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| Preston Guild Wheel |
According to Jack Cornish, head of Paths at the Ramblers Association, there are in England and Wales over 140,000 miles of footpaths, bridleways and byways which make up our public rights of way network. He says they are described by the poet Geoffrey Grigson as humankind’s “oldest inscriptions upon the landscape”, these paths are as much part of our shared heritage as grand cathedrals, castles and ancient hill forts.
He then gives an introduction into the history of public rights of way:
‘People have always had to travel to survive, moving from one place to another is part of the natural rhythms of life. Many paths and roads we use today date back hundreds or thousands of years. Before trains and cars just about all journeys were on foot as most ordinary people could not afford a horse, let alone a carriage. People got around on foot easily enough.
‘People have always had to travel to survive, moving from one place to another is part of the natural rhythms of life. Many paths and roads we use today date back hundreds or thousands of years. Before trains and cars just about all journeys were on foot as most ordinary people could not afford a horse, let alone a carriage. People got around on foot easily enough.
'Until relatively modern times, no laws were passed to create public rights of way. Instead, the routes became accepted under the common law as having been public since time immemorial. The legal theory was that the landowner “dedicated” the ways as public: the public use being evidence of this. So, over centuries, a network of tracks developed naturally from the routes that the public used to get from A to B. Walkers preferred short and direct footpaths. Sometimes these paths crossed rough or steep terrain where walking was the only option. And so different routes were developed which could be used by horse and cart. These were wider and easier to travel, but often less direct.
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| example of an Inclosure Map |
'In the 18th and 19th centuries major changes to the pattern of paths were caused by enclosure. People took ownership of land that had previously been open fields and common land. 4,000 local Acts were passed giving Inclosure Commissioners powers to divert existing paths and roads and to create new public paths and roads. With the advent of motor cars and buses using the cart routes, these paths eventually turned into the country lanes and main roads we recognise today. Footpaths became less popular as a method of everyday travel.’
But their importance was recognised by the rambling movements who represented groups of people who enjoyed walking in the countryside. Lobbying by the Ramblers led to the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949, which created, together with national parks, the “definitive map”. This is the legal record of public rights of way required to be kept and updated by each local highway authority.
However, local authorities had struggled under the burden of recording missing historic rights of way, which are estimated to stretch over 40,000 miles so the last government had given a date of 2031 for recording those rights of way. However, on Boxing Day, 2024, the current government announced that it will repeal the 2031 cut-off date which means these paths will no longer be lost to the public.
I should declare an interest as I am a member of the Ramblers Association and have been for years. Not so much for the actual walking as the local groups tend to think everyone has a car and so the starting points for their walks are usually miles away from public transport. My membership is for the great work at national level.
The following poem was written as a result of walking the coastal path in Yorkshire.
to Redcar
down Teesdale Way
single path
on a map
losing its way
where wks could be works
or walks through works
or wrecks
of a plain white shift
down Teesdale Way
single path
on a map
losing its way
where wks could be works
or walks through works
or wrecks
of a plain white shift
stitched and stitched again
holding it together
keeping it apart
from grass littering
cracked asphalt
wide as walking sticks
hedged by wire
and moss ridden walls
eyes constantly drawn
across railway tracks
to the last heights
shimmering in black steel
rising from lines
flooding to Teesmouth
waiting for the next bloom
to burst
scrawl down coke screes
a valley that the map insists
is not there
that aren’t arteries
that pulse contours
of the path to Whitby.
First published in The Interpreters’ House, Dec 2017
holding it together
keeping it apart
from grass littering
cracked asphalt
wide as walking sticks
hedged by wire
and moss ridden walls
eyes constantly drawn
across railway tracks
to the last heights
shimmering in black steel
rising from lines
flooding to Teesmouth
waiting for the next bloom
to burst
scrawl down coke screes
a valley that the map insists
is not there
that aren’t arteries
that pulse contours
of the path to Whitby.
First published in The Interpreters’ House, Dec 2017
Thanks for reading, Terry Q.
6 comments:
You are a self declared rambler Terry I'd never have guessed LOL As always your blog is well researrched and riveting. The poem is a real journey into your intellect. Thank you.
If that's the Preston Guild Wheel I hope their suspension is good! š
I'm so with you on your point about meet-up locations. Same problem getting to many National Trust venues, where walking along lanes with no walkable edges is just too dangerous. Public transport is still largely urban, the bane of country life.
Very evocative writing Terry and you are the walker / rambler / flaneur par excellence. My only criticism is that as an occasional walking companion of yours you're a little too keen to stick to the path and not push open a closed door, ignore the "Trespassers will.." or leap over a fence.
A clever poem and well done being in Interpreters House
I must have walked part of that wheel, from your house and through the park into Preston. Fascinating about enclosure and public rights of way. The poem reads beautifully.
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