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By viv, 16 November, 2010 10:42 am

A massive well done to Nat who, on 5 November, completed his huge challenge – a continuous walk around the coast of Britain, starting and finishing in Portsmouth.  The mega-trek took 10 months – here he tells us how he felt during the final stage:

So I have finished. On 5 November, just after 4:30 pm, I walked up to South Parade pier in some pretty miserable weather to be welcomed by a group of friends and family. I had been dreading the return slightly. Not because I wasn’t ready to stop, I was looking forward to being able to do something other than walk every day but I was not looking forward to the attention being on me. Luckily after an awkward 5 minutes, stood, having people photograph me, I was able to enjoy seeing the people that had come out and chat to them in a more relaxed way. Moving on to the pub helped that.

The last 10 days of my journey took in some interesting places, not least Dungeness which is one of the strangest places I walked through all year. I don’t know whether the weather compounded the feeling but the place was very bleak with its power plant and dark flat surrounding landscape.  Getting closer to home meant that, just as with the first week, there were people to stay with most nights. My last ever camp spot of the walk was near Bracklesham but was disappointing in that it was definitely not one of the better spots. I think the increasingly urban landscape and contact with more familiar people as I neared home has meant that the transition back to normal life has been easier than I anticipated. I haven’t yet been home for even a week yet though so we shall see if it holds true.   As this is my last entry, I would like to take the opportunity to thank the people who have helped and supported me along the way. I have been lucky enough to not only have the support of my immediate family, but also of friends, acquaintances and strangers alike and without all these people it could have been a very different adventure. Thank you also to all those that have sponsored me through one of my 3 chosen charities, the donation pages are still open via my website for anyone still wishing to donate.

Lastly, thank you to GeoVation for your massive contribution to the walk.

Nat

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By viv, 29 October, 2010 9:21 am

Nat is approaching the final week of his ‘mega trek’ around Britain’s coast.  Catch up with him and this thoughts on litter:

So I am on the home straight, but unlike a marathon I am feeling fresher than ever, my body, I think, believes this is normal. This will clearly cause me problems when I stop, I will not be walking 25 miles each day for fun, but for now I will give thanks that life is a little easier.

Nat in Kent

It occurred to me that this whole way round there has been one thing that has shocked and disappointed me in equal measure: the ever-present companion of litter.

In the busier places or near the cities, you would expect to see detritus washing up onto the beaches or littering the promenades and indeed you don’t have to look far to find it. It’s annoying and you wish people would be more careful, but it appears to be an accepted evil of coastal towns and cities.

Where it gets shocking is when you are miles from anywhere and you walk along a beach hardly trodden and every few yards you find yourself looking at plastic bottles, packaging or bags. Even in the remotest parts of Scotland a plastic bottle would be sitting on the shoreline, a constant reminder of commercial exploits far removed from the scenery.

Clearly, the sea is its transport, which makes things a whole lot worse. I was fortunate enough to see the otters, dolphins and sea eagles that have made these remote spots their homes, away from that dangerous predator the human. But the human impact still reaches them through the rubbish.

There are so many beautiful bits of coastline in Britain but they are in danger of being eclipsed by the blight of rubbish. I had no idea of the scale of the problem before I started this walk.

I must appear to grumble quite a lot in these blogs but I have actually really enjoyed the whole walk – I just felt that when I saw issues like this arise I should try and bring them to people’s attention so they can be fixed!

I will be finishing on 5 November back in Portsmouth, so if you are about and want to come and say hello, you are more than welcome to come down. See my website for more details.

Nat Severs

If you’ve been inspired by Nat’s Big Walk you can find further details and information on the charities he’s fund-raising for on his website

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By viv, 15 October, 2010 9:12 am

An interesting update from Nat and his encounters with road walking:

River Orwell Ipswich

Essex has appeared almost from nowhere out of the rivers, levies and flatlands of Norfolk and Suffolk. It’s been two weeks of seemingly rapid progress if you look at the map but in reality I would have liked to have been further ahead. Blocked paths, detours and the reintroduction of rivers have slowed down the progress somewhat.

I realise, however, I have yet to address the issue of road walking.  Road walking is unavoidable as any coastal walker will know; the ‘coast road’ is almost as famous as the coast itself. Hence, to walk by the coast I am often dawdling along with pensioners out for a pleasure cruise and surfers driving to a secret surfing bay. You are also have families and delivery drivers, workmen and officials.

Most ignore me. I walk and they skirt around, sometimes hurriedly, but often without a murmur. Others offer me lifts, take pity on me, then egg me on when I tell them ‘no, I must walk!’ These are nice people. Then there are the ones who try and run me down, beep their horns and tell me to get off the road. Those last ones I am tempted to throw stones at. I don’t, of course.

As for the actual walking, it’s a mixed bag. The road is obviously a faster footing than sand, or mud or wet grass. You can make good progress.  But it is also quite boring, monotonous even. And the feet take a pounding. The lack of give in the tarmac makes the feet hurt a lot with the poor soles of my boots  not loving the friction. As I am always walking on the same side, and due to the camber of the road, my boots wore completely on one side more than the other-  obviously not ideal!

However, I am sure roads will continue to be a key feature of the walk for the remaining few weeks. The next big barrier is the Thames and I am looking forward to finding an interesting way to cross it…

After ewe!

Nat Severs

website

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By viv, 1 October, 2010 10:47 am

Nat, is now making his way down the east coast of England and has been meeting up with family:

Transporter Bridge, Middlesbrough

The past two weeks have been extremely contrasting.
In the first, I was on the clifftops of Yorkshire, where the majority of my family reside. My parents moved south more than thirty years ago but everyone else is still in Middlesbrough, Scarborough and the surrounding areas. This meant for some home comforts for a week and a lot of ferrying about as my grandparents and then my uncle acted as taxi to my starting points and from my finish points.
Progress was good with a lighter bag and the beaches and cliff tops as stunning as ever. I also found time for a couple of photoshoots and an in-studio appearance on Radio Yorkshire! For around the 100^th time this walk I was introduced with “Do you fancy a walk? Well, this man has….”
Below Scarborough and towards Hull everything begins to flatten out and, as if in cahoots, the weather closed in too. Hence, for the past week I have been wrapped in a fog of rain. Visibility minimal and clothes sopping wet. As a result, my impressions of the Humber Estuary and below are a little skewed by the fact I saw very little of it.

Humber Bridge

What I did see however was my path blocked by a massive barbed wire fence on my way to Grimsby. I had walked several miles down a thin track by the river, enclosed in all sides but my 2006 map said there was a straight route through to Grimsby. A company has clearly decided they’d rather not let you do this, and so I ended up backtracking several miles and going the long way around.
I don’t know if it is a British thing, this need to enclose and bar and possess land, but a little British trust and hospitality, letting a pretty harmless walker wander through, would make my job one hell of a lot easier.

Nat Severs

website

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By viv, 2 September, 2010 8:24 am

Another update from Nat, who has taken some time out for his brother’s wedding but is now continuing with his journey:

Since my last update I have had a week off from walking – an odd experience!   I travelled home due to my brother’s wedding and it should have been an opportunity to rest but it was a tiring experience in itself.

Once I had reached Inverness I stopped the progress of my walk but took a detour to Loch Ness and back, as something to do.  I then began a 12 hour bus journey to London,  followed by a 2 hours on the train. Never again!

A week later I returned to Scotland by plane (thanks to my parents) wearing my new boots (the old pair being full of holes with no heel left at all).  The return was hard.  I had got used to having people around me and the thought of returning to a lone existence was depressing.

I am now making my way down towards Aberdeen and ultimately the border and the blisters from the new boots are healing ; there’s nothing like 25 miles a day for wearing them in!

As someone who camps at least every other day, an accurate weather forecast is useful. So,  the other night, when east Scotland was promised no noteworthy weather I was surprised to be woken at 2.30am by gales and torrential rain. My tent was being thrown everywhere and the noise was deafening.

What’s worse,  in the morning, with rain assaulting my face there was still no mention of any wind or rain. I understand predicting weather is difficult but I would expect professionals to be able to assess the current weather at a moment in time more accurately than that.

Nat Severs

website

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By viv, 20 August, 2010 8:26 am

Another update from Nat who, after 4,700 miles,  has now worn out his boots and is heading towards civilisation again:

John O Groats

So, John O’Groats and Dunnet Head are now behind me. I have to admit, Dunnet Head felt more special, as I was pretty much the only one there and it was a stunning day. John O’Groats I just found odd.

Pitched up in the campsite, every five minutes you hear cheers as another group arrives. It is quite a party atmosphere but I found it quite odd seeing as I had another 2000 miles to go!

The walking in the past two weeks has been pretty good as the paths have started coming back to being better maintained, or existent at least! I have been doing a good thirty miles a day and this has really seen me eat up the mileage.

Writing this I am in Inverness which seems like a really nice city. It is providing me the opportunity to do some housekeeping.

My kit is, for the most part, holding up well. However, I am now on my second self-inflating mattress and this has also now broke! So I am having to change this. Despite claiming to be hardy I have found them unable to camp with the rigours of wild camping,

My boots, sadly, are at the end. After 4,700 miles they have worn through to the soles and I am having to swap them. It is an oddly sad day as I have grown attached to them and strangely will miss them! But for the next 2,000 miles or so I need something proper on my feet.

Dunnet Head

The rest of my kit is fine, my tent, Coleman Stove and other gear has all stood up to the test spectacularly well and their reliability has meant a more comfortable time than it could have been in the remoteness of the highlands.

From now on it is the different challenge of constant cities and much busier coastpaths, but it is a good challenge and I am looking forward to re-entering populous society!

Nat Severs

website

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By viv, 5 August, 2010 4:34 pm

The latest from Nat as he heads to John O’Groats and asks – why have some road signs got bullet-size holes in them?

I am pleased to report I am in a very positive frame of mind. I am flying around the coast and just last week finished the western side of the mainland UK. My friend Tom Greenough came up to join me to mark rounding Cape Wrath, as did Gil Scott, who also joined me earlier around Oban and is the man behind this website for a national Scottish coast path.

View from Kylesku Bridge

I was very grateful for the company of both as it gets tough walking on your own!

Some conclusions on the west side of the UK? It goes in and out a lot and is very up and down.

Grabbing a lochinver larder pie

Some landowners are great, and the paths are incredibly well maintained. Others seem to have gone massively out of their way to make your time as difficult and restricted as possible. The latter are obviously very bored or sad people. The coast should be for the public, not  one person’s property that they seldom use anyway.

I was  amazed at how much of the west coast is blocked off, through industry, military use or power stations. The Somerset coast path, for instance, does its best to keep you away from the coast as much as possible! Thankfully, much of it is still open and walkable, though clambering over barbed wire fences and falling down cliffs seems to be part of the bargain….

An odd thing I have noticed, which someone here may be able to help with. Often, on the remotest roads, you come across road signs with holes in them. Many, bullet-sized, holes. Are these bullets? Or perhaps massive hail stones? Or very rotund rust? Whatever the reason, I tend not to camp too near… If you know, let me know!

So over the John O’Groats this week, and then it’s the long slide down to Portsmouth. If you live on the east coast be sure to get in touch on the website, always happy to see a friendly face!

Nat Severs

website

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By viv, 23 July, 2010 7:56 am

The Isle of Skye was disappointing, but I think the reason for that was the weather rather than

Kilt Rock Skye

the place itself. For three straight weeks I have had rain nearly all of the time. When doing something like walking the coast, this spells bad news.

It is not only the irritation of visibility and slippery paths – you expect both in Britain! – it is more the packing, unpacking and repacking of wet gear. I guess I have been lucky since January that, as bad as the rain has been, there’s generally been a break between days to dry off. Not so recently.

Camping out means you never, really, get dry. The tent, the kit, my clothes and me, it all remains damp. This raises the prospect of mould, of increased wear and of general discomfort. Wetness is not a problem as long as you can dry out. When you can’t, the gear and the soul both start deteriorating.

Electronics gear also suffers badly, my standard phone (I have three) has unfortunately died and cannot be resuscitated. For those with iPhones, however, so far it has been admirably resilient.

Leaving Skye

My boots, with me since the start, are also not taking kindly to water. Worn and beaten, my feet are in a constant bath of muddy water. But this is my problem, not the weather’s, as I want to see how far they can get. They have been loyal friends and, as anyone who has done this sort of thing will know, you stay true to loyal friends.

Portree

Back onto the mainland now and things are going to speed up. There are less ins and outs ahead so progress should be faster – I hope to be at John O’Groats in three weeks.

The good thing is that, today, the sun has come out. I’m feeling fit and positive and am really enjoying the walking again.

Nat Severs

website