The South West Coast Path Association is celebrating its 50th anniversary and its challenging appeal is as strong as ever.
In 1973, a dedicated band of walkers determined to fill in the missing links and create an uninterrupted national trail skirting the entire peninsula from Somerset to Dorset via the most westerly reaches of Cornwall. The resulting 630-mile South West Coast Path, from Minehead in Somerset (the official starting point) to South Haven Point in Dorset via Land’s End, is right up there with the world’s greatest trails - the equivalent of climbing Mount Everest from sea level four times.
The South West Coast Path Association (SWPCA) is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year to great fanfare.
A programme of fun events have been taking place and this month sees the culmination of The Trailblazer Walk, a relay event which began on May 12 and ends at the SWCPA headquarters in Plymouth’s historic Royal William Yard on June 15. This is also the date of the launch of the South West Coast Path Photographer of the Year exhibition in Ocean Studios. Beautiful images of the coast path that explore personal connections, nature, urban and industrial heritage and climate change will be on show, as well as images by the first Young Photographer of the Year.
Such is the path’s appeal that it attracts nine million users annually. Some walk a short distance, others the full monty, whether in manageable chunks over several years or in one big hurrah. Those who succeed are known as ‘completers’ and receive a certificate to mark their achievement. It’s an addictive experience, with many who arrive at South Haven Point tempted to turn round and do it all again ‘in reverse’. Alan Peace from Wolverhampton has completed the path in both directions, scoring a personal best of 49 days when starting from Dorset: ‘It changes the whole trek, as even though it’s the same ground, you see it all from a different perspective.’
All walkers contribute £520 million to the local economy – that's five per cent of the visitor economy, and the equivalent of 10,000 jobs. To this end, the South West Coast Path Passport was launched in 2022 by hotelier and star of Chanel 5’s The Hotel Inspector, Alex Polizzi, at the Pack O’Cards pub in Combe Martin. The passport was partly in response to requests for an official expedition memento but also to encourage walkers to support the countless businesses making a living along the path, from cafes to B&Bs and even ferry crossings.
Just over 100 now act as stamping points, in an echo of pilgrims collecting stamps on their journey to Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain. The passport has proved hugely popular, with walkers keen to collect the distinctive stamps from each section of the path, be it the Exmoor pony, the Cornish tin mine or the Jurassic fossil.
The path passes through so many landscapes which are protected at the highest level, including Exmoor National Park, the Unesco World Heritage Site of the Jurassic Coast in East Devon and Dorset, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs) in north, south and east Devon, and Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) such as Braunton Burrows and the Exe Estuary.
The National Trust is the largest landowner on the path, managing 185 miles of the trail. ‘But the trail isn’t owned by any one person,’ says SWCPA director Julian Gray. ‘Rather than seeing the coast path as ours, we see ourselves as custodians, guardians, champions.’
Today, the work of the SWPCA includes campaigning and raising awareness as well as funds for necessary maintenance work, while its extensive network of volunteers keep their eyes peeled for signs of wear and tear, especially during the annual winter survey.
Julian sees the association primarily as ‘a health and wellbeing charity’, backed up by research from the University of Exeter that proves the mental health benefits of the path and estimates its economic value at saving the NHS £75 million. ‘Our purpose is to improve people’s lives by getting them out on the path,’ he says. ‘We know that being in green space, being near water and being active are the three different elements that are good for us, and the South West Coast Path offers all three in one. It’s like a super-vitamin: a Natural Health Service.’
In 2022, Julian represented the path at the World Trails Network’s biennial conference in Greece, themed around sustainability. This was especially pertinent for a peninsular coastal trail: whichever direction a storm comes in from, the path will be hit.
Julian confirms that the increasing frequency of severe weather events is taking its toll: ‘The impact on coastal and surface erosion means the costs of managing the path and keeping it open are rising.’ Mile Maker donors currently pay £1,500 towards the annual cost of maintaining a mile of the path, but that is likely to increase.
The path has more than its fair share of well-known ambassadors. Raynor Winn’s memoir, The Salt Path, recalls a life-changing walk with her husband Moth at a time when they were beleaguered by sudden homelessness and ill health; and in The Electricity of Every Living Thing, Katherine May recounts how she came to terms with her midlife autism diagnosis by embarking on a physical and psychological journey along the South West Coast Path.
Rachel Hadley-Leonard completed the South West Coast Path in October 2022, documenting her experience in a personal podcast called Keeping the Sea on the Right. To celebrate the SWPCA’s half-century, she is volunteering for the charity by recording a year-long series of monthly podcasts under the title 630 Miles - An Audio Journey, meeting the volunteers, artists and business owners who form part of the path’s daily life.
Rachel runs her own consultancy business in landlocked Warwickshire: ‘I’m about as far inland as you can get – I've spent my life trying to be on the coast,’ she laughs.
‘It was a long-held ambition of mine to complete the coast path, and I wanted to do it in one go and on my own. I have a very busy life, and walking alone is my way of unwinding - I immerse myself in the world around me.’
Having identified a good time for a two-month sabbatical, Rachel spent nine months planning her hike, turning to the SWCPA as the fount of all knowledge. Accommodation ranged from a horsebox to the luxurious Burgh Island Hotel off the south Devon coast, with B&Bs and youth hostels in between.
She is living proof of the path’s restorative powers. ‘I have early-stage arthritis, and while I was walking the pain all but disappeared,’ she explains. ‘My mental wellbeing, meanwhile, went through the roof. I smiled for two months, even when it was really tough.’
That would be the first week. ‘It was the hardest, the most physically demanding - and I’m fit and had trained for six months,’ she recalls. ‘But it was also stunning – especially from Clovelly to Hartland Quay, where I was blessed with the most beautiful sunset – it’s my new favourite place in the world, so remote and exposed. Hartland to Bude was the toughest day of the through hike, yet these were two of my favourite days, not least for the sense of achievement.’
In total Rachel raised £5,000 for three charities: the RNLI (a popular choice), the YHA and of course the SWCPA. ‘I thought it was important before, but now it’s my number one charity,’ she says. ‘The work it does, in enabling people like me and others less fortunate to access the path, is astonishing.’
Indeed, one of the SWCPA’s current campaigns is to encourage those less likely to walk the path to discover its charms and benefits. The Coast Path Connectors two-year programme was launched earlier this year, using National Lottery Heritage funding, and there are now five hubs around the South West - including Plymouth, Torbay and North Devon from Ilfracombe to Westward Ho!, including an accessible stretch of the Tarka Trail.
‘We realised that while many people have the confidence to go out and explore the coast path, others didn’t have the same opportunities,’ says project manager Alex Turner. ‘You don’t have to walk all of it; it can also be broken down into nice easy bits that are accessible to a lot of people. You don’t need specialist equipment to do it, and it’s free.’
While SWCPA has been working with Devon and Cornwall Refugee Support to lead groups on the path, other initiatives are devastatingly simple. ‘We might meet at a bus stop and go together,’ says Alex. ‘Sometimes it’s about the confidence of knowing the timetables and where to get off the bus. By making sure people have that information, we are enabling them to make those choices.’
If you’ve been inspired by this feature to walk the path, either in part or as a whole, Rachel has a message for you: ‘Do it, 100%. It ranks alongside having my kids as the best thing I’ve ever done in my life. I can’t imagine that even just walking for a day on the path wouldn’t bring huge benefits to anyone. It’s magical.’
southwestcoastpath.org.uk
CAPTURING THE COAST PATH
South Devon photographer Paul Boomsma has been been named the South West Coast Path Photographer of the Year 2022, for his image of a herring gull in flight.
The winning photograph, taken from the sea at Exmouth, beat tough competition from over 1,500 entries across the South West region.
Other Devon winners were Jon Lovejoy, who won the Nature category for his drone image of Noss Mayo, and Alex Moorehead, who won the Climate Change category for his image of a tree on the beach at Seaton.
The winning images plus more are on view at the South West Coast Path Photographer of the Year Exhibition at Ocean Studios, Royal William Yard, Plymouth, from June 15 to July 27.
Overall winner
Seagull at Sea by Paul Boomsma
‘I went on a boat trip to photograph the Jurassic Coast and as we were travelling through the fog, a group of gulls flew right past us. I quickly changed my lens and photographed some of them. It wasn’t until later when I looked through the many images taken on that day that I came across it and loved the way it looked. I’m really happy to have won South West Coast Path Photographer of the Year, having my work recognised and shared with others is extremely rewarding and it means even more that it’s a photo I took very close to my hometown.’
Nature category winner
Spring at Cellars by Jon Lovejoy
‘This image was taken from a boat (by drone) in the mouth of the river Yealm close to Cellars beach in January 2023. It shows the path from a different view while encompassing the varied landscape of the land, beach, and sea, and it shows a beautiful contrast of colours between the water, sand, rocks and trees and shows mother nature in her true beauty. I'm very proud of this image and to win the nature category and have my image displayed is amazing!’
Climate change category winner
Isolation by Alex Moorehead
‘It was captured April 2019 on the beach at Seaton in east Devon in between the Chine and Seaton Hole. It's a path that I used to walk across to get to work most days (weather and tide permitting) so I've seen quite a few changes along this stretch of coastline.
‘On the occasion I took this photo, I was walking back to Beer after a shift at work and it was unusually foggy for the time of day, mid-afternoon. Usually, I'll have a camera of some sort with me and on this occasion, I only had my phone. When I saw the tree emerge from the fog, I knew I had to capture a few photos, whilst it was isolated from the surrounding landscape.
‘The tree in the image started its descent to this spot, on top of the rock armour, in the summer of 2012, when a sizeable section of cliff, including Old Beer Road situated above started to slide downwards. The ground being already heavily saturated after previous bad weather.
‘Since then, I've walked past and photographed this spot many times and in all sorts of different weather, including most recently where all that now remains is the stump.
‘I feel the image shows just how delicate the coast is and how vulnerable it is to the effects of climate change, from heavy rainfall saturating the ground to increased chances of storms along the coast. It feels wonderful for this image to be chosen as the winner of the Climate Change category, representing an issue that affects us all.’
