The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Travel
‘This is the beginning of many exciting new journeys’
With the England Coast Path close to completion, Mark Rowe goes where few have trodden before
It’s been 10 years in the making, but 2020 looks set to be the year when the England Coast Path, all 2,717 miles of it, finally becomes a reality. The late, great travel writer Eric Newby described the smell of the English coast as so strong it was like “a biff on the nose” – and finally, visitors to just about every corner of the coast will be able to sniff it out for themselves.
The England Coast Path will, for the first time, give people the right of access to open coast. Natural England, which has overseen the implementation, says the intention is for it to be much more than a path: it is a licence to explore beaches, cliff tops, and many unique wildlife habitats. The path is, in effect, a “walking corridor” along the coast, comprising both a footpath and the land between the trail and the sea. This forms part of the coastal margin and is defined as “spreading room”, conferring the public’s right to walk off the path and over access land right up to the water’s edge.
“The completion of the England Coast Path will be the end of a long journey and the beginning of many exciting new ones,” says Vanessa Griffiths, the outgoing chief executive of the Ramblers. “It will offer people the opportunity to walk the entire coastline of England for the first time, open up parts of the coast that were previously inaccessible and create access to more beaches and headlands from the path.”
While some of the path takes in existing and well-trodden routes, such as the South West Coast Path and the Norfolk Coast Path, campaigners have welcomed the new access to beauty spots that the route will bring.
Eye-catching additions include new clifftop access above the small port of Staithes, in North Yorkshire. A new path here will enable walkers to reach a headland to the south of the village and enjoy views – previously out of bounds – back to the port’s tightlyhuddled houses and streets, and the distinctive wave-cut platforms that appear at low tide. Further south from Staithes, the coast path cuts through a completely undeveloped landscape, home to some of the highest cliffs in the UK, where walkers can hike for miles without seeing any habitation.
Elsewhere, new coastal access will extend the length of the Isle of Wight Coastal Path by 16 miles to 88 miles in total. The little-visited estuarine mudflats and salt marshes of Newtown, on the north coast of the islands, are set to become one of the triumphs of the path, providing access to hay meadows which are home to green-winged orchids and marbled white butterflies, and a coastline offering magnificent birdlife. The improved access represents a triumph for the Ramblers, which campaigned to have the Isle of Wight added to the original plan by Natural England.
The coast of Cumbria is much overlooked by walkers heading for the Lake District, but new access will open up Walney Island, which boasts some of the county’s most underrated coastal scenery and superb habitats for lesser black-backed gulls and other birds. The coast path will run alongside the island’s sand dunes, with mesmerising views of the fast-flowing tides that fill and empty the Piel Channel. It will also provide waymarked access to nature reserves at either end of the island, which is connected by a bridge to Barrow. In the southwest of England, a new proposed route will improve access around the Lizard Peninsula and create wheelchair access at a stretch near Falmouth. In Norfolk, new access along the River Yar and the coast around Sea Palling will increase the
‘There will be the frisson of exploring the coast less travelled, where few have trodden before’
appreciation of Norfolk’s sense of openness and its big skies.
The coastline offers miles of unbroken beaches, high cliffs, wildlife-rich estuaries and secluded inlets, providing a staggering choice for travellers of England’s shores, as well as those seeking a bracing hike and day trippers just looking for a good spot to enjoy an ice cream.
There will also be that frisson of exploring the coast less travelled – where few have trodden before.