One man, his dog and a 7000 mile trek around the UK coast – Wayne and Koda complete the Deeside leg.

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A 7000 mile litter pick around the coast of the UK for one man and his dog reached Deeside this week.

Wayne Dixon began the 870 mile Welsh coastal path leg of his epic trek on Wednesday along with his trusty four-year-old Northern Inuit dog Koda.

The pair are on a mission to walk 7000 miles around the UK coast picking up litter along the way.

The former soldier was greeted at Connah’s Quay docks on Wednesday by Jason Samuels from Wrexham who served in the Royal Army Medical Corps with Wayne.

Jason (L) Wayne (R) Outside Yvonne’s Cafe on Dock Road in Connah’s Quay – We hear Koda was well looked after with a few sausages for brekkie..

It’s the first time the two had met since their army days back in 1991.

Wayne 44, from Clitheroe is raising money for the mental health charity, Mind, and the Northern Inuit Dog rescue society on the 7000 mile trek which he says will take another year to complete.

Wayne is weighed down with a 50lb canvas backpack which includes a tent, two sleeping bags, waterproof clothing, wind-up radio and camping stove, along with some of Koda’s favorite toys.

Hitting the half way point of the 7000 mile trek last week Wayne, who has raised £5000 so far for charity, told the Lancashire Evening Post;

It was really hard going at first and we were maybe only doing 10-15 miles a day,” he said. “We’re not trying to break any records and I was expecting to us to be in our tent most of the time.

But that’s where the big surprise came, we barely ever needed to because people were so generous in offering us their homes or giving us money for a bed and breakfast.

The litter-picking definitely made the walking take so much longer because where I’d expect to maybe pick up one or two bags of rubbish a day – I was picking up 11 or 12.

Many people are getting involved via social media and helping Wayne with his journey offering food, a bed for the night and even a free veterinary check up for Koda.

Koda visited Alyn Veterinary Centre in Flint for a free check – he is in good health.

Sadly Wayne’s impression of Deeside was tarnished a little by the amount of litter he spotted along Dock Road in Connah’s Quay which he set about cleaning up – he posted a series of photographs on his Facebook page highlighting the issue.

Wayne’s is now walking along the coastal path – you can follow his journey via Facebook here [/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/6″][vc_empty_space height=”1px”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”5/6″][vc_column_text]
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