East Coast to the West Coast

An East Coast to the West Coast Walk

In autumn 2011 I decided I needed a new walking challenge. In 2010 and early 2011 I had walked the Pennine Way in short sections of between one and three days and found it really enjoyable. The obvious choice was a coast to coast walk across England but I didn't want to walk THE Coast to Coast Walk as devised by Wainwright.

Instead I decided to start on the east coast at Redcar, near my home in Middlesbrough, and use sections of various established long distance paths, together with linking sections, to arrive somewhere on the west coast.

Initial thoughts suggest a route using the Teesdale Way and Pennine Way as far as Dufton. From Dufton I devised a route across Cumbria to reach Patterdale in the Lake District and the Coast to Coast route. I would follow this until it reached Borrowdale where the Cumbria Way would take me on to Ulverston and the coast.

However, as I gradually ticked off the stages I changed my mind and, having reached Barnard Castle, decided to strike off on a more direct route through Brough, Kirkby Stephen, Sedbergh and Milnthorpe to reach the coast at Arnside. This route had the advantage that I'd be visiting parts of the country I wasn't familiar with and would also be a little shorter.

The final version of the walk is approximately 117 miles long. I walked the route over 9 days starting in 2011 and finally completing the walk in October 2012.