Dad’s diary: an unexpected finding that changed my life
Walking the SWCP was my retirement project, motivated by finding my dad’s diary of his experiences completing the path in the 90s, which has given me a passion for long-distance walking.
Dad and the SWCP
Dad was something of a walking legend and completed the SWCP in two stages, the first of 23 days in 1990 when he was 69 and amazingly returning 8 years later to finish the trail over 16 days! In 1990, my children were aged 1 and 4 and while I was aware he was doing the SWCP, I didn’t have the time for the details. After my mother’s death in 2010, Dad and I spent a lot of time talking about his walks including the SWCP but he never mentioned that he had written a daily diary of this and other long-distance trail experiences. It was finding this diary in 2014 just a few days after returning from our first visit to Cornwall in which we walked short stretches of the coast path between Port Issac and Treyarnon (for the record dad took just one day to do this stretch) that was the catalyst for my SWCP adventure, which I viewed as an opportunity to get fitter, walk in his footsteps, share his experiences and remember his life, although I had no intention of achieving the daily distances he covered!
Left: The diary that started it. The first entry in Dad’s diary of his SWCP walk
Right: Dad in Snowdonia in the early 90s
My SWCP walk
I started my walk from Minehead in June 2017 and planned to complete it over 53 days in five annual stages, a plan scuppered, as many were, by Covid-19. After Covid, it was to be two years before I was ready to return to the coast path so it was not until 2023 that I completed the path. I choose to walk at different stages of the year, May, June, September and October, and found I particularly enjoyed the SWCP in the autumn, when its beauty was accentuated by wonderful autumn skies, colours and light, so choose October to complete my final stage.
Dad’s diary accompanied me on each walk and using it I wrote a blog ‘Walking in my dad’s footsteps’ comparing my experiences with his in the 1990s. I soon realised I was not always walking the same paths as he had, with many sections having tumbled into the sea in the intervening years. The SWCP is a challenge today, but was certainly more challenging for Dad, with minimal signage, requiring a set of a dozen maps and detailed navigation, and no online resources for checking diversions and transport timetables. Improvements have also clearly been made to many sections of the path and there have been a few additions/changes to the route. But there were so many shared experiences, times when he described something in detail which I could instantly relate to.
Left: Looking back on the section between the Erme and Bigbury, a section that Dad found extremely challenging and where clearly there have been significant improvements to the path since 1990
Right: Sharing a moment with Dad above Bovisand Bay in May 2022
Long-distance walking: my new passion
The SWCP was an amazing journey, which left me more resilient and stronger than before I started as well as connecting me with my dad. At 77, it was Dad’s last long-distance walk. I’m still in my 60s and as I neared the end of the path, I knew I wanted to continue long-distance walking and have since completed the Offa’s Dyke Path as a through hike and will soon embark on the first of four stages needed to complete the Welsh Coastal Path. Others beckon in the future but I sense the SWCP may yet lure me back, maybe to walk it in the reverse direction. There were so many moments of such pure joy and exhilaration on the SWCP that are hard to put into words. One of the most vivid was the stretch from Cape Cornwall to Sennen Cove, where I was crossing cliff slopes often just a few metres above the sea with rocky beaches and coves, where I could smell the sea, with the wind blowing the salty spray towards me, with the crashing waves and foaming water below; I just wanted it to go on for ever!
Left: Glynis starting out on the Offa’s Dyke Path in August 2024
Right: The coastline between Cape Cornwall and Sennen Cove in October 2019, one of my favourite days on the SWCP. It’s not just the scenery on the path that makes for a great day but also the weather, the sea-state, the sounds, the light and how they combine to make you feel truly alive
Guest blog written by Glynis Davies.
The South West Coast Path 