Google maps aims to let you walk the North Downs – without leaving your sofa

Some of the most beautiful walks in England and Wales will be appearing on Google Street View from 17 March

If "the Google effect"on Britain is anything like "the Wild effect" in the US, there will soon be unprecedented numbers of people walking the national trails that traverse some of the most beautiful countryside in England and Wales.

Wild was the name of a book in 2012 and, two years later, a film about writer Cheryl Strayed's life-affirming journey along the Pacific Crest Trail, the longest walking route in the world, stretching more than 2,600 miles from Mexico to Canada. Before Wild, only a few hundred hiking permits were issued for the trail every year. Last year it was more than 4,500 - and the number who walked the whole route quadrupled.