
Search for England’s Forgotten Footpaths - bcaulfield
https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-the-uk/the-search-for-englands-forgotten-footpaths
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kcorbitt
> He came across it, and the rest of the Maze, while walking on his lunch
> break. (His office was in an industrial park not far away.) I asked Fraser
> if he had been trying to get anywhere in particular. “Well, I roam about all
> over the place,”

I love just rambling around the countryside and seeing new things. I walk a
fair amount every day, and I find that there's something good for the soul
about walking a lightly-travelled footpath with no particular destination in
mind, alone with your thoughts. If there's no undeveloped land at hand I'll
walk through the city, which has its own charm, but I find it doesn't have
quite the same effect.

I suppose I must be in the minority though. There are many trails near San
Francisco where I never come across more than a handful of fellow walkers,
despite the area's dense population.

~~~
oh_sigh
It's 4 a.m. Nasruddin leaves the tavern and walks the town aimlessly. A
policeman stops him. "Why are you out wandering the streets in the middle of
the night?" "Sir," replies Nasruddin, "if I knew the answer to that question,
I would have been home hours ago!"

-Rumi

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clort
The world is different now, we walk for leisure rather than going to work.
Also there are not thousands of rural folk who need to get somewhere by foot
on a daily basis meaning it is a problem, where over the years paths and parts
of paths have been closed so that the paths that are left just don't go
anywhere useful and then the landowners attempt to close them on the basis
that they are no longer used.

It is a further problem, where the council departments who are responsible for
these paths are not funded adequately. I myself reported that a 'public right
of way' sign was missing last year. The council representative asked if there
was still a post present and when I replied negatively, they said that they
would have been able to replace the sign easily but putting a new post in was
subject to further funding which they did not have at the time. At least, I
think, the footpath itself is shown on the OS map (definitive) and the council
have it on a list (the representative said they were expecting new funding in
the next tax year). I continue to walk it occasionally.

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oh_sigh
99% invisible had a nice podcast on the right to roam(mostly in England):
[https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/right-to-
roam/](https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/right-to-roam/)

~~~
arethuza
I don't think the "Right to Roam" in England and Wales is quite as extensive
as it is here in Scotland - basically we have the right to walk and camp
pretty much anywhere as long as you are sensible - don't damage crops and
avoid the immediate vicinity of houses.

I'd really miss living somewhere where you can't pretty much wander about
anywhere you want.

Edit: To add another cool aspect about the wilder parts of Scotland, there is
a network of free accommodation as well:

 _" To maintain simple shelters in remote country for the use & benefit of all
who love wild & lonely places."_

[https://www.mountainbothies.org.uk/](https://www.mountainbothies.org.uk/)

~~~
girzel
The Scandinavia influence is showing: they have allemansrecht.

~~~
vidarh
Growing up in Norway, we were taught from primary school age that we could go
pretty much whenever we wanted outside of urban settlements, as long as we
behaved sensibly (no stepping on crops, no littering, ensuring you close gates
to avoid letting animals loose), and that we could forage for berries or
mushrooms without having to ask anyone for permission (fishing and hunting
rights do have restrictions). It made it very strange to go elsewhere and
realize how much land is fenced in and inaccessible to the public many places.

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Jaruzel
> _In England, public paths are made by walking them. You can make a new,
> legally recognised footpath by simply treading up and down it, with a few
> friends, for a period of twenty years._

Nice. You can't get more British than that.

~~~
Wildgoose
Strictly, English (and Welsh), not "British".

The UK is a collection of countries (like Austria-Hungary) and Scotland and
Northern Ireland have their own legal systems and different rules.

~~~
Jaruzel
I know, I'm a UK citizen. :)

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sn41
recommended for a related read : Robert Macfarlane, "The Old Ways" \- a very
lyrical book about tramping/hiking/roaming.

[https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/560/56083/the-old-
ways/97801...](https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/560/56083/the-old-
ways/9780141030586.html)

I also like the wistful poem "Roads" by Edward Thomas:

"On this earth 'tis sure

We men have not made

Anything that doth fade

So soon, so long endure:"

which contains the immortal line "Now All Roads Lead to France":

[https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/57265/roads-56d23a98e...](https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/57265/roads-56d23a98e9981)

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oska
Article on the same subject in the _Guardian_ , from last month:

[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/04/memory-
lanes-t...](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/04/memory-lanes-the-
ramblers-trying-to-save-10000-lost-footpaths)

