Shoreham woman completes Spain trek for Mind

Dorothy Saul-Pooley, 64, finished the 740-mile walk across the mountain range and the north of Spain to Santiago de Compostela in just over a month.

Dorothy, who previously worked as a lawyer and owned a flight instruction business,  found the trek “challenging” and said she “learned a lot about herself”.

She said: “It was challenging because I was walking around 20 miles a day for nearly 40 days, some days I was throwing up because I was so exhausted.

“The Pyrenees were the start and the old cities were also beautiful. There are some glorious pictures from the trek.

Dorothy Saul-Pooley in front of the Santiago de Compostela cathedral (Image: Dorothy Saul-Pooley)

“If I did it again I would factor in some rest, but I learned a lot about myself.”

Dorothy, from Shoreham, set off on the trek after discovering walking to combat loneliness in lockdown. She said that during her walk she met a number of others who were also completing the walk for similar reasons.

She has previously spoken of how walking helped to combat her depression following the sudden death of her ex-husband in a plane accident. She said she did not feel lonely on the trek because of the number of others completing similar journeys.

While the physical toll was particularly difficult, Dorothy said a language barrier and other factors made some of her travels more taxing.

But she has raised nearly £7,000 for mental health charity Mind and hopes the money will “go to sponsor a helpline or something like that” to combat loneliness.
A picture of the Pyrenees from Dorothy's trek (Image: Dorothy Saul-Pooley)

She has completed various other fundraising efforts, including attempts to cycle from Land’s End to John O’Groats.

Dorothy is continuing to fundraise and those wishing to donate can do so here.