Although I'm not really a fan of actual waymarks for specific trails, I do enjoy following the routes - especially in areas where I might not otherwise have been walking. There are several routes on my own doorstep (Pendle Way, Bronte Way, Burnley Way, Pennine Bridleway etc etc) which I've enjoyed mainly because they're close and yet all include sections that were 'new' to me, and which I probably wouldn't have explored otherwise. Thier status as 'routes' also often means that stiles etc. are kept in reasonable repair.

I have been walking LDP's for several years and enjoy them particularly because the people who devised them have gone to considerable trouble to find the best route between two points or to find a circular route embracing the same ideals. But I do agree that those I have enjoyed the most have not been waymarked at all and I am referring to the Cambrian Way, which was superb, and the Cape Wrath Trail which was also good.

Four answers

For an inexperienced walker's first 20/25 mile walk ever, a well presented guide to a LDP is a reassurance that there will be a route to follow on the ground.

I'm quite happy to devise a route in an area I know, but in foreign parts, or if I want a day walk on holiday, then the local LDP is a quick way of making a walk up. This year's examples were the Saints Way and the SW Way in Cornwall.

At least when they were being set up, LDPs did attract some financial support from central government, which means new rights of way, bridges and stiles. An example is the Hadrians Wall Path where many new RoW were created

When I was helping on our stand at the Outdoor Show in 2004 a very large proportion of the enquiries we received were about LDPs - for most people LDW equals LDP. Publicity about LDPs therefore indirectly helps the LDWA.

Ed,
You are right in one sence but for many it is a matter of time. You might be working all sorts of hours for five or six or even seven days a week and in between there is the family. You do want to get out and you do want to walk your own route but planning takes time, so you use a ready made route and then when you have the time you devize your own.
David H

Just a quick thought. Why do we need LDPs?

I do not want to take anything away from the great efforts that go into maintaining and recording LDPs. But, sometimes when I am out walking and see a marker post with a five or six different LDPs marked on it I do wonder what it is all in aid of - does anybody every actually walk them.

I guess there is a distinction between LDPs that are marked on the ground (e.g. Pennine Way) and LDPs that are just documented (e.g. Cambrian Way). Documented LDPs seem a fine idea and so LDWA efforts to keep records up to date and published is a fantastic service. The well maintained, ‘main’, on the ground LDPs also serve an obvious benefit. But, surely marked on the ground LDPs need to be limited? It is not unusual for me to encounter walkers who were following a portion of an LDP thinking it would be easy to follow and just got lost or stuck because the path is not maintained. Indeed, I quite often follow LDPs myself to find the path is no longer passable.

A final thought. Planning a route is one of the things I enjoy about long distance walking. Consequently I have never walked an LDP. But, have just come back from a great weak long trip on a route of my own devising in the Highlands. It strikes that many documented LDPs are not so much ‘walks you should do’ as a ‘walk I did and really enjoyed’.