Please use the countryside responsibly- so fed up

[jacks11]

On a rare day off from my day job, I have once again spent the day dealing with a series of thoughtless and/or completely entitled idiots behaving totally irresponsibly on our land. I had thought the one (very small) silver lining of this awful situation would be that this lambing season would see us free from so many problems from people out for a walk etc. But still having issues.

Today I stopped no fewer than 7 families traipsing through either the yard, our garden (one family stopping to have a seat on the picnic table/bench in our garden) or the lambing sheds to have a look. One family also stopped off to admire the lambs in one of the fields then preceded to take there youngish children (under 10) into said fields to see them closer. Several gates left open, people climbing over gates etc. I caught someone feeding our old pony apples and a doughnut! We’ve had rubbish being dropped. Dogs off leads etc.

What I cannot understand is how so many are getting to us- they must be breaching the guidance to only exercise locally or walking at least 7 miles from the nearest village. Which I doubt with the ages of some of the children.

When DH politely approached the family in our garden they were really rude, citing their “right to roam”- not even slightly apologetic when pointed out they were in our garden so they had no right to be there. Ditto several other people- don’t seem to realise right to roam does not apply to private gardens or land used for commercial reasons- I.e. yards/lambing sheds and you must behave responsibly (e.g. close gates, don’t let dogs off leads near livestock, don’t leave rubbish, don’t worry livestock, don’t walk across crops etc).

When you add in the situation with Covid, you’d think people would be careful about touching gates etc unnecessarily- but no. Lots of people have vulnerable family members and this is just an added headache- having to constantly be aware that people may have touched the gates/railings/doors etc.

Please use the countryside responsibly- some of us live on the land you are using as a playground. You are putting our livestock at risk- please don’t feed livestock/horses for that reason- and sometimes yourself in danger. There is no excuse for leaving rubbish.

Rant over!!

The first things that the Germans attacked during ww2 were the ships importing food.
But it’s ok. Let’s laugh at the farmers .
I paid a thousand pounds for my cross breed and I shall walk it wherever I jolly well want .

Hester54 Let’s look at the dog walker on a FP with their dog off lead within sight, maybe a couple of meters ahead, approaches the next field, high hedge, walk that route yesterday , no livestock in field, opens style for the dog and there is sheep in the field, they run, dogs as they do naturally runs,
You have the dog back to you in minutes,
Now is this the fault of the walker or the inconsiderate farmer for not helping the situation and putting up warning signs,

Bizarre question of course it’s the fault of the dog walker! I live rurally in an area with a lot of sheep and always put my dog back on the lead before entering a field I can’t see clearly. Sheep are moved all the time and it is your responsibility to make sure it is appropriate to let your dog off the lead rather then letting them run on and call them back.

If subsidies are scrapped, Joe Public will have to be prepared to pay what food is worth. In the current pandemic people would do well to remember just how they are getting three square meals a day - it's all too easy to criticise the farmers when your bellies are full.

OP I sympathise, I've apprehended so many people this weekend in fields with stock which are not PROW. Unfortunately we like among a nation of arseholes.

*live

My sympathies, OP.
We have a public footpath running across our land. The big problem we have now are poachers as it is the start of the fishing season. We are not letting any fishing commercially this year due to Covid19, so the only people fishing are poachers. It’s so frustrating - they think they are above the law.

It seems a system designed to breed ill-will, somehow. I know it's mired in tradition, but the word 'mired' seems particularly apt, somehow. . .

Hester - do you want the signs to be in Braille because you’re actually blind and can’t see into the field you’re proposing to enter ? If not you’re incredibly thick .

mbosnz Yes poor farm owners, with their passed on down the generations farm, Free from mortgage farm house, etc etc i have never met a poor farm owner, met lots of poor farm workers

mbosnz Yes poor farm owners, with their passed on down the generations farm, Free from mortgage farm house, etc etc i have never met a poor farm owner, met lots of poor farm workers

LOL, I sure as hell wasn't wrong about the chip on both shoulders. . . I think we're really getting to the nub of what your issue is, aren't we?

Yes poor farm owners, with their passed on down the generations farm, Free from mortgage farm house

And there we have it, you're jealous and bitter.

mbosnz Not denying it then, your the one who brought up about poor farmers

I never once said the farmer was poor . I said that lots of siblings ( who would otherwise have a share in any inheritance ) forgo their share to enable the farm to stay in the family . Other people are welcome to do the same with their family home . One sibling inherits it and then it remains in the same family , passed down from one generation to the next . It’s not a difficult concept . It does require sacrifice .

MaxNormal Not at all, I’m not the one pleading poverty all the time,

Their wealth is tied up in their assets . They don’t have millions in the bank .

Farmers aren’t pleading poverty when they want a fair price for their produce . You really are special !

@Hester54 plenty of farmers are tenants. My DGPs were.

Hester, bugger off back to town.

Why would I deny it?

Yes, I do have an understanding (which you clearly don't, possibly lacking capacity as well as desire) of just how hard farming is, mentally and physically, and how close to the bone they can be when it comes to profit margins.

You make an awful lot of assumptions. Farms that may have been inherited, may not be mortgage free, as mortgages may be raised against the property for equipment, to make up for when harvests are bad, and payments poor.

I would very much like to know how many farmers, if any, would ever bother to share with you the ins and outs of their financial situation, let alone why.

You are just one big walking talking bag of assumptions and outdated stereotypes and generalisations.

There are wealthy farmers, for sure. There's a hell of a lot that are not.

And they work bloody hard for their money.

It's a bit like people assuming that pub-owners are rich. Quite often, when they work out their hourly rate, they are earning less than the kitchen hand.

mbosnz stop moaning about it, it’s your choice, if you don’t like it get out, of course you will not, free house etc,

MinnieMountain I know, it must be hard for them,

Hester

A dog fully under your control will not leave your heal if someone dangles a nice juicy steak in front of its nose. If it can’t pass that test, it belongs on a lead.

mbosnz stop moaning about it, it’s your choice, if you don’t like it get out, of course you will not, free house etc,

Are you hard of reading as well as thinking?

I've already told you I. Am. Not. A. Farmer.

Okay, can you manage that? I'm not quite sure how I can put it any plainer.

I just have some insight into farming as a lifestyle and a business. You clearly don't. That's okay. Just don't pretend, or think, that you do.

(I have to say, I'm not sure a notice alerting you to livestock in the field would have been much use to you.)

This thread has confirmed why I loathe the countryside and most country dwellers. My DH loves going for country walks. I tell him he is not usually welcome there by the people who live there . They want to keep the vast hoardes of townie scum in their small airless places of.residence. in their eyes no-one has the right to enjoy the countryside, only those who own vast pieces of land and ' work on it'. Corona virus has just brought this into sharp relief

Luckily for.me, I don't think much of the countryside generally. I like looking at it from a distance but rarely enjoy actually being in it for long. You'd think countryside dwellers would like people like me.but I know they despise me as they despise anyone else who isn't 'clever enough or lucky enough to make a living in large country areas with lots of space.

In my experience, countryside people are the selfish ones. They'd be happy for the whole country to be parcelled.off in large chunks for the minority of landowners with the vast majority left to.live in tiny airless towns and cities with maybe a few crowded parks as a sop.

Whilst I in way endorse the way people.have behaved op,.it might make sense for.you to more clearly mark or.signpost your garden. It is obviously not very clear what is private land and what is footpath or you wouldn't be getting so many problems . I am not.saying that you wouldn't get the odd idiot but your refusal to help people understand where they can and can't go is an example.of the arrogance and entitlement I mean.

I know most farmers don:t want public footpaths on their land but they exist and they should definitely not be taken away for people who ( unlike me).want to walk along them.

Well @Hester54 when you own it, you can do as you like but until then, you can fuck off. And I'd hazard a guess you're not cold or hungry so you're welcome. Honestly, I've had enough of people like you this weekend. I don't darken your doorstep in my spare time, I can't imagine why you think it's acceptable to darken mine. Moron.

@bumblingbovine49 just stick to the large green signs marking the public rights of way and assume that anywhere lacking a sign is private. It really is that simple.