I live in North Dorset and every year I would raise either call or log the overgrown trails online and they would cut them within a couple of weeks. Austerity measures have kicked in and 4 weeks have passed and still they have not been cut. So overgrown that it is a struggle to get through. Called them up and was told 2-3 weeks time.

He did say they have had their budget cut, and I said “if you guys have the tools and can train us up, can I volunteer”. Just wonder whether any other forumites have considered offering their time to clear there local trails ?

I try an keep on top of my local trails, every so often carry some clippers and a folding saw but this year the drought in these parts has done the job for me :). nettles are all yellow and stunted and brambles have hardly thrown out any branches.

the trails around my end of sheffield are only passable (by bike or on foot) because i* go out ‘gardening’ once or twice a month.

but like what Klunk says – it’s been a lot easier so far this year.

(*me, and about a dozen others)

Less than 2%. And that’s being optimistic.

The trails were great April/May, but have rapidly grown in the last 4 weeks. A pair of clippers will not keep a 1/2 mile long bridleway clear. You need to carry a tractor with you.

no, but I see that as part of the deal (it’s a lot better than a cinder motorway), I have a pruning saw and you seem to develop a nettle tolerance after a while (agreed that it doesn’t appear so bad this year). The worst I’ve ever has was (IMHO very surprising) the Thames coughpath (which I thought would be a pretty well trodden path), one bit was stunningly unused – undergrowth so dense I really couldn’t see the path and it was a pure bike drag, trees down, bank eroded, at one point I had to carry with one hand, whilst using the other to hold onto a barb wire fence, which had a 6ft drop next to it – that’d keep the ramblers happy …………

one of the lesser used sections of Wharncliffe xc had disappeared due to undergrowth gone wild. probably needs a few hours with a petrol stimmer

I just spent 3hrs this morning pruning the trails near my home it was hard work in the hot weather but riding down them later @ warp speed was a great reward.

The green lanes that got reclassified where kept open nicely by 4×4 and trail bikes. A few are now footpaths and unpassable for brambles round my way.

could a local possibly trim this boat please, went down for the first time yesterday and got nettled to buggery. Didn’t have my hedge trimmer with me 🙂

Whats the legal thing about this, can I nip down my local BW and sort out the overhanging stuff with a petrol hedgetrimmer? What about shifting fallen trees? I could lay my hands on a chainsaw but I’d be worried about using it on public land.

Never heard of them being cleared – many unrideable around here (Hants) because of vegetation currently. Got shredded last night…

Path users have a common law right to clear any obstruction to the extent of being able to pass the obstruction, but this doesn’t extend to carrying out large-scale or specific clearance works (and definitely no power tools!). Remember BW’s have different widths (and heights) that have to remain open compared to FP’s.

Most councils will be ok with a people spending a few hours with trimmers / sythes / a spade / etc if you use common sense and take care of other path users. This time of year I find if they’re cleared in May vegetation grows quicker in July so ideally they should be cleared in April.

I can’t keep a tab on every path in my county, and unless I hear different I have to assume they’re open and easy to use. People think the council knows when a path is overgrown and / or assume someone has already reported it!

If too big a job to do yourself ring the RoW department to report it as a high priority and ask for an ETA, and remember to complain if it’s not done in time 🙂 Even better would be to ask that it be put on the strimming schedule to be cleared as often as possible

If too big a job to do yourself ring the RoW department

Unless your council sacked all the row officers 😯

BTW the no power tools comment is that a definite ruling or just common sense talking? Coz you later mentioned using a scythe. scythe vs hedgetrimmer, I can see the authorities getting just as worked up about either TBH.

Common sense really, as after all a scythe in the wrong hands is more dangerous than a hedge trimmer in the right hands.

Personally I’m glad for any help I get, and if it means people get a bit of firewood at the same time as clearing their local BW’s I don’t see the need to ask any too many questions 🙂

You could try Friends of Dorset’s Rights of Way http://www.fodrow.com/

Its been a while since I lived down there but they used to be pretty active with work days most months. Most of them are 4×4 drivers, but they represent all users.

Went out on a BW that the National Park promote as a MTB route and could barely move downhill for being tangled in vegetation.
Past experience says that King Canute had more success stopping the tide than getting the NP to do anything.

What’s the deal with a BW blocked by crops ?
Not just as in diverted round, but totally impassible & no way at all of getting through, even on foot. Its severed a great BW completely, & I don’t know who to inform, or even if anyone cares.

Come to Cardiff, they can’t even keep the roads clear of overhanging vegetation.

Farmers are meant to re-instate public rights of way after ploughing – needs to be done within a couple of weeks. I think this just covers the surface so if the seed is in the ground its only use keeps it clear once things start growing.

Crops is another problem this time of year (yay, maize coming soon). A path shouldn’t be cropped (or grass for silage / etc past knee height BTW) and again should be reported to the RoW department. Ideally though its how oldagedpredator describes it.

Normally you can go around the crop on the field margin, but the problem is the farmer / landowner is given 14 days to clear the path, it gets checked, and if not cleared they are given another 14 days to do or it’ll be cleared by us instead. Typically by the time cropping is reported and inspected it’ll be harvested before the 28 days are up anyway, so in most instances its pointless doing anything about it.

Saying that I keep records of landowners who go past the 28 days and write to them in march / april the year after, reminding them to keep the paths clear but this time they just get 7 days or we’ll go it for them *and* send them the bill.

Don’t think I’ve ever seen a bridleway around here cleared, footpaths near the town yes but not once about a mile out.