The UK's Vanishing Footpaths!.... You Can't Walk on them!

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Big thanks to / @hedleythorne for his drone footage through Folly Wood.
Welcome to this weeks video in which we try and highlight a well know problem. Footpaths, bridleways and other such PROW's keep vanishing.
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[@pwhitewick]

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[@TheSuperTrickey]

As an individual who likes to take my dog out walking on public footbaths daily, it is my opinion that this country is drunk on capitalism and deeply corrupted, and it makes me extremely upset. Our freedom becomes more limited every year, and as an RSPB and National Trust member, to see our government doing so little to preserve nature, and so much to destroy it, leaves me rather down in the dumps. Thank you for your information and transparent video! Ive just subscribed and look forward to more

[@samo6083]

I'm in the same boat as you. Love taking my rottweiler to vast expanses and forests. But I find every year there's a new gate or electric fence blocking the path we used to walk on... It's genuinely saddening

[@greason]

Don't have a dog but my favourite past time is going on walks. Sometimes I debate trying to move to a place like iceland where they have the civil right to roam

[@Smulenify]

​@@greason we have that in Norway and it was one of the things I missed the most when I lived in the UK.

[@TheSwampla]

As a fellow walker and an atavistic historical follower, I agree. I love our history and it makes me ashamed to see paths blocked and a total lack of responsibility from all concerned. To those who want to explore, good luck. To those that oppose, then shame on you! Our country is rapidly being treaded under by outsiders who have only an eye for profit and no clue as to what history actually managed to achieve.

[@stephennutkin2477]

Why the left wing rhetoric ? . Know your rights and observe the country code many people don’t that’s why land owners get up set just the same as a house holder would get up set if a member of public threw litter into their garden . Public footpaths have to be maintained by the landowners ie broken styles etc, fallen trees blocking the path. Anything blocking the path intentionally by the land owner is illegal and it is also an offence to allow dairy bulls to cross over a field with a right of way. Unless you know the public footpath we’ll always take with you an os map and know your rights. Obstructive landowners can only get away with stopping people if the intended user does not know their rights. Stopping people from using a foot path has nothing to do with capitalism it’s ignorance of the law. Majority of humans are capitalists in one form or another. If a landowner repeatedly try’s to stop a right of way take photographs and keep on at your local councils. Most councils are very good at keeping footpaths open as long as they are updated by the users. Incidentally re cyclists. a countryside foot path has the same laws as a footpath in a built up area yet the number of times that cyclists not only ride on foot paths but expect people on foot to jump out of the way is plain wrong. It is not a criminal offence to cycle on a footpath but it can be classed as trespass so a land owner does have grounds to get you to get off your bike and walk 👍😁

[@AtomicExtremophile]

I lived in Wales for twenty years, there was a lot of this kind of thing going on. A well known footballer had a home built and closed a footpath on his land. He eventually put a replacement path past his property because he got fed up with walkers trying to get over his wall lol

[@thestonedraider8684]

Right of way....over your wall lol

[@infrared2084]

He should of got a pack of dobermans

[@thestonedraider8684]

@@infrared2084 To stop people using a footpath he should not have built a wall around?

[@josephteller9715]

@@infrared2084 he was violating the rights of the public and there should be legal proceedings against doing such.

[@paulmitchell5349]

Worth carrying a few ''technical implements '' to help keep access open when it is known to be a legal path.

[@scouterkeith]

You cannot ‘go equipped’ so to speak. So you cannot take a bow saw and a set of loppers on a hike. However you can remove an obstacle with your hands and if you have accidentally gone on a hike with a set of secateurs in your pocket as you’d been pruning your roses in the morning, that’s not ‘going equipped’.

[@24pavlo]

@@scouterkeith what about bolt cutters?

[@jonb4020]

@@scouterkeith Yes you can! 😁

[@tomriley5790]

There's a catch 22 in that you can remove an obstruction if you're a "bonafide traveler on the right of way" but you cannot go out for the specific purpose of removing the obstruction.

[@Padraigp]

Theres a nice walking stick that the handle comes off and has a pruner 😂

[@JOHNMONO]

Well done guys, where i live developers are big culprits in closing down footpaths due to alleged ground works then build a house on it . We keep fighting

[@cerealkiller4248]

Similar here, housing development proposed, includes childrens playground. Plans passed, building starts then developers find a problem and the playground gets stopped. Miraculously, the ‘issues’ they found stopping them creating a playground don’t seem to stop another 5 houses being built. 🙄🙄🙄🙄 Isn’t that strange, but you can bet the individuals in the local planning department secretly benefit somehow………..

[@favesongslist]

Same where I live :(

[@tasty_fish]

In some cases yes. Where I live OS hadn’t kept up to speed. Whilst they showed the roads and houses of the development on their map, they continued to show the footpaths in their original place. One of them went straight through my house! I half expected irate ramblers knocking on my front door demanding to walk through my living room. Some of them I probably wouldn’t have minded, being a keen walker myself 😊

[@arthuredeson3824]

Near where I live in Oxfordshire there is such a dead-end path which is actually followable with one gate-hop. There is no trace of a path and I've never seen anyone else walking it, but it can be walked and it even crosses some of the finest examples I've seen of the remnants of medieval ridge-and-furrow farming.

[@peterbradburn9115]

Where's that, matey?

[@johnhupcey9442]

The sunken lane pathway is incredibly beautiful!

[@leejohnson3209]

I don't like walking public rights of way over fields, I always feel like I'm trespassing when I'm not. I firmly believe we should protect our public footpaths and rights of way though. Despite my own irrational discomfort, they are there for us to use and enjoy.

[@jedfra9172]

Not meaning to be derogative but please try and get over it and walk those paths. These "get orf my land" privileged folk in the UK will only pay attention if the paths are used. All the best and good luck.

[@mikeoglen6848]

Especially when there is an angry Bull in that field...?

[@leejohnson3209]

@@mikeoglen6848 Yeah, the bull's and even the cows scare me. I'm such a sissy!

[@Andy-oz8it]

​@@leejohnson3209nah man. Cows are actually terrifying.

[@JohnPretty1]

Well you're not. It's your right.

[@sr6424]

We actually saved a through route. When the line Birmingham- Bristol line had it’s service increased Network Rail decided to close the crossing an effectively shut the path. We fought and eventually and got them to build a footbridge. It could make a great video. I guess you would need sponsorship though.

[@jonathanwhitehead2250]

Another excellent video. A lot of footpaths were lost in the 1950s & 60s when farmers were encouraged (even given grants) to pull out hedgerows to make bigger fields (and in recent years given grants to plant them again). A study of older OS maps should show the where the paths once were - and it would be interesting to see how many linked up to the ones that just end. At sometime, maybe 1970s, (someone on here will know much better than me) landowners could get paths - ie public rights of way - deleted by declaring that no one used them. I recall various groups encouraging people to use obscure paths at least once a year, and keep a record, as this would be used to stop closure. I think the request for closure would be made via the Local Authority planning dept. So, somewhere, there will be records of permissions for closure, unless they have been destroyed - but generally public bodies are quite good at keeping records. If you find an old path on a map that now longer shows on a map perhaps a Freedom of Information request might reveal something. Would be interesting to find out if British Railways got permission to block the path - my guess would be they didn't. BTW - the path that ended at the edge of a field of some sort of crop - the landowner has to restore the line of the path through the crop. There is a small window allowed during cultivations and sowing when the path can disappear, but the line of it must be restored by, for example, cutting a 1 mtr or so line through the crop to show the line of the path. If this does not happen report it to the local Rights of Way Officer - or whatever their local equivalent is. Keep up the good work - always something interesting every week.

[@barrieshepherd7694]

"Would be interesting to find out if British Railways got permission to block the path - my guess would be they didn't. " I can't speak for this specific location but my experience is that the then British Rail Property Board would go to great lengths to check on land ownership and rights of way before infrastructure projects commenced. Especially if existing infrastructure was being changed. I'd hazard a guess they used the "there are alternative Rights of Way within a close distance" argument - but I don't know for sure. One of the big problems BR had was farmers & developer's taking liberties with BR land. In one instance a developer built a car park over a signal and telecommunications cable route. Some things slipped through like a case on top of a tunnel where all records showed that there was no sub division of land, and a deed going back to when the tunnel was built confirmed BR had access and land use rights. Once BR started to use the said land three locals, whose houses backed onto the land, suddenly found a later deed giving them ownership - despite previous personal visits to those households, by BR officers, when they never mentioned their ownership. We should have the Scottish Right to Roam laws applied in England - maybe as a settlement for granting them independence? 😎😎

[@eachday9538]

Is there some kind of Walkers Union? If not there should be.

[@jonb4020]

What some farmers do - in my view reasonably - is alter the path by clearing an obvious swathe to allow it to skirt around a field of crops, rather than through the plants. I don't suppose this is technically legal, but I for one would have no problem following such a route.

[@Hill_Walker]

Maybe a decade or so ago, while doing my DoE hike, I was responsible for the navigation. We got to a very recently ploughed and cultivated field with no clear path obviosuly, no sighns either. I took a bearing and we set off across the field, heavy mud clinging to our boots. As we crested the hill in the middle of the field, we were passed by the farmer on his quad marking the path. We actually had to step out of his way, which I put down to my map reading. Worth remembering not all landowners are determined to keep people off the public footpaths

[@TheRealBurger]

@@eachday9538 Ramblers Uk are a force to be reckoned with

[@user-wc6vm6jk6u]

It looks like the perfect locations to place a series of geocaches - road to nowhere series! Being at the end of footpaths, there would be little chance of them being muggled, and it would create a reason for walking down to the end of the footpath, other than the joy of just going down to the end of the footpath.

[@PatGilliland]

Interesting idea as it would likely increase the number of users as well.

[@TheRealBurger]

Love it

[@flamencoprof]

Great to see efforts to maintain these paths. As a NZer, in 1996, on my very first day in England. my wife and I drove from Dover to a campground at Martin Mill, close by. We went for an after-dinner stroll and found in a few minutes an intersection with a branch signposted as "Old Roman Road", then in the other direction found on a road called "Hollands Hill" the marked start of a right-of-way straight across a crop field. We were just so struck by the Englishness of it all! Also learned in the campground to look out for nettles! Looked every day for the next month!

[@jungletiger1900]

The rich land owners don't want you there as they own the earth, and their friends in government and the house of lords will and do back them to the full.

[@tedcopple101]

Who did they buy it from? And who did they buy it from ? And so on and so on. At some point that land has just been claimed and probably stolen, so to me, it's fair game, crack on so long as you're respectful and responsible.

[@ilokivi]

They didn’t bring the land into being, nor did the people (or companies) they acquired rights to it from. The claim to ownership is false and government and the courts should be challenged on this.

[@barrieshepherd7694]

It's not those in the House of Lords you need to worry about - they can't make Law. It's the mob the other end of the corridor in the green mosh pit that are the really dangerous ones!

[@MattyBrad]

You can 'stake a claim' on any public land. Just fence it off. IF nobody complains to the council Within (was) 7 years. Its yours. Seems unlikely to most people. But if very few ever venture on to your property via public rights of way, how would anyone know. USE THEM OR LOSE THEM

[@ThreenaddiesRexMegistus]

Simply put and entirely correct. This is the new corporate world we live in. I first noticed this in New Zealand in the late 90s. Where I could once do walk-up pheasant shooting when the foresters had stopped working over cutover forest and in the weekends, the company leasing Crown land, still ostensibly owned by taxpayers, stopped issuing access permits, and enlisted a private goon squad to enforce trespassing rules. Thanks Carter Holt Harvey. 😏

[@WC21UKProductionsLtd]

Great work. Are you going to report these blocked paths too? Will be interesting to get a follow-up - especially with the one that has been unpassable since the 1960s at the railway line.

[@tremensdelirious]

People not being bothered to report. But if they don’t, who well?

[@composedlight6850]

you have to report and register that you as the public are still using these paths; if you dont, the land owner will close them claiming none use.

[@davidpnewton]

​@@composedlight6850 the landowner does not get to do that. Once a public right of way is established it can only be extinguished through a definitive map modification order or other applicable legislation such as a development consent order.

[@geoffw1209]

Is it not possible to walk across the railway line, taking care, of course?

[@hannahk1306]

​@@geoffw1209 Erm, that's trespassing and potentially very dangerous depending on the line. It can also cause massive delays to the rail network if people are on the line. The only places you can cross a railway are bridges, tunnels or level crossings (where a lot of care should still be taken).

[@paulinehedges5088]

So sad to see ancient footpaths disappearing. Well done for making the council take notice. Lovely sunken lanes! Thank you as always

[@atlanticx100]

When I was a teen ( in the middle 1970s ) I wrote to the MOD about an abandoned shelter from the 50 / 60 s "Royal Observer Corp". Anyway they had lost it and said, "where?". So a nice man from the MOD came to my house and asked me to show him. So with my parent's consent, I took him to the shelter in his car. But the kicker was the farmer had blocked the entrance. So the MOD man took the gate off and we went to the bunker. So what the farmer thought I do not know. The next time I went there it was all painted up and the path restored. Great videos and very informative thank you.

[@bobsrailrelics]

Walking the paths around Berkshire and Oxfordshire as a teen, I regularly came across paths which suddenly became a wheat field or hit a barbed wire fence. The worst I had was one which was supposed to have a ferry linking two sections. Got there and an intact slipway but no sign of any ferry. It was a long walk round.

[@colinbooth2421]

You two need a copy of the' Blue Book', the Ramblers Association (as was - now renamed The Ramblers) bible on the legal situation regarding Rights of Way. Just one basic poiint: if a ROW exists on the map, and unless a diversion exists which has been clearly marked, you should follow the definitive map - be it across crops or whatever. If you go round the edge of a field to avoid damaging crops, you are committing the offence of trespass. If you stick to the correct route, no-one has the right to challenge you, and farmers will not normally do so. They know the law. Private owners and developers are another matter, but the same rule applies. If you meet an obstruction which you can't negotiate, you are legally entitled to deviate to get round it. Many more joys in the Blue Book. Well done for promoting The Ramblers at the end of your video.

[@abarratt8869]

My OS map for the Salcey Forest, Northamptonshire (south of Northampton) has some paths marked that are cut in half by the M1. I once tried to follow one of these, and it'd basically become nearly fully overgrown. I don't think anyone had been down there since the M1 was built. It ended at the motorway, no bridge of course. So, I scrambled through the forest a bit more to the secret motorway underpass on that stretch, and walked through that only to find a police car parked on the other side! Got away with it - I think they were having their lunch.

[@iambarks2814]

We have one near us that has been cut by the A404 yet Council not interested at all it resolving it. There is a very simple diversion to an underpass within 100 m yet total obstruction to taking any action

[@barrieshepherd7694]

Why did you get away with it if it was a right of way route - you were entitled to use it. I doubt if teh police would care anyway!

[@abarratt8869]

@@barrieshepherd7694 it wasn't on the line of the original path, and strictly speaking it is under motorway regulations, so no pedestrians allowed!

[@stevedurrell]

It's fascinating looking back upon old OS maps, tithe maps and the likes (heavily depended on the national libraries of Scotland's side by side maps with the plethora of historic maps lidar and satellite comparisons) and viewing which footpaths, rights of ways, bridleways etc have either succumbed to development owing to disuse or those that remain. Around myself here in West yorkshire, there are numerous ginnels (snickets, alleyways etc) that have retained their belonging over the last century or so of development. The odd ones notoriously existing from their proclamation in the domesday reports. I recently contested the public right 9f access on one of these that had been closed when development was started on land alongside and can proudly hold claim to them now reopening under the public right of way acts. Keep up the awesomeness guys!

[@ncc74656m]

Good work on getting those paths reopened. I despise people who pretend that their adjoining property should override public spaces and rights of way. As kids, we had neighbors on our little cul de sac who tried to tell kids they couldn't play on the street because a ball might go in their yard or hit their car (which, btw, they had chosen not to park in their actual driveway). I've also seen similar things where public paths get blocked by people "accidentally" letting tree limbs and such block them because they didn't want people walking or riding through. Frankly, the right of way laws should have much stronger teeth, where intentional blocking of the pathways should have steep fine enforcement.

[@radiosnail]

There was a Cul-de-sac (close) near where i grew up. people would tell you to go away.

[@grenfellroad8394]

My daughter and son-in-law, and their neighbours, received a letter from their housing association telling them they’d be issued an ASBO if they continued to let their children play outside the front of their house, and the parents were not allowed to sit on their doorsteps having a drink or BBQ watching the kids. What is the world coming to??

[@ginojaco]

Yes, the law should be enforced; equally people who deliberately damage legitimate fencing etc., just because they want to, should be prosecuted too - they unnecessarily aggravate and give the rest of us walkers / runners / riders a bad name.

[@Mu7eD-Stream]

Councils have so much more to worry about on a farm than a footpath. The farms are responsible for their upkeep. This isn't about private land either, its about asset protection. The public causes damage to farm land, so many farmers will let them lapse in an effort to deter you from entering. Dogs killing sheep, people trampling crops, equipment being stolen etc etc, imagine keeping millions in pounds of equipment and livestock safe when the public can literally walk straight through your land unchallenged! This issue is much more complex than privacy and rich people blocking the countryside. It isn't them, they don't own that land or manage it, it belongs to the farmer.

[@radiosnail]

@@Mu7eD-Stream So you use the worse possible examples to justify effectively closing off the countryside to public access? Nice one!

[@DanielleWhite]

The barrier at 1:05 is especially curious to me as I'm pretty sure those are livestock feed troughs and a rather expensive item to use to block a path.

[@richardwebb5317]

Storing them for the Summer, doubling up as a PITA?

[@Hill_Walker]

Wouldnt make sense to store them in winter, that's when they're most likely to be used. Most cattle are kept indoors over winter and need the feeders.

[@martinpook5707]

About 1960 my dad was a parish clerk in Dorset and there was a big thing on footpath/bridleway registration. The local estate wanted to close the lot and to be fair few were used - we hadn't been inundated by Londoners then. Now I live in West Wales and most footpaths were for people to go to chapel so they start on people's drives or at their back doors. Most markers get removed too.

[@248burty]

I bought a book on procrastination a while ago, but I have not got around to reading it yet. 😊

[@urbanmess1]

Love your videos. I live in Salisbury and am often out wandering the footpaths in the local area. The weirdest one I’ve found locally is one in whiteparish that goes through the garden of what was a pub but is now a house. If you want a very strange footpath that seems like you shouldn’t be there for a future video try that one!

[@bruce-le-smith]

ooh yes please, I recall once upon a time taking a weekend trip to Amesbury, a friend and I put our bikes on the train from London and rode from Salisbury to Amesbury to stay at a BnB. Of course we booked an early morning spot to visit Stonehenge, but honestly the bike ride down the old country roads was just as magical as the henge. I recall stopping at an ancient pub like that around there, it was like a scene out of Wheel of Time or Lord of the Rings or something of that ilk!

[@SkepticalTraveler]

I walked a trail like that in Nepal. Right through someone's garden and past their front door. It felt very intrusive, but the children playing in the garden greeted us as we passed.

[@catshoemike]

A friend of mine is a Rights of Way officer. His theory is that in the past, there were bridleways to enable droving access across private estates to common land. Roll is forward to today, and that common land is now subsumed into an AONB, controlled by the council, with no interest in extending an old right of way across the land. So we still have the bridleway, but it stops at the edge of the upland.

[@Matt-ig7mg]

AONB is private land and has little to do with the council.

[@ArcAudios77]

Ancient Footpaths getting lost each day frankly. Sickening. Best wishes for Paul & Rebecca in such highlighting of the matter.

[@capn_chris]

Great stuff, as ever. Agreed, it's wrong for paths to be closed just because some landowner simply doesn't like them being there, we've one in our village (Warsash) which really hacks off a house owner who's solicitor obviously didn't undertake a proper search. You say it's not nice to walk across a farmer's crop, normally I couldn't agree more and it really irritates when I see people doing this out of pure laziness (again it happens all the time in one field locally), but it's even nastier when a farmer deliberately plows a footpath!

[@timeast6412]

There’s one near me on the Bucks/Oxon border.A Footpath exists either side of a farm,but the route goes through the Farmer’s garden which is verboten.I did speak to the land owner but got a lot of waffle about the councils involved.It was pretty clear they weren’t exactly happy with my presence so I gave up.Also you reminded me of a teacher many years ago who said ‘Procrastination is the thief of time Mr East’.He was right and I’ve never forgotten it.

[@bikepackingadventure7913]

Don’t forget that trespass will soon become a criminal offence rather than a civil one at the moment. Don’t think that landowners won’t call the police on someone just for going off the footpath, getting a bit lost or wind camping responsibly. introduction of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 (‘PCSAC’) on 28 June 2022 makes trespass, in some cases, a criminal offence punishable by imprisonment of up to four months and/or a fine of up to £2,500. So you could get arrested if on private land if you cause “distress” and distress is not defined, so I’m presuming a landowner could use this undefined term to get those pesky walkers or wild campers on my land 😢😢😢😢

[@willar7179]

You are lucky to have those pathways in the uk. We have nothing like them in the .western US, unless it is public lands. You should definitely do everything you can to keep them open or reopen them

[@serkles8597]

Love the videos and the work that you do. So sad to see these paths disappear due to what is essentially some landowners greed. You'd think that local councils would keep on top of clearing and maintaining these rights of way but with the way their budgets have been cut I'm sure this is not a priority for them. So it seems that videos like this and work of volunteers and the general public is all that is keeping paths like this from vanishing

[@timhancock6626]

In the case of my local authority there are only a couple of footpaths officers when there were once six. They are usually keen to help, but the workload is now too high..in my opinion.

[@favesongslist]

Agreed, my experience with many local landowners in my area. I also object to the increasing use of barb wire along paths, particularly where school children use the paths.

[@michaeldibb]

In Yorkshire I've come across Bridleways that go halfway then turn into a footpath. So pedestrians can go all the way but horses and cyclists can't.

[@bedathprop]

As a cyclist this is particularly frustrating. Bridle ways are poorly signed as it is, without suddenly realising it’s turned into a footpath…

[@lyndseyanne4022]

Im glad this popped up for me and I'm glad you are doing this. Last year in Wales we went on a simple walk and found most of the styles and gates were not where they should have been. We ended up making our way though by alternative means to find our path and then lose it again. Our final path had us in an overgrown forest on the side of a hill. We kept going thinking it would even out but it got steeper and steeper. It was really scary. Then my beautiful dog fell over the top of a ravine. We didnt know it was there because of the thick undergrowth and trees. We just heard a snap and a crack and a yelp from my dog and then silence. There was a river below but it was shallow like a stream. My partner scrambled down to see him but it was so dangerous for him to be near the egde. He just saw a little speck below that was our border collie. He was alive thank god. We had to use what3words to get a rescue team to find us. If the paths were maintained as they should have been that would never have happened. Not really sure if the same rambling rules apply in Wales. My partner did write to someone but never got a response .

[@flibbertygibbette]

The re-implementation of the deadline for registering these paths is horrible. I'm glad you're doing this work documenting them, and a lot more people are needed to go out and make sure these paths are properly registered and recorded so they are not lost forever.

[@radicalcartoons2766]

The government scrapped that deadline?

[@flibbertygibbette]

@@radicalcartoons2766 For a while, yeah. Then it was reinstated but pushed back a few years, IIRC

[@Padraigp]

Is this like if thwyre not on a map by a certain time they get eradicated?

[@viramann]

I work in PROW, the cut off date is now 1st Jan 2031

[@Padraigp]

@@viramann what means do you employ to look at these paths and find out if they are blocked and tell farmers to not block them. Do they get any sort of recompense for keeping them clear? Do you rely on public reporting to register or is there a guy who goes out and walks these ways? Thanks.

[@markpage2779]

During the lockdown, I reported a few. The countryside access part of Lincolnshire council were great in their response. It's funny seeing a couple of footpaths in my area that you can't get to on the definitive map, without walking over private land.

[@JoOtterH]

I've met Lincolnshire footpath officers a few times. They do a great job covering a vast area with minimal resources. Close to where I live there is a footpath which crosses and recrosses the Notts/Lincs border. They've even recently taken the trouble to put a waymarker close to one of the points where the path swaps counties.

[@catshoemike]

The county ROW Officers were mad busy during lockdown, all those furloughed people (and ones like me that lost their work) with nothing better to do than follow footpaths. Great fun and essential that we keep doing it

[@davidberlanny3308]

Well done for highlighting this Bessie!! Those sunken lanes were amazing, great find Good luck from Spain!!

[@malcolmrichardson3881]

Absolutely stunning sunken 'green lanes'. Great piece of work highlighting 'enclosure' by stealth and subtefuge. Your efforts suggest that 'land enclosue' continues by a variety of means - some subtle, some very unsubtle, from ambiguous/misleading signage to barbed wire entaglements and worse. Use it or lose it, seems to be key to opening-up the landscape - urban and rural - for all to enjoy. Great stuff. Thank you!

[@terryhedger3381]

We have a couple of footpaths over our land, marked on old OS maps. We try to keep them open, but no one has used them for years. Right to roam is very important, but people have to use the paths!!

[@musuko42]

Whereabouts?

[@iambarks2814]

No they don’t, the footpaths are a public right of way used or not - in any case how do you know they are not used, are there looking at them 24hrs a day. Tell us where it is and we will visit to use them.

[@richardwebb5317]

I have one - once it was barely used but I am glad to say it gets kept open by a steady footfall. It is also a dead end - once crossing two big estates. One kept it off their definitive map.

[@iambarks2814]

Just looked at what you have said here again. If they are are marked on old OS maps but not the current ones then it is perhaps not surprising that they are little used. Thank you for keeping them open but could you please advise your Local Authority to consider adding them to the Definitive Map or, the very least, ask for them to be added as a permissive path?

[@shirleylynch7529]

Sunken lanes were beautiful. Well done in getting last years blocked pathway half open. Fab explore again. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Much appreciated. Loved the horse following you but Bessie at end … touch of class.

[@wallaceshackleton1889]

Makes me so grateful for living in Scotland.

[@paulbennett7021]

Sunken paths were also known as Hollow Ways, including Holloway in N London.

[@peter_smyth]

Maybe some wirecutters should go in the rucksack along with the flask and waterproofs!

[@davesheffield3620]

Great work , closing our footpaths is dreadful

[@JohnPretty1]

And illegal.

[@18robsmith]

Far too many landowners get away with the illegal blocking of legally recorded public rights of way by either threatening (illegal) signs or placing various obstructions across the line of the right of way. Another tactic is to "forget" to have the right of way recorded on the OS maps - while not illegal this is a very effective way of stopping people using that right of way. And if they manage to deter use for enough years then they can apply to a court to have the right of way extinguished.

[@malcolmdalrymple1779]

Keep up the good work on keeping lost ((and almost lost) footpaths open.

[@WalksWithOlly]

As a regular walker, I found this video fascinating. Such dead-end rights of way do sadly exist all over the UK. I was pleased to see you continue over the barbed wire fence, which we shouldn't have to do. I was walking the White Horse Trail a few years ago in a group and we encountered an unofficial closure and diversion north of Bratton Camp. I reported this to the council - Wiltshire CC are in the minority, from my experience, as they don't keep in touch or update you beyond receiving the initial report. I've no idea whether that issue has been resolved in the six years since... By comparison, I've found some of the councils around Somerset to be more responsive and communicative to PROW issues. There's also an argument that you could've rightly followed the line of the way across that earlier field where the path had not been reinstated after ploughing (they're supposed to do it within two weeks). I do enjoy your videos. Thanks for all that you do and all the best.

[@eb4661]

I am watching you from Norway, and appreciate your extremely vital work. As I see it, the majority of the western world have culturally changed massively, and the idea of “private property” is indoctrinated and reiterated as some truth of law and rights. It’s truly sad. Freedom of movements is a human right older than society. Being a member of, or approved visitor of a country is a grant of free movements within said country. Such rights goes back all the way to any makings and establishments of countries or kingdoms. So, we are here in the realms of legalities going back thousands of years. In Norway we can quite freely walk around anywhere. It’s divided in four bits; “private”, in-field, out-field and the rest. Private is typically gardens, in-fields are those used by farmers to grow something on, out-fields are those used to have animals on during summertime. Only the private and in-fields shall be avoided. In addition there is a 100 meter zone inland of coast having some openings for movements. I find it troublesome seeing “guards” and “security” in Britain quite unable to speak properly, but still proclaims some area to be private. Like the ownership is a valid restriction on movements, spouting “dis da private”, not at all familiar with the history and developments of laws and regulations. Worst as I see it, is not those farmers trying to steal the free movements parts of their property, but rather the councils agreeing to roofing streets when a multi property owner asks to do so. Effectively they then engage sickurity and claim “private property”-stupidity on public property. Anyways, what you do is very important, as in principle every western and European country is under attack of “private sickness” where historical rights tells a different story. Keep up your good work!

[@MarkVanVasey]

Very well said. 👏

[@fearofmusic1312]

Looking forward to the "digital transformation" where the privatisation of access and movement might reach new levels and you will have to buy/rent temporally limited digital licenses or you got to fulfil certain conditions (e.g. based on your scoring) to go to and stay at certain places. New technology means new ways of exploitation for profit afterall.

[@jedfra9172]

Great post and input E B.

[@theoztreecrasher2647]

Looking forward to getting back to "the good old days" - namely 1066 when Billy the Real Illegitimate said "It's all mine and you peasants can like it or lump it!" Or words to that avail! 🙄😱😉

[@theoztreecrasher2647]

@@eb4661 "In 1066 there was quite a bit of history happening - typically kingdoms and vikings finding solutions to disagreements." You're not kiddin' Pardner! There was so much "finding solutions to disagreements" going on around then that the blood and bone fertilizer added to the European countryside kept the land fertile for years afterwards! 🙄😵‍💫 It's a pity that we can't persuade our politicians to similarly get around to "finding solutions to disagreements" today. (Amongst themselves that is - leaving us peasants right out of it!) 😉

[@user-ug2wk7db2g]

As far as I can ascertain the deep cutting through the green sand was specifically built for the house. A true folly. The ground being so bad that everything including the railway slipped. I know you will report and keep on doing so. Thank you for encouraging others to do so. I heartily concur re carrying necessary practical equipment.

[@dakarimane395]

Reminded of this, seeing all the non-accessible paths/land..... The law locks up the man or woman Who steals the goose off the common But leaves the greater villain loose Who steals the common from the goose.

[@LeslieGilpinRailways]

Last year I was wandering around my childhood village and followed a bridleway over the railway onto the shore. Great, but I'd planned to use a wooden bridge across the adjacent Grover to access the footpath on that side. We'd used it a lot as kids in the 60s and 70s but I'm not sure it was ever a formal public right of way. Imagine my surprise to find a cross to the gate chained shut with a 6ft high barbed wire fence along the edge of the bridleway! Never a recorded right of way so I guess the landowner could do whatever they wanted.

[@tinglydingle]

I always carry a multi-tool with secateurs, a saw, and wire cutters for removing obstacles to maintain footpaths. If wire fences can be removed without damaging then I do, but I have snipped ones blocking legal rights of way before. Wouldn't necessarily recommend others do the same, could be construed as property damage, but I got fed up with landowners deliberately impeding public rights of way.

[@nickholmes2464]

Keep up the good work. I always report any incidents of blocked paths, but unfortunately, the local council does absolutely nothing about it.

[@hakology]

someone should try billing the council for having to arrange alternate travel solutions ... im sure they'd get fixed pretty quickly :D ;)

[@Sim0nTrains]

Interesting video and love the edits in this video. Also strange that the Railway didn't put the underpass back in

[@Hirovard]

probably cheaper to not do so. would also have probably argued that there were crossing points nearby anyways

[@Jon6429]

You also find woods that are technically open to the public but not accessible legally by the public. The Woodland Trust who seem to manage most of these anomalies get awful squirrely when asked about this.

[@Dug_Out]

My area in Breckland, Norfolk is pretty good regarding established, accessible footpaths. I've walked a few but hope to investigate a lot more. This video has just reminded me to get out & get walking them. As the saying goes; Use them, or lose them. Thx👍

[@blaiseandrews3081]

I thought farmers and land owners had to keep footpaths open and if a farmer does not show signage for a footpath you still have the right of way as dictated by the uk gov website

[@barrieshepherd7694]

Maybe farmers/landowners do - but they don't - and no one in authority cares enough to actively check and enforce. It's only when members of the public report infractions that anything may be done and then it's variable depending on the attitude (and probably politics) of the Council and the council members.

[@brianartillery]

On the map of your folly quest, there is something marked as 'Two Graves'. I'd have had a go at that, myself. Follies are often ephemeral - built quickly, cheaply (Beckford's terrifyingly expensive, and shoddy Fonthill Abbey being the exception), and very often badly, they don't last - although the piles of rubble left behind are often more attractive than the building they were. Lovely video, and I tend not to see landowners' 'F**k Off, Plebs' signs, when put on open rights of way. I do see the M.O.D. ones though - the thought of stepping on a mine, being run over by a tank, or being hit with a 105mm shell, does concentrate your attention wonderfully.

[@MrTudwud]

Similar problems to what you have shown here is exactly why the Railway Ramblers Group have fought enforced closures of parts of old railway lines with infilled bridges being a good (bad) example.

[@calumbaxter9946]

I think the quality and accessibility of footpaths/byways/bridleways varies according to the local authority. I live in West Berkshire and the vast majority of routes that I use are well maintained by the local landowners and well signposted by the council. When I go to my mum’s in north Cornwall it is a different picture and sometimes it is nigh on impossible to follow the route as stated by the OS map. Incidentally we have a bridleway that borders our property that goes nowhere, being bisected by the A34 with no crossing provision. I still keep the path clear & mowed though even though I have never seen anyone use it.

[@Bystander333]

Would be nice if you can get a sponshorship from OS maps, one of our most important definitive sources of path truth. I pay for it, everyone reading this should also pay for it.

[@alastairmellor966]

I like the way you refer to an MOD range without mentioning its name, Porton Down. Chances of getting any paths opened up across there are next to non-existent. That said, because of what went on there in past years the down land is some of the least disturbed by modern agriculture.

[@pwhitewick]

I mean... technically you can still walk on those.... bywaus

[@andrewpreston4127]

Well, if you stay silent, and do nothing..... then closed pathways there will just stay that way for ever. The reality is that much of the huge amount of land in this country usurped by the MOD is never, ever used by them.

[@tonypowell2165]

@@pwhitewick not sure you can: assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/39588/porton_winterbourne_gunner_military_lands.pdf searching for 'military ranges uk' got me here quite quickly. There are bylaws in place for military ranges including Porton that probably have higher priority than pathways. I think most MOD land that has been taken over has some 'revert to previous use' clause, but suspect that might have some challenges with Porton Down, but they have cleaned up sites before, the island off Scotland for instance. But I don't expect that will happen any time soon here, but as mentioned above, some lovely (relatively) undisturbed land, just mind out for the munitions and what's going on in the building!

[@abarratt8869]

@@andrewpreston4127 Though that has meant that it's become some of the most important wildlife habitat in the UK.

[@christophernoble6810]

I don’t understand your take on the public right of way that seems to stop either side of the railway: just walk across the railway! When I lived in a small village we had the odd underpass but elsewhere you walked across the railway. Obviously we took care and, most importantly, we knew the timetable.

[@Emiliapocalypse]

One of the many things I admired about the UK, is the ability for people to walk where they’re going and enjoy nature without having to drive for miles to reach it first like in the states

[@lewis72]

I'll read that book "procrastination" later some time.

[@blackdog1392]

Footpath stiles are my bugbear. I hike a lot with my Lab and often come across stiles in fences that have no dog access: a vertical plank that can be pulled up. These are often high, hazardous to climb over and often have steep banks either side so older or larger dogs can not safely jump over. Overhanging branches, or even barbed wire wrapped around posts on the stile increase the possibility of injury and also evidence the resentment and apathy of land owners who are supposed to maintain access.

[@dailaffin9066]

Maybe take some wire cutters next time 😁

[@tremensdelirious]

Less likely to happen up north because landowners aren’t so Tory, walkers would just ignore and carry on or walkers would wreck any barrier they could and then carry on.

[@OF-ALBION]

Great video as always. We did that very same walk a couple of years ago, its beautiful along that sunken path, also interesting to that the one end has been cleared? when we did it it was completely over grown, as we sat there and hand our lunch thinking it went no where. Unfortunately we heave come across a couple of routes around there that have been blocked by land owners as well, its unfortunately a battle where ever you go

[@HoxieDan5369]

Very interesting effort. Thank you both and Betty.

[@Friddle]

Absolutely a problem. We had to fight for our footpath in the woodland next to our village. We managed to keep all but one route as public footpaths.

[@davie941]

great video as always Paul and Rebecca , really well done and thank you both 😊

[@adam.677]

Well done Paul and Rebecca for growing balls and going over fences!! Love it

[@1967GEOMAN]

There are many RoW's in Cornwall that come to a dead-end! On closer inspection of an OS map, it's quite often the case that these old routes terminate at a parish boundary. Also, many bridleways come to an abrupt end, but continue as a footpath only!

[@pwhitewick]

Yep that's definitely the case here too.

[@1967GEOMAN]

@@pwhitewick Enjoy your videos. Keep up the great work👍

[@ceanothus_bluemoon]

Keep up the good work. We must all fight to keep access open and free. The ancient sunken lanes are wonderful...and I'm sure there were banks of snowdrops there too? I feel inspired to look at some OS maps in my area now!

[@brunocalver2968]

I remember going on holiday on the Dorset/Devon border a few years back and going on walks with the family and solo cross country runs using the O/S app and found so many blocked or non-existent paths. It was clear it was farmers and residents responsible. I was just amazed that the locals to the village just let this happen. There were lots of dog walkers, I can only assume they were the lazy, unadventurous types as I was not going far of the nearby routes. Very sad on many levels 😢

[@embers-cotswold-walks]

Quite often find this (Slad Valley a few weeks ago was awful). Couple of years ago had a meeting with a Local Highways Mgr regards a local footpath which was on the Definitive Map. Council Mgr claimed to know nothing regards the existence of such a thing called the Definitive Map. Sometimes you know when your up against it. Good film, thanks.

[@pwhitewick]

Ouch

[@darylcheshire1618]

on two lines I’ve travelled on special trains on a weekend and the local farmer had blocked the train line with a wire fence to allow livestock to graze on railway land during the weekend and did not expect the special train. The first time the rail motor went straight through the fence and the second fence the train stopped and the fence was unhooked. On the other occasion the farmer had just let a whole lot of cattle onto the tracks on the weekend to graze on railway property on the weekend. These were not mainlines, but were branch lines. I think the train drivers know where this happens and look out for them.

[@david103857]

There's one in Barwell, Leicestershire that ends at the Borough Boundary with Blaby. Apparently footpaths were drawn up by individual Parishes shortly after WW2 to formalise them onto the definitive map and there were..."disagreements"!

[@Gainn]

My sister owns an old farm with several public footpaths that run along the edges and one that cuts between two of the fields. The cost of maintaining them is not inconsiderable, but she knows she took it on when she bought the land. They have had to narrow access in a couple of places because of unwelcome 'long-term' parkers, but closing rights of way is entitlement of the highest order.

[@martinmarsola6477]

Another nice video today. Shame the landowners block your pathway. Hopefully, this stop in the future. Good to see you both again. Cheers mates!❤❤😊😊

[@bobwightman1054]

Quite a few round here (Yorkshire Dales) stop at parish boundaries or shooting estate boundaries. Also we have a few bridleways that just become footpaths in the middle of nowhere but on the ground a decent track (often vehicular in nature) continues so it's not as if there is going to be any noticeable damage from horses or bikes.

[@catthompson9444]

Well done for doing this. There's plenty like this in Northamptonshire - and we encountered a bridleway in North Yorks last week which had "no public right of way signs about 100 yards along", sending horses through steep old mine workings. Locally one blocked path ends up on the A1 so no crossing there

[@strictlysport3624]

Probably should get rid of footpaths that go through private land i can see that argument. The government should spend time and resources looking after the ones on public land 🥳🥳

[@davidheaney9249]

If its on a OS map and its said to be a legitimate right of way .. just go down it no matter what's in the way ..

[@walking_on_by]

The opposite applies to a footpath near me. To the south of Amersham in Bucks, OS maps and the definitive map shows a footpath going through Rodger's Wood and stopping. Where it stops on the map the footpath continues, it turns and heads north before joining up after about 600metres with another footpath. There are official footpath markers along this route identical to those used elsewhere locally. I thought maybe a permissive path, but there are no notices up advising that.

[@AirdrieRambler]

Good to see these issues being highlighted. Too many landowners try to deter access by blocking up paths, either overtly usung fences, or covertly, by allowing fallen trees, etc, to block the path. Dodgy signage is another big issue. Most people will obey signs that tell them to keep out, even when the signs are illegal. I'd advise anyone to take a photo and note the grid reference of any blocked path and get it reported. Once access is lost it is seldom returned.

[@edcoombs2712]

In the village of Bratton, near the Westbury white horse there are some very deceptive signs which are a blatant attempt to move a foot path from along a beautiful lakeside with bluebells to across an empty field the other side of the hedge. Even the native beech hedge was replaced some years ago with a thick evergreen one to hide the foot path. Its a great walk starting near Catherines well on Imber road and going through a natural spring and green sand bed up on to the hills.

[@Bicyclehub]

I have huge admiration for your enthusiasm in presenting the history of the landscape and encouraging people discover it for themselves. I am puzzled at how when the railways were closed by Beeching in the 1960’s, farmers seemed to think “now we’ll have them”. Were they not in public ownership? The Northampton to Bedford line has only one or two small sections that can be walked, and a beautiful bridge at Olney that you could walk under was filled in with soild and rubble. Presumably by a farmer with no consultation. It makes me feel animosity towards all farmers.

[@paulwatson-work3544]

Great video. There are so many instances of signs being take down or maps not being updated.

[@watcher24601]

I've tried to follow a few footpaths in the forest of Dean, with a very low success rate. Many paths with stiles and signposts from the road end at the first field boundary with no exit from the field on the path. Also the only place in the UK where I have seen hedgerows still being grubbed up.

[@markthompson3577]

excellent information .... humorous.....one excellent video ......my thanks to paul & Rebecca 😃👍👍

[@4TheRecord]

Looks like a good idea to carry wire cutters when wanting to enjoy public right of ways.

[@TheRealBurger]

so glad you highlighted this issue its a rife and ever increasing issue at the moment in the uk with more and more land and pathways not being managed by land owners out of greed and not wanting to spend , there are also the ones who try to steal the land by blocking access for long enough as to some people forget about it.

[@mikebirkett010]

I'm an off road history loving mountain biker who trawls the local paths around Ferndown but, AHHH, Betty.❤.

[@martynwatson4929]

There were disagreements between the parishes when the local councils decides which roads to tarmac (all roads previously being cobbled/stone surfaced) as to how the 'unnecessary' roads were retained/maintained, a lot being abandoned and 'acquired' by farmers. The white undefined roads are still public access to a certain degree, they don't need a highways dedication, they are essentially still part of the public road network. RUPPs of course being part of that network.

[@Jackrbbt1989]

All across the globe, the wealthy do as they please. The same sort of thing happened recently when two Texas billionaires had a metal gate placed across a public-built, public -maintained road to public lands because it passed through land they had purchased. When questioned about it, the Idaho state government stated that they did not have the budget to take on the billionaires' lawyers in court. Two wealthy landowners being above the law again because it costs too much to litigate against them. If you can afford an expensive lawyer, you don't have to abide by the law apparently. I'm so glad I gave thirty years and served through three wars defending their right to give me the middle finger.

[@asilver2889]

After moving to village on Lleyn Peninsula, N Wales, tried the footpaths, but kept finding they just stopped at farms, and farmer would insist there was no path through. Met with council RoW officer who said when def map produced in 60's, they drew the paths up to farms, and carried on after them but because not technically through the farmyard, the farmers figured this out and so can't get through or past.. Although signposted from road, hardly any paths actually go anywhere. (Bottwnog area).

[@pedallinraw]

i can’t help when high up in the hills to stare down in sadness at all those fields and hedges…so much damage everywhere where paths…woods and forests once were 😕

[@B1UK]

What tends to happen is councils become unaware of people restricting paths illegally or claiming land that isn’t there. I know too many places where public right of way has been built across by shady businesses that rely on the fact nobody ever rarely uses it. It’s something that’s worth enforcing no right of way should be blocked by neighbouring landowners.

[@Asher0208]

Three points. I was able to see where you went on GOOGLE MAPS which was heaps of fun. I will probably never come your way in real life (I live in Australia), so it was nice to see what a part of your world is like. Secondly I grew up on a farm in Australia that officially had a bit of road in it. The area was in a paddock, so it was gated off, but even today it can show as a road on some maps. For at least a while we had to pay the local council a fee to use the privately. This always amused me because we actually saved the council money as they would have to maintaied a road the no one else would ever use. Finally, I can see both sides of the the blockage of these old bridal lanes. As a person who loves history and walking, I love the idea that there are these ancient rights of way and I do feel they need to be preserved. However, keeping a route open through a property just so someone, one day, will walk down it, would be a financial and logistical pain in the neck. So I do understand the temptation to stop maintaining a walk and even put fences across. Thanks for your videos