Landlines – Renewing Connections Reviving Hope

Celebrated author Raynor Winn and her husband Moth are embarking on an ambitious walk. Her latest book, Landlines, explains their motivation and the challenges they are likely to face. Their walk will start in Sheigra, ten miles south of Cape Wrath in North-west Scotland and end in the familiar territory of the South-west Coast Path in Cornwall. They will cover a thousand miles of rugged and at times inhospitable terrain.

We first met Raynor and Moth at a tumultuous time in their life. They had been informed that they were going to lose their Welsh farm, their home of twenty years, and Moth had been diagnosed with a rare and incurable degenerative brain disease. Their options were limited. They decided to go for a walk, a long walk, along The Salt Path.

COVID has not been kind to Moth. His illness – a condition known as corticobasal degeneration – has not gone away. Any physical activity requires immense effort. He experiences vertigo and is often tired and needs to rest. He is resigned to what lies ahead. He says,

‘I’m going through the motions of living when – we both know it now – what I’m really doing is learning how to die.’

Raynor is not one to give up. She wants what is best for her husband. Curling up in a ball and dying is not an option. She recalls an earlier time when Moth benefitted from being in the wild, where the experience challenged him, stimulating his short-term memory, and restoring his physical capabilities. Her only fear is that they may have left it too late.

Raynor employs a not-so-subtle tactic to get Moth thinking about a walking adventure. He is reluctant at first but knows he may never get another chance to bathe in the dramatic beauty of North-west Scotland.

The Cape Wrath Trail is remote and isolated. Raynor and Moth see a white-tailed sea eagle. Raynor observes,

‘It is a big dark bird with a huge wingspan and defined white tail. It stays perched on the cliff, a beautiful life form whose very existence here is precarious, and yet he has no fear, no doubt, his focus is only on survival, on existence in the best form that can take.’

Sea eagles were a common sight across Scotland during the 19^th century until persecution drove them to UK extinction. The last eagle was shot in 1918.

They were successfully reintroduced from Norway in the 1970s and their numbers continue to grow. The symbolism is not lost on Raynor and Moth. The sea eagles have come back from the brink and now they are re-establishing themselves. There is hope.

HOPE:

Hope! We cannot live without hope. Hope inspires. It is the reason we persevere and press on. Sometimes, when things are desperate, we need to put ourselves in the way of hope.

When you walk along a well-trodden path you will meet other travelers. Raynor and Moth meet a woman and her companion, who are rock climbers. Her timely words speak to their need and soothe their fears. She says,

‘We do the same thing every time we hang on a rope. We hope. Hope we’ll get to the top, hope the protection will hold, hope this will be the perfect climb. Hope. It’s powerful; it can change things. But you’ve got to put yourself in the way of it, let yourself feel it. Let the power of it lift you up. That’s what you’re doing: putting yourself in the way of hope. Do that and anything can happen.’

CONNECTION:

They meet a group of university students. It is a Wednesday night, and the young people are going to climb Mount Suilven, near the town of Lochinver. Raynor is curious to know why they would choose such a strenuous activity on a weeknight. Their answer is enlightening.

COVID robbed us of so much. It fractured our connections. It made it difficult to remain close to the people important to us and it challenged our ability to remain connected with the things that define us, like the natural world.

One of the students adds,

‘To be Scottish means the nature, the mountains, all this wild open space – it feels like ours. It might well belong to foreign millionaires, but that’s only on paper. Really, this land is ours, it’s our birthright. That is what we are reconnecting to.’

Connection to place is not to be underestimated. It defines who we are. Indigenous cultures understand its importance. Raynor and Moth meet a couple who seem as though they belong to the landscape. They share some cake and talk about the past.

The couple have lived in these hills for half a lifetime, the husband working as a stalker, tracking the deer herds across the mountainsides in search of the perfect place for the hunters (who pay for the privilege) to take a shot at a stag. The husband explains how most of the people who worked the land have gone now leaving the vast expanse to the deer and visitors. When he retired, they had to move from the house that was provided. They only come back occasionally when the weather is right. Raynor senses the weight of their loss. She writes,

‘I watch the look they share; they don’t need to say what they are thinking. Separated from the land they love and have devoted a lifetime to, a great weight of sadness seems to hang between them. Connection to the land doesn’t come from ownership; it’s not something you buy. It comes from time spent immersed in the smell of the earth, the feel of the rocks beneath your feet. It’s a physical feeling, an understanding that comes without thought or contemplation. But the loss of it has the power of a bereavement.’

There is something about belonging and it involves having a place to call home. On their long walk, Raynor and Moth passed through several cities. Given their experience of homelessness, they see the people of reduced circumstance, ‘the need and suffering in so many doorways.’ They know what it feels like to be adrift, aimless.

During COVID, many governments provided housing for the homeless to limit the spread of the virus. It was a temporary fix for a troubling issue.  Coming out of COVID, it became clear many people were experiencing financial hardship. They were doing it tough, sleeping in their cars, looking for shelter anywhere out of the weather. Raynor observes,

‘Covid caused so many relationships to crack, so many families to fall apart, so many who were hanging by a thread to give up hope – but the statistics are shocking: as we began walking Bristol, housing officials reported a 330 per cent increase in single homeless people in the city.’

It is sobering to reflect on the impact of COVID on society. As I see it,

‘COVID drove a wedge between people, causing anger and suspicion. People became judgmental of one another, voicing their criticism overtly. We lost our ability to care, to empathise, to see the bigger picture. The loss of connection caused untold harm, fracturing families, and causing an upsurge in loneliness. Our mental health suffered, leaving us feeling uncertain about the future, living without hope.’

KINDNESS:

Kindness facilitates connection. Little acts of kindness restore our faith in humanity. When we receive kindness, it brings healing, addressing the pain we feel of having been unjustly criticised, ostracized, or rejected.

Raynor and Moth were hoping to replenish their supplies at the next village. They, like many other walkers, are always looking to lighten their load and are careful not to carry excess food.

When they reach civilisation, they discover the village shop has closed. They realise they don’t have enough food to get them to the next place on the path with a shop.

The local pub is nearby. They call in for a drink. As they are preparing to leave Moth visits the toilet. A tartan-clad couple pile food onto the table: sandwiches and multi-packs of chocolate bars and nuts. The bald man pushes two bottles of beer into Raynor’s hand and says,

‘Put these in your bag, they’re for the big man later, don’t tell him until tonight. What he’s doing, being out here, it’s a big thing. I might be loud, and drunk, but I know courage when I see it.’

WALKERS ARE HEROES:

A hero is someone who demonstrates courage when faced with a threat. A hero is someone who acts when others are standing by. A hero is someone who stands tall when the future is uncertain.

I regard people who walk as heroes. They are not content with the way things are. People who walk have a purpose. It might be that they want to

• clear their head,
• reduce their stress levels,
• have a break from their routine,
• find some inspiration,
• work through a problem,
• grieve privately,
• reconnect with nature,
• improve their fitness,
• breathe the fresh air.

Raynor and Moth meet Faisal, a taxi driver, who loves walking the Pennine Way.

Faisal explains,

‘I walk on the path every weekend; it’s changed my life. I’ve driven that taxi for fifteen years, I was a young man with a young man’s body when I started, but every year I just got fatter and fatter. Then I had a back problem and was off work for weeks and I felt terrible. But one day I thought, today I’m going to go for a walk.’

Faisal started walking a short way, then a bit more, then in eight weeks he had lost four stone and his back was completely better. He is now back at work but still walks at least thirty miles every time he has two days off.

Moth has a conversation with a homeless young man who seems devoid of ideas. Moth knows walking could help. He has proved it. The epic walk he has almost completed has changed things for him. He feels so much stronger, steadier on his feet, able to accomplish tasks that were previously beyond him, and his recall has improved. He says to the young man,

‘Walking! You should. Believe me, it can change your life.’