CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Hello and welcome to the National Trust
Podcast. I'm Claire Hickinbotham, a podcast producer
at the National Trust and a dog owner.
As I head out on my own little dog walk today, wrapped up
against the cold, I'm going to be transporting you back to a
sunny summer day in 2023 to a packed beach on the Gower
peninsula in Wales.
It's where I met a rather exceptional dog owner with an
incredible story who was nearing the end of a very long and life
changing walk.
Come on then.
Good boy then, come on this way.
I'm in Oxfordshire where I live, just about to take my two year
old black Lab for a walk.
Good boy then, come on this way.
And this walk I come on at Coleshill is probably one of my
favourites.
There's some really fascinating history here. I'm just walking
past a replica underground bunker, used to tell the story
of how this site was once home to a secret training base during
the Second World War.
But through a second gate and it's the landscape that takes
over here.
Come on then!
I can see The Ridgeway National Trail and I can see the
Uffington White Horse, another National Trust site. And they're
probably about five or six miles away.
I walk here with Buddy maybe a couple of times a week and it's
the views and the space here that really give me a feeling
that the world is bigger than my four walls.
And it kind of helps put some of life's worries that probably
most of us have at some point back into perspective.
Now, as we head up the hill, the wind blowing the cobwebs and
some of life's worries away.
I know for around the next 40/45 minutes, I've got no stress.
I've got no emails. I've got no errands to run.
Now, imagine that scenario but stretched out over six years.
Christian Lewis is a man whose story you may be familiar with.
Weighed down with life. He was at his lowest ebb, struggling to
make sense of it all.
An army veteran and a single father, he'd been through the
mill and couldn't see a way forward.
Then one day staring out to sea, he had an epiphany and knew
exactly what he needed to do, walk the entire coast of the
country and so he set off alone.
But it wasn't too long until he had a trusted companion by his
side. I met him and his dog Jet as he headed across Langland Bay
in Wales, towards the finish point at Rhossili, the beach
looked after by the National Trust where it all started.
So just arrived at Langland Bay, can't yet see the sea because
there are a multitude of very cute little green beach huts,
but this is where I'm meeting Christian.
And it's one of those nice occasions where I know who I'm
meeting because I've been following him on social media
and I'm pretty sure that I'm going to recognize him.
Just getting my first glimpse of some rocks on the sand, looks
like the tide is out at the minute and a bit more of Wales
across the bay in the background by the looks of it.
There's a few school trips hanging out on the beach. So I'm
gonna head up, I think I can see him.
I see the dog,'Jet' I think the dog is called. So I'll head up
and see if that's him.
The man I knew from Instagram was smiley and confident and
wearing what anyone attempting to walk the coast of the UK
would wear... a kilt and flip flops.
You must be Christian?
CHRISTIAN LEWIS: Hello Claire, nice to meet you!
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Nice to meet you too and this is-?
CHRISTIAN LEWIS: This is Jet. Yes, my girl.
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Hello Jet! You are beautiful!
CHRISTIAN LEWIS: No one wants to say hello to me. It's all about
her!
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: And she's a Lurcher?
CHRISTIAN LEWIS: Yeah she's a Lurcher, She's a crossed between
a Greyhound Saluki.
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: A Greyhound Saluki? So what's that then?
CHRISTIAN LEWIS: Saluki, they're kind of sort of like a similar
size to a greyhound, but they're much fluffier, they've got much
bigger ears and that's where she gets her markings from I would
assume
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: She's white with a bit of brown on her, so
she'Jet' because of her speed?
CHRISTIAN LEWIS: I think it would probably be the irony of
it yeah, how fast she was, I wouldn't say so much anymore,
she's getting on now!
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: So here I was chatting to a seemingly very
content guy and his much loved dog on a sunny day about to join
him on a small stretch of his 19,000km journey around the
whole of the UK coast that's earned him thousands of
followers and thousands of pounds for charity.
I'm feeling very honoured that you're letting me join you on a
bit of your walk. Do you remember the date you started?
CHRISTIAN LEWIS: Yeah, that was the first of August 2017. So
just under six years.
To be honest with you, it's become more of a lifestyle now
rather than the actual thinking of it as a walk in itself.
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: So 2017 you stood on I think, Rhossili
Beach?
CHRISTIAN LEWIS: Well, Llangennith yeah, same beach
just a bit further down Llangennith is.
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: And you set off and what did you have to
your name at that point?
CHRISTIAN LEWIS: So I had about about a tenner, 2 days worth of
rations, a bottle of water.
Absolutely no plan whatsoever. The outdoors was my place.
That's where I wanted to be and the wilder it became the happier
I became. So I just needed to go out and press the reset button.
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Christian had had a pretty rough time.
He'd served in the British Army and then once he'd left, found
returning to civilian life pretty challenging.
And then there was another battle to overcome.
It sounds like life is good and a very different place to where
you were pre six years ago.
CHRISTIAN LEWIS: I think the best thing that ever happened to
me was that I just had this kind of mental breakdown if you like.
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: You're a veteran? So what was your
journey to the point of being in this state of mind?
CHRISTIAN LEWIS: Well I was in the parachute regiment and I
left the paras back in 2004 and I was in a, like a quite a
horrible custody battle with my daughter at the time I wanted to
have custody with her and-
And so I was a single parent for 10 years after that.
I don't even think it was the parenting that I found hard.
You know, I had a good relationship with Caitlin.
I just- I just wasn't very good at doing letters and having to
go down to civic centres to sign forms.
I was getting chased up for stuff that I didn't want.
And it ended up becoming my biggest downfall.
After about eight years or so, I started to head down on this
slippery slope of anxiety and I just think I was bummed out, was
so unhappy with the way that I was living life.
I didn't want to be in one place that I felt like a caged animal.
Yeah. Just basically the opposite person of what I was.
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: It was at this point he knew he had to do
something drastic.
And one day as he sat on his local beach, Llangennith, it all
became very clear, all of a sudden.
CHRISTIAN LEWIS: I'd spent just like so many people, too many
years of my life working for people in jobs I didn't like.
Well, that's not life, is it? Where's the joy in that? I just
can't see it.
I knew that if I didn't do something now, life's just not
going to be good. So, you got to change it, mate, you got to do
something drastic.
And I love being in a tent. I love being outside. So let's go.
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: And so he walked and walked alone up along
the rest of the Welsh coast around Northern Ireland, the
northwest of England to Scotland. And it's there he made
a friend who would walk the rest of the journey with him.
CHRISTIAN LEWIS: I got Jet about nine months into the journey on
the west coast of Scotland in a place called Irvine.
She belonged to a family that were unable to have her anymore.
And I thought, you know what, this is a really good time for
me.
When Jet and I first interacted if we just connected
immediately, she just looked at me as if to say hello pal. And
then that was it. She was with me from that moment.
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: What did Jet bring to the experience
then?
CHRISTIAN LEWIS: I mean, everything, it doesn't matter
how good or bad a day I've had, I give this little one a cwtch
and the way she just looks at me that, that feeling that you get
to me there everything.
You know, when I were walking the really lonely parts and I
was on my own so much watching Jet working her way through the
wilderness and doing her thing and stiffing out deer paths for
us. It was just such a joy.
Sometimes we were pinned down in a tent for days at a time due to
weather.
Had I been on my own I can imagine I would probably gone
crazy but just having her in there, in the middle of storms
halfway up a mountain and she's upside down like playing and
doing her thing. She's just been a pure joy from the second I had
her.
ELENA RATSCHEN: There is increasing evidence that
human-animal interaction can have a positive impact on human
health, particularly mental health. And we have studied dogs
much more frequently so far than we have other species.
My name is Elena Ratschen. I'm a reader in Health Services
Research at the University Of York. And I specialize in human
animal interaction.
Within this field of study. We have found that for example, for
war veterans or people who are homeless, the bond can be
incredibly important.
Some of the hypotheses include the theory that they connect a
social catalyst. They might be able to elicit emotions.
And I think in some groups, they provide meaning for people to
get up in the morning, to have their dog as somebody that
doesn't judge them, that always provides unconditional affection
and just takes them as they are.
We often hear that this dog, you know, is my life and I don't
know what I'd do without him.
I think in terms of Christian's story, it's very clear that the
reciprocal dynamic was incredibly powerful.
They might have found each other at the right time in the right
space and gone off on this incredible adventure together.
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: With Jet now in tow, Christian tackled
the rest of Scotland. He fell in love with the country and began
more than ever to feel on top of things again.
CHRISTIAN LEWIS: Imagine, it's Christmas Eve. You're in the
Isle Of Harris. Someone says, I've got a boat. Do you want to
go to this tiny little island to go and spend Christmas?
Totally uninhabited. If you could picture a desert island,
this was what it was like, beautiful white sands. Nobody
there.
The moon perfectly in line with my beautiful fire and it was
those kind of moments where all of the hard work that you put
during the day to do the walking where you just think, do you
know what? this is why I started this.
Being up in the middle of a mountain on my 39th birthday
just watching Golden Eagles, Sea Eagles just totally on my own.
Absolutely no phone signal.
You know, that's where if more people did that, that were
having troubles. Certainly, when it comes to mental health, you'd
see a lot more people up there. I tell you that for free.
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: And beyond the mountains, there was always
the sea on his left as he walked, but always there, it was
for him, another huge part of what made him feel himself
again.
CHRISTIAN LEWIS: I genuinely believe that human beings have a
natural attraction to the sea or water in general because, you
know, you sit there on a calm evening and it's just listening
to it. I don't think there's much out there that's more
relaxing than that.
It certainly is something that I never want to be away from. I
think the sea just offers so much. You can bath in it, you
can swim in it, you can have fun in it. There's just something
about it that I think we're naturally drawn to anyway.
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: And for Christian, if the weather was
bad, it was even better for him.
CHRISTIAN LEWIS: I love the ferocity of huge storms and
raging seas and the danger of it all because it reminds you of
just how insignificant you are.
You know, you drop yourself into the middle of nowhere in the
middle of a storm, you will never feel so alive.
You know, that's, I think that's why adrenaline junkies run off
what they do because it's those moments where you're so
petrified and so scared that you're, your senses are at their
height.
You're not thinking about debts, you're not thinking about where
we're going to live next or anything like this.
It's just where you are at that moment in time and how do you
survive this?
It's like surfing when you catch the wave, you generally don't
think about anything else because you're just having that
moment.
And the more of those you can find, I think the more at peace
you kind of become.
MILES RICHARDSON: In the modern world, there's a battle for
attention. We're bombarded at times with media and
advertisements. They're designed to capture our attention and
sometimes we can forget that nature is inherently very good
for us.
I'm Miles Richardson, Professor of Human Factors And Nature
Connectedness. And I led the Nature Connection research for
the National Trust.
Nature Connectedness is a term we use to describe someone's
relationship with nature and our sensory systems are designed to
accept the sounds and sights. And that has been found to be
calming to our nervous system.
And it can start to overcome the effects of threat and anxiety to
improve Nature Connection and to improve our mental well being.
We need to engage and notice the natural world and walking, as
Christian found is a great way to do that.
Your focus has to be the stimuli of the natural world that are
around you.
The sound of the waves, the wild flowers that might be present. A
close connection with nature isn't just about feeling good.
It can help us function well and bring a deeper benefit to our
mental health and mental well being.
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Put back together by the relationship
with Jet and the power of being out in nature. Christian carried
on with his walk, but he wasn't finished yet. In fact, there
were two more very big life changing moments sitting on the
horizon.
CHRISTIAN LEWIS: Only a month back on the mainland. Yeah,
that's when I met Kate. She came walking down the bottom of the
cliffs where I've been camping. Yeah, we just said hello and had
a brief encounter.
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: So Kate was also, I don't know whether to
use the word somebody you picked up on the walk!
CHRISTIAN LEWIS: All these stragglers mate, I tell you!
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: I don't know if it's polite enough to
Kate who i've not met!
CHRISTIAN LEWIS: She was on her own little solo adventure during
the North Coast 500 then she disappeared and then after about
40 minutes or so, she came back down with her tent, two cans of
Tennents and some fish and chips and just said, look, it's
starting to get dark. You know, I trust you. Do you mind if I
come and come next to you for the evening?
So I was like, yeah, go for it.
And we stayed up till about three in the morning just
chatting.
I was really gutted to see her go the next morning.
Yeah so I knew something definitely.
We swapped numbers kept in touch religiously for about six weeks.
And then, Kate went on holiday to Afghanistan to go climb some
mountains, came back and just said, look, can I come and join
you?
And then that was it, yeah.
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: So how far has Kate walked then?
CHRISTIAN LEWIS: So she has walked from the north pretty
much the very northeast tip of Scotland back to Swansea. So a
good few thousand miles, she's done amazing!
Straight out into a Scottish winter as well and into the
second lockdown.
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: It sounds like you're the perfect match
for one another really!
CHRISTIAN LEWIS: Definitely!
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: So perfect in fact that-
CHRISTIAN LEWIS: We knew that we wanted to have a kid. So we just
said, look, why not now?
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: And so baby Magnus came along as Christian
and Kate walked down the east coast of England.
CHRISTIAN LEWIS: Kate had about two months where we just kind of
sat in a yurt and just, you know, let her recover a bit.
Then we just got straight back on with it, so Magnus has never
known anything apart from living outside and he's just such a
happy little kid.
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: What an incredible start to life.
CHRISTIAN LEWIS: I know mate, I wish I'd have had that. I
really, really do.
He's one year, two months now and you can literally sit that
man-
Sit that man! Sit that boy by a little bush where the leaves are
shaking and he'll just sit there for hours because it's all he's
ever known you know, he really does switch on to it all.
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: That's incredible. And presumably he's
in a rucksack on your back is how you do it?
CHRISTIAN LEWIS: Yeah that's right.
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: And he gets on well with Jet?
CHRISTIAN LEWIS: Yeah! Poor thing Jet, you know, he is at
that sort of age now where he just wants to grab everything.
So as Jet slowly slips into retirement, there is a little
bit of torture here and there with the grabbing of the ears,
but she's so patient, you know.
She accepted Magnus so well, there was just no jealousy. As
long as Jet's next to me, she doesn't care. As simple as that.
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Life at this point is lived out in a
camper van with Christian, often going ahead to cover the miles
on his own, leaving his family in the van before heading back
to collect them all and move on to the new start point. But
there's one family member who's front of the queue for those
daily reunions.
CHRISTIAN LEWIS: If I've been out walking during the day, I
open that van and it's Jet. I've got Kate and Magnus now,
obviously, you know, sorry, you're gonna have to wait! How's
my girl?
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: And it was at this point as we headed back
to the now even busier beach to find water for Jet and drinks
for us. We admitted between us that we probably talk to our
dogs more than we talked to our people.
One of the things I found surprised me, you know, as a dog
owner, how much I talk to the dog as if it's another human!
CHRISTIAN LEWIS: And they don't talk back! It's brilliant! It's
absolutely perfect!
No, but you do. You know, you know, I never feel like she
doesn't understand. I never feel like she doesn't get what I'm
saying. And she always listens. That's what's nice. Always
listens.
Company, A way finder, a friend more than anything.
But I just don't even class myself as a dog owner, we've
crossed paths, we become friends. She just happens to not
be able to speak.
And, you know, when she needs something, I just need to
provide that for her. We're just best buds. But I'm the one who
has to give her the food. That's all it is.
I'd do anything for this for this one mate.
People have often asked me, would you ever quit this walk?
And I would say no, I wouldn't even dream of it. The only time
I would is if she physically couldn't do anything anymore.
That was the only time I would have stopped this but I wouldn't
have done it for anyone else.
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Several months after meeting Christian,
I wanted to catch up and see how everyone was.
CHRISTIAN LEWIS: Hello?
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Hi, it's Claire from the National Trust.
CHRISTIAN LEWIS: Hi Claire, how are you? Ok?
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: I'm feeling like I might have woken you up
or is Magnus sleeping?
CHRISTIAN LEWIS: Yeah Magnus is just sleeping next to me!
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: I thought it might be that. How are you?
CHRISTIAN LEWIS: I'm very well, thank you. Yeah. Really good.
Really good.
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: I just wanted to catch up with you
really, because it's been a few months since I met you and when
I met you, you hadn't actually finished the walk. So I just
wanted to see how it all went?
CHRISTIAN LEWIS: Yeah, surreal to be honest with you, I think
it's still trying to sink in that we've actually finished it,
if I'm honest!
The ending was just incredible. It really, really was.
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: And I gather that you have some sad
news about Jet?
CHRISTIAN LEWIS: Yeah, she, she's not good.
She's not good at all. So, yeah, within the next month, I'm sad
to say that-
Yeah, that will be that.
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: She did so much for you, didn't she?
CHRISTIAN LEWIS: Oh yeah of course of, of course.
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Did that amazing walk as well? That's a
dog that deserves a statue, which I think is your plan,
isn't it?
CHRISTIAN LEWIS: Yes, indeed. Obviously, she helped me and she
did the walk, which was amazing, but also she kind of dictated
the pace of the walk. And, you know, that's how I met Kate if I
had had yet, I wouldn't have had the family that I have now so
I've got her to thank for that.
So, yeah, in every aspect of her life in and in mine, she's-
She's helped me. Yeah, I'm just so lucky to have had her
basically, there's no doubt about it.
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Absolutely.
Well, look, thank you so much for chatting to me.
CHRISTIAN LEWIS: My Pleasure.
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: And my good luck. Can you give Jet a cwtch
from me?
CHRISTIAN LEWIS: Of course, I will thank you ever so much. It
was nice to chat with you.
CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Nice to talk to you Christian. Bye bye.
Come on then, buddy! Let's go!
All Clear.
I'm just about finishing up my walk with my best bud, buddy, at
Coleshill.
Christian's story is incredible to go from rock bottom to where
he is now is such a story of triumph.
And yes, while his circumstances and his solution were quite
extreme, I really hope that in listening to this podcast, you
can either come away thinking what an incredible bloke, what
an incredible family, what an amazing story or you've
listened, thinking, I know that feeling.
Thank God, but it's not just me that feels like that because
that can be the worst of it when you're feeling low or feeling
anxious or depressed, you feel like you're the only person who
feels like that.
So I hope that in listening to this podcast that you feel like
there are brighter days ahead and maybe you've just listened
to this podcast thinking how ace dogs are. But we knew that
anyway!
Thanks for listening to this episode of the National Trust
Podcast. There's lots of help available on the MIND website,
the mental health charity if some of what Christian had been
through, resonated with you and you can find a link in our show
notes.
And if you've been inspired by Christian's story and want to
read more about him, there's lots of articles on the SSAFA
website, the Armed Forces Charity he was raising money
for.
For more information, you can follow the links on this
episode's show notes where you can also find advice about
taking your dog to National Trust Places.
If you've enjoyed this podcast, keep listening for brand new
episodes of National Trust podcasts released twice a month
and don't forget to follow and review us on your favorite
podcast app or head to NationalTrust.org/podcasts for
now from me, Claire Hickinbotham. Goodbye.