‘I was dog-tired but exhilarated’: hiking the UK’s Coast to Coast route

A solo hike on the celebrated 192-mile route from St Bees to Robin Hood’s Bay brought our writer solace after the death of her mother

Lying back on the grass, I exhaled for what seemed like the first time in 18 months. I was miles away from civilisation and a world away from the long days of solo lockdown in my London flat.

Now I was alone again, but in happier circumstances. I could hear faraway sheep and feel a gentle breeze as I gazed at the Lake District countryside and sky. I was a few days into walking from Cumbria’s Irish Sea shores to the North Sea on the Coast to Coast, a network of paths created by Alfred Wainwright, and it was absolute bliss.