Gates replace stiles as 197-mile Wainwright path is given disability makeover

Stiles are set to be removed across much of the Wainwright Coast-to-Coast hike to make the route more accessible for disabled people.

The shift is part of a major upgrade to the 197-mile path, which stretches from St Bees in Cumbria on the west coast of England to Robin Hood’s Bay on the east and has been awarded National Trail status by Natural England.

The traditional means of crossing fields are set to be replaced with gates where possible, Natural England has said, opening more of the path up to a wider range of people.

The accreditation as a National Trail will see it featured on Ordnance Survey maps for the first time, alongside the 16 other walks afforded the prestigious label.

“Natural England is committed to making the trail as easy to use as we reasonably can for disabled people and others with reduced mobility, while accepting that such opportunities will often be constrained by practical limitations such as the rugged terrain,” the National Trail proposal reads.

“We would avoid creating any unnecessary new barriers to access by choosing the least restrictive infrastructure that is practical in the circumstances.

“For example, where new infrastructure needs to be installed on a new national trail it is good practice to use: gaps to cross field boundaries where livestock control is not an issue; gates rather than stiles; infrastructure that is designed to be accessible.”

Investment will upgrade surfaces

The trek, which takes around two weeks to complete, has been well-trodden since its inception in 1973 by writer and illustrator Alfred Wainwright, whose eponymous books and posthumous society are still integral to the walking world.

Natural England's £5.6 million investment will be used to upgrade surfaces, signposting and waymarking over three years.

As well as replacing stiles the project aims to find a way for walkers to safely cross the A19, which bisects the route in Rishi Sunak’s North Yorkshire constituency of Richmond.

Mr Sunak, the Tory leadership candidate, launched a campaign to make the route a National Trail in 2016.

“The Coast to Coast is vital to the visitor economy in North Yorkshire and Cumbria. Its world-wide fame brings people from all over the UK, Europe and the rest of the world to patronise our hotels, B&Bs, pubs, campsites and shops,” Mr Sunak said.

Mr Malcolm Cook, 72, the owner of the Ingleby House Farm B&B which sits next to this crossing point, said the accreditation of the path is “brilliant news” and a bridge over the A19 is “imperative” as the current lack of a way to get across the busy road is “frightening”.

“We've always said it's gonna take somebody to be killed [crossing the A19 as part of the walk] before they do something about it,” he told The Telegraph.

“Our B&B and the pub, and several of the B&Bs in the village, would just be finished if they moved the path away from the traditional path. Simple as that. It brings basically a quarter of a million pounds into our village over the year.”