England is preparing to open a new £28 million national trail next week after nearly two decades of planning and construction.
The King Charles III England Coast Path – a 2,700 mile walking route around the country’s entire coastline – was first proposed in 2008 as a policy under former prime minister Gordon Brown.
Although the trail is only about 77 per cent complete, officials say it is ready to launch.
The project has faced 18 years of delays caused by funding cuts, legal requirements, the COVID-19 pandemic, and global shortages of building materials.
Rising sea levels and coastal erosion have also forced parts of the route to be changed.
One example is at Southmoor Nature Reserve, where storms in 2020 broke a sea wall and flooded the land, turning the former pasture into a salt marsh habitat for birds.
A new £28 million national trail will open next week after 18 years of construction (Pictured: South West Coastal Pathway, Mortehoe, Devon King Charles III Coastal Path)
Pictured: Aerial view of the beautiful Kingsgate Beach at the coast of Kent, England, with white chalk cliffs in the ocean King Charles III Coastal Path
Jake Kendall-Ashton, a lead regional adviser on the coast path for Natural England, told the Telegraph: ‘You can be here half an hour before high tide, and it looks really benign.
‘You think you’re going to be fine. And then the water rushes in really quickly. So there’s the possibility you could get stranded.’
To keep the path open, organisers built a raised boardwalk made from 75,000 recycled plastic bottles so that walkers can still pass through safely.
Creating the path also required discussions with more than 25,000 landowners due to a large portion of the route crossing private land.
Proposals were met with some opposition at first.
In 2024, the coastal path was diverted by the charity which runs Queen Victoria’s favourite summer retreat.
English Heritage, which manages the Osborne House estate on north of the island, blocked the route from crossing the property’s grounds as it would ‘negatively impact’ the charity’s conservation work and present a security risk.
Earlier that year, locals living alongside the planned path in East Yorkshire feared the opening could have been delayed after coastal erosion devastated the proposed route – and said the King would not dare go near the crumbling cliffs.
Yet, despite concerns from residents, farmers and property owners, only about 2.4 per cent formally objected.
Pictured: Bamburgh Castle taken here from the north dates back to the 6/7th century King Charles III Coastal Path
Pictured: the coastal path had to be diverted away from the sea along a busy road after a charity which runs Queen Victoria’s favourite summer retreat blocked it from running along its beach in 2024
The 18-year project has seen its fair shares of setbacks, including rising sea levels and coastal erosion (pictured; on the east coast of England) have also forced parts of the route to be changed
Officials say the flexible design of the trail means it can be moved if storms, erosion or rising sea levels change the coastline.
Unliked the fixed footpaths on Ordnance Survey maps, coastal rights of way are dynamic.
Because of the changing tides, breached sea walls, or collapsing cliffs, the path can be erased and realigned to match the ever-changing coast.
By summer 2026, more than 90 per cent of the path’s infrastructure works will be complete, according to Natural England.
However, the trail is expected to have a lifetime of ongoing work.
Nevertheless, 100 per cent of the proposals for the coastal path have now been submitted to the Secretary of State, meaning the long planned path is finally becoming a reality.
Meanwhile, the best UK hikes for the winter period have been revealed – and the top spot has been handed to a trek across England’s highest mountain.
The Scafell Pike trail from Wasdale Campsite has been crowned the UK’s best winter hike.
Scafell Pike is the highest mountain in England, reaching a height of 978m and drawing in hikers who want to tick off the UK’s highest peaks.
Analysis from outdoor experts Blacks ranks the UK’s best winter hikes using winter search demand, winter mentions in AllTrails reviews, trail ratings, and difficulty level.
The Scafell Pike gained an impressive score of 9.11 out of 10.
With the most Google searches and an elevation gain of 108.59km, this trail is ideal for those who want to test their winter hiking abilities.
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