Following the Green Dots: An Unclassified Road to Nowhere

Now that the summer’s undergrowth is finally abating, I thought it an opportune moment to exercise a rarely-trod right of way past Ayton Bank Farm. One likes to ensure that these landowners are periodically reminded of the existence of such rights, lest they grow complacent.

According to the 1:25,000 O.S. Map, the route is marked with a line of green dots – quaintly described in the legend as “Other routes with public access.” It is apparently an “unclassified road” stretching from just above Gribdale Terrace to the curtilage of the demolished Summerhill Farm, which, in a delightful bureaucratic twist, is 50 metres short of the Open Access Land. Thus, it leads to a splendidly pointless dead end – but one mustn’t quibble over a mere technicality. I was fully prepared to perform an elegant retreat, if necessary, in the noble cause of defending my pedestrian rights.

Being an “unclassified road,” maintenance falls to the North Yorkshire Council highways department, who, one suspects, have all but forgotten its existence. Yet, on their interactive map, the stretch is dutifully marked as U1848/9/50. The letters ‘FB’ on said map kindly indicate the presence of a footbridge over a steep, bramble-clad beck. Alas, I failed to spot the structure. Instead, I found three pedestrian gates, robust but of some age, which permitted passage through the barbed wire fencing – a reassuring sign that I had not strayed from the righteous path.

As for the state of this “unclassified road,” one might surmise that it ranks dead last on North Yorkshire Council’s list of priorities. At present, it serves as an ideal route for those with a penchant for scrambling up and down ravine-like terrain, battling brambles, and making daring leaps over streams. The farmer, upon seeing me before I ventured into the briar, inquired if I was quite alright. No doubt, she thought me utterly deranged.