Where can you walk legally
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ก.ค. 2024
- An in depth and detailed look at walking access rights in Great Britain. We will look at the difference types of Rights Of Way and the between those and Permissive Paths. Also the difference between the basic access right in the hills between Scotland and those in England and Wales and the saying “once a highway, always a highway” which applies in much of Great Britain.
In the video I will go through the various types of Rights of Way and how those govern how you can go along various routes:
A footpath
A bridleway
A byway open to all traffic
A restricted byway.
The types of Rights of Way and maintained and described in a document called The Definitive Map, which give conclusive legal status to the routes.
I’ll also briefly look at area known (in England and Wales) as Open Access Areas where you may, basically, roam wherever you want. Of course this is different in Scotland where there is a presumed right to roam over virtually all upland areas.
In Part two, I will look at how the current legal status and permissions needed to pass over someone else’s land has evolved over the past one thousand years.
The enclosure of common land which was initially permitted under the Statute of Merton in 1235 and continued across the whole country with more and more being enclosed between walls and fences.
It wasn’t until The Rights of Way Act 1932 was created that people once again gained the right to walk over another person’s property. This was followed by various laws each of which gave extra rights of access.
However the main turning points, when looking at access the open countryside and hills, was the creation of two new laws in the early twentieth century:
The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 which covered England and Scotland and The Land Reform Act 2003 which covered and increased access rights in Scotland.
If you have any comments then please post them in the comments box.
Thanks
Much more simple in Norway. In summer you have what we call "Everybodys right" We can cross all "open spaces" without the consent of the landowner. Where the landowner grows crops - hay, corn, vegetable, we cannot walk in summertime. In wintertime we can walk there also. Of course we cannot walk into anyones garden, and are allowed to tent for two days on private ground, in a distance of approx 200 yards from houses.
That sounds very civilised!
That sounds similar to the rights in Scotland , I think Sweden relaxed as well and the Baltic Country's Lithuania , Latvia , Estonia allow wild camping I believe. As you are in Norway have you walked or camped out there or nearby countries that you can recommend.
He is not talking about Norway.
Yes, though there are a lot of differenes between England and Scandinavia...
@@LoremIpsum1970 That is an understatement.
Okay, lets just clarify the difference between Scotland and the rest of the UK.
In Scotland there is what's called 'Presumed Consent', ie nobody has to give you permission, this included walking and camping. With that Right comes the Responsibility that, in simple terms, you cannot damage anyone's property or their livelihood, neither can you invade their privacy. Generally, if it looks like a garden and within sight of the windows of domestic buildings you should skirt around rather than go through. Landowners don't have to provide points of access, gates, stiles etc, so the onus is on the walker not to damage fences, but you can still cross them. Landowners have the right to ask you what you're doing and if they have a reasonable reason they can ask you to leave; this has happened once to me (really jittery cows in the next field) since Right to Roam was enshrined in law. I've also refused to leave once ! Generally farmers just wave at you from their quad bike, most are friendly or at least accepting. This goes for all land pretty much; there may be MOD restrictions, Government 'facilities' and temporary restrictions imposed by police or Councils.
In England and Wales if its on the OS map as Public Access it is, however there are some of these that are islands in Private land, so you have to levitate. Then there are the paths also marked on OS, which should not be blocked off but often are (complain to the Council). If it isn't marked as such there is no 'presumed consent' and 'Get oof my Land' still applies. This largely results in the majority of English land being off limits to most English people (and anyone else).
Now when the next election comes along just ask yourself is the present Government on the side of the majority of English Citizens or still 'tugging their forelock' to the wealthy - just a thought !
Wow! Fascinating! Awesome history lesson, the country side in Great Britain looks beautiful, seeing some of your past videos is outstanding, its got to be a wonderful experience to be able to travel on that side of the pond! Thank you so much for sharing!👍🏽❤️ loving your videos,channel and content! I’ve learned so much! 👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 from Washington state, USA.
I had prepared a few weeks ago for a major walk in Surrey and relied in advance on Ordnance Survey maps clearly marking three North bearing paths through a wood as a public right of way. On the actual day I was greeted by three separate signs for each different path signs saying 'Private No Access'. This completely threw all my plans into chaos and found myself scrambling for a much longer route and the consequence of missing public transport connections.
In Scotland they gave up with the 'Private - No Access' signs because everyone knew they were BS ... and replaced them with 'Bull in Field' signs; I've never known a farmer to leave a £20,000 bull in a field without close supervision yet, then they tried 'Field just been Sprayed' signs, pity about the lambs gamboling around the field with a very shortened life expectancy though. Also known farmers to dump manure across the well worn paths, and of course there's the extra bit of barbed wire running across paths that have been in use for decades ... odd how they last a week before some aggrieved local comes along at night with a pair of snips and takes the top strand of barbed wire off.
I'll be the first to help any farmer chuck somebody off the land that's causing a problem but 'Get off my Land' just doesn't wash in Scotland anymore.
Check out the definitive map for the area. It may well be that the land owner has just decided that they don't want anyone walking on the public footpaths anymore and they actually don't have a right to do so.
It's not uncommon, it's one of the things that needs sorting out. Which walk btw?
Great video as always. Thanks
Excellent topic, not sure thankful is the right word. Many have fought for our rights and the right to freedom of movement is as essential as freedom to speech. Yes, we need rules as unfortunately a few spoil it for many. Basically, common sense will always prevail and we do have common law. The whole topic requires not only a review, but a constant monitoring for breeches on all sides of the "fence / wall" as well as the maintenance of said "free" given paths etc for the commoner. This would never be an issue is there were sufficient information for all (to rights (20 years rule etc)) as well as common sense decisions made by both the commoner and lawyers. Personally, I am frustrated at the amount of times as a hiker I am forced to walk along roads where there is a clear area adjacent that would be safer to walk and would cost no more than a few metres of "private" property. Thanks again for discussing this and maybe one day (wishful thinking) someone / group look at this seriously as its not only the right of way its safety too. A story for another day.
I thought you said "bridal way" Ha!
Great video, very interesting!
My country has very strong rights to roam. I find that very important.
In the "all mans right" - there's a distinction made between cultivated land and open land/unfenced land.
On open land/unfenced land (utmark) even if it is privately owned, you can walk wherever you want, as long as it is done in a considerate way. You can set up a tent wherever you want for 48 hrs. as long as it is 150 meters away from houses. But on open land only, and not cultivated land. There are some duties and rules that are important to be followed with this right, which is good.
It gives a LOT of freedom. When it comes to picking berries, etc. it's also allowed, but picking especially cloudberries, there are some local restrictions some places. Fishing in some rivers and lakes are very restricted, there's an intricate system for getting allowance. Many places you can fish for "free," except for a small yearly fee that includes the whole country. Anywhere by or on sea, except for zones near river outlets to the sea, fishing is allowed.
95% of my whole country is open country, so under this statutory right to be able to move freely and hike and camp on open country, even if it is privately owned land is just amazing...
Only 5% of the area in my country is restricted!!!
thenorwayguide.com/utmark/
The free range cattle in England decide who may pass, while walking, and those who best go around or run the gauntlet.
They have become the true land owners and permission is no doubt left to the counsel Herd.
Cheers!
Having walked the SWCP and we are currently walking the Welsh Coast Path so I’d love you to do a vid on the Coastal path. Though I have to be honest the Welsh path has often been way off the actual coast.
John Smith. Legend. A promise he made was how we got the CROW Act. The rest of the promise needs fulfilling..
Best Prime Minister we unfortunately never had. Was the MP from where my family came from. Such a higher quality of man than every PM that has followed. Don't expect Starmer to upset the Observer readers by doing anything for ordinary people.
Casting my vote for part 2. I would be interested
Part 2 starts at 12:00 in the video
Just a small point. Often, in England and Wales, farmer s will put a sign on or near a public right of way stating something like 'All Dogs Must Be Kept On A Lead'. This is not true - on the public right of way. Rather, the obligation is for the owner of the dog to keep it 'under close control'. Close control is not defined, but walking at or near heel and quickly responsive to being called to heel would seem appropriate and not allowing the dog to range more than a few yards away. Over the years I have encountered a few farmers and several gamekeepers who have tried to persuade me otherwise, unsuccessfully, albeit I have replied respectfully and clearly. So, don't be intimidated and know your rights, but equally, if your dog could potentially worry stock, or there are ground nesting bird potentially around, then the sensible person would keep it on a lead anyway.
The amount of money (including paying rich land owners) and resources that it takes to set up foot paths such as the coast path is astronomic compared to what Scotland have done with the right to roam. Why oh why can’t England and Wales have a similar right to roam. Our access to rivers is even worse. Unless we can create better access for everyone we will never generate the care and understanding of nature we need to protect and improve it. I know there are issue but surely we can come up with something better than we currently have.
Well said. Scotland's access rights are wonderful, we need them in the rest of our country. Maybe Labour will finally do something about this now that we've kicked the tory landowners out of government.
@@jonm7272 I’m afraid that labour have pulled back from their commitment to the right to roam. We need to put pressure on our mp’s and join in with the right to roam campaign.
@@stewartgregson8479 sadly, yes they do seem to have rowed back on this. But fingers crossed we have four or five years to try to get it back on their agenda.
Wow, wish we had something like this in Australia.
Maybe some of the Aboriginal trade routes would be a start.
Im not so sure that some rights of way footpaths are permanent. A lit of paths were never registered under the Commons Registration update in about 1970/72. These are extinguished and can't ever be recovered. A lot of paths that were once of local economic importance and today might have been an interesting historical ramble - are now gone.
You forget that not so long ago you could walk anywhere you liked and these rights have been eroded to the state they are in now, it's not the other way around as you suggest.
It would have been nice to hear something of the Countryside Code for those who now decide to go out for a stroll in the country...
Sheep, Wool and money...why we have a largely Elisabethan countryside. We only got the National Parks beacuse the landowners didn't want to allow widespread roaming rights and that was acceptable to them. BUT common land's usage had little to do with going for a wellness walk in the C21. It was for collecing firewood, grazing livestock and growing crops as it had been since before the Normans, something we don't need to survive anymore as we don't still live on the land, and we can't always blame the Normans like many do, as landwondership all went silly with the introduction of Bocland in 736 and the walling off estate lands before the Conquest.
I guess the only upside of the enclosure acts was that we could feed the nation more efficiently...and no, I'm not in favour of some widespread access law for England as we're 80% farmland as it is.
👍
Could you please give your take on the 2025 Law changes Removing any footpath in England not recorded in local definitive maps. Thanks
Just my opinion (which is normally wrong, so my family tells me) but I would imagine that most people take information about what is and what isn’t a right of way from an OS map. The OS take this information from the definitive maps around the UK. So any tracks that aren’t on the definitive map by now - well there’s no much that can be done. Once they’re gone, they’re gone.
But the change in the law will have some benefits. As an example the definitive map will be seen, by all, as conclusive proof that a right of way exists, so this should cut out some of the arguments - mainly created by rich folk, developers, etc.
It sounds similar to easements.
I'm still not sure about the situation in Scotland. Does the 2003 act allow you to walk anywhere in the country, or only in the hills?
And how are the hills defined in Scotland?
I am in Scotland right now, on holiday, so this would be useful info for me.
I am NOT a lawyer, so if in doubt have a look online at the Scottish Right Roam sites.
I would say that you can walk almost anywhere in the hills in Scotland as long as you stick to the three main rules:
Respect the interests of other people
Care for the environment
Take responsibility for your own actions
There some place where you can’t walk such as through someone’s house or garden, in working areas like quarries, building sites, etc and you can’t walk over fields with crops growing - but you can walk around the side of the fields.
Basically the Scottish system is one of the best in the world as far as your right to roam goes, just use it sensibly.
@@TheMapReadingCompany Thanks for the reply. Am I right to assume that "the hills" means areas where there is no cultivated land or fields enclosed for cattle?
Have a look here:
www.gov.scot/policies/landscape-and-outdoor-access/public-access-to-land/
@TheMapReadingCompany Thanks very much for that. The section on where you are NOT allowed to walk tells me what I needed to know.
I actually knew most that info already, from my own research. But since I've been here I've had people - also tourists - telling me that the 2003 regulations give you the right to walk and camp anywhere in Scotland, except private gardens. Which is clearly not correct
The Scottish Outdoor Access Code would also be a good start, as there are exceptions same as there are in Scandinavia.
You know you're living in a dystopian world when videos like this become necessary.
Farmers and landowners around here just padlock the gate to make it impossible to get over, if you have dogs-I think also they took advantage of Covid to begin blocking Rights of Way in some form.
It sounds lovely. But this only applies when the local council recordes the paths to walk on. Even if they exist and the council does not bother or refuse to record it, it does not exist in law. e loosing so many around yorkshire. Conveniently, the council, and the local gamekeeper (land owners) are in cahoots. Paths are blocked, styles removed, etc., and they just disappear as they are not maintained or blocked. looking back over old maps. Once a highway, always a highway is nothing but words. The law takes the side of the landowner, even with proof. We have had legal paths blocked for 7 years, and still the council does nothing. A few years ago, we lost 50% of all 4x4 drivable roots when the government changed the rules. Well, why would they want people on the land when 50% of the UK is owned by the aristocracy? Its rotten. Don't even get me started on the SSI con set up by government bodies. Nice video, though. Thank you for your time. I have to add our surveyer has bad knees so he does not check the paths anymore. He can still go shooting grouse with the solicitors though on the land we are not allowed on. We can not walk on it but they can set fire to it use tractors to mow it and drive all over it in 4x4s but we have to stay off. To protect their birds.
Can you walk on rights of way at night?
Yes
@@TheMapReadingCompany thanks. I was part of a group on a bridle way at night practicing night nav, the bridle way runs through a farm yard then onto open access land. When we were on the open access land we were approached by an angry farmer on a quad bike saying we shouldn’t be there at night and said we were worrying sheep during lambing and we threatened to get the police involved. I haven’t ventured out in that area since and not sure if we were wrong to be out at night.
I ran the video at it's slowest speed to see what animal ran behind you at around 13:45 because I wanted to see if it was a squirrel or a member of the Mustelidae family , now either you or google have blurred the picture to protect the individuals identity or that was a little alien with cloaking technology !
Bushy tail so maybe a squirrel.
Are you allowed to camp on someone’s property?
We need the right to roam in Ontario, Canada. While 87% of Ontario is Crown lands, that is almost all in the north. In southern Ontario, which is similar in size to England and where most people live, there is very little Crown land. It's getting harder and harder to find places in the countryside to go for a walk and to experience nature. Making matters worse, is many home owners in the countryside where there are trails, will petition to have no parking along the roadside - meaning it's very hard to get close to where we can go for a walk. At least land owners can't shoot us for trespassing.
I might add, there's some hope that the indigenous people might have the right to roam in Ontario over their vast unceded territorial lands and hopefully this could lead to a greater movement to obtain the right to roam for everyone.
This country is awful for us trekkers
.