A £5.6 million upgrade of Wainwright’s Coast to Coast walk has been announced.
The 197-mile route from St Bees to Robin Hood’s Bay will become a new National Trail.
The route was first devised by Alfred Wainwright, renowned fell walker and author, with his guidebook to the route published in 1973. The route immediately gained a strong following, becoming one of the UK’s most popular long-distance walks.
As a National Trail, the path will be made more accessible for people of different abilities, better signs will be erected and shorter, circular walks created.
Natural England will work with the Lake District, North York Moors and Yorkshire Dales national parks and Cumbria and North Yorkshire county councils to improve the path.
The work will take over three years with the upgraded path expected to open in 2025. It is intended that the new National Trail will closely follow the existing route.
Marian Spain, chief executive of Natural England, said: “The way we will now develop the Coast to Coast into a National Trail is a turning point for national trail development as it will be the first national trail where delivery of the social and economic benefits for users and communities will be built in from the start.
“Once established the Coast to Coast National Trail will allow many different types of users, with a range of abilities and backgrounds, to connect with nature on this iconic walking route whilst also bringing the benefits of tourism and other business to communities along the trail.
“Those who live nearby but may not currently access the countryside on their doorsteps will also have the chance to use the Trail for local and longer circular walks. Natural England looks forward to working hard with our partners to make this vision a reality within the next three years.”
With seven towns within 5km of the route: Cleator Moor, Egremont, Kirkby Stephen, Northallerton, Richmond, Whitby and Whitehaven, as well as seaside fishing villages, investment in the path will promote levelling up through improved health, wellbeing and public access opportunities for local communities close by, Natural England said.
A programme of work to boost the economic and social benefits for local areas will help ensure local businesses are aware of new opportunities from further developing tour guiding services, to improved accommodation and hospitality.
Natural England will also work with local communities and local authorities boost access to nature for all abilities. This will include working with disabled user groups and developing circular paths: to make more of the route accessible for shorter day or part-day circular walks/ rides, these could start in towns and villages or car parks, shops or pubs.
Eric Robson OBE DL, chairman of The Wainwright Society, said: “The designation of Wainwright’s Coast to Coast Walk as a National Trail has long been one of the Society’s ambitions. The walk is one of the country’s most popular long-distance routes, and helps support businesses and jobs from St Bees to Robin Hood’s Bay, including in some of the north’s most sparsely populated rural communities.
“We very much welcome, therefore, the news that the route will become a new National Trail. This is the start, of course, of bringing the project to successful fruition. But this is a very exciting and important step and we look forward to working with partners along the route to establish the walk as one of the UK’s great National Trails. As Alfred Wainwright said of the walk he devised: ‘Surely there cannot be a finer itinerary for a long-distance walk!'”
