Dear Blogger
Earlier this year there was some discussion about the Drumbles footpath/bridleway. Here is the definitive answer
Message from Trevor Alison, Walking Environment Secretary for the Shropshire Area of the Ramblers.
Please may I firstly make it clear that I am NOT infallible, and as some of what I will refer to dates back over 20 years, my memory may not be totally correct. Secondly, there is the problem that the area in question falls into 2 Parishes, Ruyton-XI-Towns and Baschurch. Thirdly, until the 1949 National Parks & Access to the Countryside Act there were NO such things as Public Footpaths and Bridleways guaranteed by law.
Now the problems commence. On the 1900 25 inches to the mile Ordnance Survey map of the area, there was recorded a footpath going up the lane past the old chapel in Ruyton, passing through the grounds of Ruyton Park (now Packwood Haugh) and crossing the River Perry by a footbridge into Baschurch Parish and the grounds of Boreatton Park. There was also a track shown from Ruyton Park buildings going north-east and down the bank to a bridge over the River Perry into the Deer Park of Boreatton.
By 1949, when the Act was passed which required ALL Parishes to provide a list of those routes which they considered to be used by the PUBLIC, both these bridges had disappeared. Because Packwood Haugh School was now based in what had been Ruyton Park, NO PUBLIC FOOTPATH was registered on the old line, especially as there was no way to cross the River Perry here.
However, once the footbridge had disappeared, (presumably during the Second World War) a new route to Ruyton from what is now Drumbles Cottage had been used by its occupants, especially the children, to get to Ruyton School, which was much nearer than the Primary School in Baschurch, and also the village's shops. This involved using a track, which is now Bridleway 0202/UN2/1, which existed along the top edge of Drumbles Wood, but only as far as the Parish boundary, not including the last 80 metres in what is known as Dunning Wood in Ruyton Parish.
But Baschurch Parish did not register this as a Public Right-of-Way, instead they incorrectly registered the old footpath (0202/8/1) down the bank to the now non-existent footbridge over the River Perry. However, though I cannot now remember for certain, or find an Ordnance Map to show me, I feel sure that Ruyton recorded a Public Right-of-Way as far as the Parish boundary on their side directly from the bridge over the River Perry near the 'Dairy Site' up the field to where the route enters Dunning Wood.
This gave rise to 2 dead-end Public Rights-of-Way, one in Ruyton and one in Baschurch, as the route along the top of the Drumbles in Baschurch was NOT a Public Right-of-Way. However, people had continued to make occasional use of this route during the years up to the time that the Baschurch section of the Drumbles was fenced off and access denied to this route.
Now I finally came on the scene, and having been made aware of the 'problem', I began to do some research which provided all the above information. As I was a Life Member of the Ramblers' Association, with the help of their local Footpath Officer, I made a claim for the Baschurch section of the route to be added to the Definitive Map as a FOOTPATH, because that was all I knew of its use. The County Council did not provide a response within the required 12-month period, so I had to go to the next stage of the process by appealing to the Secretary of State to require the County to determine the Application.
My memory of this period is hazy, but I know that in the end the County Council did do the required research and acquired sufficient user evidence to publish a Creation Order, and after some 3 years an Inspector was appointed to determine the Application. The end result was that the Inspector approved the Application but created a BRIDLEWAY because he considered that the evidence provided by a number of horse-riders who had used the route was sufficient for it to be one. This, however, left an Anomaly; the new route was a Bridleway, but the old part in Ruyton was only a Footpath, and there was nowhere legally for horse-riders to go at Drumbles Cottage because the lane there, though used by horse-riders, had never been recorded, as PUBLIC. My claim was only for a footpath so walkers could continue eastwards from Drumbles Cottage down footpath 0202/7/1 to the Stanwardine Road. I was still a 'novice' at Rights-of-Way matters and had not considered the possibility of a higher status than Footpath.
I was still only a local footpath worker, so I was not involved in the next part of the process in Baschurch, whereby the track was proposed to be recorded as a Public Bridleway, and that has NOT yet been determined 15 years after it was proposed. In Ruyton the Footpath section was upgraded to a Bridleway at the same time as the Rights-of-Way in the field opposite the 'Dairy Site' where diverted into what now exists, at the suggestion of Mr. Gittins.
So, the legal position now is that there is a Public Bridleway from School Road as far as Drumbles Cottage, but only a Public Footpath on down across the field to the Stanwardine Road. There is currently NO PUBLIC Right-of-Way of any sort on the track from Dairi-Pak to Drumbles Cottage.
However, as use of the track by a walker is only civil trespass, only the landholder or his agent can ask the trespasser to leave it, and only if he/she refuses, can REASONABLE force be used to make them do so. Civil trespass is NOT a police matter, and signs saying 'Trespassers will be prosecuted' are invalid; it is up to the landowner to seek an order from the courts prohibiting further trespass by an individual. As all this is rather 'over-the-top', the normal accepted practice is to ask the walker to return to the nearest available PUBLIC Right-of-Way, and if that happens to be where the walker was going anyway, nothing has been achieved by the landowner except that the walker has been warned NOT to attempt to repeat the practice. It is all rather a 'grey' area where anyone can sometimes make the wrong decision.
I have now moved on in Shropshire Ramblers, having been the Area Footpath Secretary for some 7 years, (I am now aged 74) and am now the Walking Environment Secretary, dealing with Planning Applications and such matters, and the status of the track does NOT fall within my remit, though I would like it resolved.
As a responsible Life Member of the Ramblers, and as a Parish Councillor in Ruyton, I cannot advocate any action which is any way illegal. I realise that some horse-riders have found the state of the Drumbles section not up to that of a legal Bridleway, but all they can do legally is ride as far as they can go, and then turn back. Its width and height is not always consistent with its status but that problem will come far down the list of priorities of the County's Rights-of-Way Department, which is responsible for over 5,600 kilometres of Rights-of-Way, and has a severe shortage of staff due to the state of the County's finances; all things which are outside of Ramblers' control or even influence.
I am now back from the holiday and I am willing to discuss the whole issue with anyone who wishes to speak to me, but I can ONLY suggest LEGAL ideas and action. I have NO powers, only the experience I have gained in the last 10 years or so, working for the Ramblers and alongside the County's Rights-of-Way team.
Kind regards
Trevor Allison, Walking Environment Secretary for the Shropshire Area of the Ramblers - 01939 260 899 . eta-06@tiscali.co.uk
