Kate Humble continues her walk along Coastal Britain

Friday:Kate Humble’s Coastal Britain; (Channel 5, 8pm)

In summer 2020, with the world in the grip of the first Covid wave, Kate Humble embarked on a walking tour of Britain’s coastlines.

And the time she spent filming Kate Humble’s Coastal Britain in the great outdoors reminded her of the country’s natural beauty, as well as bringing back plenty of warm childhood memories.

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“The enduring appeal of the coast is enjoying those simple pleasures that we want our children and grandchildren to enjoy,” she said in an interview with the Daily Mirror last February.

“There is something about swimming in a wild place, whether it’s the sea, river or a lake, or a pond, that connects you with your childhood again.”

The second run of the show debuted last week, with Kate walking eight more beautiful and historic stretches of the British coast, along routes that can be done in a day or a weekend. All of her walks follow established National Trails, including two very different coastlines in stunning north Wales, the east and west coasts of Scotland, iconic stretches of Kent and Sussex and a beautiful wintry walk around the south-western tip of the Isle of Wight.

Along the way, Kate meets the people who live and work nearby, while discovering the history, geology and natural history that have shaped some of the most beautiful coastlines in the world.

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In tonight’s second episode, Kate walks a 15-mile stretch of St Oswald’s Way in Northumberland. And, unlike her other walks, this one is split across two days, so Kate can enjoy a spot of star gazing at night. Her starting point is the picturesque village of Alnmouth, once a leading grain port in the 18th century.

Today it’s known for its colourful houses and a gentle sweep of sandy beach, where Kate meets former GP Claire, who uses the sand to create temporary large-scale artworks and portraits. From there, Kate’s route follows the coastal path north to Cullernose Point.

Here, she discovers a series of massive hexagonal columns of dolerite – a type of rock formed from magma – projecting out into the North Sea called the Whin Sill, which stretches from Teesdale to Berwick. Her next stop is the small fishing village of Craster, which has a big reputation for a very particular type of smoked fish – kippers. Kate visits the one remaining smokery and learns how to gut, hang and oak-smoke lines of herring, hung on tenterhooks, before enjoying a kipper sandwich for her tea.

Her route continues north past the majestic ruins of Dunstanburgh Castle, a 14th-century fortification, built on an outcrop of Whin Sill rock by Earl Thomas of Lancaster as an act of rebellion against his cousin King Edward II. From here, Kate heads to the beach to view the starry night skies as a harvest moon rises over the horizon. The final stretch leads her to Seahouses, where she catches a boat to a group of very special islands that are home to thousands of grey seals and colonies of seabirds – the Farne Islands.

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