“Among the highlights is the iconic chalk downland of the Seven Sisters in East Sussex, which also forms part of a newly designated National Nature Reserve being announced by Natural England.

The King inaugurated the coastal path and the new nature reserve at a reception hosted by the South Downs National Park Authority.

He later walked a section of the newly completed path at Seven Sisters, joined by Natural England Chair Tony Juniper and Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds.

Juniper said the path "is a testament to how public enjoyment, conservation, heritage, history and community can come together, helping make life better for millions of people."

Much of the new coastal route already existed, but more than 1,000 miles of new paths have been created, and many other sections upgraded. Paths have been resurfaced, stiles removed, boardwalks built and bridges installed.“

“One stretch in south Devon is particularly challenging. At the River Erme, there is no bridge or ferry, and the land further upstream is privately owned and inaccessible. Walkers must therefore roll up their trousers and wade across the river within an hour either side of low tide.”

The route also raises the possibility of a continuous coastal walk around the entire island of Britain.

The new English coast path links with the Wales Coast Path - an 870-mile route encircling the Welsh coastline. It was completed in 2012 and was the first path in the world to follow an entire national coastline.

There is no single official coastal trail in Scotland, though much of the shoreline is accessible thanks to Scotland's "right to roam" law passed more than 20 years ago. Estimates of its mainland coastline vary depending on how it is measured, but it is often put at around 5,500 miles.

Taken together, a continuous coastal walk around Britain would therefore total some 9,000 miles. At an average of 15 miles a day, it would take almost two years to complete, assuming no rest days.

Rambling is a very popular activity in England. Probably my favorite vacation ever was my walking tour in the Yorkshire Dales.

So they stole private land all around the cost to allow people to walk right next to private homes as I see in one of the pictures? Sounds terrible for the land owners, but not as bad as Scotland's nearly communistic "right to roam" law. I can just can't image having a nice pristine 10 acre tract and having people walk through it and even camp on it, and required to pay taxes to boot. Every year you people come one step closer to no rights at all.

We have a boat loads of nuts I'd love seeing them move to the British Isles. One running for a public office wants to legalize shoplifting and would fit nicely in Scotland.

kevin, sounds like you wouldn’t enjoy England. I’d suggest you stay home. 🤷 No problem.

I've walked the South West Coast Path which is a 630 mile section around Somerset, Devon and Cornwall. I've done the low tide river crossing and several others which have high and low tide options. I've also done the stretch which joins that path to the Welsh Coast Path. A more dedicated friend has nearly completed the entire thing.

Kevin, I suggest you do a little research into the public footpath system of the UK. Some of the routes are hundreds or even thousands of years old and it is our legal right to use them, as our ancestors did. It's part of our heritage. Many cross private land and nobody, including most of the landowners, is the least bit bothered by it. No land was 'stolen' for the Coast Path.

floral, I’ve seen some of your photos! Lovely.

floral, my grandparents lived in Budleigh Salterton. I visited them a few times many years ago. Beautiful area.

One of the houses we are considering purchasing has a footpath through the edge of the garden. We have no problem with it. People who use footpaths are by-and-large respectful and don't bother anyone. The house is also near the Welsh Coast Path, and we are looking forward to walking it when we move over there.

"Don't let him bother you. He often doesn't have a clue about what he's talking about."

A shot taken but missed again as usual. Maybe I don't have a clue about the British Isles but you're not the one to decide, and from someone with a proven record of fabricating a fictitious life on this forum, including stories of stolen military service, your credibility is zero.

Roxsoild, I did do a little research on the footpath system after reading the story linked in the original discussion otherwise I wouldn't have made the statement. I'm sure the foot path is a wonderful accomplishment and would love to take my 4 wheeler around all 2800 miles. But my only point was the land was taken from the owners with a right of way with no compensation what's so ever. Some quietly submitted to the intrusion, while other tried to fight it, only to lose because of a past laws.

You have enough walking paths anyway, as if 140,000 miles isn't enough, but the race to uncover 50,000 miles more of paths are playing out like a Monty Python sketch. Old goat paths, or hilarious examples where homeowners find out their private garden, or swimming pool is now a highway because a Roman legion marched through it once.

And the comedy show has been renewed for 5 more years after a 75 years run, just to find lost paths.

kevin, I don’t live in England. The walk sounds lovely.

I live in Canada. If you want to bring your 4 wheeler and race around, you’d probably like the Iron Horse Trail in Alberta. It’s an old railroad that has been torn out and converted to an all purpose trail. It goes through spectacular country and over old trestle bridges.

I don’t think that you would like Canada, either. You’re welcome to come, though.

Rox - Kevin wouldn't need to visit Alberta to travel the abandoned RR trails, there are hundreds if not thousands of miles of abandoned lines in his state of Minnesota that are open to walking, biking, and snowmobiling (not sure about 4 wheelers). We have some in Missouri as well. One called the Katy trail runs about 10 miles south of me and goes about 250 miles from Kansas City to St. Louis

A lot of RR lines became redundant during the years of mega RR mergers.

Britain has a very long history of ancient right of ways. When you purchase a property you had better read the fine print about such things. People have been suing over such rights for a very long time.

It would be timely to mention that ownership of property is actual a civil law sort of thing. The only reason we can "own" property is because people create civil organizations like countries that create laws protecting peoples rights which could be the "ownership" of the land and also the historical right to cross it.

I wish I was still able to do a walking tour. It sounds wonderful. I love the British isles when I lived there.

Elmer, such standards are just like ownership of property. They are common conceits. We all are supposed to agree but no one gets executed if they do not agree. So I suggest that since the paths or ways are multiple and the right that makes them legal is single then right of ways being multiple paths makes good sense. I am using the word conceit in one of its more obscure senses as in being a perceived notion.

"I'm sure the foot path is a wonderful accomplishment and would love to take my 4 wheeler around all 2800 miles. "

This is a FOOT path. It is for walking. You cannot take a vehicle on it, thank heavens. Most of it would be impossible to access by vehicle anyway. It's a way to get away from vehicles, noise and other people. Very few landowners were required to allow the path through. Most of it was pre-existing and had been in place for years. The completion of the path has largely been a question of filling in gaps and providing signage.

" makes good sense. "

Yes but it's not the preferred style. When people are misinformed or have unsupported views, wouldn't they usually say that their perspective "makes good sense"?

What does property have to do with the topic?

floral, really, don't bother with him.

LoneJack, your comment made me think of the Battle River Railway in central Alberta. A bunch of track was closed down and some farmers got together and started their own shortline.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_River_Railway

I always laugh when I see the logo. It’s very fitting for certain times of the year.🥶

BRR indeed! The class 1 RRs don't bother with the branch lines because most aren't profitable unless there is a lot of industry located on it. They lease them out to shortline operators that have one crew and one locomotive that service the industries and bring the traffic to the class 1 at the mainline.

I recall from my walking tour in Yorkshire that some paths cross private property. Of course you are expected to be responsible. You might be using a farmer’s turnstile or other method to keep the cows in (or out), but not swing gates. And some landowners charged a toll! They’d have a little lockbox securely mounted and a sign of the toll, a nominal amount, but all on the honor (or honour) system. I think they had to get permission to do that, though.

For the most part, paths do not go through someone’s suburban or urban backyard.

Isn’t there some rule in England allowing people to camp or caravan on private property?

bpath a recent court case about camping on Dartmoor was resolved in the Supreme Court last year after a landowner tried to ban it from his estate. His argument was that groups of campers behaved unreasonably leaving litter/trash, endangering livestock, lighting fires etc. The walkers/hikers won that round although there will always be a tiny minority who behave without care and consideration for the property of others.

Interestingly in England and Wales property owners do not own the land right up to the coast line. I can't remember if the cut-off point is the high or low water line (I must look it up) so generally beaches, river estuaries etc are not private property.

https://www.thebmc.co.uk/en/supreme-court-rules-that-wild-camping-on-dartmoor-is-legal

I can honestly say that in decades of walking all over the country, including Yorkshire, I've never seen a toll box. It would be illegal to charge for using a public footpath. There are things called Permissive Paths which allow the public to cross private land at the owners discretion. But I've never seen a charge for those either. I believe there are occasional tolls for horse riders but they are only allowed on bridle ways, not on footpaths.

Not sure I understand the reference to swing gates. Footpaths utilize both stiles and kissing gates. The stiles vary in design in different parts of the country.

Kissing gate in Gloucestershire. The acorn is the symbol for a National Trail as distinct from ordinary footpaths

Stone step stile in Cornwall

Wooden stile in Wales.

Everywhere I have lived that the area was on the ocean here in the US has the beaches free but it is hard to find legal access to the beach. We have the same thing here in my state for the banks of streams and rivers. It does not keep property owners from trying to limit access. The last place I lived had access to a stream and the neighbor would hang around on his side watching to be sure you didnt step on his land. He was a nut. There was an area commonly used by the locals for picnics and blackberring and he posted it but no one paid it the slightest mind. No on ever left trash.

Floral, I was thinking of a gate that a passer-through would have to remember to close and latch behind them. It would be too easy to forget or just not think about it.

The toll I think I saw at only two places, our guide said something about either a special permission or not allowed. It was a nominal amount. And it was, gee, 35 years and two kids ago now, I don’t quite recall.

Where I live, on a Great Lake, many beaches are private. If the are public, they are part of a town’s parks and many charge for entrance, for parking, or both. It really bugs me that I have to bring my ID to visit my beach, and that it is expensive to bring my guests during the season.

Ah, yes. Shutting gates is part of the Countryside Code. The rule is to leave a gate as you find it, either open or shut. It is second nature to regular walkers.

The Countryside Code: advice for countryside visitors - GOV.UK https://share.google/yRAC7vbECkInwwrNB

Another National Trail, Glyndwr's Way in Wales.

Part of the Coast Path in Somerset.

That's the gate rule in Australia as well, Floral, though it relates more to farm gates.