Coast path near Lulworth , Dorset ( Andrew McCloy )
LONG WALK BY THE SEA , ANYONE ?
As the new England Coast Path takes shape , Andrew McCloy celebrates a bold and ambitious project and considers what it will mean for coastal access
Imagine devising a continuous 2,800-mile ( 4,500km ) walking route around one of the most densely populated countries in Europe . Now factor in military �iring ranges , internationally important bird reserves , re�ineries , major cities , caravan parks , nuclear power stations and one or two rather obstreperous landowners . Plus an eroding east coast already succumbing to climate change . Oh , and preferably it has to be a publicly accessible strip or zone of coastal land , not just a linear path . Welcome to the mindbogglingly complex but super ambitious work in progress that is the England Coast Path National Trail . In the last Outdoor Focus , Paddy Dillon celebrated ten years since the opening of the splendid Wales Coast Path , but although the development of its English equivalent has been much delayed and is still un�inished , at over 1,900 miles longer it ’ s an altogether different beast – and not just in terms of length . Ever since 2000 , when the Countryside and Rights of Way Act granted new freedoms to mapped upland and commons , a right of access to the coastline remained a glaring omission ; so when the Marine and Coastal Access Act was passed in 2009 it brought with it the promise of not just a new long distance walking trail around England ’ s seaboard , but also a de�ined and publicly accessible coastal margin in which the new route would sit . This allows for socalled spreading room , so that the path can be rolled back or realigned easily in the event of , say , a signi�icant cliff fall . At a stroke you have a �lexible trail on or as close as possible to the actual shoreline , as well as wider and enhanced public access to the coastal edge . Inevitably there ’ s a whole host of ‘ excepted land ’ that the trail has to deviate around , but the core aim is a walking route on not near the coast .
From theory to practice
So how do you go about actually creating a new walking route of almost 3,000 miles ? In many places there were existing coastal trails , not least the South West Coast Path and other routes around Cumbria , Lancashire , north Norfolk and much of Yorkshire . Some needed improvement , others simply threading together , but there were still huge gaps . The �irst stretch , between Weymouth Bay and Portland Harbour , opened in June 2012 in time for the London Olympic sailing events ; but then progress slowed considerably . The meticulous survey work ( much of it by volunteers from the Ramblers ) and public consultation took time ; the government body tasked with the job , Natural England , was stretched and under-funded before it even began ; a legal ruling
4 outdoor focus / autumn 2022
ECP sign on Dover ’ s White Cliffs ( Andrew McCloy )