Upper Swaledale, North Yorkshire

Clare meets Karen Skeel who runs a bed and breakfast halfway along the Coast to Coast footpath. She and her partner, Neil, walked the entire route in 2010 and fell in love with the scenery near Keld, somewhere they struggled to find accommodation. On returning home, they made the life-changing decision to give up their jobs, sell their house and buy a 300 year old rundown farmhouse which they turned into the B&B and their home.

Karen says it was a bit like Grand Designs: it cost far more and took far longer than they imagined. However they’re now happily hosting fellow walkers completing the 192 mile route, which runs from St. Bees in Cumbria to Robin Hood’s Bay in North Yorkshire. Originally mapped out in Alfred Wainwright’s 1973 guidebook, the Coast to Coast walk was officially upgraded to a UK National Trail in March 2026.

Karen showed Clare around the B&B before leading her on a circular route out of Keld, along the banks of the River Swale.

Presenter: Clare Balding
Producer: Karen Gregor