Out & About …

… on the North York Moors, or wherever I happen to be.

Calver Hill

Arkengarthdale in the Yorkshire Dales

On the last day of November twenty years ago, an iconic piece of legislation, The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, came into force.

Since then we have enjoyed being able to legally enjoy a walk or run across open access land: up and down hills and mountains and across moorland. There are many limitations, of course, dogs, cycles and horses must stick to designated Rights of Way and commercial forests are generally excluded. There is no access to access to rivers/waterways for canoeing. Our access rights are pathetic compared with the Scottish Access Code, ‘Jokamiehenoikeus’ in Finland or ‘Allemansrätten’ in Sweden.

The coronavirus pandemic has clearly demonstrated the importance of access to the outdoors. There has been a resurgence of enthusiasm for fresh air. Even in the most direst weather it is uncommon not to meet other folk walking the moors, appearing out of the mist like spectres. Escaping the constraints of lockdowns.

There is a growing campaign for a review of these Rights to Roam laws but as you would expect the Government is not sympathetic. In fact, it is the opposite, The 2019 Conservative Party manifesto actually included plans to criminalise the civil offence of trespass.

In addition, the Ramblers are also gathering evidence of unrecorded rights of way. Footpaths that were overlooked and were unrecorded on the Definitive Maps when they were drawn up in the 1950s. Apparently, there are an estimated 49,000 miles of unrecorded paths and these must be added before 2026 otherwise they will be forever lost.

For sure there will additional costs associated with increasing public access and the age-old reluctance by landowners to relinquish any of their property rights.

Of course, any increase in access rights must be accompanied by a corresponding increase in the education of the associated responsibilities. It will certainly be challenging when these responsibilities are ignored or forgotten (such as littering and other antisocial behaviour and the ignoring of warning signs) but, at the end of the day, it will make for a far happier and peaceful society to have a comprehensive right to roam.

Lane between Castle Farm and Castle Farm House
‘No Access’ lane between Castle Head Farm and Open Access Land

Now you may wonder what has prompted me to go off in this rant today. Well, on my way up Fremlington Edge in the Yorkshire Dales, I spotted this little lane on the map between Castle Farm and Castle Farm House. There was no Right of Way marked on the map so no dispute, but why? What possible inconvenience would the landowner incur by allowing access? Just a couple of hundred metres linking a Public Footpath to Open Access Land, a ‘green’ lane enclosed both sides by dry-stone walls. The featured image is a view in the other direction across Arkengarthdale to Calver with Castle Head Farm in the mid-distance. It was no hardship really, just a detour a little short of a kilometre.


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2 responses to “Arkengarthdale in the Yorkshire Dales”

  1. Peter Astle avatar
    Peter Astle

    Well put.
    A native American once retorted, “How can you own land!” This contrasts beautifully with the most English of attitudes, “Get orf moi laarnd!”

    1. Fhithich avatar
      Fhithich

      Precisely.

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