Rights and responsibilities...rant alert!

[Cloball]

People seem very unfamiliar with the highway code today let alone the countryside code

 

[Fred66]

Probably won't help much, as they will have to pay to use those, when they can let them run loose in your fields for free

Expensive but this was one landowner’s response

Fury at landowner's 300ft 'prison fence' to keep ramblers on the straight and narrow

Alan Brunt bought Rodden Lake Stream Meadow in Frome, Somerset, for £210,000 - despite attempts by wildlife campaigners to block the purchase.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[scats]

We have a public footpath that runs through the yard. I could write a book about the idiotic things people do.

The farmer put a concrete block near one of the entrances to the fields to stop people driving around the land and it has basically become a dog poo bin.

We’ve also caught people having sex in our fields…

 

[Errin Paddywack]

There is a good chance that the footpath along the edge of our field is going to be upgraded to a a Byeway. If this happens we will be writing off the land it will run over, 10' minimum I believe and installing a very solid fence along our side. Probably the Mway crash barrier style fencing plus electric fence.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Expensive but this was one landowner’s response

Fury at landowner's 300ft 'prison fence' to keep ramblers on the straight and narrow

Alan Brunt bought Rodden Lake Stream Meadow in Frome, Somerset, for £210,000 - despite attempts by wildlife campaigners to block the purchase.

www.dailymail.co.uk

When we were at livery, the YO, a retired farmer, fenced off a short footpath which ran immediately alongside a wall, so that dogs and people couldn't get in with the horses. There was uproar amongst the local dog walkers. However they were all quite happy to make use of the new tractor tracks that he fenced away from the grazing so that he could take water to the fields without having to negotiate gates.

 

[cornbrodolly]

Perhaps you cold try a DIY self closing gate , such as one set of neighbours use. All it is is the large rubbery insoles for wellies , nailed onto the hinge end of the gate and the post- the stretch allows the gate to be opened far enough. They last quite a long time! Said neighbour had a camping barn and caravans , and this worked well .

 

[Fransurrey]

We seriously considered "Trespassers will be shot"

I know someone who had one of those signs, with the subheading, "due to a shortage of ammo, warning shots will not be fired." The council made him take it down, but he's put it inside his boundary, so it can still be seen.

 

[Fransurrey]

Perhaps you cold try a DIY self closing gate , such as one set of neighbours use. All it is is the large rubbery insoles for wellies , nailed onto the hinge end of the gate and the post- the stretch allows the gate to be opened far enough. They last quite a long time! Said neighbour had a camping barn and caravans , and this worked well .

Yes, I would go this route, too. A weighted gate, with mounting block outside the field for riders who can't manage it on board. There's one near me like this, presumably due to the same issue. It's a pain, but entirely understandable. I saw a man walking a dog through our hay crop yesterday, completely out of control. I only noticed because he called the dog back (guilty conscience?) as I was riding round the outside (we have access to forestry that way). I think our YO needs signs that say hay crop, not a fecking litter tray.

 

[palo1]

Yes, I would go this route, too. A weighted gate, with mounting block outside the field for riders who can't manage it on board. There's one near me like this, presumably due to the same issue. It's a pain, but entirely understandable. I saw a man walking a dog through our hay crop yesterday, completely out of control. I only noticed because he called the dog back (guilty conscience?) as I was riding round the outside (we have access to forestry that way). I think our YO needs signs that say hay crop, not a fecking litter tray.

I don't blame the farmer putting up a mega-fence tbh but thankfully we don't need anything like that! Even on a beautiful, sunny May weekend, nothing else other than a single hind has come off the hill onto the field, and she didn't need to use the gate . It's really quiet here, walkers, riders etc are a rarity so that is why we suspect the one person who has been seen cycling across the field and not on the track previously. Most people are responsible but some of the stories on this thread are grim!! I can't imagine how trying it must be to have land near a city/urban population where people feel entitled to do what they like.

As for providing a mounting block, logistically, topographically that would be tricky as the track is immediately narrow and quite steep (up a sharp bank). Using the side of the bank to hop on is easy however. My OH would say that anyone who can't do this, isn't safe to ride on the hill anyway! His version of a mounting block would be grim lol, so I wouldn't opt for that myself .

 

[Goldenstar]

Expensive but this was one landowner’s response

Fury at landowner's 300ft 'prison fence' to keep ramblers on the straight and narrow

Alan Brunt bought Rodden Lake Stream Meadow in Frome, Somerset, for £210,000 - despite attempts by wildlife campaigners to block the purchase.

www.dailymail.co.uk

It’s an ugly fence but the people will be safe from the cows and cows safe from the people .

 

[Fransurrey]

I don't blame the farmer putting up a mega-fence tbh but thankfully we don't need anything like that! Even on a beautiful, sunny May weekend, nothing else other than a single hind has come off the hill onto the field, and she didn't need to use the gate . It's really quiet here, walkers, riders etc are a rarity so that is why we suspect the one person who has been seen cycling across the field and not on the track previously. Most people are responsible but some of the stories on this thread are grim!! I can't imagine how trying it must be to have land near a city/urban population where people feel entitled to do what they like.

As for providing a mounting block, logistically, topographically that would be tricky as the track is immediately narrow and quite steep (up a sharp bank). Using the side of the bank to hop on is easy however. My OH would say that anyone who can't do this, isn't safe to ride on the hill anyway! His version of a mounting block would be grim lol, so I wouldn't opt for that myself .

Is it actually a bridleway, or a permissive path? If the latter, you could put in a stile and gate lock for permitted users, which might encourage responsibility. It's so annoying that these things are necessary because of a few idiots.

 

[palo1]

Is it actually a bridleway, or a permissive path? If the latter, you could put in a stile and gate lock for permitted users, which might encourage responsibility. It's so annoying that these things are necessary because of a few idiots.

It is a bridleway and restricted byway (no motor vehicles) open to pedestrians, cyclists, horse riders, drovers and their animals and carriage drivers. It would, historically, have been pretty busy in fact but hasn't been in the last few decades! We do need to allow access for everyone other than motorised vehicles. I'd actually love to see carriages on the track occasionally though it is in currently rough condition which I imagine would not be great.