The South West Coast Path is full of contradictions. One minute you’re breezing across lush clifftops – the next you’re slogging your way up a crag. It’s a beautiful but cruel mistress.
The 630-mile route – which runs from Minehead in Somerset, along the Cornish coast and ends in Poole in Dorset – is the setting for The Salt Path, a heartwarming new film about a couple who walk the path after being made homeless. Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs lead the cast, but the coast path is the real star.
And so it should be. I spent nearly two decades living just down the road from the path in rural Cornwall. It became a constant in my life for everything from Christmas Eve family stomps to afternoon strolls, which often turned into boozy evenings on the cliffs, discussing life, love and the universe.
I once walked a 30-mile section dressed as a nun – and few people even batted an eyelid. Such craziness isn’t uncommon on the path, which has become a pilgrimage for waifs, strays and loveable rogues looking for an adventure, or a purpose. Why? Because its residents probably have a greater generosity of spirit than anyone else in the UK, the rough and tumble of rural life requires it.
Aged 18, I moved away for university and never returned to live in Cornwall. It may seem like a crazy decision, but the sad reality is that it’s a common one for people my age, thanks to the complete vacuum of skilled jobs.
This isn’t a personal tragedy, though; it’s a massive regional problem with far-reaching consequences. The South West is a place of extreme beauty, but also extreme poverty. If you look beyond the glorious coastline and posh fish restaurants (largely owned by celebrity chefs like Rick Stein and Paul Ainsworth), you’ll realise there are lots of issues making life unaffordable.
While smaller coastal towns across the UK generally have higher deprivation levels than non-coastal towns, those in Cornwall, in particular, face wage rates that are £10,000 below the UK average. House prices are above national levels, though, thanks to the tidal wave of second homeowners and Airbnb rentals increasing demand.
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Many are facing job losses, as the farming sector, which employs one in five Cornish people, attempts to navigate inheritance tax changes. It will be difficult for workers to upskill, though, as the one – yes, one – train line in and out of the region is under constant threat of falling into the sea near Dawlish, deterring big companies from investing and bringing in well-paid jobs.
If these issues were happening north of Bristol, politicians and broadcasters would be discussing them far more. Yet they remain largely unreported.
The problem is too far away. Reporters can’t take a train from London, film a TV report, and get home in the same day – so they don’t. Rarely do politicians visit either, as the South West isn’t quite red or blue enough for Labour and the Conservatives to have a political fistfight like they’ve had over northern England’s “red wall”.
When Rishi Sunak did come to Cornwall last year while on the campaign trail – a last-ditch attempt from the then-prime minister to win over voters – he donned a monogrammed £750 designer backpack as he wandered around Penzance – a town that has long been one of the nation’s poorest.
It seems even hosting the G7 summit in 2021 didn’t do much to shift the spotlight on these issues, either.
This has left communities feeling ignored, and their disillusionment is starting to show. In a shocking, but not surprising result, Reform UK won the recent council elections in Cornwall and Devon. I hope this is the moment which finally makes our leaders wake up and address the structural challenges the South West faces. I fear the consequences if not.
So, if you see The Salt Path, gasp at the beauty of the beaches, and drool at the Cornish ice cream, come down for a visit (if you’re willing to listen to locals moan about holidaymakers, even though they need your money as much as you need their beach). But respect the people who farm the fields and look after the coasts. Life in the South West is glorious, but just like the coast path, it can be a cruel mistress, too.
