In my previous post I said,
"find an X zone and you will find a lost way", or words to that effect. Now there is a curious bit of mapping on the Landranger series. It is almost as if the Ordnance Survey is enamored of our class system, a shaded grey area denoted 'Parkland or Ornamental Garden'. Sadly this demarcation often shows the ravages of time, permanent pasture ploughed up, and arable cropping taking the place of the grassland that was landscaped with a long drive up to hall or manor, a dwelling of large proportions and the home of a family with a name that will, almost certainly show up on past agendas of local or national politics.
Linked to this, I may be at risk of making a sweeping statement, but there is rarely a PRoW in these areas of parkland. Often from my observations these areas of parkland center on a much larger area without PRoWs. When a past President of the CLA, wrote about access, he said that we have the best network of footpaths in the world and in the same article expressed the opinion that it was made up 'shortcuts of yesteryear and past ways to work'. At the time the access network was first mapped by the OS, these large country houses set in 'Parkland' would have been a major employer and many would have walked to work.
Find an Area of Parkland and discover an X zone?[/size]To the east the access network is a mess, only mitigated by the canal system, but shows a jumble of declining estates, revived by high land prices and the mark of inefficient Parish Councils is dotted well out into the Shropshire countryside. Difficult pin an exact example so glaring as this chunk of footpath,west of the station, that must, surely!!,once have been tramped by the folk of Selattyn on the way to the station.
It was by walking in the area that triggered my curiosity that brought the previous Lostway, that should have linked Gobowen Station with Selatyn, to my attention, but I had some few years ago time ago tried to puzzle the so called mess east of the Gobowen. Again by going for a walk in the area, it is possible to see that by not including the drives to large houses, the actual ways that originally formed the access network is incomplete.
6 areas of Parkland and if it was not for the canals there would be very little access. All of them center on a much wider area without footpaths. It is
Fernhill Hall, No.2 arrow, where I recently walked and found yet another anomaly that favours the landowner. I was trying to get from Whittington (bus stop) to Gobowen Station, without getting flattened as road kill and enjoy a little of the countryside in that area.
The parkland around Fernhill Hall is 50-60 acres depending on including the woodland adjacent to the house, the extended area of X zone is close to 1200 acres, close to the equivalent of 5 KM grid squares.
I walked out of Whittington North along the footpath that skirts the east side if the shades area, for about 1.5 km and then turned WNW toward Larches Wood to join up with the PRoW footpath, I found a way conveniently with style, gates and field margins, which led me to the Grey Path shown and to a gate on the road opposite the fingerpost to the footpath shown, leading from Little Fernhill. It was here that I actually saw signs of hostility, strategically placed barbed wire, chained and locked gates and rather unsafe structures to climb over.
Why is there a grey path shown on the above 1:25k OS map? The 1883 OS map shows it to Ferhill Hall, where from the back drive a pedestrian would be able to find another footpath, recorded as a PRoW and there is a destination that give reason to the whole length of way.
At first glance on today's mapping it is possible to miss the reason why the way through Fernhill Hall is a lost way, why would the people of Gobowen and beyond wish to walk all that way to the station? But there are 2 stations and one is for the now dismantled Cambrian Line and these are shown on the 1883 OS map.
The stiles put in place make me think that grant money is being spent on the area I took my little 'off Piste' detour and I suspect that "Conservation" is the buzz word. Public money from the generous drainage grants of the 1950's and 60's often got wetland like this into production, now it has become trendy for landowners to be conservationist. But the signs were that shooting was the main activity that conservation may have been motivated by.
Is the tax payer getting ripped off? Linking public transport into the access network makes the direct contacts that creates revenue, Gobwen is a rail link but it is sadly unattractive compared to Whittington with the Castle heaped with restoration funds and historically rich as a walk destination or objective.
That adds another saying;
Find a Lost Way and Corruption of the Definitive Map is not Far Away. The missing part of the old route is to the advantage of the resident of the land the routes goes through. What is the point of the little bitty of PRoW footpath south of the Fernhill Xzone?