Walking from Minehead to Land’s End

The Salt Path

The north-coast leg traces how a hoped-for straightforward trek becomes a hard apprenticeship in exposure, scarcity, and improvisation before the walkers reach Land’s End and decide to continue.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

A Late Start A Late Start from "The Salt Path". A Late Start Beginning without certainty Ray and Moth reach Minehead late and set out despite strangers’ doubts about their age, equipment, and ambition.

A Late Start from "The Salt Path". A Late Start Beginning without certainty Ray and Moth reach Minehead late and set out despite strangers’ doubts about their age, equipment, and ambition.

A Late Start Beginning without certainty Ray and Moth reach Minehead late and set out despite strangers’ doubts about their age, equipment, and ambition. The first climb is far steeper than Ray expected from the guidebook. Their first camp is uncomfortable and exposed, but the couple have finally exchanged the stillness of homelessness for a direction. Success means getting up and trying again.

Heat and Scarcity Heat and Scarcity from "The Salt Path". Heat and Scarcity Resources run thin Unexpected heat, hard climbs, and limited funds make food and water constant concerns.

Heat and Scarcity from "The Salt Path". Heat and Scarcity Resources run thin Unexpected heat, hard climbs, and limited funds make food and water constant concerns.

Heat and Scarcity Resources run thin Unexpected heat, hard climbs, and limited funds make food and water constant concerns. On Greencliff and near Peppercombe, Moth becomes exhausted and unwell, while the couple confront how little they can spend on supplies. A missed medication supply adds fear to physical hardship. They begin to understand that route-finding, water, and rationing matter as much as determination.

Kindness at Duckpool Kindness at Duckpool from "The Salt Path". Kindness at Duckpool Help from the roadside When heat and thirst leave the couple nearly unable to move, Moth identifies Duckpool as their best chance of…

Kindness at Duckpool from "The Salt Path". Kindness at Duckpool Help from the roadside When heat and thirst leave the couple nearly unable to move, Moth identifies Duckpool as their best chance of…

Kindness at Duckpool Help from the roadside When heat and thirst leave the couple nearly unable to move, Moth identifies Duckpool as their best chance of finding water. The stream and toilets prove unavailable, but a nearby seller offers rhubarb lollies and invites them to camp in an orchard. The unexpected meal, shower, and safe grass provide more than physical relief. They remind the walkers that assistance can appear even when they have almost stopped expecting it.

A Story Easier to Tell A Story Easier to Tell from "The Salt Path". A Story Easier to Tell Concealing the cause Ray and Moth notice that telling strangers they have lost their home tends to end conversations.

A Story Easier to Tell from "The Salt Path". A Story Easier to Tell Concealing the cause Ray and Moth notice that telling strangers they have lost their home tends to end conversations.

A Story Easier to Tell Concealing the cause Ray and Moth notice that telling strangers they have lost their home tends to end conversations. They begin saying they sold their house to travel, a version that listeners find inspiring rather than uncomfortable. The lie helps them pass through encounters without repeatedly exposing their grief. It also shows how public judgment shapes what homeless people feel able to say about themselves.

Land’s End in a Storm Land’s End in a Storm from "The Salt Path". Land’s End in a Storm The apparent finish After enduring a severe storm through Sennen Cove, Ray and Moth reach the Land’s End marker in driving rain.

Land’s End in a Storm from "The Salt Path". Land’s End in a Storm The apparent finish After enduring a severe storm through Sennen Cove, Ray and Moth reach the Land’s End marker in driving rain.

Land’s End in a Storm The apparent finish After enduring a severe storm through Sennen Cove, Ray and Moth reach the Land’s End marker in driving rain. Shops are shut, visitors are absent, and the landmark offers no answer to the future. A bus waits nearby, but the couple remain on foot. Their decision to continue makes the journey larger than the achievement of reaching a famous endpoint.

The first afternoon at Minehead

The early stretch through North Devon

At the height of the heat emergency

During the journey from Hartland toward Bude

In mid-September, after the north-coast crossing