Lmst

Out and about today scouting for the next venue for the Pencoed Trailblazers community footpath clearance event on 17 Jan at 10am. Hold the date and come along! Location TBC this week. #Pencoed #Trailblazers #PencoedTrailblazers #GreenSpaces #RightsOfWay #CoityWallia #Community #Footpath #Wales

Garn Fawr, a rocky outcrop on Cefn Hirgoed within Coity Wallia common land with a blue sky and views across the common.

Two Pencoed Trailblazers cleared 70 metres on Pencoed Footpath 32 this week and even rediscovered Pencoed Spring by stepping straight into it. Another 30 metres to go, but the route is already taking shape. Community action making a real difference.
#PencoedTrailblazers #Trailblazers #Pencoed #CommunityAction #RightsOfWay

Part of the cleared path with the winter sun shining through the trees. A natural hollow way is being formed.

Another angle of the cleared right of way with the trees naturally curving over the top of the route. I can’t wait to talk it in the summer.

Danny posing in front of the dense undergrowth we had to clear.

Part of the wide cleared route I. The winter sun.

More photos of our fantastic volunteers clearing rights of way in Pencoed. Come and join us on Saturday - no experience or specialist skills required!

#Pencoed #Wales #Bridgend #Cymru #Volunteers #RightsofWay #GreenSpaces #CommunityAction

Post invite to meet up in Pencoed on the 18th October

Two volunteers working together to clear the blocked right of way

A happy and cheery bunch of volunteers nearly the end of the session!

Sizing up the branches to see what needs clearing to keep it natural and accessible.

HOLD THE DATE - The next community event is 10-12pm on 18th October. Look out for further announcements coming soon!

Look at the fantastic work our volunteers did in September!

#Pencoed #RightsOfWay #Footpath #Volunteers #Community #Wales #Cymru

A before and after shot of Pencoed Footpath 14 running alongside the Sony factory. Before it was impassable and after it a scenic peaceful route

Doing great work keeping the trails in shape around Pencoed.
If you fancy swapping your Saturday scroll for a stroll, this could be a good one to check out. #RightsOfWay #Footpaths #Wellbeing #Cymru #Wales #Pencoed #Social

An advert showing that a group is being formed in Pencoed that will meet on the 20th September at 10 am next to Pencoed pavilion for the first time to be social and do path clearance work. It will improve the community and enhance wellbeing. The group will meet on the third Saturday of every month 10-12 pm

Got caught in the rain while scouting a walk on Pencoed footpath 41 near the underground reservoir on Cefn Hirgoed/Coity Wallia common land. Dramatic views and a smidgeon of blue sky over Hoel-y-Cyw 💚🥾🥾 #HoelyCyw #Pencoed #CoityWallia #OpenAccessLand #CommonLand #Walking #RightsOfWay #Wales #Cerdded #Cymru #DysguCymraeg

View over Hoel y Cyw from the common. The only patch of blue sky hovering nicely over the village

Track around the underground reservoir and some large boulders. In the background very grey skies as it started raining.

Normally far reaching views across the top of the common, visibility is poor as the rain is coming in.

View from the track on the common. The weather was slowly moving in and this photo shows some dark looming clouds.

overheard whilst paddling in a river that has signs up saying that the river is private except for a small section, which happens to be a public bridleway: "How can a river be private?"

Unlike me, they hadn't grown up in a rural area with lots of fences preventing access to rich private estates and rich farmers' land (the farmers weren't poor, plus the agricultural runoff caused a cancer hot-spot and the waterways to run red). I blame the Normans.

#property #RightsOfWay #England #politics

Another Bridgend Ramblers walking making use of Pencoed Footpath 5 running from Hendre, south of the M4 to Woodlands Fields. Access was a bit of a challenge with two stiles not making things easy for walkers. #Ramblers #Access #RightsOfWay #Footpaths #Hendre #Pencoed #Walking #Wales #Cymru

Walkers striding down into the valley from Hendre

Pencoed Footpath 5 route (enlarge to see the detail)

One of the stiles that was difficult to climb over. IT wasn't wide enough, there was barbed wire and the standing plank was at the wrong angle meaning you had to be a gymnast to safely pass.

Struggling to get over the stile with the walkers due to barbed wire and a very wobbly stile.

Fantastic to see all the hard work repairing Pencoed Footpath 29 so that it is more accessible come to fruition. The Bridgend Ramblers enjoyed there walk from Cefn Hirgoed Ridge down into Ystradwaun in Pencoed. #Ramblers #Cerdded #RightsOfWay #Wales #Pencoed #Cymru #Footpath #Ystradwaun #Bridgend #Penybont

Group of Ramblers walking down the narrow right of way onto Ystradwaun

Ramblers walking down the steps from the Cefn Hirgoed ridge through the woodland

Map of the Pencoed Footpath 29 Right of Way. Open to all to enjoy

Walkers going down the recently repaired steps through the woodland growth

News is starting to filter out around the importance of having safe and accessible rights of way across South Wales.

#Cerdded #Wales #Cymru #DeCymru #Diogel #RightsOfWay #Footpath #LlwybrTroed #Newyddion

https://oggybloggyogwr.com/2025/04/best-foot-forward/

Photo of wellies stuck in mud up to the top of the boot. I spotted these on a walk across some open access land in Pencoed.

Is there a reason why (English) Forestry plantations don't have to keep footpaths/bridleways clear? eg Harwood or Kidland in Northumberland.

Often a footpath/bridleway will be completely impassable due to thick forestry, is this something to report to the council or is it permitted?

I know they often have forestry tracks nearby, but not always, not where you want to go, and not in Open Access land so not clear that it's permitted

#Access #RightsOfWay

"Countryside access curbs in England ‘cost six times’ Scotland’s right to roam
This article is more than 6 months old
Exclusive: Data shows implementing English countryside legislation cost £69m over five years"

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/jun/06/englands-restrictive-rural-access-rules-cost-six-times-that-of-scotlands-figures-show

#UK #England #ActiveTravel #countryside #RightsOfWay #RightToRoam

"‘Get on my land’: the farmers who want strangers wandering their fields
A growing number of landholders are joining forces with right-to-roam campaigners to boost public access to the countryside"

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jan/08/get-on-my-land-the-farmers-who-want-strangers-wandering-their-fields

South Devon farmer: "is applying for the government’s new sustainable farming incentive (SFI) but is dismayed it does not include any support for new footpath creation or better incentives for educational visits."

#RighttoRoam #UK #England #RightsOfWay #farming #ActiveTravel

Fantastic news
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/dec/26/defra-scraps-england-deadline-to-register-thousands-of-miles-of-rights-of-way?CMP=share_btn_url
#rightsofway #publicfootpaths

A really enjoyable and important Local Correspondents conference with the Open Spaces Society today at Hillscourt, nestled in the Lickey Hills. Covering planning reforms, access to water, taking legal action and definitive maps. #Commons #VillageGreens #RightsOfWay #GreenSpaces #OpenSpacesSociety #LickeyHills https://www.oss.org.uk

Presentation given by the case officer around surveying authorities functions.

Interest local correspondents listening to the case officer and General Secretary the deregulation act cut off of 2031 in England.

Footpath Fury! Locals clash over blocked coastal path between Winterton and Hemsby, with public inquiry set to decide its fate. By Owen Sennitt

#RightsOfWay

https://eastangliabylines.co.uk/environment/battle-of-the-dunes-rumbles-on-for-10-years/

'There will be many #footpaths simply lost'

August 19, 2024
Emily Unia & Miguel Roca-Terry

"Thousands of miles of footpaths could be lost due to a massive backlog in local councils dealing with applications, campaigners say.

"The government has set a deadline of 2031 for all rights of way in England to be added to an official map.

"But data gathered by the BBC suggests nearly 8,000 requests to get public paths and bridleways added to the map have not been processed – and some date back to the 1980s.

"The government said processing applications was the responsibility of local authorities."

[...]

"'We’ve got tens of thousands of miles of public rights of way that are not recorded or protected across #England and #Wales.'

"'If we have a deadline then there will be many paths that are simply lost.'"

#RightsOfWay #Trespassing #Landownership #Commons #Nature #Woods #Fields

Who do I know with #arcgis

I did a Freedom of Information request for some data on rights of way and the data sent back appears to be formatted using British National Grid and fooling the online conversion tools.

If I can get the linked results into a GeoJSON format, using lat/lon, I can take it from there!

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/data_of_all_of_the_maintained_un#incoming-2677507

#FreedomOfInformation #RightsOfWay #FOI

A very damp walk today surveying rights of way across St Mary Hill in Vale of Glamorgan. Blocked routes aplenty and damaged stiles all reported. These under walked routes will completely disappear over the next few years - use them or lose them. #ValeOfGlamorgan #RightsOfWay #Cerdded #Wales #Cymru

Enclosed right of way with a carpet of what looks like wild garlic saplings

A rotten and collapsed stile leaning against a fence.

A blocked and inaccessible stile. Making the route impassable.

A ruined barn ‘ghost house’ at the foot of St Mary Hill.

This is a pretty frequent occurrence all over the place. Some negative experience with East Sussex, but in neighbouring Kent it's truly abysmal - both blocked access issues but more noticeably missing/broken signposting, stiles and wooden bridges. #walking #countryside #EastSussexCountyCouncil #KentCountyCouncil #rightsofway https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-67937253

#rightsofway

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