The View
Meet the passionate walker taking the lead on the future of Britain’s National Trails.
WE’RE ABOUT 20 minutes into our chat when Polly Martin drops my favourite stat of the month.
“The National Trails are thought to save the NHS around £167 million a year,” she says.
“That’s just by people living longer and being more healthy as a result of using the trails – whether that’s walking, running, tramping, horse-riding; and whether it’s thru-hiking a whole trail or just using a little section for a day-walk or even a picnic. It all counts.
“So whenever anyone asks me how you measure the value of having National Trails, that’s a big part of the answer. They are our Natural Health Service.” It’s no surprise that Polly is so passionate about this subject. She’s the Chief Executive Officer of National Trails UK, a new body launched last year to support and champion the 17 National Trails of England and Wales, as well as four of the Great Trails of Scotland. The actual management of the trails will still be overseen by partnerships of national, regional and local bodies. NTUK has a separate mission to attract investment, connect the organisations that oversee the trail landscapes, support the National Trail Officers who look after each route, and raise the trails’ profile nationally and globally. Similar organisations have supported Britain’s national parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs) for years; the aim of NTUK is to do the same for the trails.
“It’s all about connection; that’s the really simple and beautiful idea behind the trails and behind NTUK as well,” says Polly.
“The trails connect physical places, but they also connect people with nature, history and heritage.
They connect people with each other and with themselves. So NTUK is persuading people to invest in those connections and to understand how important they are.” So what will all this mean for walkers? Put simply, says Polly, an even richer experience.
“There is no limit to the ambitions of the partnerships that look after the trails. They already oversee amazing projects that walkers and other users benefit from, from conservation to accessibility to heritage management,” she explains.
Accessible hiking using an all-terrain wheelchair
