The Homeless Coast Walk

The Salt Path

Ray and Moth turn the loss of their home and the uncertainty of illness into a long journey along the South West Coast Path, eventually completing the route in stages and finding a new place to live.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

The Understairs Decision The Understairs Decision from "The Salt Path". The Understairs Decision Loss and departure The bailiffs’ arrival turns the loss of the farm into an immediate choice.

The Understairs Decision from "The Salt Path". The Understairs Decision Loss and departure The bailiffs’ arrival turns the loss of the farm into an immediate choice.

The Understairs Decision Loss and departure The bailiffs’ arrival turns the loss of the farm into an immediate choice. Ray proposes walking before she has worked out where the couple will go or how they will pay for it. Moth asks whether they will do it together, and Ray answers that they always will. Leaving the house begins a journey that is both practical escape and attempt to find a direction.

A Bare-Bones Home A Bare-Bones Home from "The Salt Path". A Bare-Bones Home Packing for uncertainty The couple discover that familiar equipment is too heavy for Moth and replace their old tent with a used, lightweight…

A Bare-Bones Home from "The Salt Path". A Bare-Bones Home Packing for uncertainty The couple discover that familiar equipment is too heavy for Moth and replace their old tent with a used, lightweight…

A Bare-Bones Home Packing for uncertainty The couple discover that familiar equipment is too heavy for Moth and replace their old tent with a used, lightweight Vango model. They reduce their belongings to a few clothes, cooking supplies, food, and the items that can fit in their packs. The preparation exposes how little money remains and how much the trip depends on improvisation. A portable shelter becomes the only home they can afford to carry.

First Steps from Minehead First Steps from Minehead from "The Salt Path". First Steps from Minehead A purpose to keep moving After reaching Minehead by bus, Ray and Moth start the South West Coast Path late in the day.

First Steps from Minehead from "The Salt Path". First Steps from Minehead A purpose to keep moving After reaching Minehead by bus, Ray and Moth start the South West Coast Path late in the day.

First Steps from Minehead A purpose to keep moving After reaching Minehead by bus, Ray and Moth start the South West Coast Path late in the day. Their first steep ascent quickly tests their confidence and their bodies. They camp on exposed ground and endure cold, ants, soreness, and poor sleep. Even so, the path gives them a destination for the next morning when their old life has disappeared.

Turning South at Hartland Turning South at Hartland from "The Salt Path". Turning South at Hartland A journey acquires momentum The north Devon coast challenges the walkers with heat, steep cliffs, scarce food, and Moth’s pain.

Turning South at Hartland from "The Salt Path". Turning South at Hartland A journey acquires momentum The north Devon coast challenges the walkers with heat, steep cliffs, scarce food, and Moth’s pain.

Turning South at Hartland A journey acquires momentum The north Devon coast challenges the walkers with heat, steep cliffs, scarce food, and Moth’s pain. Their slow progress repeatedly falls behind the guidebook’s schedule, yet each completed stretch makes the next seem possible. At Hartland Point, the Atlantic-facing landscape gives the journey a new emotional force. Rather than turn back, they head south, discovering that continuing itself has become a reason to live through the next day.

A Return to the Starting Point

A Return to the Starting Point Completing what began unfinished After spending a winter inland, Ray and Moth return to the coast at Poole. They have improved sleeping bags and a possible plan for study and housing, but Moth’s condition remains uncertain. They retrace the unfinished southern section, crossing Dorset and Devon toward Polruan. The second journey is not simply a repeat: it carries the knowledge that walking has helped Moth and that the trail can lead toward a home.

On the day the Welsh farm is repossessed

During preparations after leaving the farm

The afternoon they begin in Minehead

After the first weeks, at Hartland Point

About a year later, on the second departure from Poole