Found the TPT Guidebook (3rd Edition) invaluable when I did the full trail from Southport to Hornsea in September 2005.
All the other references I consulted just had huge gaps in the listings of accommodation, particularly campsites. This guide had everything, including the ones you'd never find, like a pub that did camping in a field right out the back. They also did good value pub food and were open for breakfast from 7am, only £3.95 for the full monty. I'd have been kipping in a ditch otherwise. And the bike shop listings saved my bacon when I got a bit of wire jammed in my freewheel and had to ride a fixed gear all afternoon.
All in all, get one of these books and get out and do the TPT. It's not as famous as the C2C but it's just as nice, just as satisfying and nowhere near as hard!