Most common faults

In an ideal world, all footpaths would be clear and accessible throughout their length, but unfortunately this is not always the case. Peak & Northern inspectors regularly monitor paths in their parishes, but you also can help improve the quality of our paths by reporting any faults to the Society, using the fault reporting form.

Faults which should be reported include :

Obstructions

Obstructions of the way constitute the most serious faults, such as:

Barbed wire, e.g. across stiles or around gates – you are entitled to remove any such obstruction, but you must be certain that it lies on the line of the path.

Electrified fences.

Crops and ploughing – briefly, a farmer is allowed to disturb the surface of a path but must reinstate within 14 days. Headland paths (field edge paths) must not be ploughed.

Landslips

Large holes ! – often caused by open-cast mining or quarrying.

Streams or ditches which cannot easily be crossed – because of modern excavation machinery, some dykes have been widened or deepened to such an extent that crossing is now impossible without a bridge.

Buildings – these can include farm buildings, housing, industrial development, road construction or widening, extended gardens, car parks, golf  courses, sports pitches etc.

Locked gates (or those very difficult to open)

By person (e.g. ‘get off my land’) – try to encourage the person to do all the talking, to ascertain when they believe the path was diverted or closed, so that a full report can be submitted. You will have to decide, based on the circumstances, whether to proceed or gracefully withdraw.

Stiles / Bridges

A stile or bridge which is is difficult and/or dangerous to use should be reported. Walkers vary immensely in agility and head for heights, so a stile which an athletic rock climber will enjoy scrambling over in fîfteen seconds may be so defective that most other walkers will take several frightening minutes to get over it. Please apply the test  ‘Can this right of way be used safely and easily by everyone who is likely to walk it'. All stiles should have a stepboard and a secure handhold – without these it is merely a fence.

Animals

Horses – ridden horses are allowed on Bridleways and Byways Open to all Traffic (BOATS), but not on footpaths. However farmers may allow riders to use a field through which a path passes, so you could legally meet a horse and rider on a footpath. Horses may also be turned loose to graze in fields crossed by rights of way. There are two concerns with horses on rights of way : damage to path surface from hooves, and lack of room on enclosed paths for walkers to pass. Please report if you encounter either of these situations.

Hounds – most cause no problem to the walker but others most certainly do. Does the presence of the dog or dogs deter walkers from using the way ? If the answer is yes, then a report is appropriate. Watch out for dogs which are chained, but with a chain long enough to allow the dog access to the path line.

Bulls – foootpaths law regarding bulls is rather complex and detailed more fully in Rights of Way – a Guide to Law and Practice. The Society’s advice to all path users must be to take extreme care.

Surface Condition

Where the path surface is boggy, covered by water, mud, dung, overgrown vegetation, or ruts, and these faults cannot easily be by-passed, so that walking over the way is much more arduous than users should reasonably expect in such a location having regard to prevailing weather, then these should be reported.

Signposts

False or misleading signposts - eg  a PRIVATE ROAD  notice displayed on a farm track which may be private, but which also carries a public foopath. In this case we would invite the local authority to erect a countering Public Footpath signpost alongside.

Missing, damaged or obscured signposts where the path meets a road – Local authorities have statutory duty to indicate the route of a right of way where it leaves a metalled road. Before reporting that a sign is missing, please check whether

(i)    it is present; but is hidden by vegetation or is in a place where you would not expect to find it (in which case please report accordingly);

(ii)    you have accurately identified the end of the right of way  - sometimes a farm gate is mistaken for the start of the way, when the actual way is concealed in a hedge further along the road, with a signpost adjacent.