Finding Hildasay: How one man walked the UK's coastline and found hope and happiness

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Christian had mounting bills, debt and the tenancy on his rented flat was coming to an end, and then he hit upon his big idea. They no longer could stay in tents, so Christian used some of the money from his book deal to buy a vehicle which he converted into a camper van. Magnus is strapped to his parents in a sling while they walk. And it was while riding the waves that he had a flash of inspiration to attempt to walk the entire coastline of the UK, a challenge that so far has taken him nearly six years.

When I was in the Army I was always with people, it was very much a teamwork thing and I had never spent weeks on my own in the middle of nowhere. Mr Lewis said the book would show people “the reality of what this walk was like from the beginning”. Christian left his home in Wales after coming to the end of his tether, it feels to me, he was suffering from depression and found himself in debt without being able to get out of his situation.

UK coastline walker Christian Lewis to sign his book in Sidmouth

Finding Hildasay: How one man walked the UK’s coastline and found hope and happiness by Christian Lewis ThisFinding Hildasay book is a great way of showing your support with all profits benefiting the work of SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity.

I had mixed emotions as the ferry started to pull off. After my last time here, I’d vowed never to return again — but this time I’d seen it in a completely different light. I’d loved my time there and would leave with wonderful memories. It was also important to me to talk about the mental health side of things and show that you can come out of a dark hole, there is hope for everybody that things will get better,” he says. Christian, now 42, left the 2nd Battalion Parachute Regiment in 2005, after winning custody of his daughter Caitlin. In his darkest depression, one idea brought Christian Lewis out of the depths - and into a new life. Finding Hildasay is a brutal and beautiful true story of depression, survival and the meaning of home. With a foreword from long-time supporter Ben Fogle. But what he really hadn’t bargained on was the passengers set to join him: Jet, a beautiful dog he adopted on the west coast of Scotland, who hasn’t left his side since, and the love of his life Kate, who he met by a pure twist of fate and who has just welcomed their baby Magnus into the world. The family of four are set to finish the final leg of their coastal journey together."

But things changed in March 2018 when he adopted Jet, a lurcher cross who would become his faithful travelling companion. Now I was finally out of the force of the wind, my body began to warm – the part where the real pain sets in. I’d felt it plenty of times before on this journey, but this time it was different. As I began to regain feeling in my fingers and toes, it burned so strongly that I just sat in tears of pain.’ He often relied on the kindness of strangers who helped him as he took on his fundraising mission. Well-wishers bought him a new tent when his old one got destroyed by harsh winds and offered him food and places to stay. Christian Lewis is sitting in the kitchen of a family home that is not his own, having only met the owners once before, near St Peter Port, Guernsey. He needed a reliable internet connection to do this interview and the family, who have followed his journey on social media, offered him their place. This, says Lewis over Zoom, is “not the first time things like this have happened”. That’s putting it mildly.