Access to open countryside
(the "right to roam") in places previously out of bounds to walkers was granted by the
Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000. These areas needed to be
identified and claimed all over the country. In 2005 ,
thanks to much hard work by a team of local Ramblers volunteers,
access sites in our
area were finally designated and opened up to walkers.
All recent versions of OS Explorer maps show access land shaded in yellow. When out in the countryside walkers may come
across signs relating to access land. The upper sign indicates that
you are about to enter access land and the lower that you are leaving access
land. Although the lower sign is worded "No access land beyond this
point", walkers may of course proceed on any right of way which continues beyond the
boundary of the access land.
A particular
problem in our area is that many of the designated open access sites are isolated
"islands" of land not connected to any rights of way. Local
Authorities are given powers under the CROW act to facilitate means of
access to such sites. Our access team has listed the problem areas and is currently
urging local officials to negotiate with landowners to provide means of
access (for example by a gate, stile, or gap in a wall) including, where appropriate, the creation of new rights of way.
Access Walks
The two walks below were devised by our Access team to incorporate
new "Freedom to Roam" areas:
Millington High Level Circuit
(10 miles)
Millington Short Access Walk (5
miles)
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