Foot path erasure.
- Thread starter TeeDee
- Start date
Just for the sake of completeness (and I'm sure that Broch knows this ) the Definitive Map only covers rights of way available to the general public. There are other rights (e.g. easements) that belong to individuals or are attached to properties that can grant a right of way across a property. These may be noted on property deeds.I've used the definitive map to prove there is no vehicular right of way through our garden
There is a stipulation I believe that all PROW Bridle paths and any other used access route, must be registered by 2026 otherwise they will no longer exist
If you need or want to know more you will be interested in reading this
www.gov.uk
If you need or want to know more you will be interested in reading this
New plans to simplify recording rights of way
All unrecorded footpaths and bridleways created before 1949 cannot be recorded after 1 January 2026.
I think that is cancelled.There is a stipulation I believe that all PROW Bridle paths and any other used access route, must be registered by 2026 otherwise they will no longer exist
If you need or want to know more you will be interested in reading this
New plans to simplify recording rights of way
All unrecorded footpaths and bridleways created before 1949 cannot be recorded after 1 January 2026.
Yep, DEFRA scrapped it:
Deadline to register forgotten paths scrapped
Campaigners say historical routes can now be "protected for future generations".
www.bbc.co.uk
Although it was reported the Govt was (intending to ) scrapping the deadline, I am not sure they did, if you go onto the Ramblers website, they are still asking for donations and volunteers to fight against the scrapping of the deadline as one of their campaigns, unless the Ramblers site is so out of date, whereas they may be asking for donations for a cause that is already lost.Yep, DEFRA scrapped it:
Deadline to register forgotten paths scrapped
Campaigners say historical routes can now be "protected for future generations".www.bbc.co.uk
The ramblers wanted the deadline scrapped as it gives more time to register the paths.
The whole process is a bit of a farce really. Paths that are shown on 1864 maps between two farms are being submitted to be changed into public rights of way which are unlikely to get passed. The reason the deadline was scrapped is because of the shear number (tens of thousands if I remember correctly) of paths being submitted that have not been used for generations and that have only come to the notice of organisations like the RA because of the threat of the deadline
I have such a path passing through my woodland. It goes between two farms that probably shared labour or were even related hundreds of years ago. It hasn't been used in over a hundred years according to local knowledge and the two farmers don't even talk to each other. It never has been a public right of way and has no value in being turned into one so I doubt I'll have to fight very hard to get it refused (it hasn't been submitted BTW).
What the ramblers are now campaigning against is the change to the act that will give landowners the right to apply for diversions and the extinguishing of rights of way not used.
In reality, the act is only supposed to cover previous public rights of way that have been lost, abandoned, or forgotten, not 'paths' that were not used by the general public, so I suspect a lot that have been submitted will be refused if there is no evidence of historic public right of way.
The whole process is a bit of a farce really. Paths that are shown on 1864 maps between two farms are being submitted to be changed into public rights of way which are unlikely to get passed. The reason the deadline was scrapped is because of the shear number (tens of thousands if I remember correctly) of paths being submitted that have not been used for generations and that have only come to the notice of organisations like the RA because of the threat of the deadline
I have such a path passing through my woodland. It goes between two farms that probably shared labour or were even related hundreds of years ago. It hasn't been used in over a hundred years according to local knowledge and the two farmers don't even talk to each other. It never has been a public right of way and has no value in being turned into one so I doubt I'll have to fight very hard to get it refused (it hasn't been submitted BTW).
What the ramblers are now campaigning against is the change to the act that will give landowners the right to apply for diversions and the extinguishing of rights of way not used.
In reality, the act is only supposed to cover previous public rights of way that have been lost, abandoned, or forgotten, not 'paths' that were not used by the general public, so I suspect a lot that have been submitted will be refused if there is no evidence of historic public right of way.
The book "This Land is Our Land: Struggle for Britain's Countryside" by Marion Shoard is well worth a read. However, depending on your viewpoint, it may increase one's blood pressure somewhat!
There is a 1997 update to the original 1987 version. (And, I think, a 2000 version but this may just be a reprint of 1997.)
You may be able to get it from your local library. (Keep supporting it!)
There is a 1997 update to the original 1987 version. (And, I think, a 2000 version but this may just be a reprint of 1997.)
This Land is Our Land | Books | Marion Shoard
This Land is Our Land by Marion Shoard - This book examines the pattern of ownership of rural land in the UK , the history of the struggle over land rights in the UK and in the wider world, the extent of the power of landowners in Britain and the nature of conflicts over the use of the countryside.
www.marionshoard.co.uk
You may be able to get it from your local library. (Keep supporting it!)
I don't think anything dramatic is going to happen in Wales in the near future - there just isn't any money.
Wales' footpaths blocked and neglected, walkers claim
Some stiles have been replaced with barbed wires while other paths are badly overgrown, walkers claim.
www.bbc.co.uk
I'm currently enjoying "The Book of Trespass - Crossing the Lines that Divide Us" by Nick Hayes (published 2020).
He intersperses the history of how the land, the commons, the rights to gather firewood, graze livestock, etc. were "stolen" from us by the various enclosures, and his recent own explorations "off piste". Interesting, enlightening and, for me at least, somewhat disturbing.
He intersperses the history of how the land, the commons, the rights to gather firewood, graze livestock, etc. were "stolen" from us by the various enclosures, and his recent own explorations "off piste". Interesting, enlightening and, for me at least, somewhat disturbing.
Following on from The Book of Trespass above, I've just finished Who Owns England? - How We Lost Our Green & Pleasant Land & How to Take It Back by Guy Shrubsole (published 2019).
It covers some of the same ground (no pun intended) but I feel complements The Book of Trespass quite nicely.
Private Eye have been looking into this for a few years now. See https://www.private-eye.co.uk/registry
It covers some of the same ground (no pun intended) but I feel complements The Book of Trespass quite nicely.
Private Eye have been looking into this for a few years now. See https://www.private-eye.co.uk/registry
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