THE COAST TO COAST AT A GLANCE

● End points: St Bees Head (Cumbria coast); Robin Hood’s Bay (North Yorkshire coast).

● Distance: 182 miles (293km) in current form (if using lower routes); the National Trail will be 197 miles (317km).

● Average duration: 12-14 days.

● Outline: Describing it in A Coast to Coast Walk (1973), Wainwright called it ‘the crossing of England from one coast to the other… traversing the grandest territory in the north of England’, adding that it ‘puts the Pennine Way to shame’.

● Route: The walk passes through three national parks: the Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors, and will be the only National Trail to do so.

● Highest point: Kidsty Pike, Cumbria (2560ft).

● Traditions: Dipping booted feet in the Irish Sea and North Sea; carrying a pebble from one coast to the other; walking from west to east to keep the prevailing westerly wind at your back.