Has anyone been prosecuted for trespass for cycling on a footpath?
I can remember a prosecution of a couple of local cyclists for riding, I think, on Kinder around ten or more years back, but I think it was under a Peak District National Park bylaw that specifically forbids cycling on footpaths and open country rather than as a ‘trespass’.
I can’t find any trace of it using google, but it made the local press at the time and the PDNPA generally now seems anxious to promote cycling rather than prosecute mountain bikers.
Oddly I quite like the rights of way system as it stands, it stops magazines and guide book writers from promoting riding on local footpath routes and prevents them getting trashed, but if you do want to ride them, using a bit of discretion, politeness and common sense – small groups, sympathy for ground conditions etc – no-one seems that bothered bar the odd dirty look from grumpy old ramblers.
There’s a sort of myth that somehow rights of way designation has something to do with suitability for use. It doesn’t. There are footpaths that are paved – big swathes of the Pennine Way round here – and basically indestructible, but technically not suitable for bikes and equally bridleways on boggy peat that are very vulnerable to erosion over winter, but totally legal for bikes.
But on balance, I’d rather just leave the whole can of worms alone.