Thanks for the explanation. It sounds like a very useful project!

Have you considered using an app like StreetComplete (https://streetcomplete.app/) locally to help surveying the paths once an initial version of them is in place on OSM? I find it’s useful for recording detail on the ground easily and correctly. I realise you may have evaluated it and come up with a different strategy though.

What you say makes sense about the name tagging, thanks for the explanation. The use of name= and loc_name= like that makes sense to me!

Regarding start and end points, it should be possible to derive the grid reference / address / etc. of the start and end points programmatically when you pull a route into your website, by looking at the start and end nodes of the ordered list of ways in the route relation, and then reverse-geocoding them using standard tools. It might get a bit complex for routes which aren’t a simple loop or linear route, but that should be possible to tag by setting the route member roles correctly (https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Tag:route%3Dhiking#Roles).

I guess you’re in good contact with someone at OSM UK already who can help you with tagging guidance, so I’ll leave those suggestions with you and shut up now :) Have a good day!