A trail walker completed an epic walk around the coast of Britain at the same spot where he began 25 years ago. Anthony Taylor, 82, set off from the Palace Pier in Brighton in 1999 with the intention of walking around Britain. Over 25 years, Anthony has walked 3,970 miles of the coastline in sections.
After walking one stretch, he would go back home before returning to where he left off and carrying on again. The challenge was interrupted twice, once by the outbreak of foot and mouth disease in 2001 and again during the Covid19 pandemic. Anthony set himself the rule that he would not take any public transport, except ferries, or accept lifts.
While walking the Kintyre Way in Scotland, Anthony called the police after finding himself lost and in “serious difficulty”. When the police eventually found an exhausted Anthony, he had missed the last ferry to the island of Arran and could find no accommodation in the “completely remote area”. In the end, the police drove him to a hotel where they informed relieved staff that he was not in trouble but had been rescued by them.
On October 5, Anthony, who lives in Bury St Edmunds, finished back at the Palace Pier where he enjoyed celebratory fish and chips. Anthony says he won’t be “sitting back in an armchair” any time soon and next will walk through Britain from the Palace Pier..