Rowling estate blocking paths through forest, say ramblers

JK ROWLING has come under fire from ramblers after paths on estates in the Scottish Borders that are owned by her firm were blocked.

No-access signs were erected along a six-mile trail known as the Captain’s Road, which connects the Ettrick and Yarrow Valleys.

Thistlelane Ltd, which owns two square miles of land around the path, said they would lock gates and planted young saplings across the route, making it “impossible” for cyclists and walkers to use it in the near future.

Companies House lists the Harry Potter author as a person “with significant control” of the company, owning 75 per cent of its shares.

Her husband, Dr Neil Murray, is the firm’s director.

Under Scotland’s 2003 Land Reform Act, landowners are forbidden from obstructing or discouraging others from exercising their public access rights. This includes putting up signs, erecting fences and growing hedges.

Scottish Woodlands, representing Thistlelane, admitted to “inadvertently” planting trees along a 10-metre stretch of the path because overgrowth had caused confusion over where the right of-way route was.

David Robertson, a director at Scottish Woodlands, said they had been forced to put up some warning signs for health and safety reasons during “forestry operations”.

The proposal of locking the main vehicle access gate along the route was because of a “significant increase in deer poaching”, he added.

Paul Collins, a mountain bike enthusiast who lives in the Yarrow Valley, said they could not “walk or cycle the original Captain’s Road because of forestry”.