The Bouncing Bog Trotter
Well-Known Member
We are very lucky as our yard has direct access out onto a bridle path which leads to quiet lanes and other bridle paths. The alternative is to come out of the yard onto a very busy and narrow B road. The distances involved in our network of country roads means that you can't get to the quiet lanes and bridle paths by road - it's just too far (and too risky).
About 4 years ago the owner of the land crossed by the bridle path built a lake leaving a path of about 6 feet between a barbed wire fence and the edge of the lake - this is, we understand, the minimum width allowed. However, over the last 4 years the hedge/nettles/brambles of the fence side and the water rushes and brambles on the lake bank have encroached onto the bridle path and the width is now less than 3 feet. This is made worse by the fact that the bridlepath gets very wet (some of it is below water level) and it is almost hock deep in mud in winter and very rutted in summer.
So far we've put up with this with no complaining but today we had real problems with the anglers. We think there may have been a match or just a lot of folks turned up to take advantage of a wonderful day, but the lake was packed and the bridle path was unpassable. Every 5 feet was a fisherman sitting on his chair in the middle of the bridle path with small tent/shelters erected. We had to turn around and abandon our ride as they refused to move. The path isn't wide enough to go round them (the fence prevents it anyway) and the lake is too deep to wade through. Plus the tents contain evil pony eating monsters that haven't eaten for months and a man sitting on a stool is a disguised pony muncher too!
We are going to write to the landowner (who hates horses), the Rights of Way Officer at the local council and contact our local BHS bridlepath person to ask if something can be done.
The landowner owns all the land around the lake so the bridlepath could be diverted (with permission) to the other side of the lake where there is no fence or the fence could be removed or moved, or the fishermen could be asked not to fish off the bridle path. Do these sound like reasonable solutions?
We don't want to spoil the fishermans' enjoyment of what is a beautiful spot and I'm sure there must be a solution that pleases all.
We are also going to contact the fishing club that fish the lake to see when matches are scheduled so we can avoid hacking out on those days but it does seem a daft measure given that they are blocking a legitimate right of way.
Any other ideas or suggestions?
Thanks for listening to the rant - I feel better already!
About 4 years ago the owner of the land crossed by the bridle path built a lake leaving a path of about 6 feet between a barbed wire fence and the edge of the lake - this is, we understand, the minimum width allowed. However, over the last 4 years the hedge/nettles/brambles of the fence side and the water rushes and brambles on the lake bank have encroached onto the bridle path and the width is now less than 3 feet. This is made worse by the fact that the bridlepath gets very wet (some of it is below water level) and it is almost hock deep in mud in winter and very rutted in summer.
So far we've put up with this with no complaining but today we had real problems with the anglers. We think there may have been a match or just a lot of folks turned up to take advantage of a wonderful day, but the lake was packed and the bridle path was unpassable. Every 5 feet was a fisherman sitting on his chair in the middle of the bridle path with small tent/shelters erected. We had to turn around and abandon our ride as they refused to move. The path isn't wide enough to go round them (the fence prevents it anyway) and the lake is too deep to wade through. Plus the tents contain evil pony eating monsters that haven't eaten for months and a man sitting on a stool is a disguised pony muncher too!
We are going to write to the landowner (who hates horses), the Rights of Way Officer at the local council and contact our local BHS bridlepath person to ask if something can be done.
The landowner owns all the land around the lake so the bridlepath could be diverted (with permission) to the other side of the lake where there is no fence or the fence could be removed or moved, or the fishermen could be asked not to fish off the bridle path. Do these sound like reasonable solutions?
We don't want to spoil the fishermans' enjoyment of what is a beautiful spot and I'm sure there must be a solution that pleases all.
We are also going to contact the fishing club that fish the lake to see when matches are scheduled so we can avoid hacking out on those days but it does seem a daft measure given that they are blocking a legitimate right of way.
Any other ideas or suggestions?
Thanks for listening to the rant - I feel better already!
