Milestone for group which stands up for rights of way

Chance to join ScotWays in marking 175th anniversary by taking part in virtual celebratory journey

ScotWays, the oldest outdoors access group in the world, is marking its 175th anniversary.

Ill-feeling over roads around Edinburgh being blocked in 1845 led to a motion being passed which called for a right of access to the countryside.

Shortly after, the Association for the Protection of Public Rights of Roadway in and around Edinburgh was formed, and within two years it was involved in a celebrated case.

Edinburgh botanist John Balfour took a group of students on an excursion to Glen Tilt in August 1847, whereupon they encountered the Duke of Athole and his ghillies barring the way. An acrimonious encounter ended only when Balfour and his students climbed over a dyke and ran off down the glen, taking refuge in a Blair Atholl inn.

The lengthy lawsuit which followed vindicated the right of way through Glen Tilt, and also established the association’s role as defender of the public’s interests in such cases.

Forty years later the association, by then renamed the Scottish Rights of Way and Recreation Society, became involved in another famous legal battle.

A party from the society led by Walter Smith set out on an expedition through the Cairngorms to signpost rights of way.

This was intercepted at Glen Doll by the nephew and gamekeeper of landowner Duncan Macpherson, and the subsequent lawsuit was only finally settled in the House of Lords.

The ruling confirmed the status of Jock’s Road as a right of way, but left the society and Macpherson virtually bankrupt, such was the cost of litigation.

Since 1945 many rights of way have been lost under densely planted forests and the rising waters of hydroelectric reservoirs, and promises to reinstate paths remain unfulfilled. There has also been an erosion of rights of way due to changing agricultural practices, building developments and the influx into Scotland of landowners with no knowledge or respect for traditions of access.

However, there can be no doubt that but for the work of the society, now named ScotWays, the loss of rights would have been greater.

In Scotland, a right of way is a route over which members of the public have been able to pass unhindered for at least 20 years. It must link two “public places”, such as villages, churches or roads and can sometimes involve going through private property. And this is where tempers can flare.

Since 1845, ScotWays has defended and asserted the public’s right of access to paths and land through signposting, court cases and negotiation.

Richard Barron, chief operating officer, said: “We’ve created guidebooks, leaflets and law guides. We developed the world’s first digital database of rights of way. Where we have led, many have followed.”

As ScotWays marks its 175th anniversary this year, the society is revisiting the scenes of its triumphs and clashes and invites people on a virtual celebratory journey.

Whether you walk, jog, cycle, horse ride, canoe or even swim, the aim is to move 206km over 86 days around your local area and track your progress online along the route taken by Walter and his team.

The challenge will be open for 86 days. It kicks off from 9am today and it will be available online at scotways.com/challenge