New funding for C2C

Good news for visitors to Wainwright's Coast to Coast walk. I hear on the news that £5.6M has been awarded for an upgrade of the route. I don't have details but signage was mentioned in the report. I did the west side section recently and yes it is well used but I didn't find any issues that I felt strongly enough to warrant making a fault report.

£5.6M sounds a lot of cash but today most projects are talking billions. At 195 miles the C2C will benefit from just short of £30K per mile. I have seen a report costing a finger post at £70, we can only hope it goes on path surface and boundary crossings as well.

But is this the correct place to target funds. The C2C is already a well used route should funds be directed at spreading users around to other walking routes? Equally we all know of well used paths in far worse condition than the C2C.

Peak & Northern Footpaths Society offers grants to highway authorities for improvements but this grant for the C2C shows that their funds are a drop in the ocean and even the budget holders of most Rights of Way sections would love to get their hands on £30,000 for each mile of path they have a duty to maintain.

So yes good news of sorts, if this is the start of new thinking for walking.