being updated if that is ok. It is now https://coastwalking.wordpress.com/
All the best for the wedding and grandchild. I am looking forward to number four in the spring!
Jane Morgan
Hi Jane and how nice to hear from you again. Now I’m off to look at your blog and will update the link from this one. Thanks for letting me know.
I have walked the coast from barrow to Caernarvon in a piecemeal fashion over the last 2 years, i think I have met you, I did the Preston to Tarleton walk on 26th august 2016 and vaguely remember talking toalady about cows,Using the phrase you hear stories sounds like me and the picture of the hiker might be me although I cannot be sure.i also remember seeing a woman (might have been you) sat down near a bush and having a brief conversation. I too hate cattle and was chased by a bullock near the parachute club near Cockerham, I did not walk around the Kent or Leven estuaries as in the eighties whilst working for the British Rail Property Board I walked over both viaducts.I am now retired so like you I am not allowed to walk over them.the way s round the estuaries look tough with private land and difficult access.You did very well circumnavigating them. regarding where the bullocks blocked your way near the boatyard I managed to walk right through in the June of 2016 (lucky me no bullocks.I enjoy reading your blog and empathise with you regarding dead ends and disappearing footpaths brambles, nettles etc and ankle jarring shingle. Keep going your intrepid way Ruth. Your next challenge could be to walk the 2000 miles of navigable canals. Regards frank
Hi Frank. Yes, we definitely met on the bank of the river leading up to Preston. I remember you said you had turned back because of the cows, and I remember feeling very brave because I had walked past them! I also remember I was sheltering under a hawthorn bush because it was very hot. So yes, that photo is definitely you. 😄
Well done on your walking achievement so far. Must be wonderful to have been able to walk across those viaducts. Lucky you.
Canals next? Maybe. But first I must survive Scotland!
By the way, if you have any more close encounters with cattle, you may like to record them on a new blog I’ve started with some fellow walkers – who have been badly injured by cows – at https://killercows.co.uk
Best wishes, Ruth
Hi Ruth first time posting but I have been (metaphorically of course) following you for about two years now and your maps have been very helpful in planning my routes. I have been following your rules but not quite as assiduously as yourself as (short of time and possibly interest) I have missed a couple of bits eg Chidham and Thorney Island in Hampshire. However I have introduced a rule of my own – I have (up to now) only used public transport, but I suspect it will get a bit harder when I get to Cornwall for example. Also while I intend to fully circumnavigate England and Wales I have up now picked and chosen the sections which look the most interesting. And finally my base for the week always has to have a Wetherspoons!
Anyhow as you look to be ” resting” at the moment It has prompted me to ask you which were your most interesting days and vice versa? For me I loved the 7 sisters in the autumn sunshire but the reverse of that was last week flogging in the wind, rain, sleet and snow through the post industrial wasteland of Bootle and Seaforth.
Looking forward to your next post…..when are you back on the road again?
Hi Ian, and how nice to hear from you. Pleased to hear you are making progress with your own coastal walk, and well done for using public transport consistently. I know of another coastal walker (Andy, who doesn’t have a blog) who did it all by public transport. He finished a few weeks ago. I agree the section between Liverpool and Crosby was pretty grim, and I felt quite uneasy walking through those industrial and semi-derelict docklands. As for high points… so many. Yes, the Seven Sisters. The north Cornwall coast around Bude. Pembrokeshire and the Llyn Peninsula… I could go on and on. I still have a post from October to write up, but I’m on a break over winter. Hope to get back up to Scotland in March. Can’t wait 😄 Best wishes.
Hi Ruth I have following your interesting blogs for a while. I did the SW coast over 3 year ending in 2016. The bug got me and in 2 years I will have completed England and Wales. Interestingly I have just walked through Liverpool docks. Grim but strangely interesting. I would like to do Scotland but my next walk I think is going to be the Irish coast which I plan to in 2019. Dave
Hi Dave, and well done on completing England and Wales. Fantastic 👏👏👏 I think Ireland sounds wonderful, and would be interested to hear how you get on. They don’t have the same footpath network as we do. Do they have an official coastal path? Good luck and best wishes.
Good morning Ruth, Discovered your website recently and enjoying reading through the blog. I’ve completed several national trails and LEJOG last year. I’ve been looking for a new challenge and am giving some serious consideration to the UK coastal path. My own website is WEREWOLFANDFLUMP. I enjoy walking along coastal paths and have spent some serious time walking the Northumberland Coast and around East coast of Scotland. I’ll continue to check out your blog and am most interested in how things work out for you on the West coast of Scotland as some areas are very isolated. It’s an enormous challenge but I’m not in any rush and retire in 5 years. Good luck this year in all you do.
Hi and it sounds as though you’ve done the sections of British coast I haven’t done yet 😆 Walking is a fabulous activity and, as you say, there is no need to rush to complete any walk, and the England coastal path isn’t fully defined yet anyway. Yes, the West coast of Scotland isn’t easy, and quite a challenge for a timid walker like myself. Hoping to make some decent progress when the weather cheers up. Best wishes.
Hi again Ruth â not sure how best to respond to your blogs so hope the above title is self explanatory.
Just wanted to mention a couple of things as I did Cockerham to Knott End this week
Firstly – your correspondence with Lancs. County Council re the footpath. It has borne fruit â plenty of what look like new signs, no obstructions and MOST of the rubbish has disappeared.
However â whilst you had your personal guide through the farmyard I didnât and could find no way through as it was obstructed by a fenced herd of cows at each end of the farmyard.
Not sure if this works but Iâve attached a photo. The telegraph post clearly shows the path straight on. So I just climbed over a couple of fences and trespassed, hoping the farmer might see me and I could pass on my comments (robustly)
Secondly â you were lucky to use the Knott End ferry. It has closed! Not that you would know. There is absolutely no information on either side, I just had to ask someone. I thought Iâd try the web site, twitter, facebook but no information that it has closed or whether it is temporary or permanent. So Lancashire County Council , which provides financial support for this transport link, will be hearing from along with my comments to the footpaths officer.
Best wishes
Ian
Ian Chatfield
Thanks very much for this info, Ian. Good news about the improved signage, but shame that farm is still causing a problem. And terrible news about the ferry 😞 Hope it’s just a seasonal closure. Be interested to hear how the footpath officer responds,
Have transcribed your message onto the relevant blog page at https://wordpress.com/read/blogs/13170928/posts/18286 , so that would be a good place to post any updates.
Hi Ruth – I work for Community Rail Cumbria and have just set up a website to increase rail travel and walks in Cumbria. Have a look at the website on communityrailcumbria.co.uk especially the fantastic video on the front page which should take you back in time! I noticed you have some wonderful pictures taken on your walks and wonder if I could use a few of your pics on the Website? All pictures are included in the photo credits.
Hi Claire. Yes, would be happy for you to use my photos, as long as credit is given.
How lovely to ‘meet’ a 50 something woman walking solo as I do! Congratulations on all those books and the blog etc. Other than the St Magnus Way on Orkney and the Fife Coastal Path, most of my long distance walking has been on the continent but I intend to do more here, so thank you for sharing your experiences.
H Tamsin, and wonderful to “meet” another woman walker. Just been reading sections of your blog and your walking adventures sound wonderful 😄
Thanks Ruth
Hi Ruth. Thank you for the very informative details of your walks. The last seems to be from October last year. Have you done any since or are you having a winter break ? Looking forward to the west coast of Scotland after Fort William 😁
Hi Andrew, I confess I have a few more to write up from 2018, and have done 3 days walking already this year. I’ve moved house recently and life is rather chaotic at the moment. Should get them written up soon 😄
Ah, pleased to discover this post. Glad to know (as if it’s any of my business!) that you are walking again. Hope the weather is being kind to you and wishing you all the very best in your new home.
Good to have you back with us, Ruth. We’ve been following your progress with great interest and were a bit concerned by the break in your timeline! We live virtually on the SWCP in North Devon and your commentaries and photographs have been of enormous help as we go about our ambition of walking the entire Path. Only 180 miles to go! I found your photographs of Ladram Bay absolutely inspirational, and the reality didn’t disappoint when we got there. Thanks for all you post – it’s invaluable to us.
Hi John, I’m very touched by your concern! Yes, I’m still walking, and currently in Scotland, and a little behind with updating the blog, due to house moves and other distractions. Glad you found my posts useful, and glad you liked Ladram Bay. Just one of the many beautiful places along the SWCP. Only 180 miles to go? You’re practically finished 😄 Where next?
We’ll be revisiting some of our favourite stretches of the Coast Path and would like to revisit our old haunts on the Cumbrian Fells – 70+ year-old legs permitting! Before relocating (well, returning) to Devon and discovering the Path, we were ‘native’ to the north Cumbrian Solway coast and apart from the saving graces of the sense of desolation and sweeping views across to such as Criffel, it was a place as far-removed from our present location as is possible!
Hi Ruth,
Just stumbled upon your blog today. I too was once interested in walking our magnificent coastline and attempted the south west coast path. Alas! It proved too much and it had to be abandoned. I also walked along some of the Pembrokeshire coast. Your journeys are inspirational and I intend to explore your blog in greater detail soon.
Thanks,
Scott
Hi Ruth, I have finished the Fife Coastal path, going clockwise and similarly the Berwickshire https://walkingwithoutadonkey.com/fife-coastal-path/ and https://walkingwithoutadonkey.com/walking-without-a-dog-travels-in-scotland/
The St Magnus Way, Orkney (which is some coast, some inland in case they are any use to you or you want to add me to your list for others) https://walkingwithoutadonkey.com/st-magnus-way-orkney/
Look me up when you get to Edinburgh – I usually have a spare bed and it would be a pleasure.. Tamsin
Hi Tamsin! Sorry not to have responded sooner, but your comment got sent into the spam trap (I think it was the multiple links that caused that to happen). Thank you very much for your kind invitation. Edinburgh seems a loooong way away still 😀 Will add a link to your Fife Coastal Path information – very useful. Best wishes, Ruth
Yes I am sorry about that – I got a bit carried away. Many thanks and good luck with the next stages.
Since you walked through Arnside I have followed you around so much of the English and Scottish coasts I know so well…I enjoy your postings so much. Thank you!
A fun, informative site, Ruth. I met you through Anabel (Gallivanting:). I subscribed to your site and I look forward to reading more. Erica
I stumbled across this site, I’m amazed at what you’re attempting and what you’ve achieved. I’m guessing, looking at your progress, you’ve another 4 or 5 years to go before you link up with your starting point?
I note there’s a few people walking around the British coast at the moment, has anyone completed this feat yet?
When you finish this Herculean task you should get a few mountains in!
Hi Chris, yes, quite a few people have completed the coast, some doing it all in one go – ie. continuously walking day after day!
Hi Ruth!
Haven’t heard from your blog for a while. Do you go into hibernation or is it the bad weather keeping you indoors?
I’ve graduated to walking Scotland and picked two periods of decent weather in January and February to get as far as Stranraer. Hoping for another stretch in March when this current foul weather improves.
I would like to get to Ardrossan by Easter.
All the best
Bob McIntyre
Hi Bob. Yes, I’ve certainly been hibernating this winter – so wet and miserable! Got a few walks from last year to write up, which I should do in the next few weeks. Well done for getting to Stranraer. The best is yet to come… 😀
Hi Ruth,
Just completed our weeks walking between Folkestone and Eastbourne,didn’t get to Dover as planned nor did we walk from Dungeness to Lydd (again a step too far but will go back).I
So far on our epic journey we have gone from New Holland( Lincs) to Mersea Island,Raimham North Kent to Barmouth in North Wales.
Your blogs are very helpful and make great reading even on walks we have done.
We are not doing it consecutively as we say it’s our walk and our rules!We enjoy every walk for its own merit.
Good luck for 2020 walks.
Sue Gisborne and
Mary Diffell
Hello I found you whilst looking up paths around Allhallows. Great blog on that walk !! Are you still walking and have you made it into a book? Do you post on Instagram ?
Hi Clare and thank you for your kind words about my blog. I’ve written a book about how to tackle a long distance coastal walk, but not a book about my actual walk – too much to fit into one book! I have an Instagram account, but I don’t use it I’m afraid. Best wishes and happy walking 😄
Hi Ruth, I’m considering a UK coastal walk in sections and wondered whether, now you’ve walked through some starkly different areas and with the benefit of hindsight, you would have picked a different starting point? I expect most people pick somewhere close to home or one that holds childhood memories as the place they wish to start and finish, and part of me wants to do that too. But I would also like to finish along a spectacular or intensely scenic section, and it was interesting to read Peter Hill’s thoughts on turning the corner at John O’Groats of a sort of melancholy at the thought he’d probably walked the most spectacular bits and that the journey south wouldn’t hold quite so much interest. Of all the decisions, the starting point is proving the most difficult for me.
Hi John. You’re quite right in guessing I started in Kings Lynn because it was the nearest coastal town to me. Actually, Norfolk was a good place for an absolute beginner walker like me to start. Flat and easy transport links. But now I face ending my walk with the most boring coastline in the UK – Lincolnshire!
As you are an experienced walker, I think Cape Wrath would be a good place to start if you walk clockwise. Or I would start Lands End if going anti-clockwise. Although, if you want a grand reception at the end, then maybe starting and ending close to home is a good idea.
Anyway, delighted to hear you are considering it. It’s been the greatest adventure of my life so far!
Many thanks Ruth. I may compromise and start at Bangor in North Wales. I went to University there and it’s always been a very special place for me. Perhaps the Llyn Peninsular and Anglesey would provide a nice last stretch to the walk.
Hello Ruth, Came across your website when I was looking up Ferring in West Sussex. How have you found walking with the problem that the country has at the moment? Being out in the fresh air has certainly helped me when I do a walk. Only short ones at the moment as it is too hot for me. Good Luck in all you do.
Hi Brenda. Walking is great for improving your health and happiness isn’t it. I’ve walked locally but sadly I haven’t been able to do much coastal walking this year because of the ban on all non-essential travel. Shame, because we had perfect weather this spring 😕 At moment I’m back up in NW Scotland, waiting for the rain to clear before getting out to do more walking. 😀 Best wishes, Ruth
Hi Ruth, thank you for your reply. Where abouts are you in Scotland? Is that where you live. Don’t want to appear nosey but I have friends in West Lothian, ànd Lochearnhead. I love Inverness and foyers falls. Both times travelled on the Caledonian sleeper with my collie Tyto. Sadly haven’t got him now. Best wishes.
Hi Brenda. I now live in Manchester, but am back walking the coast in Scotland, because I managed to book some self-catering accommodation. Just walked through Torridon and carrying on to Gairloch. Very beautiful and the weather is gorgeous.
I had the worst experience ever of the Scottish midge on the banks of Torridon. Hope it’s windy and they do not trouble you.
Luckily it’s been very sunny, which tends to keep them at bay, but even so they have been a right nuisance John. Trouble is you can’t stop for a proper rest, or even to enjoy a drink of water, but you just have to keep walking. ☹️
we’ve just enjoyed joining you on your walk from Newborough to Aberffraw. We have been coming to Anglesey for many years. We’re not hikers like you , just casual walkers , but find your stories very interesting.
Hi Gwyneth and glad you enjoyed the post. You won’t be too surprised to learn I’ve just bought a place on Anglesey. It’s such a wonderful place.
Hi Ruth,
I have always loved hiking but with five children and work my hikes were limited to family holidays. As I approach early retirement I decided in October to walk the Saxon Shore Way in sections, one day per week. Having just reached Deal yesterday after day seven, I am enjoying it so much that I set myself the somewhat more challenging goal of the coast of Britain (legs permitting!).
As part of some early research I came across your website and loved it. I am just using Facebook at the moment as it is so easy to post an album photos with captions. That takes me enough time as it is, so I admire your blogging effort!
Best wishes,
Tony
Hi Tony. Thank you so much for taking the time to comment and for your kind remarks. I’m not surprised to hear you got bitten by the coastal-walking bug and don’t want to stop! I’m sure you’ll have lots of wonderful adventures and do keep in touch.
I made it to surreal Dungeness this week and it prompted me to set up my own site at: http://closertotheedge.uk/. I need to catch up with my earlier days still. If you like it please could you add a link and then I can experiment with how to add links to your site and others.
It’s a great place, and congratulations on the new blog. Link has been added.
Hi Ruth, I tuned back in to your blog today to see if you have got any further with your round Britain quest. It looks as though you haven’t walked since August 2019 – is that right? Is that because of Corona? I too have had my coastal walk scuppered thanks to that. My attempt at the Poole to Minehead path is modest compared to yours! I got to Coverack in August 2019 and have got no further since. However nothing could halt the achievement of my 70th birthday 2 weeks ago, so the time-clock is ticking for completing the path. Hope all’s well with you.
Hi David.
Covid has spoiled a lot of our plans, hasn’t it. In fact, I had a trip to Scotland planned in March, The Beast was packed and ready to go, but the day before I was due to leave Boris held his first Covid press conference and told us to avoid unnecessary travel! I did manage to get up to Scotland for a week last summer, but I haven’t written it up yet, as the worry about Covid seems to have sapped all my energy. Funny how the stress affects us.
Hope you’ll be able to complete the SWCP next year. I actually think those walks along the north coast of Cornwall and Devon were the toughest of any I’ve done! So, assuming you’re walking the “wrong way” like I did, you’ve got some great challenges ahead. Let’s not give up… the coast will still be there next summer. Best wishes, Ruth
Greetings Ruth,
as a long-time lurker, so to speak, who – just like others – had noticed the last update was ages ago, I figured I might just as well leave a comment. I have no idea about how much of an international audience your site attracts, but judging from the names in the comments it’s not a lot. I’m a German reader who found out about your blog a couple of years ago when a highly prolific London-based blogger mentioned your coastal walk. I started reading in chronological order albeit only sporadically or, as you put it yourself, “very SLOWLY”, so at the time of writing I haven’t gotten further than the Pembrokeshire section. I find after a hard day’s work it is quite relaxing to sit down with a cuppa reading your accounts, including the little extra details like things about random strangers you encounter or the occasional anecdote or snippet about a place on the walk, all nicely complemented by the plentiful photos.
By the way, odd as this may sound, but I’ve always been amused by the bits where your husband joins you, either on the trail or during a meal. It must be something about his subtle grin visible in most of the photos – I can’t help being reminded of Hugo Weaving, so it makes me picture your hubby as Agent Smith in the “The Matrix” films. I’m sure he isn’t that evil though, so no worries 😉
Best regards,
Dirk
Hi Dirk and thank you for saying such lovely things about my blog. It’s very kind of you to take the time to comment and has cheered me up. I do have a few more walks to write up, but have found it difficult to raise enthusiasm with the current Covid situation. As for my husband… well, you will have to keep reading your way through the blog to find out, but you might be right with your first impressions 😕 Hope you are keeping well and staying safe in these strange times. Best wishes, Ruth
Inspiring stuff. Just finished the Lancashire coastal way and enjoyed your write up of the Fleetwood to Cockerham section. Not the most inspiring bit of the walk, but good fun none the less. Some route finding difficulties as you mentioned, but this seems to be par for the course in Lancashire, where I come from. I can recommend the Ribble Valley – some lovely walks around Pendle. The Ribble Way is lovely too, with good transport links Currently doing the Lancashire Way, some of which overlaps the coastal walk. Lancaster to Arnside is a beautiful stretch. Good luck with you future walking.
Hi Simon. Yes, the Lancashire coast path was sometimes a navigational challenge. But Cumbria was much worse 😁 Thank you for the walk recommendations. A beautiful part of the world. Best wishes.
Hi Ruth
I’ve been following you blog on and off for sometime now but not thought to comment until now.
I’m not sure how far you have got but you will be very welcome to stay with us when you get as far as Edinburgh. We have put up John Rayment on his coastal walk a few years ago.
Like Gil Campbell I completed Scotland’s coast in 2017.
It’s on my blog at https://wordpress.com/view/jimmyscoastalwalkofscotland.wordpress.com
Since then I’ve done most of the South West Coast Path before the lockdown interrupted me . I haven’t tried to get back to finish it yet. https://southwestcoastpathdotblog.wordpress.com/
Looking forward to the next post.
Best wishes
Jimmy Hudson
Hi Jimmy, that is a very kind offer. Thank you. I confess I’m nervous about returning to Scotland at the moment, and have decided this year just to work backwards from my starting point – so will be tackling the flatlands of Lincolnshire! Hope you get back to the SWCP soon, and thank you for the link to your blog. best wishes, Ruth.
Sad to hear you won’t be continuing around Scotland this year as I’ve enjoyed reading about your walks there, I hope Cape Wrath is not proving too daunting. I made a trip early in May and had no problems though I was confined to eating at the hotel. I’m going again in July but booked self-catering this time. Still hopefully you will be able to get back to the coast soon even if not Scotland.
Hi Ruth, I’m working on a project for the South West Heritage Trust and looking for images of local buildings. Yours are brilliant! Especially interested in the shots of Porlock. Would it be ok to add them to our upcoming website? (With credit of course!).
Yes, of course!
Hi Ruth, Thank you so much for this blog. At the moderately advanced age of 65 I’ve decided to tackle the as yet unfinished England Coast Path and am finding your blog incredibly helpful to work out possibilities and distances. Susan
Hi Susan, and how wonderful to be setting out on your adventure. I’m 66 now, so we are both in our prime! Best wishes and happy walking. Keep in touch x
Hi Susan and Ruth – another 65 year old here! I am walking the coast with my daughter, one day at a time but had paused due to Corona, other illness, house moves, new jobs and stuff but we are heading back to Essex next week to pick up. There is a link to my blog at the top of Ruth’s page Jane’s gentle stroll… It’s a great thing to do and I can’t wait to get back to the sea again.
Reading Raynor Winn’s THE SALT PATH, I googled Hawker’s Hut & came upon your photo “not HH” – and thus discovered Ruth’s coastal walk (UK). Around Britain SLOWLY – that’s my kind of walking! Slow… *
Hi Colin. All the best people walk slowly 😄 Best wishes.
Hi Ruth. We are also walking round england and comparing our route with yours. i have just noticed that your diary does not include the stage from Rochester to Gillingham, which is what we will do next. Do you have the mileage?.
Hi Ruth. We are aso walking round but only England. I have just noticed that your diary is missing the stage from Rochester to Gillingham which is what we will do next. Do you know the mileage?
John
Hi John, I covered it here – clearly didn’t think much to it and didn’t record the mileage for that bit 😂 https://coastalwalker.co.uk/2011/03/06/stage-34-hoo-st-warburgh-to-rochester/
Many thanks. I follow your progress with interest. here is our rather inferior blog.
https://roundenglandwalk.blogspot.com/
Not inferior at all. Just different. I enjoyed reading about the walks and revisiting the places I walked through – it seems years ago. I left a comment, but it may have disappeared into the ether!
Also added you to my list of coastal walking blogs. Not sure why you weren’t on it already!
Dont know how or why ? but ive just come across your blog and started reading …i see that ive got 12 years to catch up on and im delighted you’re still hanging in there since 2010.. i look fwd to working through your journey and criss crossing with all of the other wonderful walker/ bloggers whom have joined the group along the way and shared their own stories… i am also a lifelong daily walker.. and have always dreamt that one day in the future as i got older or nearer to retirement, with a bit more time and freedom to achieve my own dreams i would love to take on a planned thorough British coastal walk.. just need to decide where and when and how best to start.. so your group seems like the perfect place to begin that plan .. fate has a way of bringing things back to you eh ?… anyway just wanted to say Hi .. good luck …well done and please keep going x from your newest member in Liverpool.
Hi Rona, what a great plan and I hope you begin your walking adventure soon. You could easily tackle the north west coast in a series of day trips or weekend trips. I’m probably the slowest walker in the world, so you might overtake me one day!
Hi Ruth,
I had this silly idea a year or so ago to walk the entire British coast but when I mentioned it people’s reactions made me think ot wasn’t doable. Finding your blog has reignited my idea and made me realise this is not ao silly and infacy with some patience entirely doable! Thank you for inspiring me! I live in Suffolk so I am also thinking of starting in North Norfolk where we holiday alot! I turn 40 next year so here’s to a decade of walking adventures ahead 😊
Congratulations on your achievement so far!
Mair
Hi Mair, not a silly idea at all! And if I can do it, anybody can. Norfolk is a good place to start with beautiful beaches and reasonable public transport. Let me know how you get on. Best wishes, Ruth
Ruth
I think you have decadeS of walking adventures left. Let me know when you get to Kent and we can can give you some encouragement on the way.
Hi Ruth Tim here a fellow l.d.w of 35yrs I’ve just finished reading, walking the English coast and thoroughly enjoyed it.I easily related to the very clear contents and have come away with some useful information as i’m sure most would,what a book to have if your contemplating this wonderful walk,although this is a walk I’ve yet to complete i’ve done most of the big walks,wish you were about 35yrs thanks Ruth Tim.
Thank you for your kind words. I think the English coast path should be next on your list!
Hi,
My name is Gareth.
I and family are from Anglesey going back many generations. I am Welsh and I am developing tours as part of my Tour Guide retirement “hobby”.
I like your site very much and ask if I can use some if your photos on my profile etc.
Regards
Hi Gareth. Yes, happy for you to use some of my photos in your tour guides, as long as you provide a credit and a link to this blog too. Best wishes and enjoy your retirement!
Hi Ruth,I like your litt
Hi Ruth
We are walking round England – started in 2011 – and you kindly put a link on your site – Round England Walk
We plan to finish next year. I am doing a booklet with our diary interspersed with photos. This will just be for us and close friends. I am short of some photos for the earlier years and wondered if you would mind if I included some of yours. I would of course acknowledge the source.
Best wishes
John Harkness
Great story. My husband and I are doing the SW coast path. I came across your blog noting Charlestown to Mevagissey, it meant I knew what was coming so no surprises with the steps. Normally my husband plans the walks and I moan (and cry!) about the steep hills!! Yesterday it was my hubby who found the walk a challenge!! So any further signposting to the rest if the SW coast path would be great 🙂
Hi Michele. Hope you enjoy the SWCP as much as I did. Some sections are really tough, but it’s still one of my favourite parts of the coast. Never sure if knowing what’s coming is a good idea or not 😂 but if it helps you keep up with your husband… go for it! Best wishes.
Hi ruth – thank you for your blog – would like to try this path from start point lighthouse until slapton sands – do you know how long it takes, and is it suitable for a buggy? Looking forward to hearing from you,
Hi Jessica, it’s about 4 miles I think, and should take you about 2 hours. I can’t remember if suitable for a buggy, but reading my blog over that section I talk about grassy slopes and so I suspect would be a bit rough for a buggy. There might be an easier path you can take. Looking at the satellite view in Google maps might be helpful.
Hi
I was just about to walk the Clevedon to Weston Super Mare section and read your experiences of mad cows, unmarked paths and dreadful under M5 culverts. I had a map printed off but after reading this took the very boring road and cycle path route via Yatton. Sorry we are not very brave.
Having completed the South West Coast Path more than 10 years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it, we decided to carry on and are doing bits and bobs of both the England Coast Path and the Wales Coast Path.
Now I have found your site I will probably refer to your description of your walks as I go. Thank you for putting it out there for other walkers.
Better to be cautious and enjoy a safe walk, so don’t apologise for not being brave! It will be interesting to see how they manage to route the England Coast Path through that area. Happy walking!