Why are we losing our Bridlepaths?!

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RCB8

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Our local Bridleways (Worcestershire) are overgrown and ill-maintained, some with impassable gates, even when dismounted, and through fields of cows (my horse thinks they are the zombies of the animal world and will consequently run a mile!).
To add insult to injury a particular favourite bridleway of mine is now under threat of being built on, despite being on an Area of Developmental Restraint (which roughly translated means it is technically Greenbelt but if the council says it's OK then that's fine). Have the government learned nothing about the importance of Equestrian Sports from 2012? Does anyone else have problems with lack of / poorly maintained bridleways?

http://access.redditchbc.gov.uk/onl...do?activeTab=makeComment&keyVal=M80KZ6MU02O00

Above is the link to object to the loss of this bridleway, Please click! Power to the equestrians! If they don't get 1000 names by 7th Sept our council says they'll build on it.
 
Meant to add - you click then 'Make Public Comment' and click 'object' - literally 60 seconds! If drivers want us off the roads why not maintain the Bridlepaths!?:confused:
 
Unfortunately councils have to prioritise the use of deminishing public money and it will quite rightly be used for more important uses than maintaining bridleways and footpaths. I am not saying it is right though. Horses are our hobby (for the majority) and if you are lucky enough to have bridleways (we have 1 which is about 200m and runs through a field of loose horses who love to play) perhaps you could get together with other users and form a working party to maintain the paths, this would also help in the fight to keep the paths as the council/developer cannot say it is not in use.
Can you get someone with a 'cow safe' horse to go with you to help desensitise your horse?
 
I'm about to go and investigate the bridle ways around my yard today. I hear bad things about them. However if they are simply overgrown we will be going through with a chainsaw and clearing them as I doubt the council will help.

Paula
 
Have you contacted your local BHS group to help campaign? I know there are some BHS people who post on here with helpful advice and support of access issues.
 
have to say we are really lucky round here, recently alot of our bridleways have been cleared & new gates put in, its lovely. Can you not set up a Bridleways group, get a load of like minded people together & try & put pressure on the appropriate people to sort them out, you could also get the local ramblers association involved & perhaps you could all get together & clear up the bridlepaths, thats what has been done with some of ours. Just for inspiration this is the website for our Bridleways group.
http://ceredigionbridlewaysgroup1.webs.com/actions.htm
As for cows on the bridleway that is something you will need to deal with, generally if you stick to the hedgeline & walk quietly through the field & they will ignore you, the more you do it the better the cows will be with you going through & the better your horse will become with them.
 
Not helpful, but move to Scotland ;) We dont have bridleways up here because riders can go anywhere they want. Although in practice, you dont really... Ive got loads of farmers fields round me which legally Im allowed to ride round but I always feel I have to ask them and some merrily say yes but then lock up their gates ridiculously so they clearly would rather I didnt. Shame really as Ive given up hacking all together as the roads even though quiet, still are far more dangerous than when I used to hack out daily on my own as a 9yo!
 
The Fleece at Bretforton has recently put up a hitching rail...they know which side their bread is buttered!;)
I can't understand how cyclists have suddenly grabbed every right of way in sight AND had new stuff built and tarmaced over while riders are being driven off the roads but getting no bridlepaths.I think until riders start getting militant like the ramblers and cyclists you will soon see(or not) more pasture orniments!
 
It all depends on where you are. I used to keep my horse in North Lanarkshire and the council did an excellent job maintaining the paths in the forestry land near the yard. There were some fantastic paths with good footing and good visibility where you could put your horse into fifth gear and just go for it. Now, we are in South Lanarkshire and there is some forestry land near the yard, but the council does sod all to maintain it. One bit gets totally trashed by the dirtbikes while the other bit is so horribly overgrown that it's not safe, as there are random holes in the ground that you and your horse simply cannot see for all the vegetation. And the footing is this nasty, slippy clay stuff, so even if it's a bit damp, you can't ride faster than a walk. I miss galloping.
 
Everyone needs to pester their local access officer at their loccal council.

Our riding club got our access officer out to give a talk, and my, we learnt a lot.

Basically, they don't have the staff to wander each and every bridleway, so rely on the horse riding population to report overgrown and blocked routes. If you haven't reported an overgrown or blocked route you have no right to complain about the council doing nowt - they aren't mindreaders!

Our local officer is looking to keep his job. The more people who contact him and basically make his role worthwhile, the better it is for him, and the better it is for us riders who will get the access routes opened up again.

Our officer said dealing with blocked access isn't always easy, and can't always be remedied quickly, but if we keep pestering, he can keep going to the council legal team to pester them to sort it out.

Find out who your local officer is and ring him/her. Get all your friends to do so too, and keep up the phone calls - pester power works!
 
RCB8 said:
Our local Bridleways (Worcestershire) are overgrown and ill-maintained, some with impassable gates, even when dismounted, and through fields of cows (my horse thinks they are the zombies of the animal world and will consequently run a mile!).
To add insult to injury a particular favourite bridleway of mine is now under threat of being built on, despite being on an Area of Developmental Restraint (which roughly translated means it is technically Greenbelt but if the council says it's OK then that's fine). Have the government learned nothing about the importance of Equestrian Sports from 2012? Does anyone else have problems with lack of / poorly maintained bridleways?

http://access.redditchbc.gov.uk/onl...do?activeTab=makeComment&keyVal=M80KZ6MU02O00

Above is the link to object to the loss of this bridleway, Please click! Power to the equestrians! If they don't get 1000 names by 7th Sept our council says they'll build on it.
Click to expand...
If a development means the loss of a bridleway (which it shouldnt) then the council should be providing a near by high quality replacement multi user route. They will be getting plenty of kick back cash (sorry section 106 contribution :-)) from the developer for the PP, and this money is intended to provide community facilities. Ask them where the s106 cash is going in this case. Look up the councils local plan under enviroment and leisure and find out what they say about off road routes for vulnerable road users like cyclist and horseriders. Quite often it will have big statements in there - ask them what they have done to date to implement/deliver on these.
 
I know in the case of our local overgrown forestry land (are these technically bridleways in Scotland? I don't know), the council used to pay my yard owner to go in there with his tractor and cut back vegetation, and I know that the council have now made the decision to stop paying him, or anyone else, to continue to do that job. So they're probably aware it's a mess and just don't care and/can't afford it. Thank you, budget cuts. I'll just blame David Cameron -- why not. I like blaming the Tories for things. :D
 
It does depend on where you live. Leicestershire CC Rights of Way Officer was excellent.
Now living near the Staffordshire/Cheshire border and have been totally amazed to find NO bridlepaths, despite it being an area full of horses. Local riders I've spoken to seem to think its normal to have only roads to hack on.
 
If your local bridleway is underthreat I'd try and get your local cycling groups to object too. The more people making a fuss the better and government seem more keen to appease cyclists than equestrians too. The CTC are the cycling equivalent of the BHS and will be equally concerned at the loss of a bridleway. They have worked with the BHS on access projects in the past. The Ramblers might be worth a try too as walkers use bridleways too.
 
Thanks everyone for your posts - useful information too! I am a champion pesterer so I will keep on. I'll ride to the Town Hall if necessary! :):)
 
RCB8 said:
Thanks everyone for your posts - useful information too! I am a champion pesterer so I will keep on. I'll ride to the Town Hall if necessary! :):)
Click to expand...

It might take that - the council website doesnt inspire confidence that their residents environment and leisure is a very high priority.

Might need to also approach at county level (Warwickshire). Every area has to I think establish a local access forum and I think thats at county not district level. Made up of walkers, riders, cyclists etc as well as landowner and council input. This group HAVE to be consulted on major proposals to provide input as to how negatives for these groups can be cancelled out or positive things put in.

For example near our old house in home counties the local college were developing an old site near us. As part of the lobbying re this, and to make sure the s106 actually had some benefit we persuaded the council to purchase the adjoining field and to link a track next to the new development (which we reminded them had to stay) to the adjoining park and to remove the motorbike barriers which stopped horses using the park paths (they didnt stop the motorbikes anyway, since they just broke through the flimsy chain link next to it so horseriders were the only ones adversely impacted by them!).

Timing is everything, the idea and demand has to get in there right at the start when everyone is very willing and the developers want the pp and the council want to be able to tick green boxes for their annual report. Its not possible to get this stuff put in later so the more work you do now, the easier it will be to stop backtracking later......good luck!

Edited to add link to the Warwickshire local access forum - strongly suggest getting in touch with them, your MP, your local council access officer and BHS access officer!
http://search3.openobjects.com/kb5/warwickshire/search/results.page?qt=local+access+forum
 
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Thanks for that link.

The bridlepaths we looked at today were generally passable except for one fallen tree. Although the signs saying "beware if the bulls" at either end beggared belief.

Main problem is how heavy duty the gates were. They were the ones with the metal bit sticking up to push to the left, but seriously hard work. WD40 might help.

Also I'm not sure I'm happy with riding through a field where cows are kept - not sure how my horse would respond if they all came over to see her.

Paula
 
Yikes, id be checking if there is a bull in the field Paula - also are they friesian cows? black and whites? If so its illegal to keep a friesian bull in a field with public access. Also if theyre beef suckler cows the cows can be v protective of young, who will probably come crowding over to see you. Usually if you ride at them they will scatter but some horses will freak with cows.
 
No bulls and cows at far side of field. Pretty sure the signs are illegal as its designed to deter people from using rights of way. I'm well peed off as it would be a great ride without the cows so if there was a bull I'd want photos and legal action taken.

Husband doing submission to rights of way people - he likes that sort of thing.

Paula
 
Its not illegal to have most bulls on public footpath fields, only friesians. Think of the cows as an opportunity to despook and do in hand first!
 
Paulag said:
Thanks for that link.

The bridlepaths we looked at today were generally passable except for one fallen tree. Although the signs saying "beware if the bulls" at either end beggared belief.

Main problem is how heavy duty the gates were. They were the ones with the metal bit sticking up to push to the left, but seriously hard work. WD40 might help.

Also I'm not sure I'm happy with riding through a field where cows are kept - not sure how my horse would respond if they all came over to see her.

Paula
Click to expand...

Your allowed to keep Beef bulls but not dairy bulls on a bridle path, dairy bulls tend to be alot more aggressive.
 
Its to make people wary. I work in agriculture and im sorry but 90% of people are complete idiots about animals. Even if they have horses/dogs think they know a bit etc. There have been severall deaths highly publicised in the papers over the last few years so farmers are covering their backs putting warning signs up. I for one dont blame them. See the thread in soapbox about some idiot opening a gate and letting a herd out onto a road!
 
I can certainly see the farmer's point of view because some people would gallop their horses all over those fields. But I just want somewhere off road where I can responsibly pootle my horse through without risk to either of us. Its because I'm not a compete idiot that I don't fancy taking a young horse in a field with cows in.

Paula
 
I had the same challenge but since our new place's access to hacking was via a field of cows, it was a no choice scenario even with my just 5 year old. TBH it hasnt been a problem, I got a lot more stressed than her and altho when there are bullocks they sometimes crowd behind us a bit, it is only the sound of their heavy breathing my horse is a bit annoyed by, surprisingly not the cows themselves.

Just make sure that if there are calves, you never get between that and its mum, and that where poss you ride round the herd as a whole, not between groups.

The younger you intro your horse to the cows, the more normal a part of their life they will be, and bear in mind cows do not react to horses as a threat like they can with dogs (or even sometimes people).

Its up to you, but if you want to hack, given the farmer is quite entitled to put cattle in his own fields, its something to go for sooner rather than later.

NB signs alerting to presence of a bull must only be used when there is actually a bull there, otherwise it is deemed to be designed to put people off, rather than informational. So worth checking that. However, if with cows (and assuming a beef bull not dairy, which would not be allowed in a field with a ROW in it), the herd is likely to be a lot more settled and safe rather than less so, when the bull is with them.
 
horserider said:
It does depend on where you live. Leicestershire CC Rights of Way Officer was excellent.
Now living near the Staffordshire/Cheshire border and have been totally amazed to find NO bridlepaths, despite it being an area full of horses. Local riders I've spoken to seem to think its normal to have only roads to hack on.
Click to expand...

Have you had a chance to look in the archives to make sure the historic bridleways have been recorded? In my county, I seem to find seven or eight paths to apply for every time I visit the archives! There's a new book, Rights of Way: Restoring The Record that tries to demystify how to do rights of way research. More at http://www.restoringtherecord.org.uk/. It 's not nearly as difficult as people fear, and although it can take a few years to get the paths reopened, they are at least then as permanent as any other recorded bridleways.
 
I like in Stoke - on - Trent ...

my mum has written to the local MP numerous times about bridleways asking for a map displaying every bridle path in the staffordshire region to which we received a reply saying there are no ordenance survey maps available if she can get hold of them there will be a charge!

Where I live and keep my horse there are virtually no bridleways! There is only one which I am aware of in a reachable distance which I ventured down last week to see what is was like - virtually impassable! So overgrown my horse was very reluctant to pass, i had to duck literally lying across my horses neck and felt like a knight using my crop to hold back branches. In places it was also a quarter of the way up my horses legs in mud.

Consequently my mum has contacted the local MP again inviting her to come and walk the bridle path with me while I demonstrate how hard it is to pass on horseback - or foot for that matter! People moan about us being on the roads and there are more and more on road hacking accidents happening yet the bridleways (what little of them there are) are in such poor condition.
 
BW-opener said:
Have you had a chance to look in the archives to make sure the historic bridleways have been recorded? In my county, I seem to find seven or eight paths to apply for every time I visit the archives! There's a new book, Rights of Way: Restoring The Record that tries to demystify how to do rights of way research. More at http://www.restoringtherecord.org.uk/. It 's not nearly as difficult as people fear, and although it can take a few years to get the paths reopened, they are at least then as permanent as any other recorded bridleways.
Click to expand...

Thank you so much for your post! I am nearing the staffs cheshire border also. I will take a look now
 
RCB8 said:
Our local Bridleways (Worcestershire) are overgrown and ill-maintained, some with impassable gates, even when dismounted, and through fields of cows (my horse thinks they are the zombies of the animal world and will consequently run a mile!).
To add insult to injury a particular favourite bridleway of mine is now under threat of being built on, despite being on an Area of Developmental Restraint (which roughly translated means it is technically Greenbelt but if the council says it's OK then that's fine). Have the government learned nothing about the importance of Equestrian Sports from 2012? Does anyone else have problems with lack of / poorly maintained bridleways?

http://access.redditchbc.gov.uk/onl...do?activeTab=makeComment&keyVal=M80KZ6MU02O00

Above is the link to object to the loss of this bridleway, Please click! Power to the equestrians! If they don't get 1000 names by 7th Sept our council says they'll build on it.
Click to expand...


Thankyou for posting the link, me and both my parents have objected :)
 
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