citydreams
Member
Do you know the difference between a footpath and a bridleway?
Sorry to get all political on you, but thought this is worth sharing
There's a petition here, that's now at 125k signatures.
And more campaign info here from the Right to Roam org.
Bridleways have been around for a very long time, and certainly before bikes were even dreamed of. There's a clue in the name... Both 'bridle' and 'way' come from Old English (Anglo-Saxon) words briedel and weg: weg is still the German name for way. And many of the routes we call bridleways today are far older than than even that might imply - some are prehistoric in origin. This long history is one reason we have such an extensive network of bridleways and other rights of way.
The right to walk or ride a horse on a bridleway is enshrined in common law, which effectively means it's very, very old. However, a clear legal definition of a bridleway, let along proper identification and mapping of them all, is much more recent and, in fact, isn't finished yet. The right to ride a bicycle on a bridleway is even more recent.
It's a tortuous tale enshrined in a series of Acts of Parliament dating back 200 years. Arguably the most important of all is the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949, one of the sweeping reforms introduced by the great post-war Labour government. Quite apart from the creation of National Parks, the Act brought in a system for comprehensive recording of rights of way, which led to the creation of definitive maps. It's hardly surprising that this took some time. In case you're wondering, North Bedfordshire holds the sorry distinction of being the slowest, taking 33 years to produce its definitive map.
What the 1949 Act didn't do was change the basic definition of a bridleway - and that meant that there was no right to ride a bicycle on one. Cyclists has to wait for section 30 of the Countryside Act in 1968: "Any member of the public shall have, as a right of way, the right to ride a bicycle, not being a mechanically propelled vehicle, on any bridleway, but in exercising that right cyclists shall give way to pedestrians and persons on horseback." the Cyclists' Touring club (CTC) apparently deserves the credit for the inclusion of this measure.
As the process of recording and mapping rights of way progressed - slowly and imperfectly - it became possible for the first time to quantify the size of the network. England has about 91000 miles of footpath, 20000 miles of bridleway, 3700 miles of restricted bridleway and 2300 miles of byways open to all traffic - all of which are fair game for mountain bikers. Footpaths therefore form about 78% of the Right of Way network, with only the remaining 22% open to bikes (and horses).
The total Right of Way network in Wales is about 20500 miles. Scotland's law is different, and not just since the passage of The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 and subsequent introduction of the Scottish Access Code. Even before this there was not distinction between footpath and bridleway and it was generally presumed that cyclists and horse-riders were entitled to follow any right of way - but rights of way as such were relatively thin on the ground (less that half the total mileage of Wales) as there was no obligation to record them - an no definitive map process
Northern Ireland is the region of the UK with the worst position of rights of way. Even for walkers, access is much more limited than the rest of the country, as far fewer Right of Ways were identified. Worse, as the Countryside Act 1968 did not apply to NI, bridleways here are strictly speaking only open to walkers and horse-riders.
Let's back up a little. The definitive map process is intended to record the rights of way which exist, but how are they established?
One way to establish a Right of Way is if a landowner dedicates it as such. In practice, this rarely happens. Instead, most Rights of Way are established by the 'inference of dedication'. In another quirk of British law, use originally had to be demonstrated as far back as 1189 for the inference of dedication to apply. Yes, you read that right. 1189.
Luckily this isn't the case any more. Today, the basic test for the establishment of a right of way is that it has been used by the public 'as of right' for a period of 20 years or longer. However, it's more complicated than that and normally if a landowner has in any way indicated an unwillingness to allow the public to use a route, the test fails.
So, if you and your mates have been using a 'cheeky trail' for 20 years without being warned off, have never passed notices saying 'no bikes', and haven't had to negotiate sites of locked gates, then there's a good chance it could become a permanent right of way.
Clearly it's much better to have an organisation behind you. Compared to the excellent work that the Ramblers do for walkers, mountain bikers are less well provided for; with IMBA UK currently dormant and British Cycling showing little or no interest in recreational mountain biking, the most likely port of call at a national level is the CTC.
It may be true that a bridleway, or any highway is a right rather than a thing. But the ways that we actually ride are things too, and some of them are very ancient things. This may be where we in England are actually better off than some of those countries where the right of access is universal. The gold standard is set by the Nordic countries, and perhaps also Estonia, with Scotland a recent addition to the elite. The right of access is so strongly embedded here that in Sweden, for example, restrictions hae been placed on the building of new homes near shorelines specifically to protect the right of public access to it.
The existence of a bridleway impies historic usage on horseback, which means there's a reasonable chance it will at least be passable by bike. It also means that these routes have history. I can't be the only one whose enjoyment of a route has been heightened by the traces, or just mental picture, of those who have gone before - in some cases, not just for centuries but for millennia.
We've already seen how complicated the process of establishing aright of way can be, and how long the process of creating a definitive map could take. Sadly, the process has been not just slow but incomplete. Many routes in historic and often in current use have not been recorded, or have been recorded as a lower category than they really merit.
The Countryside and Rights Way Act 2000 (CROW) attempted to address this problem by creating a mechanism to unearth these 'lost ways' and also by setting a deadline for this to be completed. The problem is, the mechanism has lapsed but the deadline hasn't. The Act stipulates that footpaths and bridleways that were in existence on 1st January 1949 but not recorded on the definitive map by 1st January 2026 will be extinguished. Unrecorded higher rights that may apply to a definitive footpath, bridleway or restricted byway will also be extinguished.
Shortly after the passage of CROW in 2000, funding was promised both to voluntary groups and to local authorities under a project called Discovering Lost Ways (DLW). In 2002 the Countryside Agency estimated that there some 20,000 unrecorded rights of way - totalling 10,000 miles - in England including 2,500 miles of bridleways and 1,700 miles of byways. If these were all defined and available, there would be a 12% increase in bridleways and a 28% increase in byways.
As for DLW, nothing really happened other an an exploratory study followed by a plan to outsource the work to a commercial company, This achieved little other than to stall any work that voluntary groups or local authorities could have done - and in 2008 DLW was officially abandoned. By some estimates £8 million had been spent without any Rights of Ways being added to the definitive maps, other than in a few areas covered by pilot schemes, but meanwhile the 2026 deadline had moved ominously closer.
The British Rights of Way network is a mess of old legislation, botched attempts at map-making and misunderstandings on the ground. But here's the thing. Mountain bikers can help steer the process in the right direction by engaging positively with other user groups(or 'stakeholders', to use the jargon). - specifically walkers and horse riders - both by being friendly and considerate on the trails and by joining forces in advocacy and activism. It may not be sexy, but fighting for our right to ride on centuries-old trails could be the only way of keeping some of those ancient routes alive
Sorry to get all political on you, but thought this is worth sharing
There's a petition here, that's now at 125k signatures.
And more campaign info here from the Right to Roam org.
Bridleways have been around for a very long time, and certainly before bikes were even dreamed of. There's a clue in the name... Both 'bridle' and 'way' come from Old English (Anglo-Saxon) words briedel and weg: weg is still the German name for way. And many of the routes we call bridleways today are far older than than even that might imply - some are prehistoric in origin. This long history is one reason we have such an extensive network of bridleways and other rights of way.
The right to walk or ride a horse on a bridleway is enshrined in common law, which effectively means it's very, very old. However, a clear legal definition of a bridleway, let along proper identification and mapping of them all, is much more recent and, in fact, isn't finished yet. The right to ride a bicycle on a bridleway is even more recent.
It's a tortuous tale enshrined in a series of Acts of Parliament dating back 200 years. Arguably the most important of all is the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949, one of the sweeping reforms introduced by the great post-war Labour government. Quite apart from the creation of National Parks, the Act brought in a system for comprehensive recording of rights of way, which led to the creation of definitive maps. It's hardly surprising that this took some time. In case you're wondering, North Bedfordshire holds the sorry distinction of being the slowest, taking 33 years to produce its definitive map.
What the 1949 Act didn't do was change the basic definition of a bridleway - and that meant that there was no right to ride a bicycle on one. Cyclists has to wait for section 30 of the Countryside Act in 1968: "Any member of the public shall have, as a right of way, the right to ride a bicycle, not being a mechanically propelled vehicle, on any bridleway, but in exercising that right cyclists shall give way to pedestrians and persons on horseback." the Cyclists' Touring club (CTC) apparently deserves the credit for the inclusion of this measure.
As the process of recording and mapping rights of way progressed - slowly and imperfectly - it became possible for the first time to quantify the size of the network. England has about 91000 miles of footpath, 20000 miles of bridleway, 3700 miles of restricted bridleway and 2300 miles of byways open to all traffic - all of which are fair game for mountain bikers. Footpaths therefore form about 78% of the Right of Way network, with only the remaining 22% open to bikes (and horses).
The total Right of Way network in Wales is about 20500 miles. Scotland's law is different, and not just since the passage of The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 and subsequent introduction of the Scottish Access Code. Even before this there was not distinction between footpath and bridleway and it was generally presumed that cyclists and horse-riders were entitled to follow any right of way - but rights of way as such were relatively thin on the ground (less that half the total mileage of Wales) as there was no obligation to record them - an no definitive map process
Northern Ireland is the region of the UK with the worst position of rights of way. Even for walkers, access is much more limited than the rest of the country, as far fewer Right of Ways were identified. Worse, as the Countryside Act 1968 did not apply to NI, bridleways here are strictly speaking only open to walkers and horse-riders.
Let's back up a little. The definitive map process is intended to record the rights of way which exist, but how are they established?
One way to establish a Right of Way is if a landowner dedicates it as such. In practice, this rarely happens. Instead, most Rights of Way are established by the 'inference of dedication'. In another quirk of British law, use originally had to be demonstrated as far back as 1189 for the inference of dedication to apply. Yes, you read that right. 1189.
Luckily this isn't the case any more. Today, the basic test for the establishment of a right of way is that it has been used by the public 'as of right' for a period of 20 years or longer. However, it's more complicated than that and normally if a landowner has in any way indicated an unwillingness to allow the public to use a route, the test fails.
So, if you and your mates have been using a 'cheeky trail' for 20 years without being warned off, have never passed notices saying 'no bikes', and haven't had to negotiate sites of locked gates, then there's a good chance it could become a permanent right of way.
Clearly it's much better to have an organisation behind you. Compared to the excellent work that the Ramblers do for walkers, mountain bikers are less well provided for; with IMBA UK currently dormant and British Cycling showing little or no interest in recreational mountain biking, the most likely port of call at a national level is the CTC.
It may be true that a bridleway, or any highway is a right rather than a thing. But the ways that we actually ride are things too, and some of them are very ancient things. This may be where we in England are actually better off than some of those countries where the right of access is universal. The gold standard is set by the Nordic countries, and perhaps also Estonia, with Scotland a recent addition to the elite. The right of access is so strongly embedded here that in Sweden, for example, restrictions hae been placed on the building of new homes near shorelines specifically to protect the right of public access to it.
The existence of a bridleway impies historic usage on horseback, which means there's a reasonable chance it will at least be passable by bike. It also means that these routes have history. I can't be the only one whose enjoyment of a route has been heightened by the traces, or just mental picture, of those who have gone before - in some cases, not just for centuries but for millennia.
We've already seen how complicated the process of establishing aright of way can be, and how long the process of creating a definitive map could take. Sadly, the process has been not just slow but incomplete. Many routes in historic and often in current use have not been recorded, or have been recorded as a lower category than they really merit.
The Countryside and Rights Way Act 2000 (CROW) attempted to address this problem by creating a mechanism to unearth these 'lost ways' and also by setting a deadline for this to be completed. The problem is, the mechanism has lapsed but the deadline hasn't. The Act stipulates that footpaths and bridleways that were in existence on 1st January 1949 but not recorded on the definitive map by 1st January 2026 will be extinguished. Unrecorded higher rights that may apply to a definitive footpath, bridleway or restricted byway will also be extinguished.
Shortly after the passage of CROW in 2000, funding was promised both to voluntary groups and to local authorities under a project called Discovering Lost Ways (DLW). In 2002 the Countryside Agency estimated that there some 20,000 unrecorded rights of way - totalling 10,000 miles - in England including 2,500 miles of bridleways and 1,700 miles of byways. If these were all defined and available, there would be a 12% increase in bridleways and a 28% increase in byways.
As for DLW, nothing really happened other an an exploratory study followed by a plan to outsource the work to a commercial company, This achieved little other than to stall any work that voluntary groups or local authorities could have done - and in 2008 DLW was officially abandoned. By some estimates £8 million had been spent without any Rights of Ways being added to the definitive maps, other than in a few areas covered by pilot schemes, but meanwhile the 2026 deadline had moved ominously closer.
The British Rights of Way network is a mess of old legislation, botched attempts at map-making and misunderstandings on the ground. But here's the thing. Mountain bikers can help steer the process in the right direction by engaging positively with other user groups(or 'stakeholders', to use the jargon). - specifically walkers and horse riders - both by being friendly and considerate on the trails and by joining forces in advocacy and activism. It may not be sexy, but fighting for our right to ride on centuries-old trails could be the only way of keeping some of those ancient routes alive
