As I have researched this walk, I have discovered more and more people who have walked the coastline. The first (and most famous) is John Merrill's walk in 1978, but many more have done so since. This is a list of some resources than I could find about the people and groups who have done this:
Latest Walkers
Wendy Bathard and Paul Barber are walking 5,000+ miles for charity, both Guide Dogs and Lifeboats. They set off from John O'Groats on 13-11-2006, and are hoping to complete in November this year. please see http://www.tvh3.com/coastalwalk.htm for more details.
Coastwalkers
This is a first attempt at creating a list of everyone who has walked, or is walking, the coastline of Britain. It is far from complete currently, and is very much work in progress. I am not 100% sure of the accuracy of the data, either, but over time it is becoming more accurate as multiple source become available. If you have done the walk and wish to be added, then feel free to mail me.
| Name | Mileage | Dates | Direction | Resources / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Merrill | 6,824 | 03-01-1978 to 08-11-1978 | Clockwise | The man who led the way. Please buy 'Turn Right at Land's End', ISBN 0-907496-74-1 for more information. He is apparently considering doing it again, taking in the islands and Ireland as well. An inspiration. |
| Vivienne Ibbott | 01-03-1986 to ??-??-1987 | Clockwise | Started in Southampton | |
| Helen Krasner | 4,922 | 01-03-1986 to 31-01-1987 | Clockwise | 'Midges,Maps and Muesli: Account of a 5,000 Mile Walk Round the Coast of Britain', ISBN 0953380106 |
| Ron Bullen | 7,047 | 01-04-1986 to 07-02-1987 (313 days) | Anti-clockwise | The little information that I have is from: http://www.hartlepool-mail.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=1109&ArticleID=770318. He raised money for the RNLI. He was 59-60 when he did the walk. |
| Paul Dyer | 14-09-1986 to ??-??-1987 | Clockwise | Started from John O'Groats | |
| Vera Andrews | 7,318 | 01-1990 to 12-1990 | 'I've seen Granny Vera', ISBN 0-951070-90-8 | |
| John Westley | 9,469 (including Ireland) | 05-08-1990 to 20-09-1991 | Clockwise | 'And the road below...', ISBN 1-869922-25-5 |
| Bob Croucher | 2,409 (England only) | 20-04-1991 to 14-09-1991 | Clockwise | 'A walk around England' |
| James Edmunds | 9 months | Anti-clockwise | Started spalding, lincolnshire, anti clockwise (first person to complete in one go.in that direction). 28 yr old, did it for macmillan nurses. | |
| Spud Talbot-Ponsonby | 4,546.7 | 01-08-1993 to 01-06-1994 | Anti-clockwise | 'Two feet, four paws', ISBN 1-84024-150-0 |
| Jesse | early 1994 to mid 1995 | Clockwise | Wrote a book: 'friendship spirit and freedom-jesse' Not only did he walk the coastline, he took in offa's dyke, south-north, north-south, then carried on with his walk, then he did the coast to coast e-w w-e, again continuing his walk. he now holds the world record for continous walk. | |
| Richard Hunt | 4,298 | 01-01-1995 to 29-10-1995 | Clockwise | 'The sea on our left', ISBN 1-84024-105-5 |
| Shally Hunt | 4,298 | 01-01-1995 to 29-10-1995 | Clockwise | 'The sea on our left', ISBN 1-84024-105-5 |
| Geraldine Pettitt | 5,000 | 06-03-1995 to 26-10-1995 | Anti-clockwise | Walked to raise money for the PDSA. |
| Robert Steel | 4,444 | 06-03-1995 | Clockwise | Was 75 when he walked it, to celebrate the centenary of the National Trust. Started from London Bridge. |
| Graham F Jones | 2,035 (England only) | 5 months to 12-09-1997 | Anti-clockwise | 'Walking the Edge', ISBN 1-897913-62-1 |
| Alfie | I know very little - he is from Folkestone / Hythe, did it in the late nineties and walked for a children's hospice. Ring Kent Messenger for more details. | |||
| Peter Griffiths | 7,000 | 01-09-1997 to 07-02-1999 | Anti-clockwise | Peter set of from Aberystwyth and carried everything he needed for overnight survival including a one man tent. He camped over 170 nights during the walk - staying at friends, B&B's, hostels and bothies for the rest. After completing the walk he staged a photograph exhibition entitled "Footsteps on the Edge of Britain" that was exhibited at eight gallery venues around the coast. |
| Douglas Charles Legg | 5,000 | 01-08-1998 to 31-12-1999 | Anti-clockwise | 'No Fixed Abode: A Long Walk to the Dome', ISBN 0-9542051 |
| Alison King | 5,200 | 01-01-2000 to 19-11-2001 | Clockwise | http://www.alison-and-martyn.org.uk/ |
| Martyn King | 5,200 | 01-01-2000 to 19-11-2001 | Clockwise | http://www.alison-and-martyn.org.uk/ |
| Tom Isaacs | 4,500? | 11-04-2002 to 11-04-2003 | Anti-clockwise | www.coastin.co.uk/ |
| Graham Harboard | 4,500? | 25-09-2002 to 10-10-2003 | Anti-clockwise | www.carols-smile.org.uk/ |
| David Cotton | 6,266.5 | 01-10-2002 to 27-09-2003 | Clockwise | www.coastwalk.co.uk/ |
| Louis | 21-07-2004 to 11-07-2005 | Clockwise | Louis set off from near Whitby on Wednesday 21st July 2004, and headed clockwise along the coast. He camped for most of the way around, relying on B&B's only when it is most necessary. He did the walk during a gap year before going to university, and he was by far the youngest coastal walker that I am aware of. Louis has a website at http://www.louiswalkingtheuk.tk/ or see some photographs that I took. | |
| Gary Lamb | 4,500 | 01-04-2005 to 12-02-2006 | Clockwise | Gary did the walk as a 'Prayer walk', setting off from Hythe when he was 26, completing 15 miles a day. See a page on his prayer walk for more information. |
| Jannina Henderson | 4,500 | 01-01-2006 to 25-11-2006 | Anti-clockwise | See http://www.walkingthewalk2006.com/index.html, Jannina set off from Lyme Regis with her two dogs. She was raising money for specific projects run by four charities :- The Woodland Trust, the RNLI, the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) and the Topsy Foundation. |
Sectional Walkers
This tables outlines people who have done (or are doing) the walk sectionally, i.e. not in one go.
| Name | Mileage | Dates | Direction | Resources / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iain Gilbert | 5,500 | 1993 to 2001 | Started at Skegness, lives in Nottinghamshire. | |
| Jane and Jenna Morgan | In progress | 1998 to --- | Anti-clockwise | Started at Sandbanks, and have currently got as far as Peacehaven, and have named their walk 'A Gentle Stroll around the Coast of Britain'. |
| Paul Harvey | In progress | 23-06-1996 to --- | Anti-clockwise | Currently as far as Brighton, started in Boston. He has had a very eventful walk. |
| Susan Long | In progress | 08-1999 to --- | Clockwise | Started in Cley-next-the-Sea (North Norfolk, has walked as far as Lymington (800 miles). |
| Adam Doble | 2,450 | 28-04-1997 to 28-07-2004 | Clockwise | Adam did England only in 125 days walking; he cut across Wales using Offa's Dyke, and from Gretna to Berwick. One of his next plans is to walk the Welsh coastline. |
| Spencer Lane | Completed | --- to 1996 | Sectional walker, he started the walk in the 1970's. He was the customer service manager at City University. | |
| Ted Richards | 3,583 | 02-07-1985 to 12-05-2004 | Clockwise | Ted has now completed his walk around England and Wales; he did not take ferries and walked around any island connected by bridges to the mainland. |
| Paul Bennett | In progress | 02-1999 | Anticlockwise | Paul starts at St Dogmaels, and is walking England and Wales, although he may extend it by doing Scotland at a later date. He has completed 1,183 miles so far. For more information, see his website at http://pab.angellane.org/coastwalk.html. |
| Leon, Dick and Chris | In progress | 25-08-2005 | Anticlockwise | These Cobblers (Coast of Britain'ers) set off from Land's End, and are now as far as Torquay, a distance of 236 miles. They have a nice rule; each walk must start and end with a pint in the same pub! Their website is at www.cowp.co.uk/photos. |
Around Britain Walkers Association
In his book, Douglas Legg states that he would like there to be a association for people who have walked the coast, called the 'Around Britain Walkers Association'. This was something that I was thinking of before I started the walk, and it is becoming increasingly appealing. I am not quite at the stage where I am ready to form such an association, but if anyone thinks that it is a good idea, then email me at discjirm@hotmail.com.
The best bits
You cannot afford time off to walk the entire coast? Why not try some of the bite-sized chunks that I liked best. I have only walked most of these once, and impressions are mostly based on weather and your mood, but these, for me, are the places that are ultra-memorable:
- Blairmore to Durness, via Sandwood Bay and Cape Wrath, 41.4 miles. A superb and memorable walk around the northwestern tip of the mainland. Scottish coastal walking at it's best, and the most atmospheric bothy that I have ever stayed in. See walks 522, 523 and 524.
- Abbereiddy to Strumble Head, 16.1 miles. Superb scenery and views, with an outstanding sunset behind Strumble Head lighthouse. Pembrokeshire at its best. See walk 390.
- Worth Matravers to Lulworth Cove, 14.3 miles. A hard walk through the military firing range at Lulworth, and past the deserted village of Tyneham. See walk 315.
- Gorleston-on-Sea to Southwold, 18.8 miles. Lovely and understaed coastal scenery, through Lowestoft and past the easternmost point on the mainland to Southwold, a superb little town with its own fine brewery. See walk 259.
- Tudweiliog to Clynnog Fawr, 20.2 miles. Some of the best scenery that the Lleyn peninsular has to offer, plus some stiff climbs. All in an area of Wales that is relatively unvisited by tourists. See walk 403.
WWW resources
On April 11th 2002 Tom Isaacs set off on a 4,500 walk around the coast of the UK. Tom suffers from Parkinson's disease, and is raising money for the Parkinson's Disease Society. This is a massive acheivement for anyone, yet alone someone suffering from Parkinson's disease. If you can afford to, please donate to this well-worthwhile cause. He completed his walk in mid-April, and topped it off by running the London Marathon two days later!
Imagine my surprise when I was walking towards Brighton one day and I met a gentleman who was walking the coastline in the opposite direction whom I had not heard of. Graham Harboard completed his 4,500 walk around the coastline of Britain on the 10th October 2003, and I was honoured to be there on what turned out to be a sadly tragic day. Graham was raising money for a charity, Carol's Smile, that he set up in memory of his wife who died of cancer.
The Maritime & Coastguard Agency are raising money for the Jubilee Sailing Trust (sailing for the physically disabled) by walking around the coastline of Britain. About 275 teams of volunteer coastguards are walking in a relay around the coast during 2002 / 2003.
Further reading
A series of books have been written about coastal walks, and the coast in general. Click on a link to go to the Amazon page for the book.
| Title | Author | ISBN | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turn Right at Land's End | John N. Merrill | 0-907496-74-1 | This is an excellent book by the first person to walk around the coastline of the UK. Truly a pioneer of this walk, he suffered a dtress-fracture in his foot about halfway through! |
| I've Seen Granny Vera | Vera Andrews | 0-951070-90-8 | Granny Vera holds the longest walk in Britain by a woman world record, an amazoing achievement. As well as walking around 3,000 mile around the coast she also visited all the British Gas showrooms in Britain on the way! Unfortunately I have yet to obtain a copy of this book. TR> |
| Two feet, four paws | Spud Talbot-Ponsonby | 1-84024-150-0 | This truly excellent and well-written book is about a young woman who walked the coastline in 1994 with her dog. A truly inspirational read, and one of my favourite walking books. |
| The sea on our left | Shally Hunt | 1-84024-105-5 | This is a superb book about a middle-aged couple who walked the coastline in 1995. |
| Midges,Maps and Muesli | Helen Krasner | 0-95338-010-6 | A lovely book about Helen's 5,000 mile walk around the coast - the title sums up her experiences rather neatly. An admirable walk by an admirable lady. |
| Walking the Edge | Graham F Jones | 1-897913-62-1 | This nice book details a 2,000 mile walk around the coastline of England from Gloucester to Berwick. |
| Coastwalk | Andrew McCloy | 0-340-65740-5 | Details routes around the coastline of England and Wales and is an indispensable guide to people planning the walk. And it is small enough to fit in a rucksack during the walk! |
| The AA Book of the seaside | AA | N/A | A mile-by-mile guide to Britain's coastline. Although published in 1972, this book, which was given to me by a relative, has proved invaluable on the walk. It is full of little nuggets of information that make the walk much more enjoyable. |
| A walk around England | Bob Croucher | 0-902-83038-4 | Unfortunately I have yet to find a copy of this book. |
| And the road below | John Westley | 1-869922-25-5 | Published by Meridian Books. This exhaustive book gives the details of John's amazing stroll around Britain and Ireland - an stupendous distance of nearly 10,000 miles. A very detailed diary of the walk and the people that he met on the way. |
| No fixed abode | Douglas Legg | 0-9542051-0-3 | Published by Colby Press. Douglas seems like an amazing character from this book, which he tackles in a fairly unique manner. |
| Britain's coastlines from the air | Jane Struthers | 0-0918083-3-2 | Published by Ebury Press. Although not strictly a book on walking, I got given this book after my walk and the superb images of the coastline bring evocative memories back to me whenever I see them. Definitely a book to be read after the walk! |
| TGO article, November 2000 | Andrew McCloy | N/A | A very interesting article on walking the coast. |
If you know of any other people who have done the walk or resources that may be of use to people walking around the coast, then please mail me with them. I am thankful to Gareth Barker for some of this information.
General Links
- My main walks website can be found at www.britishwalks.org. This has details of all the previous walks that I have done since the beginning of 1999.
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