Would you buy a property with a public footpath on it?

[rebmw]

Our neighbours have a footpath up the side of their field and I have lost count of how many times I have had to run and rescue their free range hens from loose dogs. They have had a fair few killed which would've made me gone mad personally.
They had their house up for sale a couple of years ago and it never sold despite a reasonable price tag and I wonder if the footpath was a factor.
The footpath crosses a 16ft track of ours which links my two fields and despite footpath signs I have still had to leg it up the field to redirect walkers. I'm amazed at what people say. I don't want to go over stiles up the footpath so I'd rather walk up your field instead! Erm no!
We put up a polite but firmly worded sign which seemed to work and then fenced the field with tornado fencing which is far harder to climb over than a stile!
I personally wouldn't want anymore footpath than the 16ft we have.

 

[RunToEarth]

Glinda - 90 acres and they STILL cause grief?! :O I'm definitely avoiding them!

I think the more acres you have the more right everyone feels they have to it. We have 16km of public access on the farm and there are no end of people making their own routes up.

 

[Echo Bravo]

We have a footpath going through our field, stables one side haybarn on the other, have had to put up electric fencing to half one paddock where the fp goes through and people have learnt to put their dogs on leads coming through as my horses will chase loose dogs and if I'm about will yell at owner of said loose dog. I once chased a English sheepdog with a spade as it chased my chickens, the owners thought their dog running after my chickens was funny, till I turned up at full charge ready to brain the dog, maybe it was also me yelling I'd kill the F@@@ker and sue them. They never appeared on my property again.

 

[Fides]

. I once chased a English sheepdog with a spade as it chased my chickens, the owners thought their dog running after my chickens was funny, till I turned up at full charge ready to brain the dog, maybe it was also me yelling I'd kill the F@@@ker and sue them. They never appeared on my property again.

I've done that with a pitch fork - got called a psycho...

 

[cambrica]

I must be really lucky. We have a public footpath down the side of our field. It is fenced off as its also a droveway for our neighbour farmer to take his cows through to the field beyond. Some years I've not seen one person use it, very rare to see anyone tbh and I've never had any issues.

 

[Buddy'sMum]

Nope, never again! I have several very well used footpaths criss-crossing my land and it's a nightmare, so much so that we're planning to move soon.

So last night I came across a bloke with a metal detector digging holes in the field my horses are in. And no, he wasn't even trying to be careful about it and replacing the turf so my lovely summer field now looks a right mess. "But it's a public footpath" was his reply to my "Excuse me but WTF do you think you're doing?"

 

[pip6]

No, never. Was one place with fp through field. No end of issues with people picnicing, throwing frisbies for yappy dogs, dogs chasing horses etc. At another place fp was 1/4 mile away, still had issues with people they had right to wander around other fields on farm away from fp. People do not respect that is is someones home/livelihood, they seem to regard it as a playground (hate kids and balls, funny how they always seem to end up in horses direction, little gits) or a place to walk their dog & let it defacate anywhere so they don't have to pick up its poo.

 

[indiat]

I was talking to a friend today who has actually found people have left the footpath, wandered across the fields and got into the hot tub in her garden! I am really shocked at the amount of aggro people are putting up with. We are going to see a property on Saturday that is stunning, twelve acres, outdoor school with a waxed surface and a stunning Grade II listed house. BUT it has a footpath running along the bottom field and I am thinking this is why it is within budget as everything else offers a maximum of six in that area and houses are not as nice. OH wants to see it as it is so amazing but after reading all these replies, I don't think I will touch it! One thing that does make me curious, do these problems stop when you're land is private? Do people respect that and just take the pee only when there is a ROW?

 

[Red-1]

I guess it is a matter of access. We only have a bit of land, but the only gates to the road are tall solid wooden ones, and locked! There is also a ditch and hedge, plus horse fencing. It really would be difficult for anyone to get in. Once they are on your land then farm gates are very inviting......

 

[Eventrider92]

I work in a rights of way department so I deal with diversions . We charge £3k approx per diversion . This new modification will have to be practical for the walkers and possibly benefit them in some way ( to prevent objections ) if you want to discuss further feel free to message me

 

[Highlands]

I have two... Fencing and a mains box ( with warning signs and no I don't electrocute them) seems to keep people on trail and the savage native ponies on... The ramblers can be a pain but the average walker are fine. Neighbours even better the more eyes and ears the less chance of break in.

 

[Houndman]

So last night I came across a bloke with a metal detector digging holes in the field my horses are in. And no, he wasn't even trying to be careful about it and replacing the turf so my lovely summer field now looks a right mess. "But it's a public footpath" was his reply to my "Excuse me but WTF do you think you're doing?"

Illegal metal detecting is a serious criminal problem and many important archaeological sites have been damaged by it and they are robbing our nation of its history. Unauthorised removel of items found is theft. This should be reported to the Police immediately if you see it happening! Take down any license plates and take photographs of the perpetrators. Many of them are involved with crime rings so be careful. If it was happening at night as you say then it was almost certainly a member of a criminal organisation you came across.

 

[Mince Pie]

Having had a quick Google, it astounds me that there are pages and pages on what a landowner must do to maintain a PROW yet nothing on protecting themselves/livestock/crops from walkers who deliberately leave the path and cause damage. I think it's something that should be addressed, and soon!

 

[Suechoccy]

My field has public bridleway/byway running around the outside of 2 sides of it (so fenced off from my field).

It's nice for my neds to have "television" to watch, they see plenty of people, dogs, cyclists and other horses, plus agricultural vehicles/livestock trailers/harvesting stuff on the byway. All the same sort of stuff that they'll meet when out hacking too.

 

[TeddyBean]

The yard I work at has a public footpath going across the very middle of the biggest field. There are signs on the stiles on each side asking people to keep their dogs on leads and keep to the designated right of way, but this simple request is never followed.

A couple of months ago someone allowed their dog to chase the horses relentlessly causing 3 of them to become hopping lame and one of them was chased into the ground and he had to be pts the next day. I have very little patience with walkers after that.

 

[indiat]

TeddyBean, that is aful. Why do people have to be such wankers?

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

Hi all,

So, our dream house was snapped up by someone else before we could get our house on the market, the one with six, lovely, very private acres. I am praying to every deity I can think of that by the time we get an offer, the buyers will change their minds, but I have to be realistic and assume it is gone. There are two other properties we would be interested in but both have a footpath running through them and hubs is saying no way! One has eight acres and a path running around the edge of one paddock. One has four acres but apparently the path crosses over a corner of the field, lopping off about a quarter of it. Is it possible to change the path so it hugs the edge of the field without major faff? Thank you all in advance!

our neighbours fenced the footpath off so the dog walkers were contained withing two [post and rail fences

 

[FellOutOfFavour]

We must be lucky - there is a public footpath running through the fields belonging to the yard we are at. It is fenced off so that walkers go between the fields rather than going in the fields. The path has good gates at either end which will swing shut. The path is well used, mostly by dog walkers from the village who are generally friendly and sensible. We've never had a problem with them.

 

[case895]

I have two footpaths running through my hay fields and have to check them thoroughly before dropping the grass for dog mess, glass bottles and the like. I have caught one woman exercising 3 dogs in the middle before, a family riding bikes and a man with a dog cutting across. I do not cut back the hawthorn around the stiles to deter them and have fitted a fake CCTV at one stile where the local delinks use to meet up to drink and s**g. One guy occasionally parks his car in the field gateway to walk his dog and the next time I am there when he does he is getting my baling spike through his roof, especially if it is during hay making.

 

[Buddy'sMum]

So Saturday lunchtime I wandered down the field to check the gang who were all at the top of the banking at the far end of the field harassing a few rambers having a picnic. When I got a bit closer and could actually see over the banking, the 'few' ramblers was actually more than 20 people, all unwrapping packed lunches. In the middle of a field full of horses. Brilliant idea, eh? A couple of men were sitting on the path the horses use to go down the banking so I suggested they might want to relocate before they got trampled but no. So I faffed around, straightening up top stones on the walls and keeping an eye on things, from a distance. Eventually, my 3-year old tried to go down the path and one of the men tried to wave him away -had no effect whatsoever- so then he started waving one of those ski/walking stick things at him. At which point I went over and told the man to cut it out. His reply was, "it's ok, I have horses and have one just like him at home"!? So I suggested he go home and wave his stick at his own horse but if I saw him so much as waggling a finger at one of mine again he'd have a problem.

Is it me?

 

[Pigeon]

Personally no. If I had the funds to move to the country, it would be to get away from people! I wouldn't want neighbours or walkers lol! Also for some reason people feel they can mess with horses.

 

[RunToEarth]

So Saturday lunchtime I wandered down the field to check the gang who were all at the top of the banking at the far end of the field harassing a few rambers having a picnic. When I got a bit closer and could actually see over the banking, the 'few' ramblers was actually more than 20 people, all unwrapping packed lunches. In the middle of a field full of horses. Brilliant idea, eh? A couple of men were sitting on the path the horses use to go down the banking so I suggested they might want to relocate before they got trampled but no. So I faffed around, straightening up top stones on the walls and keeping an eye on things, from a distance. Eventually, my 3-year old tried to go down the path and one of the men tried to wave him away -had no effect whatsoever- so then he started waving one of those ski/walking stick things at him. At which point I went over and told the man to cut it out. His reply was, "it's ok, I have horses and have one just like him at home"!? So I suggested he go home and wave his stick at his own horse but if I saw him so much as waggling a finger at one of mine again he'd have a problem.

Is it me?

No - it's not you, it's people who feel they have some genuine reason to help themselves to the countryside - the most common response I get is "Oh we're not doing any harm". Picnics are sadly familiar to me, during the royal wedding weekend we had three moorland fires at home because some idiots think it is great to drive out to the countryside with a throw away BBQ and torch hundreds of acres of land... The footpath is to pass and repass and you are not allowed to obstruct it (which 20 ramblers sat picnicing would do). I find horse riders are the worst around here, they are so arrogant.

 

[Optimissteeq]

I'd advise against it as well -I don't own my own place but the yard I am on has several footpaths running through it, including one straight through the stable yard and onto the fields at the back.
Last winter, I was bringing my horse back from the school after having exercised, it was dark as it was around 6.30pm, as we rounded the corner to cross the footpath a large number of runners appeared (about 20), running towards us at speed. All of them had head lamps on so they could see where they were going and some had dogs off the lead. To be honest it scared the 'B'Jesus' out of me, let alone the poor horse who broke free and joined the fray, scattering runners as he went.
The runners then started yelling at my horse and tried shooing him away, as I was trying to catch him, so I was less than sympathetic - why go running through fields in the dark anyway?
The poor horses in the fields adjoining the footpath were also spooked and this went on for several weeks before they finally gave up and found somewhere else.

 

[Apercrumbie]

We have a footpath going through the bottom of our field and have very few problems as it isn't used very much. We get the occasional dog walker but I think our shetland has chased most of them away......

I didn't realise how lucky we were to have no problems - I think I'd go spare if I had people feeding and waving sticks at mine!