Taking a Walk on the Wild Side
By Ben Cornwell
People celebrate their birthdays in different ways. Some of us host parties or spend time with our family and friends. Others may prefer a nice relaxing day and embrace the time away from work and our responsibilities. Although I have to admit I had’t heard of anyone walking from Scotland to Hastings for their birthday before, until I met resident Toby Sims.
Toby on the walk
CREDIT: Ben Cornwell
To mark turning sixty, Toby is walking from Cape Wrath, the most North Westerly point on the British mainland, to Rock-A-Nore Beach in Hastings. He will be travelling up to Scotland on the 23 May by train with nothing but his rucksack, his senior rail card and a pebble (we will come back to that later). His intended journey south will commence on 25 May.
On a rather cloudy Tuesday morning, I joined Toby on one of his training walks to Hastings Country Park. Along the way to one of his favourite parts of Hastings, we discussed why he was embarking on this extraordinary adventure.
Toby’s Journey till Now
As we set off, the first thing I noticed was the large rucksack strapped over his shoulder. He explained that it was important to get used to the extra weight whilst he was training, although it wasn’t actually filled with his tent or any of the essentials he would be taking on his trip. Rather he had stuffed it with old jumpers and the complete illuminated works of William Blake ─ the heaviest book he could find. He explained that his preparation and training were key in making sure his muscles were in the right condition as in his words; “it’s not like when you are in your twenties, where you don’t need to train, and you can just do it.” As someone in their twenties, I question whether I would be able to walk over a thousand miles, even if it was spread over several weeks. Perhaps that is just me.
It was in the cobbled streets of the Old Town, where I discovered that this wasn’t, in fact, his first long-distance trek. He has fond memories of the time he walked over 500 miles in his twenties from Hastings to Holyhead in Northwest Wales. Around this time, he even began to plan an expedition around the world. He had mapped out an entire route through Europe and Asia before crossing the Bering Straits (whilst it was frozen). The finishing line would have been the tip of Newfoundland but it never materialised as the trip would have cost far too much. In the end, life had something else planned for Toby.
LEFT: The Starting Point: Cape Wrath Lighthouse CREDIT: Gerry Machen/Flickr;
RIGHT: The Finishing Point: Rock-A-Nore Beach CREDIT: Ben Cornwell
Just like his walks, Toby’s career had many twists and turns. He initially started as a composer and opera singer. But after stumbling across the Russian orthodox church, he suddenly felt that this was his calling and set off for Russia to become a priest. He initially didn’t enjoy his time there, particularly his place of residence which he described as the “most horrendous monastery”. One day he decided to audition at an opera house in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia. They soon offered him a contract, and he ended up spending three years there before coming back to England. Toby continued to serve as a priest for many years before he eventually left that behind to become a funeral celebrant in Hastings and Eastbourne. Over the years, his plans of going on another expedition had gone well into the background. But his passion for walking remained.
The Long Way Home
As we finally made it to the Country Park and overlooked the beautiful view of the town below, Toby explained to me that embarking on this walk wasn’t just about celebrating turning sixty.
“It’s about much more than that. I just love that sense of freedom and being there alone with nature. Just to see and
feel the variety and wonder of the English and Scottish country-side. It’s really important to me on this walk that from the start to the finish, I don’t use any transport at all other than my own two feet, as I want to see if I can still do it.”
He added “In that first part of the walk in the North and West Highlands, there are some incredibly remote parts. There will likely be two or three days where I do not see a single person or building. Certainly, no shops or pubs. So, I think this walk is also about connecting home and the wilderness. Of what’s known and unknown.”
As Toby described the route he was taking, it became clear that he was prioritising the experience over directness. The walk consists of five long foot trails: Cape Wrath Trail, West Highland Way, Pennine Way, Cotswold Way and South Downs Way. It was then about connecting the dots between them on the map. With the help of some canals and disused railway lines, he managed to create one unbroken path to follow. Toby will be walking through some familiar territory once he gets closer to home. He has deliberately found a way to include Hastings Country Park into his route by walking around the back of Hastings rather than taking the coastal path.
Whilst the trip is not about sightseeing, Toby admitted that he does plan to spend a few days at two places he hasn’t visited, Glasgow and Stratford Upon Avon. He is hoping in Stratford that he will be able to see a Royal Shakespeare Company production.
Set in Stone
Many of you will likely be curious as to why I mentioned earlier that he will be taking a pebble to Cape Wrath. He has set himself a rule to mark the completion of the walk. The journey will only begin once he has deposited a pebble from Rock-A-Nore Beach at Cape Wrath. He will then collect a stone from Cape Wrath and carry it the entire way to Hastings and place it on Rock-A-Nore Beach. Thus, binding these two distant places for all time and symbolically connecting his home and the wilderness.
• You can follow Toby’s entire journey on his website, www.walkhometohastings.net, where he will be sharing daily logs and photos from his walk.
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