footpath width

[Fendt516profi]

You're preaching to the choir. I fully support temporary permissive paths to stop walkers encountering cattle. It's my whole point.

When your diverted on a road they don't build another road so you can get where your going without increasing the time or distance of your journey. So why open a permissive path just follow one of the many other already existing rights of way

 

[cowslippers]

Yes, I'll give you that. But go back to when these parts started to be used. The vast majority of users were farm workers going to and from work. Yes originally pilgrims used paths to go about their business. Go back far enough and wild dogs made their own paths before being made domestic and using them alongside humans.
Ps an urban myth is generally proved untrue. Farm workers being the majority that used foot paths is true and not an urban myth.

Show me the evidence for that then.

 

[cowslippers]

When your diverted on a road they don't build another road so you can get where your going without increasing the time or distance of your journey. So why open a permissive path just follow one of the many other already existing rights of way

Eh? How does that work? I'm walking along a footpath and I've been following it for miles to get to a pub or house or whatever. I get to a stile after which is a field and then another stile and I'm on the road/where I want to be. The field is full of cows with calves. Whether I have a dog or not, I don't want to enter the field. How do I get to the other side of the field without risk? Where are these other rights of way you refer to? The one that crossed at right angles a mile back and takes me to another village? *Really* helpful. If there was a temporary fence creating a safe path along the edge of the field with cows and calves in it, I'd use that. Why is this hard to understand?

Oh - so on roads they use a "road blocked ahead" sign and then you can detour early. "Cows with calves ahead?" I'd certainly detour early. But then you might argue that some farmers who don't want people on their land may "forget" to take the signs down after some time, right?

 

[Robt]

Show me the evidence for that then.

I could reply and say show me the evidence they werent, but ive got a school govenors meeting to get to. Been nice debating with you. Enjoy the rest of your day and your dog walk later

 

[cowslippers]

I could reply and say show me the evidence they werent, but ive got a school govenors meeting to get to. Been nice debating with you. Enjoy the rest of your day and your dog walk later

Can't prove a negative. Look it up. Cheers, I'll certainly enjoy it if I don't encounter any cows ;-)

 

[HatsOff]

Eh? How does that work? I'm walking along a footpath and I've been following it for miles to get to a pub or house or whatever. I get to a stile after which is a field and then another stile and I'm on the road/where I want to be. The field is full of cows with calves. Whether I have a dog or not, I don't want to enter the field. How do I get to the other side of the field without risk? Where are these other rights of way you refer to? The one that crossed at right angles a mile back and takes me to another village? *Really* helpful. If there was a temporary fence creating a safe path along the edge of the field with cows and calves in it, I'd use that. Why is this hard to understand?

Oh - so on roads they use a "road blocked ahead" sign and then you can detour early. "Cows with calves ahead?" I'd certainly detour early. But then you might argue that some farmers who don't want people on their land may "forget" to take the signs down after some time, right?

Provision of an alternative is not a legal requirement, only notification of the hazard is recommended.

Whether you wish to risk the hazard is up to you.

 

[cowslippers]

Provision of an alternative is not a legal requirement, only notification of the hazard is recommended.

Whether you wish to risk the hazard is up to you.

I think you seem to have missed a lot of the context of that discussion. At no point have I claimed it's a legal requirement.

 

[tepapa]

How do I get to the other side of the field without risk? Where are these other rights of way you refer to? The one that crossed at right angles a mile back and takes me to another village? *Really* helpful.

Yes *Really*, by your own admission, an alternative path exists, that I can almost guarantee, there will be another road or path from the other village to the road at the end of your path. But if not, then yes, it is also a possibility that you retrace your steps so as not to enter the field of cattle.

Just pointing out that you do indeed have options and no-one is forcing you to use the path.

 

[Ffermer Bach]

Who were these people and where did they walk too? Cause I suspect but don't know that the people who walked these paths were farmers and farmworkers who walked from their houses to their jobs or into towns for their supplies. One bit of evidence I do have is a path locally that people claim is a footpath stops at the front door of the house that would of farmed the land at the time they're now claiming the house is blocking the right of way even though the house predates the definitive map

I was told a lot of the footpaths were created by post men taking the post from farm to farm

 

[Ffermer Bach]

Read back a couple of pages on this very thread - I asked the question and that was the answer given. It makes sense to me, as I would think very carefully before paying full price for something that I could only partially use/ enjoy.

when I bought the farm here, one of the criteria was no footpath through the farm yard, so it certainly was something I put a financial value on

 

[Ffermer Bach]

Again, lets debate and play devils advocate. What do you class as livestock? what about ground nesting birds, other wildlife. Can you honeslty say if a hare or similar got up in front of your dog and ran, That your dog wouldnt run away? Very few if any on here are attacking you or being onesided. Farmers move cows on a rotational rather than decide where is best to suit footpaths. They do this to encourage sustainable use of THEIR grazing fields. So its not always possible to NOT put cows on a field with a footpath.
You are being just as one sided as the few on here that arent as friendly as youd like. We activly encourage good debate on here. 99% are very good and happy to hear your side. But to debate you too must be happy to hear the other side.

I agree, trying to keep clean grazing for the sheep entails periods when fields are only grazed with cattle, if one was not able to graze fields with cattle there could be problems with worm resistance due to increased use of anthelmintics

 

[Vader]

My dog is far from fat. He does weigh 30kg though, so it does help to have a gap that he can get through.

If its not fat then the weight means nothing and should get over a style easy.
If it can not its unhealthy...

 

[Vader]

That's not the legal position. Also if there is no other way through, what alternatives do people have? As above, if people have walked a fair distance and then encounter a cow field, what do you expect them to do? Levitate? Abandon the dog?

You make your choice.
Your animal in a field with other animals.
Footpaths are for walking on by public.
Plenty of people don't have dogs or like dogs.
That's why there are dog free beaches.

 

[Vader]

That's not the legal position. Also if there is no other way through, what alternatives do people have? As above, if people have walked a fair distance and then encounter a cow field, what do you expect them to do? Levitate? Abandon the dog?

Pushed like by mistake lol

I would expect ppl to research the route they walking...

 

[TheTallGuy]

Pushed like by mistake lol

I would expect ppl to research the route they walking...

Or turn around and walk back the way they came....

 

[betweenthelines]

If I follow your reasoning correctly @cowslippers, you are saying that a farmer should take into account who may enter his fields when deciding what stock to put in those fields?

On that basis, would you expect all dog owners to keep their pets shut in or tied up at all time as a postman or delivery driver may enter their garden?

 

[theboytheboy]

You're preaching to the choir. I fully support temporary permissive paths to stop walkers encountering cattle. It's my whole point.

Well instead of banging on about on here, how about convincing the local authorities to make it cost effective and straight forward to re route paths around edges of fields and farmyards.....while your at it you could try getting the ramblers to accept this aswell. Thanks

 

[flowerpot]

There was a large scheme locally over two or three adjoining parishes to rationalise the public footpath system, council agreed to meet costs of legal notices, landowners agreed to the new routes and made a financial contribution to the costs per metre on their land.
Guess who scuppered the plan? The Ramblers, of course. It was in national newspapers and there was a lot of interest in it as a pilot scheme.

Poor man who did all the work left the district.

 

[JWL]

You do have to smile at the dog walkers that say that they allways put their dogs on a lead when they see farm animals. What about the other animals that are around in the fields, the rabbits, ground nesting birds etc etc.
They don't see them so they don't matter then blame the farmers for the decline in wildlife.

 

[Lazy Sod]

Plenty of people don't have dogs or like dogs.

Me for one.