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

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Scott Goudie has been elected to the Lerwick Up-Helly-A’ committee following the first mass meeting of guizers on Tuesday night. Each night, regardless of how treacherous the weather or however difficult the day had been, the whole process of pitching a tent, collecting water, making a fire and cooking food — in essence, stripping right back to basics in a nomadic lifestyle — was fast becoming a far more inviting, freeing and peaceful way to live. Five years later, Chris has navigated the West Coast, Northern Ireland, the hard-rock cliffs of Scotland and the perimeters of the Scottish Islands. In his darkest depression, one idea brought Christian Lewis out of the depths - and into a new life. Little did he know at the time just how long it would take to cross the finish line — and the encounters that lay ahead that would turn his life around.

When we speak, in mid-January, he is preparing to head to Jersey, where he’ll finish walking the Channel Islands, before sailing to Weymouth, then along to the southwestern tip of England. His “absolute highlight”, though, was the three months he spent on Hildasay, off the west coast of Shetland, during that first lockdown. He arrived in the isles in November 2019 and spent lockdown on the uninhabited island of Hildasay, before leaving in July 2020. Stuck on his own, with a menu consisting of foraged limpets, “which I was sick of eating at this point… I really remember just sort of telling myself: ‘Right, mate, you’ve got to batten down the hatches for Christmas and Boxing Day, everyone’s going to be doing stuff with their families, this is going to be tough.

Here I was, a more focused person, more in tune with my own mind with a purpose and a glint in my eye. With a foreword from longtime supporter Ben Fogle, Finding HIldasay is his inspiring true story of reconnecting with nature and finding hope along the way. 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. Little did he know at the time just how long it would take to cross the finish line – and the encounters lying ahead would turn his life around. I knew I still had a long way to go in myself before I felt I was healed from the ghost that I had become, and to eventually feel whole again, but it was evident that with each step I took, each day, week and month that passed, the once dim ember still just about burning inside me was growing into a healthier, more robust flame.

Then, with a shrug of his shoulders, he adds: “The simpler things in life: staying young and having fun – not getting too serious – are very important.Please note, it is the policy of The Shetland Times to publish comments and letters from named individuals only.

Almost six years later, Chris has navigated the West Coast, Northern Ireland, the hard-rock cliffs of Scotland and the perimeters of the Scottish Islands. That figure excludes the coast of Northern Ireland, which he has also completed as part of his mission. Most were donated to him by family and friends: gas stove, map, sleeping bag, two days’ rations, and a tent with a hole in the top. Pan Macmillan has bagged Finding Hildasay, a memoir from veteran Chris Lewis which reflects on his time spent walking the United Kingdom coastline.

As I began to regain feeling in my fingers and toes, it burned so strongly that I just sat in tears of pain. Since Magnus joined them, the couple have slowed in pace, using a van to carry their things and sleep in when needed. One estimate puts the coast of England, Wales and Scotland – plus their islands, which Lewis has included in his expedition – at 11,023 miles.