cyclists on footpaths? why not horse riders?

AFAIA it's illegal to cycle on a footpath, just the same as it's illegal to ride on them. I know people do, though, my son was knocked down by a man cycling on the pavement outside my house a couple of years ago.
 
RunToEarth said:
Why would tracks never registered as ROW possibly be subject to becoming a ROW other than under permissive access?

The sense of entitlement from cyclists and horse riders alike actually sits very uneasy with me. You honestly can't expect to take up a hobby, buy the kit (or the horse) and then campaign against every local track, footpath etc to be opened up to suit your agenda?
Click to expand...

Because their are thousands and thousands of old public routes that were never tarmaced many fell out of use but they still belong to public and we have a right to reclaim them .
There's a group round here researching them and reclaiming them the history of some of them is fascinating .
 
Yep, most ROW are there because they've been used for hundreds of years. I have read online someone claiming 'bridleways were created for horses', no, they are mostly ancient routes that horses are allowed to use as well as walkers and cyclists, they were never created exclusively for horses.
 
I still think it's very unfair that cyclists walkers and everyone else can use bridleways which means that they take the risk of getting kicked in the head, but we can't use cycle tracks or footpaths.
We have a bridleway near me that's been ruined by scrambler bikes. Really unfair.
Surely all of us vulnerable road users should stick together to make safe tracks for all of us.
 
Is there a reason as to why you cant have a right to roam like here in Scotland down in England? It may be simply the practical reason that its more built up down there and walking tracks etc. are far more of a rare thing I dont know? Up here we can go anywhere we want (as a rider/cyclist/walker), which means that people aren't concentrated on only a few tracks which would get ruined pretty quick. I rarely see people whenever I go out hacking (round a local wind farm, forestry etc.). The thought that I wasn't allowed on certain tracks seems really weird to me, how do you know where you CAN ride?
 
One thing I've always wondered about is byways. I thought they were for walkers, cyclists, riders, but apparently you can also drive motor vehicles on them, not just tractors but 4x4s and motorbikes- that makes one hell of a mess and creates massively deep and dangerous ruts, I don't know why the farmers who own the land the byways are on would want vehicles on their byways.
 
God help us if the right to roam was introduced here! We have enough problems with people letting their dogs into the fields, feeding the horses and generally treating all grass as if it is a public park! Never mind trying to take short cuts through our yard, which is also our garden!
 
skint1 said:
One thing I've always wondered about is byways. I thought they were for walkers, cyclists, riders, but apparently you can also drive motor vehicles on them, not just tractors but 4x4s and motorbikes- that makes one hell of a mess and creates massively deep and dangerous ruts, I don't know why the farmers who own the land the byways are on would want vehicles on their byways.
Click to expand...

Restricted byways are for alll except motor vehicles so carriage horses ok but not cars etc, ordinary byways are for everything. 4x4's do churn up the ground but the upside is if you have an off roading club using the area they will generally be happy to keep it clear of blockages/burned out dumped cars etc. I think anyone who owns any land anywhere is generally not happy to have any rights of way running through it at all.
 
I have stopped cyclists on one of my footpaths before and made them carry their bikes until they were off my land. I would do the same to horse riders. Of course, I can ride MY horses on MY land whenever and wherever the ****** I like!
 
case895 said:
I have stopped cyclists on one of my footpaths before and made them carry their bikes until they were off my land. I would do the same to horse riders. Of course, I can ride MY horses on MY land whenever and wherever the ****** I like!
Click to expand...

Bit difficult to make them carry a horse I would have thought!!
 
Sugar_and_Spice said:
I wonder what percentage of horse riders have done any bridleways work? I did as a youngster, mostly on the clearing overgrown paths side of things. Now I'm older I feel I've done my share, I'm not upto it physically any more and I'm really only involved in horses from the perspective of relaxation now.

On all the yards I've been on, most people seem to have zero knowledge of access work or inclination to do any, apart from my younger days when there was definite involvement in the local bridleways groups from the yards as a whole. Now I see whole yards where nobody hacks, even to the few bridleways they may have locally.

I suspect if as many people chipped in with access work, as complained about lack of access, we'd probably have a lot more bridleways.
Click to expand...

My friend and I spent a couple of afternoons clearing some bridleways near us, however we are unable to remove the trees which are down and blocking 3 bridleways which effectively blocks our route home. I have no idea how long it will take as it has been two months so far, but we are considering using one of the footpaths which runs parallel to one of them.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top