I have seen evidence on other discussion boards that Suffolk County Council was particularly unhelpful in the claiming procedure.
That certainly seems to have been the case based on some of my research. Whilst looking into the ROW of one particular Suffolk village I have an interest in, I was told that Suffolk County Council had back in the 1950's actively encouraged Parish Councils to only record those ROW that they considered to be still used. Given that the make up of Parish Council's tended to be very much dominated by the landowning classes this I often lead to considerable corruption of the definitive map. Some, indeed many, areas of the village I am referring to are now devoid of any ROW.
An examination of ordnance survey maps of this village shows a considerable number of ROW that were almost certainly lost. Whilst clearly not conclusive evidence that a ROW existed, the nature of many of these suggests very strongly that they were ROW. Yes admittedly they will have fallen into comparative disuse, but as they never reached the definitive map, the corruption of this has facilitated their removal from potential future use. It is quite remarkable the effort landowners can put into blocking up these routes, repositioning field entrances, adding ditches etc... to remove indications of the lost routes, just in case someone should raise the issue. Equally they all seem to have very good memories of what and what hasn't happened for generations, and are always certain there was never a ROW not withstanding a footpath was marked on OS maps for 100 plus years
The village I have looked in detail at has ROW that total about 6.2 miles, not much for a large village. My research points at possibly another 6.1 miles that never made it onto the definitive map. I fear most of these additional ROW never will
Interestingly the recent neighbourhood plan questionnaires for this village have resulted in many comments on: the lack of ROW in the village; how those that do exist don't link up with each other, often resulting in dangerous road walking; and that many seem to serve no logical purpose on their own. Much of this must stem from the corruption of this villages' ROW on the definitive map. That said many nearby villages are in an even worse situation
The difficulty is now to prove what has happened, evidence is often poor beyond OS maps, and of course virtually all those that once walked these routes are long gone. The process of re-establishing these ROW is not easy; and without organised support I suspect is beyond the capabilities of most individuals. I for one will keep walking these lostways, and encouraging others that are so mined, in the hope that some can be reclaimed