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The King and the World's Longest Walk · Mark and Pete

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  The King and the world's longest walk.
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  Well to welcome to Mark and Pete.
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  Here we celebrate that Britain has done something absolutely
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  amazing. Not built a rocket or fix the
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  trains, but we've made a very long path.
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  Yes, this is Mark and Pete, 2 blokes with half an opinion.
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  Now here's our first thought. A captivating coastline Picture
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  a path that make people talk along a charming canvas of
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  coastal chalk. Ensure you draw in the view as
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  you're passing through. Colourfully woven with a
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  wonderful walk. Yes indeed.
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  Well, we can be delighted and we are pleased to say that King
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  Charles has opened the world's longest coastal path around
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  England. Yes, this is an amazing
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  achievement. It is, in fact, 2689 miles long.
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  Now, Mr. Pete, I know that you like a long walk, a good old
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  stretch. Well, nothing more than going
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  along with King Charles. What say you about this
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  achievement? Well, Mr. Mark, I think long
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  distance walking, well, just walking in general is one of
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  those, one of those activities that are good, that are great
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  for your health, they're great for your mental well-being, and
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  they're just underrated. Going for a walk doesn't,
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  doesn't sound exciting, may not be exciting, but it's just a
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  good thing to do. And so anything that draws
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  attention to it, I think it's a great thing having the locked
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  world's longest walk. May you may not want to do the
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  whole walk, but it it's like anything when there's a
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  challenge there. My comparison would be you want
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  to be able to drive a car. It's good to be enthusiastic
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  about driving so that you actually pay attention to it.
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  So it's great that there are Lamborghinis and Bugattis, but
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  Mark, you didn't have to buy so many of them.
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  No, I didn't. Especially when you're trying to
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  drive them around coastal cliffs.
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  Yes, indeed. Yeah, that's what I'm saying.
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  So the the fact that there's a long walk is good.
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  It will attract people and great that the King is they're opening
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  it. We're of course big, big fans of
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  the King on this show. Well, indeed, yes, get out and
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  walk and yes, finally Britain mates strides in something.
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  Well, what's interesting on this is, is the fact is that the the
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  king has opened this particular walk.
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  But what I will say is, is that it passes through some of the
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  country's science most beautiful and varied landscapes.
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  So you've got everything from salt marshes to sandy beaches to
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  cliffs, dunes and historical coastal towns.
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  And many people will say, well, So what?
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  Well, the fact is, is that really we should be celebrating
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  the natural beauty of England. And I think that's purely what
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  I'd say here really is the story because many people probably
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  have never had the opportunity of actually seeing these
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  particular viewpoints. And I think that's the
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  difference here, isn't it? So even if you do like even a
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  just a short walk, you don't have to go on the whole lot of
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  the long walk because that is a very lengthy stride.
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  But I mean, and it's the fact that you can see so much beauty
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  of our countryside. And they do attract people the
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  offers offers dyke is a long distance path, nearly 200 miles.
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  There's the Pembrokeshire coastal path, there's the
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  there's different paths around around Britain, which are those
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  ones that I happen to have walked along.
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  And the fact that you have something set out that other
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  people have done, it can mean in that you try and beat the
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  record, which, you know, something you could do.
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  Or you could just say, well, that means, you know, that means
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  that I can look out at these wonderful vistas and realise
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  that other people have had that same experience.
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  There's something about that, the attraction of it that it's a
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  walk that you do. So of course, for many people,
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  there's also the attraction of going off the beaten track and
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  not doing such a thing. But it generally this, this is
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  Mark. This is a good news story that
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  we're covering here. I know it's an extraordinary
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  one. Now, what's interesting is, is
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  that actually it dates back to when Gordon Brown was the Prime
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  Minister. Yes, you remember him, you know.
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  So that's how long this project has been taking.
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  But finally they've managed to sort of unlock this.
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  And there's been a lot of work involved, a lot of hours of
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  course, as you would expect to putting these paths in place.
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  This is the other factor, of course, it has to be maintained
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  now, of course ramblers throughout the the country and
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  anywhere else who come to visit this country will see the, the
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  chance to be able to look at this coastline.
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  And in fact it gives access to many of the coastline areas
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  since the Second World War, yes, some of which was actually
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  blocked off for various reasons. So I I'm delighted for this, but
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  I was going to ask Mr. Pete. Now walking, of course we talk
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  about walking on the countryside, but I mean, there
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  are many other places that people would like to walk.
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  Now, I know that one of the challenges here is farmland
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  because a lot of farmers are very concerned about, you know,
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  trampling all over the your fields of produce, etcetera.
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  But really, you know, the right of way is one of the things that
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  many people have been asking for.
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  Can can you just sort of elaborate a little bit about?
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  Well, in, in England and Wales, we have this law established
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  over many years from developed from common law, you know, and
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  common law is just things that happen to be done.
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  Common law becomes law because it's what people do.
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  So if people go through a, a certain field, for example, and
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  they've always been through it, it becomes a right of way,
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  whether or not the owner wants it.
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  And then it becomes against the law for them to block it off or
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  to put a ball in the field, for example.
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  So it becomes quite difficult or any something dangerous in the
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  field because it's it's a right away.
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  Of course, they can insist that you keep to the path and if you
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  take your dog, he has to be on the lead and that sort of thing.
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  But there are various exemptions to this.
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  And if you were to be able to show with planning permission at
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  your council offices for example, that you needed to keep
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  your bully in that field, then you'd have a notice saying
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  walking across this field does not constitute a right of way.
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  Now, where we used to live back in the day, Mark, in that little
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  Worcestershire town where we both came from as children,
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  where we both lived as children, there was a walkway through a
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  car park of the local pub which had a little sign on it saying
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  that it didn't constitute a right of way.
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  But that didn't stop everyone just walking across it.
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  I'm not, I'm not sure how effective it is, but it's
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  interesting, isn't it? That idea, the idea that we
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  have, that people have the right to walk, and I think that is,
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  that is a very good thing. I hope we don't lose it.
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  Well, indeed. And of course, obviously we've
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  been talking of course about England.
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  Now what I would say here is, is that of course what we would
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  like to sort of see is Wales and of course Scotland to embrace
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  this a bit more. Because I think that that when
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  you think about our fair Isles, you do think of it in different
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  ways. But one of the things that many
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  foreigners who tend to come here, they are standard by the
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  beauty in which they see. Now, of course, each of the
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  different countries offers something different.
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  If you think about what Wales offers versus Scotland and many
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  others, you know, they all, they have something of different
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  beauty. But I, I think that in, again,
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  I, I do would say that I think if you have the opportunity to
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  do it, it's worth, if you're going on a holiday, well, why
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  not try that? Because you're going through not
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  just rural land, you are actually going through some
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  small villages and towns. And of course, they've got
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  steeped in history. Yeah.
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  So it's worth looking out for words like common as in common
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  land. And it's often yeah, features in
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  the names because this means he doesn't actually belong to
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  anyone, or rather it belongs to everyone.
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  And then you can go there and to exercise and use it because it's
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  common land people sometimes Gray sheep there, but that
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  doesn't mean it's exclusively for them.
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  So it's worth watching out for that.
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  Yes, Britain has a lot to people I think maybe don't realise how
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  beautiful the countryside in Britain is because what's
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  publicized around the world tends to be London and the the
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  big buildings in the centre of London.
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  Whereas in fact a lot of Britain is very beautiful and very green
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  compared to many other countries.
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  Yeah, and I think that's the difference.
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  So, well, I think we're delighted here, aren't we, that
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  actually we have a good news story, as you say.
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  Now for our listeners, I'll please get out there out and
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  about. This is a chance to to really
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  sort of see the countryside in a new light.
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  And as far as Marcus and Pete is concerned, well, we'll just keep
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  rambling on and on and on and on.
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  Yeah.