Five Hundred Mile Walkies

Walkies #1

by Mark Wallington

Boogie is an unattractive but street-wise mongrel from Stockwell, used to travelling everywhere on London Transport. His two-legged companion is Mark. This is a heroic study of survival against the odds, as together they take a journey, up hill and down dale, with rucksacks full of kennomeat, along Britain's longest coastal footpath - from Somerset to Devon, from Cornwall to Dorset.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Humor, Biography, Dogs, Comedy, Memoir

181 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1986

Reviews

[David Canford · Rating 4 out of 5]

In short, a man and his dog walk England’s southwest coast path. It’s actually 630 miles long. The path goes along Devon and Cornwall's rugged north coasts and their less rugged south coasts as well as Dorset’s chalk cliffs. The account is light hearted but enjoyable. An account likely to be more emotive if that is what you seek, but which I haven’t yet read, is ‘The Salt Path’, about a couple made homeless and with the husband suffering from cancer, who choose to walk it to try and get the most out of life.
I have walked sections of the coast path myself and can vouch that it is spectacular with constantly changing seascapes and countryside, and challenging if you do more than a few miles of it. Although no great heights are reached, there is constant downhill and uphill along steep clifftop paths which frequently descend down to sea level. It is said if you do the entire path, the total height climbed is four times the height of Everest, yet it is very accessible and there are plenty of characterful pubs close to the path at which to enjoy a well earned meal and a drink.

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A gentle meander around the south west peninsular with one man and his dog during the period of time when the rest of England was getting all agitated about a few wind swept sheep farms in the South Atlantic. Wallington hasn't got very much to say about anywhere. This wouldn't make much of a traveller's guide but, what he does do and say is easy-going, well phrased and gently amusing. Occasionally laugh out loud funny.

[Maria Harper · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read and re-read this light hearted adventure, one of the best as far as easy reading goes this is the type of book that makes you casually wonder if your capable of walking the path yourself, and where you would borrow a dog from if you did decide to do this?

Mark Wallingtons travels with boogie are books that are very good to go back to after a read that has taken a lot of concentration and investment. I would recommend this book to anyone that needs to escape to abit of comedy and simplicity and i can promise it wont fail to put a smile on your face.

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a brilliant little read! I laughed out loud, perhaps because I've walked a long distance trail, or perhaps because I walk with a dog, or perhaps, this fella just has a humorous way of seeing things. A thoroughly enjoyable read that has cemented my desire to trek one of the long distance paths here, in more than one day increments. Five out of five for Boogie and his walking partner.

[JP]

Ich werde es jetzt mal zur Seite packen, weil ich in naher Zukunft sowieso nicht vorhabe, es nochmal anzufassen ^^

[Julia Doherty · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fabulously funny read and extremely well written. This guy borrowed gear from friends and the strap broke on his rucksack the first day! The dog was what made this book so appealing. The dog was a right character which you can’t help but adore.
The only reason I gave this a 3 star is that the book is quite dated. If you are seeking s travel guide for the SWCP then this is not for you. If you are seeking a companion for your journey, then go for it.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book inspired Radnor Winn to walk the South West Coast Path and her subsequent book, The Salt Path, transformed her life.
It was published in 1986 and I have read it several times. It is a very entertaining account of the author’s hike with Boogie the dog. Years ago I would have awarded it 5 stars but it is now at times shockingly dated and Mark comes across as a very careless dog owner, as perhaps people were in 1986.

[Ben Twoonezero · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best travel books I have ever read.

[Octavia Cade · Rating 4 out of 5]

A man borrows a dog to walk round the coast of south-west England. Three decades later, I'm chortling over this book at a second-hand book stall and the nice lady in charge lets me have it for free. I'd have paid for it, really I would, because this book is hilarious. The dog is question is small and disreputable and wedded to city life - think Discworld's Gaspode but without the brains. It is singularly unpleasant to be around (its owners break up and fight over who doesn't get to keep it), largely due to the fact that Boogie's one great talent in life is a hideous, nuclear-level flatulence and Wallington has to share a tent with it.

This is really just a story about a man who takes a snide, stinking little beast on a walk. It's gentle and easy to read and nothing much happens but it's still deeply, deeply entertaining.

[Jon S · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice read of a man and his mates dog walking the South West coast. More a running diary/journal-esque book than a travel guide, with writing more about casual notes on the adventure and going-ons, but still a pleasant read.

Although, having been first published in 1986, there's some things out of touch with the current times such as; casual camping in fields and beaches (probably sadly deemed "illegal" by now..), prices of things, and casual openness towards a random traveller (our writer finds himself staying at farm houses, just by turning up and asking about vacancies).

A nice and easy-going read. Inspiring to undertake ones own adventure!

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it was very funny and I enjoyed Marks sarcasm throughout. It definitely reminded me of Raynor Winn's The Salt Path, just funnier. His descriptions of Boogie made me laugh, especially when everyone kept patting him on the head, and commenting on his appearance. I liked the part when Mark said by the end of it, all Boogie had was a headache and identity crisis!

This book was fab because of the humour and for Mark's honesty about the people he met along the way and the things he encountered. Definitely recommend.

[Ian · Rating 5 out of 5]

A generous 5 stars, but it's a funny, charming and uplifting tale. It was written in the early 1980s and tells the tale of the author's 500 mile walk around the South-West Coast path with an endearingly problematic mongrel.
I read it soon after it came out, but as it is cited as one of the inspirations for Raynor Winn and her husband Moth's trek on the same path as more recently described in the very popular - and now movie - 'The Salt Path', It thought I'd like to read it again. And it's a lot cheerier than the Salt Path, that's for sure!

[Emma Dickson · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

A hilarious adventure of a man who borrows a dog, tent and camping gear and heads off to Minehead to begin the 500 mile walk around the South West Coast Path.

I found myself chuckling throughout, and although there were a few references that haven't aged well since the book was written in the 1980s, I thoroughly enjoyed the journey they both took along a part of England that I am familiar with.

[Elaine Rosemary Goh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five Hundred Mile Fun

I first read this book a long time ago and it was just as funny this time. It is the account of an (at first) inept young man walking the Southwest coastal path along with a singularly unattractive dog. Read this if you like a gentle, genuinely humorous book.

[Les Finlayson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has the honour of being my most read book (four times). Yes, it has dated slightly but is still a very funny book, and delightfully written. As soon as I read the open description about Minehead I had confidence that Mr Wallington was going to capture the spirit of South West England, and he didn't disappoint.

Highly recommended, even 32 years after it was first published.

[Tore · Rating 3 out of 5]

It started out well enough, but then tampers off, and the second half is a bit of a drag. Having visited Cornwall last year, I looked forward to this revisit, but I'm afraid I tired off it gradually. There could have been more meat to it, more anecdotes of each town, more detailed and enticing. Not bad, but Bill Bryson this is not.

[David Steele · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first listened to this as an audio book in about 1987 and, reading the paper-back version this time, I was amazed how much of it had stayed with me.
Really lovely to re-make the acquaintance of this old friend again. Much of the book is so dated now that it almost feels like a time capsule, but it’s no worse for it.

[Mizloo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading a dead tree book @ bedtime to move away from screen time. This is a nice restful, mildly amusing story of a man and a dog trekking along the coasts of Devon and Cornwall. Excellently restful. Serves my purpose well.

[Ann Salmon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book I didn't realise you had 12 layers of skin on your nose I bet that was really sore. Really interesting to read about the villages and coastline on your 500 Mile walk, I would watch it if it was a film or even a series.

[Antonia Mills]

Great if you like walking and dogs

Having just read the Salt Path trilogy, I fancied another walking book. I love dogs and I like Marks sense of humour. It is a joyful, readable and non pretentious book.

[Scott Gardner · Rating 2 out of 5]

ok little read , a bit dated now as written in the 80's , modern day people would never understand the need to find a phone box , have money in pocket , use a map

Some funny quotes in it , worth the read , even from a nostalgic viewpoint

[Heather Hamer · Rating 2 out of 5]

One hundred miles was enough!

I found this book disappointing and gave up after reading just half of it. It didn't do justice to the Cornwall I know and there's only so much interest in the author's peeling nose and crusty socks.

[Jordan King · Rating 4 out of 5]

Harmless Fun

[Chris H · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved it. very funny. Brysonesque

[Susan]

England walking the Coastal Path in Devon and Cornwall...funny

[Joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Turn over each page to find out more about the stunning south west coast and Mark and Boogie's adventure around it. This book is a great comedy, factual and travel book, definitely worth a read!

[Julia Chambers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book. 37 years on, not at all dated but prescient comments on plastic waste and caring for the environment. Best part is that it still makes me laugh out loud.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as others of this type that I have read, but I did read it to the end.

[charlie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Such a lovely turn of phrase. Very funny. A slow pace to match my brain on lockdown.

[Francis Bunch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy, harmless, unthreatening fun.