I read with interest this morning that the popular C2C walk across England, as devised by the late, great Alfred Wainwright, is to be granted National Trail status. This means that it will be included on future OS maps and there will be official waymarks (the lack of (official) signage currently is problematic for some) and there’ll be some infrastructure improvements (I read this initially as mainly path maintenance but there will be some route alterations/upgrades and links to make circular walk sections, etc.). I can’t imagine they’ll make it any less challenging as a result though. Original article here: https://www.ukhillwalking.com/news/2022/08/wainwrights_coast-to-coast_to_become_a_national_trail-73122?fbclid=IwAR1X6d--cAtC0Y-aqqSIa59pdpCzeQqzPSoP6aTBsnRT3r4js4RH6OeE2eI
While I’m not sure Wainwright would approve, at least not publicly - he thought people should devise their own routes and his was just a suggestion, although one that’s hard to better - the Wainwright Society seem pleased enough. The new National Trail should be opened in 2025, so if you want to do it while it’s still ‘unofficial’ there’s a little ‘hurry up’ involved!
Ian