4 ms·

Interestingly, in Yorkshire, where there is the Rights of Way, which gives you the right to pass through private land on a specific path, I had the opposite exp

by haspok 4y ago

Interestingly, in Yorkshire, where there is the Rights of Way, which gives you the right to pass through private land on a specific path, I had the opposite experience. I can't count how many times I had to pass through ploughed fields, the arrow sign pointing roughly in the direction of the other side of the field, and in between there is... nothing. If it is a popular path then others might have created a faint footpath, so you don't have to tread on the wheat or corn. Maybe this is how the owner wants to discourage wanderers?

maccard 4y ago
I don't spend much time in the area so I can't really comment on it, but it's definitely (in my experience) the exception rather than the norm. It's happened to me twice in 10 years of living here, both in the same general area (black isle) on two different trips. We are very regular walkers, but we're not "explorers", looking for new or untrodden paths.
lebski88 4y ago
It usually depends a lot on both the culture of the area and how often the paths are used. Where I am in Somerset there are an incredible number of paths, there's barely a field without a path through it. The routes are well marked and have good gates or styles for walkers. They are well used which helps keep the weeds down. Most of the Forrest also goes above the required footpaths and rights of way and keep a lot of permissive paths open too. Land owners have a responsibility to keep the routes accessible and I think they are paid a small amount for it. Grants are available for gates etc. That said they are rough routes so are fairly muddy at this time of year. I love them and base most of my running around them.
pmyteh 4y ago
There's not necessarily a lot they can easily do, there. Once a route is a RoW the farmer can't close or divert it without the consent of the council. If you've got a RoW crossing one of your fields diagonally then you're going to get a line trampled in your crops whether you like or or not!
- darreninthenet 4y ago
  A Right of Way I walk frequently in Kent in the UK the farmer has literally put a sign up either end of the path through his crops and then not planted a ~6 foot wide diagonal path through the crops so you're walking with growing wheat on either side of you and a cleared path where you can be comfortable you're not destroying his livelihood... if more did this it would make it so much easier.
WilTimSon 4y ago
The owner must not have thought it through then, because most tourists will chug on straight through their field. Having a marked path is to their own benefit if they have the (mis?)fortune of living on the way to a landmark. I remember a similar case on Malta, where I went up a hill to get a nice view from a cave, recommended to me as part of the tourist route. The whole access to the cave lies across private property and there's about 20 signs explicitly pointing where to go and what will happen if you go anywhere else. I got to the cave, enjoyed it, got out, never once stepped outside the designated route. I imagine the owner worked out that meticulous path a while ago to minimise tourist noise.
- sandworm101 4y ago
  Creating a marked path can increase liabilities. It implies that the path is safe. When someone falls and is hurt, the landowner doesnt want to hear that the "designated pathway" was unsafe, that the totally innocent member of the public was literally sent down the garden path to an injury. So landowners will ignore many paths, adopting an "enter at your own risk" approach. One increasing area is accessibility levels. If a landowner installs a gate or other structure on a path, does that structure have to be wheelchair accessible? Can a landowner install a gate designed to disuade bicycles?
  - ttymck 4y ago
    Are you American? I am, and this line of thinking screams "uniquely American" to me, but I'm curious if "liabilities everywhere" is similarly a concern across the pond. My understanding has been that every other country has much more "common sense" than we do in these matters.
    - ghaff 4y ago
      People who claim that someone who breaks their ankle on an unmaintained footpath through a field or in the woods in the US will routinely track down the landowner and sue them really need to provide some documentation that's the case.

by haspok 4y ago

maccard 4y ago

I don't spend much time in the area so I can't really comment on it, but it's definitely (in my experience) the exception rather than the norm. It's happened to me twice in 10 years of living here, both in the same general area (black isle) on two different trips. We are very regular walkers, but we're not "explorers", looking for new or untrodden paths.

lebski88 4y ago

It usually depends a lot on both the culture of the area and how often the paths are used. Where I am in Somerset there are an incredible number of paths, there's barely a field without a path through it. The routes are well marked and have good gates or styles for walkers. They are well used which helps keep the weeds down. Most of the Forrest also goes above the required footpaths and rights of way and keep a lot of permissive paths open too. Land owners have a responsibility to keep the routes accessible and I think they are paid a small amount for it. Grants are available for gates etc. That said they are rough routes so are fairly muddy at this time of year. I love them and base most of my running around them.

pmyteh 4y ago

There's not necessarily a lot they can easily do, there. Once a route is a RoW the farmer can't close or divert it without the consent of the council. If you've got a RoW crossing one of your fields diagonally then you're going to get a line trampled in your crops whether you like or or not!

darreninthenet 4y ago
A Right of Way I walk frequently in Kent in the UK the farmer has literally put a sign up either end of the path through his crops and then not planted a ~6 foot wide diagonal path through the crops so you're walking with growing wheat on either side of you and a cleared path where you can be comfortable you're not destroying his livelihood... if more did this it would make it so much easier.

WilTimSon 4y ago

The owner must not have thought it through then, because most tourists will chug on straight through their field. Having a marked path is to their own benefit if they have the (mis?)fortune of living on the way to a landmark. I remember a similar case on Malta, where I went up a hill to get a nice view from a cave, recommended to me as part of the tourist route. The whole access to the cave lies across private property and there's about 20 signs explicitly pointing where to go and what will happen if you go anywhere else. I got to the cave, enjoyed it, got out, never once stepped outside the designated route. I imagine the owner worked out that meticulous path a while ago to minimise tourist noise.

sandworm101 4y ago
Creating a marked path can increase liabilities. It implies that the path is safe. When someone falls and is hurt, the landowner doesnt want to hear that the "designated pathway" was unsafe, that the totally innocent member of the public was literally sent down the garden path to an injury. So landowners will ignore many paths, adopting an "enter at your own risk" approach. One increasing area is accessibility levels. If a landowner installs a gate or other structure on a path, does that structure have to be wheelchair accessible? Can a landowner install a gate designed to disuade bicycles?
- ttymck 4y ago
  Are you American? I am, and this line of thinking screams "uniquely American" to me, but I'm curious if "liabilities everywhere" is similarly a concern across the pond. My understanding has been that every other country has much more "common sense" than we do in these matters.
  - ghaff 4y ago
    People who claim that someone who breaks their ankle on an unmaintained footpath through a field or in the woods in the US will routinely track down the landowner and sue them really need to provide some documentation that's the case.