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.