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The Long Walk Home

As Christian Lewis nears the finish line of his five-year-long walk round the UK, Our Lives looks back at the early stages of his remarakble journey.

The remarkable story of one man and his walk round the coast of Great Britain, Northern Ireland and all the offshore islands. As Christian Lewis nears his finish line at Rhossili, on the Gower peninsula, this film looks back at the earlier stages of his journey.

Christian began the walk back in August 2017, setting off from Llangennith Beach, close to his home in Swansea, and with just 拢10 in his pocket. As an ex-paratrooper, he was well equipped to take on this challenge, and his main purpose of doing the walk was to raise money for SSAFA, an armed forces charity that had helped him through some turbulent times.

As he travelled around the coastline of Wales, England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, he took to social media to share his experiences, and gained over 80,000 followers, who all feel a part of his journey. Many have kindly contributed food, water, accommodation and equipment to help him on each leg of the journey.

However, in March 2020, and 12,000 miles from his home in Wales, Covid-19 hit, and the world came to a standstill. Chris found himself on the uninhabited island of Hildasay in Shetland, unable to move on because of lockdown and with only his adopted dog, Jet, for company. Chris鈥檚 military skills helped him survive in the wild, and his posts proved inspirational for a population struggling with the lockdown.

Although this walk has taken longer than anticipated, and as he comes to the final year of his journey, so much has changed for Chris. He has met thousands of people who have inspired him, he has adopted a dog, found love, and, most of all, he is happy and determined to complete his extraordinary journey.

29 minutes

Last on

Sat 22 Jul 2023 18:00

Credits

Role Contributor
Producer Gwawr Lewis
Executive Producer Luke Pavey
Director Tim Davies
Director Tom Fisher

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