On Friday 17 April 2015, photographer Quintin Lake set off from the steps of St Paul’s Cathedral on a five-year journey that would take him around the entire coastline of mainland Britain. Armed with twenty kilos of hiking and photography gear, he walked 11,000 kilometres in 454 days with one goal in mind: to produce a body of photographic work that gets under the surface of the island nation that we call home.

Quintin tells of the monumental challenges of wild camping, battling with midges and stress fractures, and clambering up cliffs to escape a rising tide. Along the way you see Britain anew: from charming seaside towns such as Staithes in Yorkshire to the desert landscape of Dungeness in Kent; marvel at the beautiful desolation of Scotland’s Knoydart Peninsula and explore the contrast between industry and nature along the Welsh coast path, where plumes of steam rising from the Port Talbot steelworks are as jaw-dropping as the stunning Worm’s Head on the Gower Peninsula.

Shortlisted for the Wainwright Illustrated book 2025.