BWW, well, I'm not going to go hounding landowners, parish councils and local authorities about these mapping anomalies. I just accept that no map can ever be accurate and it would be like p!$$ing into the wind fighting to get that accuracy. Ironically, those map inaccuracies would probably get any "prosecuting" landowner laughed out of court, if trespass was a criminal offence in the first place.
We are full square on the same wave length there, Mel. I spent quite a lot of my
time trying to show how slightly larger areas merit exploration and then then if found that some of the examples were mirrored in Hereford,
where a landowner has written a fairly lengthy document on how we should be satisfied with the footpaths we have got, even a few less, I thought it was rather funny that he had done so little research on his subject that he could publish a national policy document when he lives on top of so many anomalies.
Even more hilarious, as another member of the forum pointed out, he got an OBE for it.
Ploughing up a footpath is only a temporary obstruction, there was a more permanent example at the head of the Glynceiriog Valley, probably still is, where the Afon Ceiriog had eroded away part of the right of way of a footpath that led to the church. Unfortunately the bit it took out was on a small conifer plantation. My daughter and I were doing a X Wales route at the time, we had committed ourselves to this length of footpath, as the alternative was a road still in deep shade at that time of day and because it was in keeping with experience of visiting this valley. The landowner obviously had an issue with the use of the footpath as there was a obvious alternative route 30-40 yards away, a field 2 field gate the other side of the plantation. However the top rail of this gate was heavily bound with barbed wire and the gate was chained and padlocked to the slapping post.
I lifted the gate of by the hinges and we were able pass through. My daughter, normally mild by nature, suggested that I leave the gate open, but I rehung the gate, because it would only show the occupier this way through, and when the gate was rehung they would reverse the top hinge so that it could not be lifted.
Some months later I was trolling through the landowner contributions to an appeal by No. 10, Downing Street for examples of problems with the Rights of Way system. I was aware of this because of an appeal for it's members by the CLA to make representation on this website and that appeal was slanted towards making complaints.
One complaint stood out, it was clearly this path we had taken, written in by the occupiers wife, complaining that it was unfair that they could not have the Right of Way removed because it had become unusable by the change in course of the river.
This emphasizes the need to understand the true integrity of a way. How important is the link of point A to point B, also the quality of way that the AB provides and what is the balance of the convenience towards the occupier, if a intermediary point occurs within that way.
When my daughter and I stood on the rim of that valley, looking across the ground we were about to cross, with an early morning sunrise lighting up the way we would walk to Bala, the bend in the river glistened and the church beyond glowed. In that church yard Sir Alfred McAlpine is buried, he used a lot of his money to turn much of the Ceriog Valley into his own private shooting estate, much now dispersed but an antipathy towards walkers still lingers there.
