Over half a century since it was first plotted by fell-walking guru Alfred Wainwright, Britain has officially opened a Coast-to-Coast National Trail.
The 190-mile path stretches from St Bees Head in Cumbria in the west to Robin Hood’s Bay in Yorkshire, on the east coast. Official opening day was March 26; it’s the UK’s 17th such trail.
Natural England, a government agency, has put £5.5 million into bringing the trail up to National Trail standards, including improved signage, better surfacing, grade adjustments and opportunities at some points for cyclists and horses to follow the path. There’s also a few sections of new path to avoid some of the steepest sections.
The entire path typically takes around 16 days to complete based on walking 12 to 14 miles each day. Only 6,000 complete the entire trail every year, but thousands more walk shorter sections of the path.
Image: St Bees Head (Doug Sim/Wikimedia Commons)
