COUNTRY VIEWS
Celebrate ancient rights and freedoms by walking our footpaths and byways
Take a walk through the footpaths and byways of England and Wales in tribute to our ancient rights and freedoms.
There are not many things in this life that are simultaneously beautiful, good for your health, a fundamental right, connect you with both nature and history, exist both locally and nationally and are free. We should all celebrate and use this remarkable and precious facility.
I am talking – in case you have not guessed – about the byways of England and Wales (it’s different in Scotland because of the differences in the ancient laws of Trespass and the new laws of Access). Like everything ancient and traditional in rural Britain, the ‘rules’ are superficially complicated. Part of the purpose of this column is to reassure people about the detail and so give you the confidence to use what is yours, although you share it with everyone else.
There are four principal types of byway and they are governed by specific limitations. Public footpaths are open only to walkers (and their dogs, if under control). Public bridleways are open to walkers, horse-riders and pedal cyclists. Restricted byways are open to walkers, horse-riders and drivers of non-motorised vehicles such as horse-drawn carriages and pedal cycles. The improbably named BOATs (Byways Open to All Traffic) allow access to all classes of traffic including motor vehicles, though they may not be surfaced very well – be careful.
At the point where any of these join or cross an ‘adopted road’ – one maintained by the local Highway Authority – their status should be made clear by a notice. This is to distinguish them from private tracks or drives on which walkers do not have rights. (Just to make things complicated, there are also permissive paths, where the owner permits walkers but legally does not have to.)
The landowner has a duty to maintain these paths and may not obstruct them with impassable fences, nor plant crops on them. The owner may apply for, and be granted, a diversion (temporary or permanent) but is responsible for marking this clearly. Many of these ‘rights of way’ are ancient indeed. Parts of the Ridgeway, for instance, are Neolithic and in Jane Austen’s Emma (1816), the two Knightley brothers discuss how to move a footpath without inconveniencing the locals. Through all the periods of enclosure, when commoners’ rights were sacrificed to landowners’ profits, and through the Agricultural Revolution, which changed so much of our rural landscape, the rights of common way and most public footpaths were maintained.
Based on this tradition, the network of public pathways has been extended in the past half century. In 1963 the Pennine Way, the first National Trail, was opened and since then a further 18 have been established (some in Scotland) and more are planned. There are 3,029 miles of waymarked walking, signed with a little acorn, through some of the most spectacular countryside.
But for me, it is the little local paths that are one of the joyful glories of the British landscape. They speak not just to rural loveliness but to a long, deep history of rights and freedoms, as well as to the hard labour our ancestors put in, because most of these paths were established for people’s working convenience, not for their leisure time. It is worth remembering that these paths are maintained by use and custom – if no one walks them, they will disappear.
There are maps and maps of our byways. For everyone’s sake, including your own, get out and walk along one this summer. Have your say What do you think about the issues raised here? Write to the address on page 3 or email editor@countryfile.com