Sometimes I have to bite my tongue

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Ruftysdad

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Recently one of our bridleways has had a problem with a tree that is leaning so far over you cannot get under without banging your head. I reported it to the Cheshire East Rights of Way 5 weeks ago but nothing was done. I chased it up today and explained the problem. I told the Rights of Way Officer that it was the end of a track where we normally canter and she replied "You should not be cantering on bridleways" I could not believe it and responded, tell me if we cannot canter on bridleways where can we canter. Long pause, "in your own fields" I took a deep breath and said that she must be joking and left it at that.

To add insult to injury this is a recently upgraded path which my friend and I spent years getting re classified . It even went to appeal. We won!

I must emphasise that I take great care not to impede the yards of dog walkers or processions of babies in pushchairs. I always slow down and wait for them to organise themselves. Sometimes It is hard when they pratt around trying to get Fido to come to heel and Fido could not care less that a big horse is ready to stand on him.

Rant over
 
Stupid woman! So can people not jog on footpaths either? What is she going to do, put a speed camera up! Obviously you have to be polite and not canter past other users of the path, but otherwise there are no rules. Ring her back and tell her that if anyone is injured a no win no fee solicitor has said they will have a great case, see what her response is.
 
We're having a similar problem! YO used to drive her pony and trap down one of the bridepaths, plenty of room for others to get past, no problems. The path has been totally neglected and now it's a struggle to get the horses down there single file! I've complained and got nothing, so YO is going to print a letter for us each to sign (About 50 of us) and we're going to do it that way. Hopefully they'll listen then!!
 
That is so stupid, of course you should be able to canter sensibly on a bridleway.

How do you find out about getting bridleways fixed up by the way? There is one across the road from me that is really overgrown and I don't even mind going at it myself with a pair of secateurs from the horse's back so I can reach as long as it isn't just my right across someone's private land who would mind me cutting his bushes up!
 
Nah said:
We're having a similar problem! YO used to drive her pony and trap down one of the bridepaths, plenty of room for others to get past, no problems. The path has been totally neglected and now it's a struggle to get the horses down there single file! I've complained and got nothing, so YO is going to print a letter for us each to sign (About 50 of us) and we're going to do it that way. Hopefully they'll listen then!!
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Group action is the way forward. Years ago I was at a yard which backed onto a closed road. It was closed because it was narrow and windy with about three blind bends and no pavement. We used it to walk up to the bridlepath and walk horses up to our fields and there were some houses up there. It had been shut for about ten years, no problem. Then one day the council decided to open it without really consulting anyone. It was like a rat run. I was nearly hit I think four times just turning my horse out. There was a head on collision between two cars. A pedestrian was hit so badly he would never walk again. All the riders signed petitions, the residents, cyclists (who also used the bridlepath) joined in - in the end we took the council to court. Hey presto, road closed again. :D Victory for little people. Now councillor that did it has been disgraced for fiddling his expenses. Karma.
 
For maintenance contact your local council Rights of Way.Number should be on internet.
To add to my previous post yesterday Rufty who has a good memory swerved to avoid the tree and just escaped falling into the drainage ditch.Could have been very nasty
 
Bridleways are for walkers, horse riders and cyclists and normally marked with a blue arrow.

You have the right to walk along a bridleway, to ride or lead a horse, and to ride a bicycle. It is possible that you may have a right to drive animals such as sheep or cattle as well. Please note that this does not include a right to drive a pony and trap.

Cyclists must give way to walkers and horse riders on a bridleway. It is a criminal offence to drive a motor vehicle along a bridleway unless you have specific lawful authority. You do not have the right to take a horse drawn vehicle along a bridleway.
 
It's not against the law to drive on a bridle way, providing there is sufficient room to allow people to pass on either side.

Cantering on bridle ways is allowed, so long as it is controlled and does not pose a threat to other users.

Your local council rights of way officer should be able to help, as should your local BHS access officer.

And yes, I have just finished putting together a piece of uni work about this very topic.
 
A landowner may allow you to drive a horse and carriage on a bridle way if he so chooses he may also allow you to ride on a foot path if he chooses he may drive a car on a bridleway if he wants and may allow others to do so he must however maintain the the ROW to a reasonable condition .
 
RiderLizzie said:
It's not against the law to drive on a bridle way, providing there is sufficient room to allow people to pass on either side.

Cantering on bridle ways is allowed, so long as it is controlled and does not pose a threat to other users.

Your local council rights of way officer should be able to help, as should your local BHS access officer.

And yes, I have just finished putting together a piece of uni work about this very topic.
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i took that quote from byeways law website.in 1992 i got told off for driving a shetland and trap on a bridleway.
 
aintgotnohay said:
i took that quote from byeways law website.in 1992 i got told off for driving a shetland and trap on a bridleway.
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Contradicts what the Byways and Bridleways Trust say then. :confused:
If there is an access point which allows somebody to enter with a carriage, they they may do so essentially.

Also, ROW laws have changes slightly in the past ten years.
 
I do realise that this is probably illegal, but on our council bridlepaths if there was a tree blocking it a bunch of us would go down with chainsaws etc and clear it. We simply piled the wood up on the side, didn't take it so no-one could accuse us of theft. If anyone ever noticed they never complained.

On private land we asked the landowner, they usually couldn't be bothered to do it themselves, or didn't want to, but never minded us doing it, especially if half a tree cut into logs appeared in their yard. :D
 
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Our local council are very good if you ring them and tell them about a blockage. We now have the direct line of the woman in charge of our area. I think the first time we spoke to the old person though, we did have to point out if someone was injured due to them failing to keep the path safe they would be liable.
 
Strange that you wouldnt be allowed to take a horse & carriage on a bridleway when that is what they were probably used for years ago before real roads were invented.

We are really lucky with our council (Ceredigion) they do seem to take the bridlepaths seriously round here, i complained about one about a month ago & someone went out to investigate last week :)
 
Our solution to this problem (tree falling down on bridlepath) was for my mum to take a saw down, and hack it off. It was a small tree though :p
Nobody was doing anything about it, and it was blocking the path for pretty much all users. Did less damage than the local kids anyway, even if strictly speaking it isn't allowed. Who could object!? It was the only (sort of) useable bridleway in the area too, there were supposed to be other bits but they were either overgrown or not marked down well/went no where at all.

We also used to send 1 person ahead often to check that a stretch was clear, before cantering :) Never caused an issue. Cyclists down there were far more problematic!
 
Unsure of the laws, about pony/carriage, but we used to have permissions to ride/drive all over the fields/bridleway. However, since the old owner died, it's become neglected and we've been banned from the fields.
As far as width was concerned, could easily have fit the trap, another horse and a walker side by side.

This is what it looks like now...
To give you perspective, my knees are almost touching the sides and the mud is ankle deep.
NedWalks073.jpg
 
I had this problem with a bridle way used only by walkers, over the summer the foliage got thicker and thornier till we could only ride single file with lots of ducking, contacted the local council, who did sympathise and promised to cut it back after the birds finished nesting, late summer they sent someone to do the job, (I had cut back some with shears) most impressed with the result, even took the guy a cup of tea.
It's worth pestering your council, they have an obligation to keep bridleways open
 
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