rights of passage - England's Footpath Network
Posted on November 25, 2024 Since the start of writing my Life in the English Cotswolds blog , now over fifteen years ago, overseas readers have repeatedly commented on our network of public footpaths. Mostly it is one of surprise that we can seemingly wander at will over privately owned land and clear any obstruction that may be blocking our way. In this post I hope to clarify what this civil right, now enshrined in law, is all about. A footpath crossing privately-owned land in the Cotswolds Many of our footpaths are ancient in origin dating back 5000 years or more. Of course, in those days, these paths were the main highways across a wild and untamed land. Even in the relatively recent past much of the road system was a dusty, uncomfortable route to take in summer and not any better later in the year when winter rain turned them into a muddy quagmire. Over many centuries the network of paths was created, usually by local people on foot ...
