A man walking the entire length of Britain’s coastline for charity is feeling optimistic on reaching Bristol, with 1,000 miles more legwork ahead of him. Retired sailor Jim Morton, 62, set out on his round-Britain ramble on April 12, 2021 – the day Covid-19 lockdown ended – covering around 7,500 miles to date while raising about £24,000 for the Gurkha Welfare Trust.
“When I set off I’d only set myself a target of £5,000,” said Jim, “but I’ve raised that to £50,000 now. I’m hoping a lot of the money will come in as I get near to finishing it – with 1,000 miles still to go, there’s plenty of time. I normally aim to do twenty miles a day, but I could only do about 14 or 15 in Scotland – it was hard going. And if I get talking to a lot of people, I can lose two or three hours in a day. But it’s important to let people know what I’m doing and why.
“I made good time down the east coast of England. I’ve only had two blisters so far. When I got the first one I was wearing anti-blister socks, so they went straight in the bin.” Bristol Live spoke to Jim on day 473 of his 18-month expedition, as he approached Brean. The eventful effort has seen him rescue two sheep and one goat, being nearly swept away by floodwaters and falling off a cliff in Inverness, which saw him airlifted to hospital.
