Joy and some frustration as paths cut-off dropped
The 2026 deadline to mark or lose rights of way has been repealed
THE 2026 deadline for bridleways to be marked on the definitive map has been scrapped, to delight from access lobbyists and frustration from the body representing rural landowners.
Historical routes for walkers, riders and carriage drivers were at risk of being lost, unless they were marked by 1 January 2026.
But this deadline has been repealed, taking with it the time pressure access groups faced to protect rights of way. Landowners will continue to have the “right to apply” to divert or close rights of way in certain circumstances.
“This is fantastic news for our equestrian community who already have very little off-road access available, so they have no choice but to travel on the road,” said British Horse Society (BHS) director of access Mark Weston.
“We were delighted to see the Welsh government abolish their cut-off date last year for Wales and this is brilliant news that England will be following in the same way.”
The BHS has recorded more than 2,100 definitive map modification orders through its Project 2026 initiative, which has financial support from Sport England via British Equestrian.
A Defra spokesman told H&H public access is “key to connecting people with the environment to improve health and wellbeing”.
But the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), the membership organisation for rural land, property and business owners in England and Wales, criticised the move.
“For Government to rip up established processes without warning, let alone consultation, is extraordinary – and deeply damaging,” said CLA president Mark Tufnell, urging ministers to “rethink, re-engage and restore trust” in “a worthwhile process”.
“Those seeking to recover longlost public rights of way have had decades to apply to modify the map, and we have supported their right to do so. But the cut-off date was there for good reason, not least to help provide certainty to farmers and landowners who may wish to buy or sell land, or those who simply need to know whatCY their responsibilities are.
“I could perhaps understand if our countryside was lacking in public access. But there are over 140,000 miles of public footpaths in England and Wales alone.”
THREE-TIME champion jockey Oisin Murphy has been banned from reapplying for his riding licence for 14 months after admitting all five charges relating to Covid and alcohol rule breaches at an independent disciplinary panel hearing (22 February).
The hearing painted a picture of a young man struggling with alcohol, who found himself trapped in a web of his own lies.
The charges brought by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), which he did not dispute, included breaching
Covid restrictions, by failing to self-isolate on returning from holiday in Mykonos in 2020, and repeatedly lying about where he had been. He also admitted two alcohol offences, at Chester (5
May 2021) and Newmarket (8 October 2021).
In total, Oisin was fined £31,111 and will be ineligible to reapply for his licence for 14 months, backdated to 8 December 2021 when he voluntarily surrendered it to focus on rehab.
“However affected by addiction you may have been, we conclude that you thought you were above the rules and the law,” said panel chairman James O’Mahony. “However high you are, you are not above them, they apply to all.”
He added that abiding by the 14-day self-isolation rules was “all you had to do”.
“But you embarked on a deception. It was planned carefully, calculated and detailed, and prolonged for a significant period of time,” he said. “You only put your hands up with your back against the wall.”
He added: “This conduct,
I’m sorry to say, was unworthy of a sportsman and previous champion. And you, as you have acknowledged, let down your mates, colleagues, the racing public and the sport. You were prepared to take risks with the health of others.”
When Oisin, then 25, set out for the red-listed Mykonos on 9 September 2020, few people knew where he was really going. He pretended he was instead on holiday at Lake Como, Italy, which had no self-isolation requirements on returning to the UK.
In the 14 days he should have been self-isolating, he repeatedly broke racing’s strict Covid protocols to ride 11 winners. His winning margin in the 2020 title race was eight victories.
The hearing heard he repeatedly lied to the BHA and in the media for months. On 25 May 2021, he finally admitted what he had done, along with an “unreserved apology”.
He put it down to having a “jockey’s mindset” and convinced himself that as he felt well and had moved in a small circle on his holiday, he was not putting anyone at risk.
He added that after that initial deceit, he felt he “had to keep up the lie” and that “all these lies could be contained”.
As Oisin addressed the panel, emotion caught in his voice as he spoke about the pressure he puts on himself and how he used alcohol as a coping mechanism.
“I dealt with both the same. Success by drinking and lack of success by drinking and that is the rock I perished on, really,” he said.
He said as a young teenager, he had been warned of the dangers of booze, and had listened. But in recent years, his circle expanded and alcohol was always around. With the added pressure he put on himself to succeed, the Mykonos situation and the impact of dealing with the cocaine contamination case in France (news, 3 December 2020) – Oisin has always denied ever taking cocaine – he increasingly turned to alcohol to cope.
The “line in the sand” came on the morning of his failed breath test at Newmarket, where he was stood down before riding. He is receiving ongoing support.
“I never drank in the morning on the way [to the races], but in the evening I could be capable of drinking one glass of wine or 10 and not knowing what I had done,” he said.
“I wrote some notes on my phone of all the errors I have made in my life and every single one was due to drinking.
“Now I’m sober, I’m a different person. I don’t think I would have made those errors. I can’t go back in time and I’m afraid they are grave errors.
“I admit all the breaches. I just wish I could have dealt with them better at the time.”
“Now I’m sober, I’m a different person”
OISIN MURPHY