Author Topic: Public Footpath through river!  (Read 2557 times)

bigbri

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Public Footpath through river!
« on: 15:31:06, 17/07/18 »
At the weekend we did a walk where the actual public footpath went through a river!  Twice!  First time for us.  It was not very deep so we got away with it but could be dodgy in the Winter I guess.  Are there many of these around?

Owen

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Re: Public Footpath through river!
« Reply #1 on: 22:18:09, 17/07/18 »
Lots in Scotland, you have two choices cross or don't cross.

bigbri

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Re: Public Footpath through river!
« Reply #2 on: 22:24:20, 17/07/18 »
Wow

BuzyG

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Re: Public Footpath through river!
« Reply #3 on: 23:14:38, 17/07/18 »
We have plenty of river crossing up on Dartmoor. Many have stepping stones.  Others are simply fords.  If the river level is too high. Then you go another route.  Not an issue on open moorland.  I guess it is if you are restricted to the path.

bigbri

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Re: Public Footpath through river!
« Reply #4 on: 08:12:02, 18/07/18 »
Another wow!!!

barewirewalker

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Re: Public Footpath through river!
« Reply #5 on: 09:28:49, 18/07/18 »
Several reasons for this the most obvious being a ford. Historically travelers chose routes to reach a destination by the shortest way, perhaps an obvious statement but rivers are one of those geographic features that would alter direction of travel because it forms a barrier. The route then deviates to the easiest place to cross, a ford perhaps.
Worth noting if the way is designated, footpath, bridleway, RUPP or BOAT, because this will indicate the historical use of the way if the designation was correctly made for the Definitive Map. This is a designation that might indicate to the walker the level of water expected at a crossing. The Ordnance Survey usually mark fords, but not always.

An interesting post on another forum, some years ago, a member advocated carrying a pair of rubble sacks, these worn over the boots and tied off above the knees provided a lightweight and quick conversion to waders. I tried this on a ford on an upper part of the River Vyrnwy, about 30m of knee deep water over a rather rocky bed. My initial crossing was successful. I then carried two companions and on my final crossing for the kit, a leak had formed and I got a bootful of water. I think the designated way was a BOAT, sadly no boat.

Lower down the Vyrnwy river there is an anomaly, where a RoW footpath appears to cross the river but there is deep water. Apparently after the 1962/63 winter a huge block of ice in the melt water carried away the old stone bridge.

Another anomaly appears, where rights of way lead to a defunct Ferry. When the ferry ceased, made redundant by a nearby road bridge the Rights of way where not diverted to the new crossing. A particular example being Bridge Solars, crossing the River Wye in Herefordshire.
Another sad anomaly on the Welsh Border with Shropshire is the Maginnis Bridge, here there are rights of way on both sides of the River Severn at Pool Quay but no right of way over the Bridge. This is the only non highway bridge for many miles either way over the river.


BWW
Their Land is in Our Country.

pleb

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Re: Public Footpath through river!
« Reply #6 on: 09:41:37, 18/07/18 »

Theres plenty of old fords around, seem to recall finding one in Dentdale, Cumbria when I was walking there.
Theres one just south of Arkholme in the Lune valley, Lancashire, PROW shown crossing river. Nowt there on ground that I could see.
Whinging Moaning Old Fart

bigbri

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Re: Public Footpath through river!
« Reply #7 on: 09:46:14, 18/07/18 »
Learning loads with this walking!!  Thanks all.


B and T

Doddy

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Re: Public Footpath through river!
« Reply #8 on: 11:31:41, 18/07/18 »

I recall one, I think on the Somerset Levels, where the preferred crossing seemed to be two strands of wire above the water about a metre apart one above the other. I double checked the route and I recall a waymark on the other side.
I have seen this type of crossing with ropes abroad.[/color]  
The Levels can be a challenge as the ditches are usually too wide to jump and too steep/deep/difficult to wade. [/color]  
I remember it well as I was listening to the cricket at the time on a small radio on my belt which caught on my belt and went into the water. I dried it out in the sun soon afterwards and amazingly it worked.


bigbri

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Re: Public Footpath through river!
« Reply #9 on: 11:33:29, 18/07/18 »
Ha ha.  Hope we were beating the Ausies!!

Doddy

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Re: Public Footpath through river!
« Reply #10 on: 14:09:10, 18/07/18 »
I was listening to Geoff Boycott and saw him bubbling away descending into the ditch.

RogerA

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Re: Public Footpath through river!
« Reply #11 on: 15:51:38, 18/07/18 »
Theres a great one over the river severn near Malvern (not quite sure where but my nearest photo is at Shrawley Wood) often its fine but the last couple of times I was there it was at least 2 foot under a fast running river.

fernman

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Re: Public Footpath through river!
« Reply #12 on: 16:35:31, 18/07/18 »
An advantage I have found with copying published Snowdonia routes is that someone else has already walked that way, therefore it must be passable. When I make up my own routes I find problems.
 
For example, both the 1:50k and 1:25k maps show a footpath crossing the Afon Caseg a couple of km to the east of Bethesda. I now know from experience that even if the path existed on the ground, which it doesn't, the river is too deep and fast to be crossed at that point on the map!

Another one I know is in the upper reaches of the Afon Mawddach where the map shows a track crossing it at a point marked 'Ford'. The green track is indeed plain to be seen on both sides of the river, but even with the water level extremely low as it was in May last year and will undoubtedly be at present, it would be impossible to cross without soaking your legs or perhaps breaking an ankle if you tried to hop across the boulders.

 

Doddy

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Re: Public Footpath through river!
« Reply #13 on: 16:42:33, 18/07/18 »
On the John Muir Trail in the US at a knee deep river crossing a pair of Crocs had been left and people used them and the Crocs traversed many, many times back and forth across that river.

ninthace

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Re: Public Footpath through river!
« Reply #14 on: 17:00:12, 18/07/18 »
GoogleEarth, Bing Maps or the Aerial imagery in the OS mapping app can be your friend when planning a route with a river crossing. If the aerial image shows an obvious trail leading away from both sides then it may be a goer. If there is no trail in or out then the crossing is probably a figment of the map maker’s imagination (perhaps egged on by the Definitive Map). Often casting up or down stream will turn up an alternative crossing point nearby. 
I use this technique a lot, not only for water features but also for finding routes through or round bogs on Dartmoor and Exmoor as well as plotting routes that don’t show on the map but exist on the ground. Today, was a case in point, parts of my walk followed paths that are not on the OS map at all and included one water crossing.
« Last Edit: 18:51:31, 18/07/18 by ninthace »
Solvitur Ambulando

 

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