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Right-of-way accessability


Crid

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My apologies if this has been asked/mentioned many times before...

 

Today I encountered a footpath that was inaccessible simply because it was so overgrown. I got maybe 100 yards down in before deciding to give up because I clearly wasn't going to get through. It wasn't blocked deliberately (but I have seen that somewhere else), but was simply blocked through inaction.

 

This got me thinking about other similar things I've seen, such as:

 

- Crop fields. Some farmers seem to be very responsible and clearly mark the route they want you to take across their crop field. But I've also seen instances where there is a fingerpost pointing across a field with no path marked at all.

 

- Missing fingerposts. I've seen this quite a bit actually. The post is there with the yellow, blue or red stripe around it, but there is no fingerpost. I'm not sure if it's a case of the council running out of money or fingers (as it were), or if it's the landowner or a vandal removing it.

 

- Impassable stiles. I saw one recently which had a metal plate with details of how to contact the local council about it, so I did. Is replacement or repair paid for by the council (ie. ratepayers) or the landowner?

 

Does the landowner have an obligation to ensure that ROWs on their land are accessible? And if it isn't accessible, what (if anything) is the walker allowed to do about it, both at the time and also afterwards (ie. notifying somebody that it's inaccessible)?

 

Sorry, lots of questions and points there, but I think they're quite relevant to UK geocaching.

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Check out this link.

Highway authorities have a general duty "to assert and protect the rights of the public to the use and enjoyment" of paths in their area. They are legally responsible for maintaining the surface of the path, including bridges, and keeping it free of overgrowth. They have the power to require owners to cut back overhanging growth from the side of a path.

 

Unfortunately land owners have no requirement to place dog friendly stiles. :ph34r:

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I once bumped into a chap at a footpath whilst en route to a cache.

He was a Footpath Inspector for the Ramblers Association, and he was telling me all about the types of work that he does.... this included having certain landowners / farmers prosecuted for ignoring their responsibilities insofar as keeping footpaths accessible.

 

Perhaps if you DO get in touch with the Ramblers Association you could speak to someone similar.

 

Over the weekend, whilst caching in Banbury, we came across some beautifully marked footpaths across fields of wheat, so not everyone is the same!

 

:ph34r:

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A Town Council 10 miles from my home put an article in the local weekly newspaper asking for volunteers to walk footpaths in the area and report items that need attention.

 

I have volunteered today and await my allocated paths.

 

Perhaps you could ask your council if the are considering such a blanket survey in you region or lobby for one to take place.

 

Since I walk many paths in the course of geocaching I thought a few hours volunteering in this way to be beneficial and hey it could lead to the placement of some caches too. :lol:

 

Edited to Add:

 

As to Paths across crops a major influence is the direction the path takes across the run of the crop.

If the path runs in line or at 90deg to the run of the crop then bare earth can be left at the time of drilling.

If the path runs at an angle to the run of the crop then the crop needs to be sprayed/cut flattened after it has started to grow. Some farmers are a bit negligent in returning with extra machinery to perform this task. :ph34r:

Edited by Malpas Wanderer
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If the path runs at an angle to the run of the crop then the crop needs to be sprayed/cut flattened after it has started to grow. Some farmers are a bit negligent in returning with extra machinery to perform this task. :ph34r:

 

It has always amazed me that farmers do not do this as a routine. It must be in their own interesr to mark the location of a footpath accross a standing crop, as this ensures that no damage is done by walkers crossing the field. Try finding the correct line accross a field of ripe maize, or maybe even worse a field of oilseed rape?

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It has always amazed me that farmers do not do this as a routine. It must be in their own interesr to mark the location of a footpath accross a standing crop, as this ensures that no damage is done by walkers crossing the field. Try finding the correct line accross a field of ripe maize, or maybe even worse a field of oilseed rape?

 

I've thought the same thing. And if it's the landowners removing fingers from fingerposts, that's pretty much the same. Without an indication of where the next stile/gate/crossing is, walkers are going to trample a lot more of the field.

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Here in the forest the forestry comminsion regularly close car parks. For nesting wild birds, even it it is questionable if humans have any impact with the forst livestock tramping around. They also close car parks of a winter to "rest" them, make of that what you will

 

I have also found several paths bared by fallen tree's and gates locked. Most annoying when you have a baby buggy...

 

I also get annoyed about fallen trees, tree cuttings and logs accross footpaths. I Cache using an N95 and Cannot fault view ranger here, it really helps you know you are in the right place. Although it does not help when you way through is still blocked!!!

Edited by GerritS
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It has always amazed me that farmers do not do this as a routine. It must be in their own interesr to mark the location of a footpath accross a standing crop, as this ensures that no damage is done by walkers crossing the field. Try finding the correct line accross a field of ripe maize, or maybe even worse a field of oilseed rape?

 

All about economics and what one can get away with I guess.

 

With oilseed rape having a typical ~2tonne/hectare yield and £300/tonne value plus expense of extortionate chemical cost or associated costs of other machinery.

 

Likely the value lost by walkers trampling crops pales into insignificance. Annoying I know but probably unlikely to change much.

 

We all cheat in life to one degree or another. How many PAF quotes do we see amongst our geocaching logs? :ph34r:

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Some time ago were on our way to a cache site and came upon a crop field with no evidence whatsoever of a path despite MM showing that the path cut diagonally across it.

 

We decided to 'play it safe' and went round the edge. Within minutes a gamekeeper appeared on a quad-bike on the other side of the hedge and told us in no uncertain terms that that footpath did NOT go round the edge and we would be disturbing nesting game birds :lol::D

 

You just can't win! :ph34r:

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Doing a cache at the weekend (DNF 'd :lol: ) there was a tree down across the foothpath - big 'un as well - about 2ft across the trunk. Anyway, when we got home and had worked out where we had been (mystery cache which took us on a merry jaunt! :ph34r: ) I decided to report it to the local council. Found out it was West Berks who have a nice "Report a Problem" page which walks you through choosing your problem from a list and then allowed me to indicate it on a map. Not sure if anything will happen but it made me feel better!

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This is good reading. In the USA we really don't have the same recognition for pathes, and access that have been used for generations.

 

We do have legal provisions that do apply but someone has to sue someone else to force the issue and create a public easement (which the UK is recognizing as a right of way).

 

As this country is paved up and slabbed over from development and sprawl a lot of these paths and access ways are lost.

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Here in the forest the forestry comminsion regularly close car parks. For nesting wild birds, even it it is questionable if humans have any impact with the forst livestock tramping around. They also close car parks of a winter to "rest" them, make of that what you will

 

I have also found several paths bared by fallen tree's and gates locked. Most annoying when you have a baby buggy...

 

I also get annoyed about fallen trees, tree cuttings and logs accross footpaths. I Cache using an N95 and Cannot fault view ranger here, it really helps you know you are in the right place. Although it does not help when you way through is still blocked!!!

 

A little googling found me this .

 

"Access

There are very few public rights of way in the New Forest but walkers have permissive access to all Open Forest and Inclosures (unless closed for forestry operations - obey the signs). Close all Inclosure gates. "

 

near the end of this link

 

http://www.newforest.hampshire.org.uk/today3.html

 

Unless this is out of date not much ,if any of the Forestry Commission bits of the New Forest don't appear to be rights of way.

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Some time ago were on our way to a cache site and came upon a crop field with no evidence whatsoever of a path despite MM showing that the path cut diagonally across it.

 

We decided to 'play it safe' and went round the edge. Within minutes a gamekeeper appeared on a quad-bike on the other side of the hedge and told us in no uncertain terms that that footpath did NOT go round the edge and we would be disturbing nesting game birds :ph34r::D

 

You just can't win! :lol:

You should always follow the line of the public footpath, even if it means trampling what looks like growing crops, and even if there's no indication on the ground that the path exists. Geocachers with Memory Map are at a big advantage, in that they can see exactly where they are and where they should be heading. Obviously, use common sense - if there's a well-trodden line taking the same diagonal but twenty yards to the right, then use that.

 

I've had to hack my way through oil seed rape in the past, but I find that most farmers are aware of their responsibilities. Plus, they doubtless realise that it's better to sacrifice a six-foot wide section of crops rather than having impromptu paths all over the field.

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