To remind you all that you should not be cycling on a footpath

[frillyfarmer]

In law, cyclists are not permitted to use footpaths.

Every few days since lockdown we have intercepted people cycling down our footpaths and most of them have been obtuse at best, aggressive at worst when stopped and turned around.

I'm not even doing it to be an arsehole - the footpath in question culminates in a series of stiles and kissing gates which are almost impossible to get a bicycle through without knocking down walls or damaging gates. Additionally these footpaths are well used by people on foot and they are often not suitable to be shared use.

One of the few benefits in all this is that the roads are quieter and surely more pleasant to cycle across? It's lambing time, we're in the middle of spring drilling, it is so mindlessly stupid to try and cycle through these footpaths but day on day they keep coming.

I realise most of these posts are reduced to a good farmer bashing on mumsnet, but we're really just trying to get on with spring planting after a long wet winter and having to contend with cyclists trying to cycle three a breast down a drilled field of peas whilst scowling are me is really starting to get rather boring.

It is a nineteenth century law relating to "carriages" which a 19th century judge decided could also be applied to penny-farthings. It makes no distinction by age. All children are beaking this law.

Mobility scooters are classified as "Vehicles" because they have a power-source and are covered by the Highway Code. They can be driven on footpaths provided they do not exceed 4mph but are banned from cyclepaths.

Cycling is brilliant at the moment with less cars on road. We do sometimes use bridleways but are opting for roads at the moment because of more walkers on them. Children are enjoying the freedom and useful for my younger one to learn about road positioning etc.

I live on a working farm and there are a number of footpaths that cross fields and also one that goes through the farm yard, which is concreted because it is our access road.

Loads of people walk it, loads of cyclists also use it when they shouldn't and are often abusive if challenged. We have a gate at the end of the access road (with a stile next to it for pedestrians) and it says on the gate 'public footpath - cycling prohibited' but the cyclists just ignore that and lift their bikes over.

And don't get me started on the walkers who ignore the footpath signs and just walk anywhere they please, saying ' I'm not doing any harm' or 'I've seen other people walk here' when you point out that they are nowhere near a footpath. I live here and I stick to the footpaths for that very reason!!

Rant over.

YANBU also walkers please keep dogs on leads in farmers fields and keep to the path

@NothingIsWrong

wish there were more like you! a great skill to teach them

have you ever tried using 'cycle lanes'? Narrow, next to the curb, full of potholes and rubbish, cars parked in the way, suddenly ending, having a tree sprouting out of them?

Back when I cycled to school, I used the actual road! No such thing as cycle lanes then.

Its a case of common sense isnt it? Theres no obligation to use a cycle path and fast/confident cyclists may not want to, particularly if it's shared with pedestrians or slower cyclists. In regard to the footpaths I dont know, have you tried some official type no cycling signs and thorny hegde clippings?

We've been going out for walks/bike rides, my ds is confident so he rides on the road but dd only learnt to ride her bike last summer and shes not as confident so she rides on the path. She stops if someone comes towards her, luckily people around here are very friendly and understanding, nobody has objected to her riding on.the path

Yup. There is a public footpath immediately outside my house and it is increasingly getting filled up with bikes. Which is okay on the bit next to my house, but becomes much more problematic once they're up in the fields. There's a clue in the name: footpath. It's for people using their feet.

Plenty of footpaths and some pavements round here are for both pedestrians and cyclists.

Yes, you are. You are coming across like a school prefect, and if people are riding on the pavement in your area, banging on about it here won't make an iota of difference. I am so tired of these sanctimonious threads. Stop it!

@midsomermurderess the op is referring to cyclists on narrow footpaths across her farmland rather than pavements

midsomermuderess did you even read the OP? Not a pavement in sight.

Actually these threads do make a difference to some people's understanding of the countryside which is why I and other farmers keep posting them over the years.