Why do we walk? Why do we like to be beside the sea? And what happens when you infuse these questions into a journey around the coast of England – a pilgrimage in search of art, culture, community and glorious natural wealth along the world's longest managed coastal path? Extending well beyond the confines of a walking memoir, The Coast is our Compass addresses all this and more.
Getting outdoors, hiking the littoral boundaries of a nation along the King Charles III England Coast Path, author Martyn Howe encounters diverse landscapes and communities, and learns much about England's environment and the social challenges that will influence our future. Rich in nature writing, The Coast is Our Compass campaigns for the environment and for the protection of the landscape.
Howe also discovers that long-distance backpacking – a simple life, liberated from consumerism by carrying just a few important possessions, and free from online addiction – gives him time to reflect and process many issues, often through the lens of public art or through observing the juxtaposition between industry and nature. The Coast is Our Compass explores England's relationship to its coastline and its importance to our identity: the sea-cliffs, estuaries, saltmarshes and beaches hold uncountable memories and heritage that shape our inner world.
'I only went out for a walk,' John Muir wrote, 'and finally concluded to stay out until sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in'. Similarly, Howe's exploration is philosophical, psychological and deeply personal. Written during a period of family turmoil – grieving for parents, brothers and friends, and learning of a new sister – Howe's journey ventures inwards. Walking alone, he learns, unclothes the ego, rendering us vulnerable yet approachable. This new state opens the senses, facilitates connection, enables us to tune into the landscape, to listen to what people have to say, to lose ourselves in the sensation of the outdoors – where a rainy day is no longer a challenge, but a joy infused with respect for nature. A travel narrative less about where we go than why, The Coast is Our Compass is a book like no other.
