Meet the 61-year-old woman embarking on a 12-month, 5,000-mile trek across the UK in memory of her late wife

“The wind was so strong, it lifted me off my feet and moved me!” exclaims Sheffield-born Tracey Howe of an encounter with the elements during her charity fundraising trek around Britain’s coast in memory of her late wife, Angela. “It must have been well over 70 mph! I aborted my day.” Another scary moment was getting “caught on cliffs” in the dark last winter after misjudging the sunset. “There’s no way off — you’ve started, you’ve got to finish,” explains the 61-year-old. But what an adventure to be navigating the rugged glory of the UK coastline in one fell swoop. 

“The coast is different in all places, from beautiful, flat beaches to clifftops,” the honouree at the PEUGEOT Attitude PRIDE Awards, supported by British Airways, explains. “There are so many estuaries. They’re a bit soul-destroying, because you can see the other side, but it takes days to walk around them! You’ve got industrial areas, oil refineries… It’s not all glamorous!”

Nevertheless, the walk’s given Howe, a former professor of rehabilitation sciences, time and space to process her grief and to remember Angela. They met in Sunderland in 1986, when Angela was a student nurse and Howe a physiotherapist, when they were both living in the same nurses’ accommodation. 

“Obviously, back then, you kept everything secret,” says Howe. “A lot of pretence went on. ‘We’re just friends.’” By the late 90s, they decided to have kids and live openly as a couple. “We didn’t want them to have any secrets whatsoever,” says Howe of sons Will, now 27, and, Danny, now 24. “It’s interesting. Writing Angela’s eulogy, I mentioned about keeping the relationship secret. Our boys went: ‘What?’ They had no concept of this happening prior to their arrival.”

Howe lost Angela, her love for 37 years, to blood cancer in September 2023. “Towards the end, when she was sleeping a lot, I’d just sit and hold her hand,” Howe remembers. “While doing that, I listened to audiobooks.” One was Cheryl Strayed’s 2012 memoir Wild, later made into a 2014 film starring Reese Witherspoon, about a bereaved woman walking America’s Pacific Crest Trail. “The idea progressed from there — although at that point, you don’t make plans for anything.” 

Sometime after Angela’s death, “overwhelmed with grief, having lost all my confidence”, Howe did a short walk across the Sahara in Morocco. “I found a company that did treks. You can go as a single person; it’s not a problem. I met these amazing people. We laughed. I thought, ‘Blimey.’ I couldn’t remember the last time I laughed. Being with them, doing the walking, was liberating. I shared this idea with them. They were like: ‘Do it!’”

Then began the preparation process. “Speaking to my GP, improving my fitness, a mountain navigation course, first aid, walking Snowdon at night…” Howe finally set off in November 2024. Six months (and three falls) later, she’s halfway through her adventure and chatting to Attitude via Zoom from her motorhome Priscilla, named after cult 90s film The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, from an Asda in Dorset. “Asda let me park in their car parks [for free] because they support the breast cancer charities I’m supporting,” she explains. 

Howe is being recognised at our awards for her fundraising. So far, her trek has raised £31k for five organisations. The first is Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre, “our local cancer hospital, where Angela had amazing care”. Second, Marie Curie, who “gave us a night-sitting service towards the end, when everyone was exhausted. It allowed us respite.” Third and fourth are Breast Cancer Now and CoppaFeel!, because “while this was going on, my sister-in-law developed breast cancer”. Finally, brainstrust, “a small charity who gave tremendous support related to Angela’s personality changes, because she had a brain tumour. She didn’t actually die from it — it was benign — but she developed blood cancer after the tumour.”

The couple’s sons have accompanied their mum for stretches of the walk. “Danny did the first day, and will be walking with me in Scotland; Will lives in London, so joined me in Brighton. They’re my emergency people. They’re looking after my dog, Poppy. She did the first two months, but she’s 12, so couldn’t really manage.” Others join occasionally, but for the most part, Howe is alone, save for kindly strangers. “They take me in, feed me, do my laundry, walk with me,” she says with a laugh. “It’s phenomenal. They hear the story, it touches them, and they want to help.”

Testament to this are the deeply emotional messages of support on Howe’s fundraising platform, GiveWheel. “I’ve not had a single negative comment,” she says, acknowledging that she could be on the receiving end of homophobia. “I’m forthright in saying ‘I’m doing this because my wife died.’ People don’t bat an eyelid. It’s brilliant.”

Another key supporter is Olympian Tom Daley. “He’s absolutely amazing — such a lovely guy. Marie Curie got in touch. He immediately responded by crocheting little hearts. We’re going to auction them off for the charities.” Howe’s friends, family and volunteers also crochet hearts, which Howe gifts to people whose paths she crosses, to remind them of those they’ve loved and lost. “I’ve been amazed at the reaction. People sometimes immediately burst into tears. It’s a powerful little thing. I’m amazed at how many men well up.” Angela, who worked in psychotherapy as a mental health nurse, would approve. “She was a caring person who’d always put other people first. That’s what she did all day — listened to other people’s stories of despair. It fits together neatly.” Howe herself has come a long way. “I can look at photographs of her now and not cry. Videos are trickier.”

Finally, Howe shares some more memories of her wife: “Angela was a great mum, very loving. She really impressed on my boys about sharing emotions, talking about things. She’d say: ‘Remember, you can’t buy love at Tesco’s! You have to have the love inside you.’” 

This feature appears in issue 365 of Attitude magazine, which is available to order online here and alongside 15 years of back issues on the free Attitude app.