Bridleway rights and farmers

If a bridleway runs across a farmer’s field, is he allowed to plough the field and make the bridleway inaccessable to man or beast (my dog couldn’t even walk on it!)?

I believe so, in which case you can go round the side instead if you prefer

There isn’t a way round. It runs along the edge of the field and through the woods. There is no other way into the woods apart from through this field. It has been ploughed right to the fenceline.
Its the one running left to right here

He’s allowed to plough it – as long as he reinstates it afterwards. If he doesn’t he’s essentially obstructing a right of way – report it to your local rights of way officer.

Dez – I believe they have a certain length of time to reinstate line of right of way, 6 weeks possibly but don’t quote me. Check with HCC if that’s the county it’s in, can do a lot of ROW stuff online.

Farmers may only plough up rights of way across a field if they cannot reasonably avoid doing so, and they should not disturb the surface of field edge paths. Any bridleway that is ploughed up is supposed to be restored within two weeks of ploughing so that it is fit for horses to ride and its line is clear to see. It is a criminal offence under The Rights of Way Act 1990 to plough up a bridleway illegally or to fail to restore it within 2 weeks, and the maximum penalty is £1,000. The 1990 Act has cleared up several legal uncertainties in this area and made enforcement easier – but in practice, although things have significantly improved, ploughing up is still quite frequent and restoration not always as prompt as it should be.

Crow Act 2000

They can ask for a temporary closure / exclusion under the Land Management section. In this case it sounds as though he is just being a PITA.

Speak to the access officer in the local council or your local Natural England or CCW office.

If you can’t ride across it, push your way across it, it is after all still a right of way.

That’s useful info tinribz. Just found the page on the Hampshire website.
I can understand this farmer being a PITA cos his fields are mostly used by the local chavs on their monkey bikes.
I’ll give it a couple of weeks, see if the path is reinstated.
Ironically, the gate leading to this bridalway was only cleared a couple of weeks ago after being overgrown for about 2 years!

If you can’t ride across it, push your way across it, it is after all still a right of way

As I said, my dog couldn’t even walk across it, let alone me. It has ruts up to 18″ deep, mostly made of clay. My bike is going nowhere near that sh1t.

Report it now, so that it’ll be checked for restoration in a fortnight.

Oh, and it’s actually ok to get muck on mountain bikes…

Oh, and it’s actually ok to get muck on mountain bikes..

LOL! I’m going to take a photo of it – this is the stuff that makes your feet look like you’re wearing snowshoes, your bike would turn into a 50lb lump of soil. It’s not just a bit of muck you know!

Like this, but thicker and more sticky

You mean like this…

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Worse! 🙂

i hit a freshly ploughed field on a night ride once, instead of the usual coast down to the other died i was expecting i ended up arse over tit sinking headfirst into the mud!

Funnily enough, that’s almost exactly what my dog did last night – ran down our usual path, hit a furrow and fell flat on her nose!

Actually, I’m a bit depressed now – I’ve search this place on the net and found that they are going to be building industrial units all over my dog walking patch. Bastards.

There is a field that has a bridleway running accross the middle of it up behind QE park and the farmer, when he plows it drives his 4×4 accross to show where the path runs and to give a surface to travel on. mind you the horses soon turn it into a right mess.

Yes, I’ve never seen a right-of-way quite as obliterated as this one. Not that its going to matter when it becomes a f&#@!ing building site.

So what’s he supposed to do? Not plough his field & get on with his work, just so you can stay clean & have an easy ride? Give him chance & he’ll more than likely reinstate it.

goldenwonder – Member
So what’s he supposed to do? Not plough his field & get on with his work, just so you can stay clean & have an easy ride? Give him chance & he’ll more than likely reinstate it.

he isn’t ment to plow a right of way that runs along the edge of a field. one that goes over the middle is fair and you have to give them a chance to reinstate it.

So what’s he supposed to do? Not plough his field & get on with his work, just so you can stay clean & have an easy ride? Give him chance & he’ll more than likely reinstate it.

I don’t (didn’t) know. That’s why I asked.

Solution to deal with farmers who block rights of way illegally?

Salt their fields.

Dez; I can get industrial sized bags if needed. You need, I get for you.

😀 I’d need a big wheelbarrow!

No problem. We’ll get a couple of JCBs from Poddy’s quarry; they’ll do the job.

I’ve search this place on the net and found that they are going to be building industrial units all over my dog walking patch.

can they build on a bridelway?

Looks like they are leaving the byways intact. Just building some more roads.
We’re not allowed to have green land in Hampshire so they are building on all of it.
I’m moving to Wales.

Looks like they are leaving the byways intact. Just building some more roads.
We’re not allowed to have green land in Hampshire so they are building on all of it.
I’m moving to Wales.

That’s what I did

As a farmer, I believe he is entitled to do whatever he wants, claim large sums of money to do so, leave the highways in sh1te order on his way to/from doing whatever he pleases, then shoot your dog and blame the whole mess on you and the Govt for not “unnerstaanden the wayzz o the cundry”.

trailmonkey

I guess your a city dweller, or at best one of those people who lives in a village and likes to think of themselves as being somehow better for it. Inspite fo the fact tyou have never met one of your neighbours, argue about the colour of the others fence, have never attended the parish council meeting, ignore the local shop (ohh its a shame it having to close, i would use it honest, someone should do something, wont someone please think of the children?) and shop at tesco’s 15 miles away, driving there in your range rover because your from the country arent you, and it might snow some time meaning that little Jemmima and Simon need your tank to get them to school. Meanwhile the same little shits are the ones buying cheep cider from the shop (keeping it in busines) and depositing the empty bottles allong with x hundred used condoms/burnt out nova’s/vodca bottles down at the dirt jumps.

If it anoys you that much leave us alone and go live in a block of flats and lean to ride street and parks.

thisisnotaspoon, I’m none of the above. I live in the country, run a business that brings much needed tourist pounds to the area, play an active part in the community, use the village P.O/shop, send my kids ( not named Jemmima and Simon ) to school on the school bus and generally live a fulfilling life albeit one where I have to put up with the local farming community acting like the law is something that other people have to abide by.

BTW, if I were you, I’d retract the section of your post refering to my children as little shits.

little Jemmima and Simon

I’m called Simon – does that mean I have to drink cheap cider ?

SFB

does that mean I have to drink cheap cider ?

yes. in fact you aren’t allowed to drink anything else. even water.

On STW, this, even this can turn into a slanging match! 😯

I know. I was going to start a thread on knitting, and needlework, but I was too scared of being accused of being a Nazi or something, so I din’t.

(Hides under bed)

So, we going field-salting, or what??

I am called Simon and I farm.

Come on!

Got any jobs going smiffy? I promise not to complain about bridleway access (and I won’t bring any salt)

sorry, got a little wound up,

far too many people in chelsea tractors round here wingeing about people who actualy try to make a living from the countryside.

its his field, how about holding a ploughing match in your office, after all its not liek your wanting to inconvenience his work for the benifit of your hobby?

I’m not thinking about my hobby. I’m thinking about the exercising of animals (specifically horses and my dog).

Got plenty of salt, palletfulls in fact.

its his field, how about holding a ploughing match in your office, after all its not liek your wanting to inconvenience his work for the benifit of your hobby?

Surely as per the example above, it wouldn’t take much do drive a tractor/landy down the path of the ROW a few times as a token gesture. Maybe even get the roller out?