In a blog post last week, I described how members of North Wales Recovery Communities (NWRC) conducted a walk along the length of Hadrian’s Wall in September 2016 as part of a celebration for the National Recovery Month. NWRC, founded by James Deakin, have continued the tradition of week-long walks in Recovery Month, focusing on coastal paths around Wales.
In 2021, Eternal Media, the recovery community in Wrexham founded by Marcus Fair, filmed NWRC’s walk around Anglesey. I have been interviewing Lucke Gabriel of Eternal Media for a book I’m writing on recovery in North Wales and during this conversation he described events on this walk. You can link to the Eternal Media film at the bottom of this post.
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Marcus, Sam Rowlands and I spent a week in 2021 filming a 100-mile walk around Anglesey conducted by NWRC during Recovery Month (September). The walk took place around the island of Anglesey, located in the north-west of Wales, and the walkers and film crew (except Marcus) stayed at a bunkhouse near to Snowdonia. Marcus, whilst really into physical fitness, is not really a walker, and certainly not a person willing to compete a full 100-mile walk. He joined the walk at different times. This was Sam’s first project with a recovery community, and he soon settled into comfortably interviewing the walkers after an initial reassuring conversation with me.
It was raining on the first day when the walk started near Newborough Beach on the south part of Anglesey. The group were joined by a camera operator (Joe) who was filming a S4C documentary (SOBRI) of the experiences of Dewi Rowlands, who was recovering from a serious alcohol-related problem, at Penryhn House.
I smiled when I first saw Joe lugging around a heavy camera and its shoulder rig, wondering how he was going to survive the first day and the rest of the journey. In contrast, I had a lightweight and compact handheld camera, whilst Sam’s used a tiny DJI Osmo camera which was connected to a boom pole. Marcus periodically pulled out his drone from his rucksack to film scenic shots. As the walk started, Joe turned to me and said, ‘I’ll join you for about fifteen minutes, and then catch up at the end.’
Being with the Penryhn House group on the entire journey helped Sam and I to bond well with the community members. Not only were we walking with the group, we were also bunking and eating with them, and attending all group meetings that occurred in the early mornings and evenings. We were given full access to everyone the whole time, and saw both the highs and lows the walkers experienced. For me, the group meetings were super fascinating, with some people having a blast and others a nightmare. We were only once ever asked to stop shooting during the walk. Here is what one of the walkers said on our film:
‘It will be my first September that I will have been in recovery. It means a lot to me because I can’t help thinking, remembering, that it was this time last year where I should have died. Last night before I started the walk I was overcome with this fear that I was just going to feel trapped, that I wouldn’t be able to go on, that I’d be stuck in the wilderness. I was worried that I’d be in pain, and then when I’m in pain I struggle, because I get cravings for drugs. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to keep up with the others and that I’d feel like a disappointment and a failure, because that’s kind of how I’ve all my live. You know, like I’m not achieving my potential.
I kind of just told myself that “I’ve been through tough times before, been through really tough times.” So in a way, like the kind of struggle I had with my addiction and overcoming it, kind of helped spur me on.’ Summer
The first day of the walk was not difficult as we were all fresh. However, things got tougher on the second day and people began to split up into groups during the day. If someone was struggling and falling behind, sometimes because of injury, there was always someone who would drop back to walk with them. The spirit of people helping each other was amazing.
At the same time, tensions arose within the group—as would happen in any large group, walking together or not—but these were always resolved. Importantly, no one quit the walk because of a tantrum. The bigger goal, of helping each other remain clean and sober, overruled everything. I believe that all group members felt closer because of the adversities they went through together.
Thursday was a blinder of a day, going up and down Holyhead Mountain. The weather was stunning, but the terrain tough. I realised that I was struggling with my knees giving in halfway through the day. I got back to the bunkhouse, but whilst filming lying down outside that evening I realised I could not get up, as one leg had just gone. I called out and two of the community members carried me back into the bunkhouse. I was touched by the fact that I was treated just as if I was one of the community members. I will never forget their response.
Acoustic guitars had been brought to the bunkhouse and number of jamming sessions took place involving Phil, Dewi and myself. Sam filmed part of a session that made it into the final cut. I worked the music into the film soundtrack which I was really pleased about.
The recovery walk made it onto BBC Wales News; most of the footage shown on that report was from our film, Trails of Recovery. Here are three reflections on the walk from NWRC members:
‘It’s felt like a holiday. It’s felt like a nice getaway. It feels like we are in a whole different world, you know, because people have been spending so much time together. Yes, it’s been quite magical really.’ Summer
‘Right now, I feel really tired. Sunburnt, my legs ache, my feet hurt, I’ve got blisters on my toes, and I’m knackered. BUT, having said all that, I feel pretty good, pretty proud of what I’ve achieved so far. It’s much harder than I thought it would be.’ Hebe
‘Even when you’re in pain. Even when you are really hurting. Even when you are feeling really broken, you can actually get through these challenges. But not on your own, as a team. As a community, we do it together. That’s how we get well. Stuff like this is just priceless, and it’s kind of spreading the message that recovery is a really exciting thing.’ Saffron
The film was produced and directed by Marcus, and edited by Lucke. You can read about another Eternal Media film in which Lucke was involved, The Voyage to Recovery.