Good news for all keen walkers: after the recent opening of the new Wales Coast Path, Natural England is planning to allow access to 190 miles of coast paths around England.
The new stretches of coastal path will run from Whitehaven to Silecroft in Cumbria, from Rufus Cove on Portland to Lyme Regis in Dorset, from Folkestone to Camber in Kent, from Sea Palling to Hopton on Sea in Norfolk and from Hartlepool in County Durham to Speeton in North Yorkshire.
The news comes in the light of the government's promise to create a new national trail that will eventually connect all the coast paths, making it possible to walk around the whole of England, following the Coastal Access Act 2009
This subject is one of much controversy as we demonstrated in our April issue (page 50, issue 59), in which a walker and a landowner debated the idea of increasing access for walkers. It's a debate that has raged since the 1600s and will likely do so for many more years to come.
Work has already started in Dorset, County Durham, Norfolk, Kent, Cumbria and Somerset, with a path in Weymouth Bay already set for completion by the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Natural England predicts that all the paths should be walkable by 2016, with a proposition to be able to walk from Hull to Dorset via Hadrian’s Wall and the new Wales Coast Path by 2017.
If you would like to find out more visit the website.
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