Pushchair And Wheelchair Access To The South West Coast Path

Well done the Rural Development Programme for England, with news that seven coastal access schemes plus 40 extra routes are now available relating to the South West Coast Path, giving wheelchair users and those with pushchairs access by Christmas. Information has now been posted on the coast path website.

There are stretches that were once impassable to the above mentioned members of the public, and the newly accessible routes include parts of Padstow where a £24,000 project improved the surface and widened the path in Stile Field.

Good news for wheelchair users

The work has been financed by the Rural Development Programme for England and its partners, which include the National Trust and local authorities, as part of the South West Coast Path Team's 'Unlocking our Coastal Heritage' project.

The princely sum of  £2.1million has been put into the pot over three years to conserve, enhance and interpret the coast path. Wheelchair and pushchair access has been improved at sites which include Port Isaac, Treyarnon Bay, North Tehidy Country Park and Penrose Estate in Cornwall, as well as Putsborough, Bolberry and Revelstock Drive in Devon.

The accompanying routes take in all of these improvements, as well as many existing parts of the coast path and other rights of way that were already accessible but no detailed route description was previously available.

One of the first parts to benefit was Heddon Valley on the Exmoor coastline, with the introduction of Tramper mobility scooters through a separate project led by Countryside Mobility South West, which has opened up many parts of the Coast Path to new users.

                                                       The South West Coast Path