‘Shortly after moving to Richmond, I bought a guidebook and started planning the trek but never got around to it and then, of course, the pandemic got in the way. Once restrictions eased and I had an opening in my calendar, I decided not to let the opportunity pass again’
Nine Standards Rigg in the Dales; right – camping at Borrowdale, the Cleveland Way sign with Roseberry Topping in the distance; and Peter in the Lakes
THERE AND BACK AGAIN
Richmond-based writer and keen outdoorsman Peter Watson loves to stride out from his home, most recently walking across England – twice PHOTOGRAPHY BY PETER WATSON
F
eeling cabin feverish after months under lockdown, Richmond-based writer and photographer Peter Watson hiked England's Coast-toCoast Walk from St. Bees Head in Cumbria to Robin Hood’s Bay in Yorkshire twice. He covered 600km and climbed 17,760m in the process – the equivalent of two ascents of Everest. He walked from his home in Richmond to Robin Hood’s Bay and back, and then from Richmond to St. Bees and back again. The keen outdoorsman moved to the market town of Richmond on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park in 2018. After climbing every mountain in the Yorkshire Dales National Park between lockdowns last year, Peter was looking for a new challenge when the latest set of restrictions eased. As the Coast-to-Coast footpath passes through Richmond, he decided to walk the footpath twice so he could experience the famous trail
in both directions. “Living in Richmond, I have spent plenty of time walking in the Yorkshire Dales, but have somewhat neglected the Lakes and North York Moors. I thought what better way to address that than traversing this wonderful trail twice,” he says. Neither a national trail nor a singular footpath, the unofficial and partly signposted 302km Coast-to-Coast Walk passes through three of England’s finest national parks: the Lake District, Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors. It was devised and popularised by Alfred Wainwright, who recommended that walkers dip their booted feet in the Irish Sea at St. Bees and at the end of the walk in the North Sea at Robin Hood’s Bay. Despite its unofficial status, the Coast-toCoast Walk is one of the most popular of Britain’s footpaths. In 2004, it was named the second-best walk in the world behind only the Milford Track in New Zealand. A writer and photographer, Peter quit his teaching job and spent a year travelling around the South Pacific and South America.
En route, he launched the award-winning outdoor travel blog Atlas & Boots with his partner, author Kia Abdullah. He's a keen trekker and climber, has visited over 80 countries, and been featured by BBC Travel, The Telegraph, The i Paper, The Independent, Lonely Planet and National Geographic, among others. How did you get the idea and why twice? I cycled the Coast-to-Coast from Whitehaven to Tynemouth several years ago and thought then that I would like to complete the hike at some point. Shortly after moving to Richmond, I bought a guidebook and started planning the trek but never got around to it and then, of course, the pandemic got in the way. Once restrictions on staying overnight eased and I had an opening in my calendar, I decided not to let the opportunity pass again. I considered completing it just once, but as I live on the route, I thought I would rather spend a few extra days walking the trail twice instead of spending a day on public transport.
After so many months of relative confinement, I preferred to spend as much time outdoors as I could. How far is the hike? As routes can vary a little, distances can change, but the guidebook I followed put the distance at 302km, so I completed roughly double that distance. On both outward