I walked Cornwall’s coast and met hikers inspired by The Salt Path ...Middle East

It has been a draining week, filled with late nights, early mornings and life admin. But, as my train rolls out of London Paddington, I take a deep breath. I’m heading to Cornwall to walk a portion of the South West Coast Path.

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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The route takes in the Jurassic Coast, Arthurian legend (such as Tintagel Castle, claimed as the birthplace of the mythological king), valleys, estuaries, creeks and coves on paths founded by pilgrims, drifters and smugglers. I’m sampling it on a guided group trip with HF Holidays.

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.

The couple had been evicted from their farm and were in financial difficulty when they set off on the coast path. Moth had also recently been diagnosed with a degenerative disease, which adds challenges and poignancy to their journey. It is set to reach a wider audience when a film adaptation, starring Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs, opens in UK cinemas on 30 May.

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.

I’ve found sanctuary in and sustenance from solo walking, but travelling with HF Holidays gives me the chance to try walking with a group of strangers.

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.

There’s a bar that’s also stocked with board games. Comfort food is the theme at mealtimes, with dishes such as spaghetti Bolognese, beef Wellington, butter pudding and jam roly-poly.

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.

As we set off, we pass ancient woodland sculpted by coastal winds and draped in tassels of fluorescent green moss. “I [walk] for my mental health,” says Ruth, a fellow guest. A 2023 study found that hikes in nature are better for improving mood than walking urban streets.

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.

The following day, I tread more of the South West Coast Path, from the village of Praa Sands to the town of Marazion. At Prussia Cove, a place of warped metamorphic rock and weathered, thatched cottages, our guide tells us it was the hiding place of a legendary smuggler.

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.

He says walking it has made him feel like he cares “about being alive again”.

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.

“Like [The Salt Path suggests], this is a healing path,” says Jill, who’s walking with her husband, Steve. After Steve received a difficult medical diagnosis, the couple are coming to terms with the news by walking the route – much like Raynor and Moth.

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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