ON the day lockdown ended last year, Jim Morton went for a walk. Now, his trek around Britain has taken him to the coastal path of West Wales. And the end is almost in sight.

Mr Morton is 62 and is a retired Royal Navy sailor, and is fulfilling a “life-long ambition” to walk the entire coast of Britain, setting off on 12 April 2021 on the walk that’s 10,000 miles long.

And the walk hasn’t been without incident. “I used up at least four of my nine lives,” he told Cambrian News, surviving a 20-foot fall in Scotland when a cliff below him collapsed. On another day, a tree fell on a site where he was originally told to pitch his tent.

Mr Morton has close ties to the Gurkha Brigade, having served on HMS Gurkha. He is eager to use the trip as a chance to raise money for the Gurkha welfare trust, which is rebuilding villages in Nepal after a devastating earthquake struck the poor mountainous nation in 2015.

Mr Morton’s Facebook page — Imaybegoneawhile — also includes a Justgiving page for people to donate to the cause.

Already, he has received more than £25,000, which is enough to build three houses in Nepal. He said is proud of the money raised, which he said means so much to his Gurkha comrades.

“The journey was not about the places, but the people”, he told Cambrian News, adding that during his time walking the coast of Wales, people showed him traits of kindness, openness and generosity. Campsites, for example, allowed him to stay for free. Strangers – homeowners — have offered him places to stay overnight

People too along the way have offered him tea and donations as well.

“One lady rummaged around in her purse only to reveal a toffee sweet,” he chuckled.