Having walked from Chester to Chepstow<\/a>, Rob fell in love with the Pembrokeshire<\/a> coast, but he did say some prime locations are losing their charm. Read here about a veteran cycling the entire British coast to raise money for PTSD camp for fellow citizens in uniform<\/a>.<\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/b> Family heartbroken as young man dies in prison<\/a><\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/b> Woman who walked out of jewellers with \u00a35k ring had spent every penny of \u00a370k inheritance windfall<\/a><\/p>\n He witnessed the best of Wales has to offer on his journey -Credit:Rob Aston<\/p>\n ” I was struggling with my mental health,\u201d said Rob, who is originally from the Midlands, but now lives in west Wales. For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation, sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here<\/a><\/p>\n “I didn’t really see a point in waking up in the morning or even being here\u2014it was getting that bad.<\/p>\n “I went to the doctors and they were going to prescribe me pills, but I just see that as being a plaster over a water leak.<\/p>\n “So I thought I’d go and do something mad. I quit my job, saved up a few quid and started walking.\u201d<\/p>\n Rob carried a backpack weighing 20kg and woke up early in the morning to start his day.<\/p>\n “I was wild camping along the way, I’d wake up about 5am or 5.30am, check my body over for ticks and things like that.<\/p>\n “Then it would be a case of strapping my feet up for the blisters, packing everything down into my bag and then getting up and walking.\u201d<\/p>\n Of the 55 days he walked, Rob took four days off, three for an injury and one for a hangover. His exploits raised \u00a31,600 and counting for charity.<\/p>\n Rob walked almost 19.4 miles, or 40,000 steps a day.<\/p>\n Though the Wales Coast Path is 870 miles, Rob clocked in additional miles as he had to look for a camping spot, food, water, and shelter everyday, taking his total to an impressive 991 miles.<\/p>\n It wasn’t always easy -Credit:Rob Aston<\/p>\n “The Pembrokeshire Coast Path is absolutely gorgeous. I did that in a heatwave actually, so that wasn’t too pleasant, but then I met an older gentleman who was about 91, I think I was in St. Ishmael. We were having a chat in a pub and the entire pub went quiet and sort of listened to us talk for about 30 minutes.<\/p>\n “He was extremely interested in what I did, a very wholesome old gentleman, that was really memorable,” he said.<\/p>\n But even in the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path, there\u2019s one place that he really liked and that was Moylgrove.<\/p>\n “Around that, it’s just the overall landscape, like the ruggedness of the terrain and the freedom you feel. You feel like you’re almost the only one alive\u2014it’s so barren.\u201d<\/p>\n The journey was difficult at times as Rob dealt with strong winds on the coastline -Credit:Rob Aston<\/p>\n What didn\u2019t live up to his expectations was the north Wales coast.<\/p>\n “It was basically four days of tarmac and caravan parks, that was about it,” he explained, although Ynys Mon stole his heart. “Anglesey<\/a> was gorgeous,\u201d he said. \u201cAnglesey is definitely up there on my list as second [best].<\/p>\n “It blew my mind that they were still able to leave tractors on the beach with the keys in. The trust in the community there was brilliant but in north Wales, the scenery was just caravans.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was so built up that it sort of took away from the natural beauty of things.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/d5a1959baba0e6aa71752dbdce692b8e.jpeg\"\/)
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