Untill the enclosure act, which took away land from the common man(and woman) there was freedom to roam and sleep anywhere.
So you can date it any time before that.
Not quite true.
Before that, in medieval Europe, under feudal laws all land was owned by the crown and was offered as a gift. The lord of the manor would not only then own the land, but the rivers, the fish, the animals, and the people on it! The serfs had no right to roam or leave the land - they were legally compelled to stay and work where they were born. Freemen (the yeomanry) were different, but they were very few and even then they probably rented the land they worked, the mill they used, etc from the lord of the manor. Despite what we think, a serf had more legal recourse than a freeman - a serf could appeal to the shire court if they felt the lord of the manor was not upholding his side of the contract between them. A freeman could not.
That's not a defence of feudalism, mind you - it was a system that was open to tremendous abuse, but it's wrong to say that pre-Enclosures the people had a right to roam. They didn't.
Anyway.
As someone who owns a small bit of land (just over 8 acres) I'm in a constant turmoil over this question of land access. Technically, I own it - I paid the money, I possess the title deeds.
But I do struggle to think of that land as 'mine'.
Ideally, I think anyone is welcome to enjoy it. I really do.
I am developing it as a wildflower meadow. I've had it a couple of years now, and it's proven a more difficult and longer task than I thought (naively, I thought I could just sow wildflower and seed and...well, like I say, naively).
There is no right of way across my land. Along one side is a deer park, along another a cow field (there's a gate between that field and mine, and I let the farmer graze his cattle in my field as well), along another there's an apple orchard, and a lane along the bottom.
There's a public footpath that runs down through the orchard, and then alongside the border between my field and the cattle field. It does not cross nor enter my land.
Though I have on many occasions seen dog walkers and hikers cross my field.
I turn a blind eye.
Why not? After all, I used to take that route as well - that's how I came to see that piece of land was up for sale!
I shouldn't though.
And here's why, and here's what's missing from many people's equations about their rights.
Because I need to insure my land in case someone (illegally) crosses it and hurts themselves.
Yup.
If one of those dog walkers were to take a tumble and get injured, I am liable!
That sticks in my craw a bit, and is why I would never take an open arms policy about people being on my land.
So maybe we should think about that in our demands to have the right to roam. Instead of focussing on our rights, what about our responsibilities? That often gets missed.
When campaigning for your right to go wherever you wish, could you also build in to your campaign a demand to abolish landowner's insurance, and take responsibility for your own misadventures?
Because, right now, I am liable.
And the litter one is a very good one indeed. I'm lucky, I've not had a litter issue. But if I was to have a laissez faire attitude to access and people did start to leave lots of obnoxious waste, then who's responsible (that horrible word again) for that? Right now, it's me. But, dammit, even if a group of well meaning volunteers were to act as wardens and clear up, why the bloody hell should they!? I'd sooner see those responsible people enjoying my land than curating it.
And so, because of a lack of responsibility (but never a lack of 'rights') I do not open my land to people. I'll turn a blind eye to the one or two walkers, so long as they continue to act responsible.
It's a real shame, because I am uncomfortable with the idea that I 'own' the land. Yes, legally, I do. But I refuse to see how anyone can own it in a meaningful way and I refuse to accept that this arbitrary piece of mud, that has been there since the dawn of time, can be in anyway 'owned' by someone's brief and transitory time on it.
But until you take responsibility for your own actions, rather than me having to do it for you, then you can sod off. On forums like this, there's not a single person I wouldn't be happy to allow to spend a night camping - we're the responsible ones, though we are woefully few.
When campaigning for your rights, don't forget to campaign about your responsibilities and how you are going to make a difference to the irresponsible ones. Best of luck with that because you are damn well going to need it.
