get to know the faces behind muddy boots - Helen and MAtt Coppin
‘Muddy Boots’ is a family business – owned and run by Helen and Matt Coppin - that arranges self-guided walking holidays and guided walks throughout the Yorkshire Dales and Lake District National Parks. We live, work and are raising a young family in the area, and our aim is to help others to discover everything this beautiful part of the world has to offer – not just the well-known hot spots!
Having enjoyed walking around the UK and abroad for many years, it has been a dream come true to be able to use our previous experience in the travel and leisure industry to launch a business that allows us to turn our love of walking, and particularly of exploring the Lakes and Dales, into our job! We are keen to pass our enthusiasm for getting outside and exploring on to as many people as we can.
After several years living and working in London (so we know only too well how important having a break outdoors in the countryside can be for health and wellbeing!), we moved back to the north in 2013. Beautiful Wensleydale in the middle of the Yorkshire Dales became our home for the next 10 years. In early 2023, we moved across to Kirkby Lonsdale, which is directly between the Yorkshire Dales and the Lake District. A perfect location to allow us to keep exploring both of these wonderful National Parks!
Walking Holidays
We know that many people want to scratch beneath the surface of the places they visit but lack time (or inclination!) to spend hours researching before a trip away. Our self-guided walking holidays are designed to allow you to really get under the skin of the area you are visiting, while taking all the time and hassle out of planning and arranging your trip. We have designed unique walking routes of varying lengths and difficulty, hand-picked great accommodation that we personally enjoy visiting and work with lots of local businesses from cafes to taxis and luggage transfers to ensure that your trip is as smooth and hassle-free as possible.
Helen will be your main point of contact for your self-guided walking holiday, right from initial contact through to providing all the information you need as you prepare for your trip. As well as keeping on top of the ‘indoor’ side of the business and our social media, Helen will take any chance to pull on the hiking boots and head out to plan new routes, review our self-guided walks, take some pictures or work on guided walking routes! She is experienced in walking and hiking around the world and across the United Kingdom. She is also partial to the odd dip in the icey cold lakes and rivers of the Dales and Lakes and ‘wild swimming’ is something we hope to be able to work into our trips in the future.
For more details about what to expect on one of our self-guided walking holidays, have a look at our ‘Walking Holidays’ page. Of course, please get in touch if you have any questions and we’d be delighted to be able to help. We are here to ensure that you can make the most of the time you have in the Lakes and Dales.
Guided Walks
For the guided walks, Matt leads all our walks. We’ve been expanding the guided side of our business to include private guided walks across the whole of the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales, as well as our popular ‘social walks’ which we run on set days throughout the year and are open for everyone to join. If you aren’t sure what you think would be suitable for you, please just get in touch. We’ve taken out all ages (from babies in carriers & toddlers, up to those in their 80s!) and group sizes (including individuals, families, friendship groups, yoga retreats and larger corporate days out). We have also been able to welcome international visitors from all over the world.
We think adding a guided walk to your trip, especially if you are new to the area but like the idea of exploring a bit further on foot, is a great way to really immerse yourself in the area and landscape (as well as learning a bit more about the fabulous views you are seeing!).
There are fantastic experiences of all levels to be had across the Lakes and Dales. From exploring hidden gills, heading off-the-beaten-track over rarely visited hill tops, sampling local produce, finding the best spots to watch the sunset or getting an introduction to outdoor skills, we hope that our trips will allow you to explore places and do things that you wouldn’t set out to do alone, while gaining the knowledge and support of an enthusiastic, qualified walking guide!
Matt is a qualified Hill and Moorland Leader and a member of the Mountain Training Association (ID: 1298312) and British Mountaineering Council (ID: C671952). He holds the NNAS Gold National Navigation Award as well as an Outdoor First Aid qualification (Certificate No. AL/20230504/35268). He is also a trainee Mountain Leader and will be taking his assessment in early 2024.
Matt has been adding to his hiking experience since taking on the 100km in 24 hours ‘Trailwalker’ challenge back in 2010. Since then, he has hiked all over the world (the 5 day ‘W’ Trek in the Torres Del Paine National Park and multi-day walks around Cerro Fitz Roy, Patagonia, and many of the stunning US National Parks being some of the stand out memories), and around the UK, from Cornwall to the Scottish Highlands. Of course, he has built up fantastic knowledge about our home area in the Dales and Lakes as well, including the famous ‘Yorkshire Three Peaks’ challenge. His other interests include cycling (helped by having some of the best rides in the country on our doorstep!), photography and geology.
More details about our Guided Walks in the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales are available on our ‘Guided Walks’ page, and details about our social walks schedule for 2024 can be found on our ‘Muddy Boots Social Walks’ page.
For a bit more information about us and how we came to set up Muddy Boots, have a look at these articles: