Hiking in England

[moytoy]

This is a link to Floridahikes facebook. It's about the ability of hikers to cross private land in the UK. I'm just wondering if anybody here has any experience with this policy in the UK and does it actually work.

https://www.facebook.com/floridahike...159610/?type=1

[Marta]

A short history of the English footpaths as told to me when I lived in England: Before cars were common, most people went around on foot. There were footpaths leading to most places people would want to go. As cars became common (in the 1960s and 1970s), landowners started blocking those footpaths. The Ramblers organization lobbied and campaigned successfully to have the footpaths declared public rights of way. These footpaths have to be walked at least once a year, which the Ramblers documents that they do. There are excellent maps of these paths, and most of them are marked and signposted.

It is possible for a landowner to close a footpath, though it's a fairly laborious process. Madonna did that on her estate some time back because a footpath passed quite close to her house and was being used by gawkers to watch her.

[rafe]

My wife and I have walked a few dozen miles of the Coastal Path in Devon and Cornwall. She loved it. It's incredibly well-graded, no roots or rocks... old grannies can and do walk it, and families pushing strollers in places. It goes through towns and past pubs on a regular basis so there's hardly even a need to carry more than a day pack. There are no shelters and I don't think anyone camps on it. It is 600+ miles of continuous path.

The path hugs the coast as the name suggests, sometimes down low at the beach and surf, sometimes on steep bluffs several hundred feet above the ocean, skirting fields and meadows. And sometimes right through town. It's well blazed, and I'm sure it covers its fair share of both private and public land. I think they have a different notion of what what private land means. The views are really non-stop.


merry_on_coast_walk.jpg

coast_walk_halfway_to_fowey_A.jpg


coast_path_near_looe_4.jpg

hunters_inn_hike_near_polpero.jpg

The trail goes right to the pub...

http://www.southwestcoastpath.com/

[Mrs Baggins]

We've hiked out through pastures on footpaths in Scotland, England, and Wales. I love the ability to do that - just pull over and start walking. We're going back to Scotland in late August to do the West Highland Way. Can't wait!

[Tipi Walter]

Check out the German Tourist website---

http://christine-on-big-trip.blogspot.com/

And check out her discussion here---

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-...e_pagination=1

[BrianLe]

My wife and I hiked the Wainwright Trail (aka Coast-to-Coast) trail in northern England, and it's very much like that --- sometimes it feels to an American like trespassing, and in fact sometimes the route goes quite close to someone's house. You do get used to it, remembering the related issue of being considerate, closing gates that you go through (more often stiles, though), that sort of thing.

[Mitey Mo]

That's my Dream Hike!!! I've been saving two years for it. Can't wait till retirement! I would love to read about your hike!

[chiefiepoo]

I've hiked Hadrians Wall path end to end, the great Glen Way and the North Cumberland trail along the North sea coast in the UK. You have the "right to walk"along with the responsibility to not harm the land or livestock. It is hard to tell which is public land or what is private land though, so respect all paths and leave no trace. Wild camping, or stealth camping is discouraged and most walkers stay in organized campgrounds, camping barns, b&B's, taverns, and hostels along the way. Stay on the path, close the gates, etc., be a good guest on someone else's property.

[tf bear]

Do you hike on the right side of the path or the left when in the UK?

[QiWiz]

I just got back from a week in Wales. I was very impressed by the public footpaths that seemed to be everywhere. We were able to "tramp" seamlessly from public to private property and back. We were on private property (mostly farms) more than on any public lands. When you get to a fence or hedgerow, there is a stile to let you climb over. Highly recommended. We only did dayhikes, so I can't say what it would be like to try to backpack and camp; you would have to look into the rules about that.

[ki0eh]

Although the legalities are quite different, many parts of Finger Lakes Trail in NY State, some trails in PA (parts of North Country, Mid State, much of Horse-Shoe, Mason-Dixon, and Conestoga) pass through private land alongside fields and houses by permission of the landowners.

[double d]

My advice would be to hike in Ireland instead!

[Old Hillwalker]

I just got back from a week in Wales. I was very impressed by the public footpaths that seemed to be everywhere. We were able to "tramp" seamlessly from public to private property and back. We were on private property (mostly farms) more than on any public lands. When you get to a fence or hedgerow, there is a stile to let you climb over. Highly recommended. We only did dayhikes, so I can't say what it would be like to try to backpack and camp; you would have to look into the rules about that.

Over the past few years I have backpacked and wild camped 500 to 600 miles in Scotland without any problems other than attacks of the nefarious Midges and a wee bit of mostly rain. Here is my 2009 215 mile "Hike to the Cape" "The most remote and difficult cross country hike in the British Isles".

http://www.samohtw.blogspot.com/2011...ape-wrath.html

http://www.capewrathtrail.co.uk/

The Scottish Access Rules are somewhat different than the rest of the UK, much more freedom. Freedom!

[rafe]

Although the legalities are quite different, many parts of Finger Lakes Trail in NY State, some trails in PA (parts of North Country, Mid State, much of Horse-Shoe, Mason-Dixon, and Conestoga) pass through private land alongside fields and houses by permission of the landowners.

Probably true of the MA Mid-State trail as well. It's a real patchwork of a trail.

Even on the AT. I'm thinking about that driveway you walk up in North Adams, as you leave the town heading for Vermont. I always think, what the heck, this just can't be right. But apparently it is. I was just there a few weeks ago, it's still the same.

[BrianLe]

Mitey Mo wrote:

"That's my Dream Hike!!! I've been saving two years for it. Can't wait till retirement! I would love to read about your hike!"

I didn't blog this hike per se, but summarized the experience here:
http://postholer.com/journal/viewJou...entry_id=19036

Lots and lots of people hike the Wainwright, shouldn't be hard (?) to find more complete blogs about this.

double d wrote:

"My advice would be to hike in Ireland instead!"

I met a lot of Irish hikers on the Camino in Spain last year, and asked most of them about hiking advice in Ireland, and in particular to compare this whole "right to walk" thing to how it works in England. They pretty much all said that it's not like that in Ireland, that folks wouldn't take at all kindly to what they would perceive as trespassing. I.e., it sounds a lot like in the U.S. There are some walks apparently, but nothing very long. England proper, OTOH, offers several fairly long distance hikes --- Offas Dike, Hadrian's Wall, Wainwright, now a newer long trail in Wales --- those just off the top of my head and likely there are more.

[Marta]

The footpath rules in England require that you stay on the footpath, which is usually pretty obvious as a well-beaten track through the grass. On some places, like golf courses, the path is less obvious and you have to look across from the edge of one area and try to spot the marker on the other side of the green.

Continental Europe, especially Scandinavia, have much more liberal rules. You can walk and camp just about anywhere, as long as you don't damage or destroy things.

Here's a link to a Wikipedia article comparing access laws in many countries.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_to_roam

[chiefiepoo]

I had two instances on the North Cumberland trail where I crossed golf courses. No one seemed to mind, just stay off the greens and fairways. Be in the rough or along a cart path. Hand washing and contamination precautions are important. There is soooo much sheep poo. Grasping all of those crossover stiles and gates is a potential contamination source for hand to eye / mouth touching. I would never think about drinking surface water even after filter or chemical treatment. Good thing that villages and crossroad pubs are abundant.

[Odd Man Out]

The northern section of the Kungsleden is on my bucket list. The pictures are epic.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kungsleden

In Sweden, the constitution guarantees free access to all wild undeveloped lands, public or private. It's called "every man's right".

[moytoy]

Pretty cool.....lots of hiking info on the British Isles here.