I like walking and I like taking photographs; two pastimes that can be enjoyed at the same time. On this website are some accounts of my longer walks. All of my longer walks have been in the south west of England but wherever I go I always set at least one day aside for walking on a local trail. As I live in West Dorset I am also able to do a lot of local coastal walking.
My first long walks were the Kennet and Avon Canal Walk (94 Miles, easy walking) and the Cotswold Way National Trail (102 miles, easy and moderate walking), then I decided to try a really long one.
Between 1999 and 2004 I walked the South West Coast Path from Minehead in Somerset to South Haven Point in Dorset (630 miles, easy, moderate, strenuous and severe walking) in 43 days. I did this in sections of between 70 and 150 miles at a time plus a few shorter walks near the end.
In 2022 I decided to try tackling the SWCP again, but this time by walking in the reverse direction. So I walked the 89 mile Dorset section of the SWCP from South Haven Point to Lyme Regis in Dorset in an 8 days.
In 2023 I walked the 123 miles of the East and South Devon section of the SWCP in reverse from Lyme Regis to Plymouth in Devon in 10 days.
In 2024, because of knee problems I chose not to continue walking the SWCP into Cornwall due to the strenuous and severe sections. Instead I walked the easier 87 mile Tamara Coast to Coast Way from Plymouth that roughly follows the Devon/Cornwall border to Marsland Mouth on the Atlantic coast, which I did in 6 days. I still had knee problems but I manage to finish the walk. I have now walked the whole of the perimeter of Cornwall.
In 2024 I walked 18 miles westward from the Hampshire/Dorset border to the finishing point of the SWCP at South Haven Point in Dorset. This one day walk means that I have now walked the whole of the Dorset coast.
In 2025 I walked the 70 miles of the Somerset section of the England Coast Path from Weston Super Mare to the starting point of the SWCP at Minehead in Somerset in 5 days. I have now walked the Somerset, Devon, Cornwall and Dorset coasts.
Next I will be extending my walking eastwards From Dorset into Hampshire on the England Coast Path.
Mart
If you have any comments or advice, or if you can see any errors or discrepancies on this web site, please get in touch.
© 2025 swcp.uk
This website does not use cookies, tracking or data collection.
All photos © Martyn Pearce | Ask me if you wish to use one.