England Coast Path
The England Coast Path is a proposed long-distance National Trail which will follow the coastline of England. When complete, it will be 2,795 miles (4,500 kilometres) in length.[1]
The trail is being implemented by Natural England, a non-departmental public body of the UK government responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment is protected and improved. It also has a responsibility to help people enjoy, understand and access the natural environment.[2]
In December 2014 the UK Government, encouraged by the success of the Wales Coast Path, announced that more than £5 million of additional funding was being committed over the following 5 years, to ensure that the England Coast Path will be completed by 2020, a decade earlier than would have otherwise been possible.[3][4] In March 2016 a 58 miles (93 km) stretch from Brean Down to Minehead, which incorporates the West Somerset Coast Path, was opened and designated as part of the England Coast Path.[5]
Legal background
The England Coast Path has been possible because of a new law in the UK, the Right of Coastal Access, giving to people for the first time the right of access around all England's open coast,[6][7] both along the England Coast Path and, usually, over the associated ‘coastal margin’.[8]
Natural England's Coastal Access Scheme was approved by the Secretary of State on 9 July 2013 under section 298(2) of the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009, and presented to Parliament pursuant to section 298(6) of the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009.[6]
The first instance of this new law was implemented on a stretch of the English coast at Weymouth Bay on 29 June 2012.[9]
This includes – where appropriate – any land, other than the trail itself, which forms part of the coastal margin and which has public rights of access along the way. This is known as ‘spreading room’. However, this does not include any right to enter private houses and gardens or Ministry of Defence land. The new right of Coastal Access also includes 'roll back', namely that if a section of coast erodes, the path will move back accordingly.[1]
Existing coastal trails
Existing coastal trails in England, of which there are eleven, will be incorporated into the England Coast Path. There is, however, work to be done in upgrading and standardizing access and signage on these.
These eleven trails are:
- Bournemouth Coast Path [20 miles (32 km)],
- Cleveland Way [110 miles (180 km)],
- Cumbria Coastal Way [185 miles (298 km)],
- Isle of Wight Coastal Path [67 miles (108 km)],
- Lancashire Coastal Way [66 miles (106 km)],
- Norfolk Coast Path [45 miles (72 km)],
- Saxon Shore Way [163 miles (262 km)],
- Solent Way [60 miles (97 km)],
- South West Coast Path [630 miles (1,010 km)],
- Suffolk Coast Path [50 miles (80 km)] and
- West Somerset Coast Path [25 miles (40 km)].
At the border with Wales it will link to the Wales Coast Path, which was fully opened on 5 May 2012, and comprises an 870-mile (1,400 km) coastal walking route from Chepstow in the south to Queensferry in the north.[10][11]
Offa's Dyke Path, a 177-mile (285 km) non-coastal route, also links the England Coast Path at its Welsh border, largely following the line of the remnants of Offa's Dyke.
Detailed route
For the purposes of planning, Natural England has identified 62 sections of coastal path within 14 pre-existing areas of England. These sections currently fall into 6 categories, namely:
- New coast path and associated access rights now open (currently numbering 4)
- Work currently in progress (currently some 16 sections)
- Estimated start 2015–16
- Estimated start 2016–17
- Estimated start 2017–18
- Estimated start in stages 2015–18 (primarily the South West Coast Path)
These coastal sections (working anti-clockwise round England from the southern end of the Welsh border) comprise:[4]
- Area 11 (Somerset)
- Aust to Brean Down
- Brean Down to Minehead
- Area 12 (Devon and Cornwall)
- Minehead to Combe Martin
- South West Coast Path
- St Anthony to Cremyll
- Kingswear to Lyme Regis
- Area 13 (Dorset, Hampshire and Isle of Wight)
- Lyme Regis to Rufus Castle
- Rufus Castle to Lulworth Cove
- Lulworth Cove to Christchurch
- Christchurch to Calshot
- Calshot to Gosport
- Isle of Wight
- Gosport to South Hayling Island
- Area 14 (Sussex and Kent)
- South Hayling Island to East Head
- East Head to Shoreham
- Shoreham to Eastbourne
- Eastbourne to Camber
- Camber to Folkestone
- Folkestone to Ramsgate
- Ramsgate to Whitstable
- Isle of Sheppy
- Whitstable to Iwade
- Iwade to Grain
- Grain to Gravesend
- Area 8 (Essex)
- Gravesend to Southend
- Southend to Wallasea Island
- Foulness, Potton and Wallasea Island
- Wallasea Island to Burnham on Crouch
- Burnham on Crouch to Maldon
- Maldon to Salcott
- Mersea Island
- Salcott to Jaywick
- Jaywick to Harwich
- Area 9 (Suffolk and Norfolk)
- Harwich to Shotley Gate
- Shotley Gate to Felixstowe
- Felixstowe Ferry to Bawdsey
- Bawdsey to Aldeburgh
- Aldeburgh to Hopton on Sea
- Hopton on Sea to Sea Palling
- Sea Palling to Weybourne
- Weybourne to Hunstanton
- Hunstanton to Sutton Bridge
- Area 5 (Lincolnshire)
- Sutton Bridge to Skegness
- Skegness to Donna Nook
- Area 3 (Yorkshire)
- Donna Nook to Humber Bridge
- Humber Bridge to Kilnsea
- Kilnsea to Filey Brigg
- Filey Brigg to Newport Bridge
- Area 1 (Durham, Tyne & Wear and Northumberland)
- Newport Bridge to North Gare
- North Gare to South Bents
- South Bents to Amble
- Amble to Bamburgh
- Lindisfarne
- Bamburgh to Scottish Border
- Area 2 (Cumbria)
- Gretna to Allonby
- Allonby to Whitehaven
- Whitehaven to Silecroft
- Silecroft to Silverdale
- Area 4 (Lancashire and Merseyside)
- Walney Island
- Silverdale to Cleveleys
- Cleveleys to Pier Head, Liverpool
- Birkenhead to Welsh Border
See also
References
- 1 2 "English Coast Path". nationaltrail.co.uk. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
- ↑ "Natural England". gov.uk. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
- ↑ "England Coast Path in sight!". Ramblers. 3 September 2014. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
- 1 2 "Coastal Access Completion by 2020 – Provisional Timings and Stretches" (PDF). Natural England. 1 December 2015. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
- ↑ "England Coast Path new stretch opens in Somerset". BBC. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
- 1 2 Natural England publications, retrieved 16 August 2016
- ↑ England Coast Path: improving public access to the coast, www.gov.uk, retrieved 16 August 2016
- ↑ Manage your land on the England Coast Path, www.gov.uk, retrieved 16 August 2016
- ↑ Weymouth Bay (pdf), retrieved 16 August 2016
- ↑ "All-Wales coast path nears completion". BBC News Wales. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
- ↑ "Wales Coast Path at a glance". The Independent. Retrieved 16 August 2016.