The 630-mile National Trail from Minehead in Somerset to Poole harbour in Dorset is England’s longest and most spectacular. It attracts about 8.6 million visitors a year.
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HF Holidays dates back to 1913 and was started with an ambition of offering working class people an alternative to seaside breaks. Its founding principles chime with the reason for my visit: I’m retracing some of the route taken by Raynor Winn and her husband Moth in Raynor’s best-selling memoir, The Salt Path.
I enjoy long-distance hikes. Last year, I walked the 2,000km (1,243-mile) Via Francigena from London to Rome. Before that, I completed the 800km (497-mile) Camino de Santiago. I’ve also walked several other long-distance trails in England and Scotland.
Walkers stay at Chy Morvah, St Ives (Photo: Dare & Hier Media Ltd)
It is a 10-minute uphill walk from St Ives railway station to Chy Morvah, one of HF Holidays’ country houses. Any trepidation about my first organised group walking holiday dissolves at afternoon tea where I tuck into scones with Cornish clotted cream. In the living room, walkers congregate. Most are around 50 or older. There are more women than men, including lots of solo travellers, but also groups of friends and siblings, as well as couples.
Many of the walks start in St Ives (Photo: Getty)
Guests can choose between one of three guided walks per day. On the first of my three-day trip, I opt for a grade two (fairly easy) 10km round trip. First, we head inland up to Knill’s Monument (a 50ft-high obelisk) and then down to join the Coast Path at St Ives Bay.
Ruins litter the rustic north Cornwall stretch of the Coast Path (Photo: Ben Eley)
Along the trail, we spot flowering goat willow and the yellow sprigs of gorse. Around St Ives Bay, I feel the spray of the Atlantic and take in the familiar sweep, a mix of golden sand and silver strokes of sea. After just one walk, I already feel lighter.
About an hour-and-a-half later, St Michael’s Mount comes into view. We rest at a fireside nook in The King’s Arms in Marazion where, by complete chance, I encounter former Premier League referee Graham Poll. The Salt Path had left Graham and his wife with a desire to recreate Raynor and Moth’s journey. After his wife died of cancer in 2023, however, Graham decided to tackle the whole route in her memory and is fundraising as he goes.
You can see St Michael’s Mount from the path (Photo: Chris Griffiths/Getty)I choose to walk alone on my final day. I opt for a wild, remote stretch of the Coast Path west of St Ives. I catch the bus to the village of Zennor and walk just over six miles back to the town. With no one to chat to this time, I focus on the scenery. I find awe in granite tors and calm in secluded bays. Mist shrouds the ruined silhouettes of old tin mines before I see a couple in the distance. We get chatting.
My weekend has made me see it as a metaphor for life. We are all on the same path together, doing our best to take it one step at a time.
Getting there
St Ives railway station is served by trains operated by Great Western Railway
Booking it
Ben Eley was a guest of HF Holidays, which offers a three-night Cornwall guided walking holiday from £495pp, including accommodation, meals and up to three guided walks. Departures throughout 2025, hfholidays.co.uk
More information
visitcornwall.com
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