England Coast Path opens to walkers
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Walkers can enjoy 66 miles of new and improved National Trail with the launch of the first stretch of the England Coast Path in Kent and East Sussex today.
The continuous route between Camber and Ramsgate is the first section of the England Coast Path to open in the south east of England. It gives unbridled views of coastline, including the iconic White Cliffs and the unique areas of Dungeness and Pegwell Bay, popular for bird watching, their landscape and their summer flowers.
Natural England is currently establishing a 2,700-mile path around the entire English coastline by 2020 and work is already under way on 60 per cent of the route. When completed, it will be the longest continuous coastal walking route in the world. It will also become a National Trail – the nation’s finest and most popular long-distance paths.
Speaking at the National Trust’s White Cliffs centre, the Chairman of Natural England, Andrew Sells, said: “I am delighted to be here for the formal opening of this 66-mile section of the England Coast Path – the most significant rights of way project for a generation.
“This beautiful and iconic stretch will allow walkers to enjoy amazing views, fabulous wildlife and places with significant cultural and historical value – all from a high-quality footpath. It will also connect coastal communities and encourage walkers to visit more of the coast, bringing an added economic boost to the region.”
The route provides a link between communities and towns along the coast including Camber and Lydd, Greatstone and Hythe and Deal and Sandwich. It includes areas of heritage: from the supposed landing site of Caesar at Walmer to embarkation points on the River Stour at Richborough used by soldiers and horses in the First World War; and from Napoleonic Martello towers dotted along the coast near Dymchurch to extensive Second World War defences at Dover, such as Winston Churchill’s tunnels inside the cliffs at Fan Bay.
Three miles of new path have also been created at Sandwich, giving access around the peninsula for the first time.
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