please empty your brain below
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In Hertfordshire we are blessed with many miles of footpaths and bridleways. I volunteer as a Rights of Way surveyor which necessitates me to walk them all within a designated parish at least twice a year, carry out minor maintenance, check/update signage - and report issues, etc. Many happy hours spent outdoors.
Frank F | 04.11.20 - 7:30 a.m. | #
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Checking the definitive map for my borough, I was surprised to see Rights of Way marked in the Royal Parks. This suggests that there is no right to roam freely in the Parks, which seems odd.
However, my nearest public footpath is the Thames towpath
timbo | 04.11.20 - 7:40 a.m. | #
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All* CRT towpaths (including the Lea) are permissive, dating back to when they were in public ownership under British Waterways.
*maybe most. Someone will probably be able to point out some historical anomaly somewhere.
Sarah | Homepage | 04.11.20 - 7:40 a.m. | #
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I'm a Redbridge resident and admit that the council does do footpaths (and parks) rather well. Even some of the most obscure alleyways here have green 'Public Footpath' signs with the path's number on it.
Alan S | 04.11.20 - 8:36 a.m. | #
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A very interesting post today - and Three Mills looks amazing!
Cau1khead | 04.11.20 - 8:37 a.m. | #
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My nearest is just 200m away. But looking at the map it seems very few of the paths you would have thought would qualify actually do, the next one is a mile. And yes, I have enjoyed that wonderful one by Gallions Reach, desolate is definitely the word.
davews | 04.11.20 - 8:44 a.m. | #
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My nearest public right of way is about 30 yards away across the Southern perimeter of Castle Meadow in Newport Pagnell. It's at the other side of a wall so I have to walk about 200 yards to actually access it.
At least 1 house has in the past extended their garden to encroach on this footpath but Milton Keynes Council are quite good at reining in this sort of behaviour.
NPIan | 04.11.20 - 8:46 a.m. | #
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Sarah - Out here in west London the Grand Union towpath is about 50% Public Footpath for no obvious reason. There were still signs prohibiting access to some other stretches well into the 1980s.
Andrew S | 04.11.20 - 9:11 a.m. | #
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A couple of us spent the first lockdown while furloughed clearing a local Public Footpath that had been blocked by brambles and fallen trees for years; the local council put such work way down their list of priorities. We're hoping it will now be keep clear by people using it while other leisure options are limited.
Andrew S | 04.11.20 - 9:20 a.m. | #
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In Enfield the nearest public right of way to our house is 250 yards away and I used it regularly, 30 years ago, to take my children to and from school.
Enfield Preservation Society publishes 'Enfield Footpath Map (2016) which covers the Borough of Enfield and some neighbouring paths in Hertfordshire.
Sara | 04.11.20 - 9:22 a.m. | #
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My nearest is a 2 minute walk away and I use it every school day to drop the small one off at school. I only know it's a PROW because Sutton council has a *written* list of them. They purport to have a map on their web site, but when you download it you have a standard street map with no PROWs labelled.
Chz | 04.11.20 - 9:29 a.m. | #
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I searched Southend Borough Council's website for "Definitive Rights of Way" and the only relevant thing I could find was a "Definitive Statement of Public Rights of Way". This was first published in 1997 but has been updated since. There are 257 listed items; most are designated "FP", but there are a few "BWY" (?Bridleways), and 2 or 3 "BR" (?). I can't find a map.
John Simmons | 04.11.20 - 9:39 a.m. | #
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In the late 1960's I was apprehended by an official on the towpath near Paddington, and advised that I needed a licence. I bought one from a green hut in Little Venice for two shillings and sixpence = half-a-crown = 12.5p. I was never asked to produce it.
mikeS | 04.11.20 - 9:41 a.m. | #
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I live near Clapham Junction (LB Wandsworth), and I think my nearest public footpath is the Thames Path at the boundary with LB Richmond. There might be a closer one in LB Merton, but you have to make an appointment with the town hall to see Merton's map, which is not something I shall be doing any time soon.
Jonathan Wadman | 04.11.20 - 10:37 a.m. | #
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I'm glad you've highlighted the Countryside Rights of Way Act again. Indeed the race is on especially as I was reading that Ramblers have discovered almost 50,000 miles of historic footpaths have disappeared from maps.
Here's the link.
Cornish Cockney | 04.11.20 - 11:16 a.m. | #
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Were you cycling MikeS?
Until very recently - and indeed, possibly still - you technically needed a licence to cycle on the towpath - unless you had a boat licence.
Didn't know that about the GU in West London Andrew S - interesting. Wonder how that came about.
Sarah | Homepage | 04.11.20 - 4:35 p.m. | #
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We had a very useful permissive path taken away from us recently, cuts a good 15 min off the walk up to the main road.
Looks like houses are going to be built on it, which long term means it will possibly return, but nothing has happened on the site since.
R | 04.11.20 - 5:39 p.m. | #
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I have the New River path on the other side of the road, does that count?
dg writes: No
mclm | 04.11.20 - 10:20 p.m. | #
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I've always been puzzled by the various legal categorisations of places where you can walk - the terms are a bit opaque and sound very similar, and the law's different in Scotland. Do they teach this kind of thing in school here?
martin | 05.11.20 - 5:39 a.m. | #
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Sarah: No I was walking. In those days canals were wonderfully lonely and derilect, I think 'managed' by the British Waterways Board, which seemed intent on closing them.
mikeS | 05.11.20 - 7:01 a.m. | #
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Today I learned I'd inadvertently walked 80% of the public rights of way in Newham!
Mike Newman | Homepage | 05.11.20 - 8:49 a.m. | #
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John Simmons - my guess is BWY is Byway while BR is Bridleway.
Al | 05.11.20 - 7:21 p.m. | #
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Everyone should know where their nearest footpath is. See my local Covid buster path at terroirlandscape.net - it even has trains and bicycles. Keep blogging, please, DG. It's always a stimulating read.
Terroir
Terroir | Homepage | 06.11.20 - 7:58 p.m. | #
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I believe Newham spent a long time trying to say it was part of inner London and not having any rights of way was part of that.
I guess that's changed now but i'd wager the ones you found have been created within the term of our current mayor
dg writes: Since 2018? I bet not.
Dave | 06.11.20 - 9:20 p.m. | #
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