To just ask you all to either wear some proper wellies and walk on the footpath, or stick to the sodding pavements

[flamingflamingos]

This is my field. It's winter wheat - it's been ploughed and pressed and drilled and rolled and just as it's starting to grow into what will be harvested for flour to produce bread, the general public have trampled it into the ground.

I understand the need to get outside, absolutely I support this country's network of footpaths - we have 6km of footpaths on this farm which are maintained so that everyone can enjoy the countryside.

But this is taking the piss. If you don't want to walk in the mud, don't walk in the countryside in January. Please, stop this. We are all accountable for how we behave.

So frustrating. I totally get that people want to find more places to be outside right now, but it really annoys me seeing stuff like this (there have been a number of SM posts lately where I live too).

My policy is - if I’m not sure where a path goes, I turn round and go back the way I came. Mostly because I don’t want to risk going where I shouldn’t in relation to crops - but also, you never know if you may then come across said bull (pp - be careful what you “wish for”)!

On a jokey note - I blame Theresa May for promoting running through fields of wheat!

YANBU and I think spreading awareness is the best way forward - I honestly think that people don't realise or don't think about the damage they are doing. Once they know, a lot of people will take more care.

There will of course be some arseholes who continue to do whatever the hell they like, but hopefully those people are in the minority.

If the footpath runs along the hedge line in the photo, it must be nearly impossible to walk on. A sloped mudfest. Not surprising that walkers have to go round that bit.

Maintain your footpath so it's usable and people will use it.

@Viviennemary

Put a sign up. How are people supposed to know there is a crop there. And they're not supposed to walk on it. Or buy a fierce looking bull.

What an extremely silly and ignorant post.

There has always been the Countryside Code, which is set out on the gov.uk website so you could try googling that. It is mostly just common sense - close gates behind you, stick to the public footpath and dogs under close control (i.e. on the lead) around livestock.

Most public rights of way should be clearly indicated by waymarker posts. You do as these indicate. You don't just do your own thing.

Some landowners do keep the paths and the waymarkers clearer and in better condition than others, but that does not mean that you don't have to obey the Countryside Code.

I walk my dogs in fields a lot and always stick to the prescribed paths. At the moment the fields round here are so wet and slippery (clay soil) that I am not going in them because the paths are so difficult to walk on safely.

Maintain your footpath so it's usable and people will use it.

OP has said they have 6km of maintained footpaths on the farm and yet people are trampling the crops.

People should have awareness of the areas they are going walking in, not just to avoid causing damage to the area but for their own safety too. It outs me in mind of the idiots who attempt to climb mountains in jeans and trainers because they "didn't realise what it would be like".

@Mysterian

If the footpath runs along the hedge line in the photo, it must be nearly impossible to walk on. A sloped mudfest. Not surprising that walkers have to go round that bit.

Maintain your footpath so it's usable and people will use it.

I would agree with your point about maintaining the footpath, but the very wet weather we have had makes this an uphill battle, especially with a heavy clay soil like ours. It just turns into a complete quagmire, is extremely slippery and does not drain well. It can take weeks to dry out properly.

I don't walk in the fields if I think I am likely to encounter quagmire paths as it is too difficult.

Hi Op
I agree with the first Poster who replied to you
You need to put up signage stating these fields are used for your kind of crops wheat !
It must be really annoying people doing this....

@Mysterian

If the footpath runs along the hedge line in the photo, it must be nearly impossible to walk on. A sloped mudfest. Not surprising that walkers have to go round that bit.

Maintain your footpath so it's usable and people will use it.

With heavy rain all day yesterday and gorgeous sunshine today, this weekend was the worst situation for fields like this.

While I do see how people end up going off the path, it isn't acceptable and has damaged crops. If a path is unsuitable, walkers should just not use it. Go another way. Or turn around. Not over crops.

Sorry and thanks OP. I'm a bit of a townie who loves a walk and your post will pop into my head when I'm walking on footpaths that border farms in the future.

@Mysterian

If the footpath runs along the hedge line in the photo, it must be nearly impossible to walk on. A sloped mudfest. Not surprising that walkers have to go round that bit.

Maintain your footpath so it's usable and people will use it.

Eh? It looks fine. Muddy yes, but there’s not much OP can do about that if it’s been raining heavily. Some footpaths do become impassible in winter, that’s the UK for you (have you ever done the Thames Path? Half of it is completely flooded in winter).

It’s a public footpath. OP doesn’t need to “maintain” it (that’s the Highways Authority), she just needs to keep it clear of obstructions and keep any gates or stiles in good repair.

www.fwi.co.uk/business/compliance/farming-near-footpaths-the-law-for-arable-farmers

That is so shocking to see. Do you have any kind of big notices up, reminding, or telling people of the rules in your fields. Not that some people will take any notice of rules, but I would put notices all over.

@Mysterian

If the footpath runs along the hedge line in the photo, it must be nearly impossible to walk on. A sloped mudfest. Not surprising that walkers have to go round that bit.

Maintain your footpath so it's usable and people will use it.

It’s not a flipping highway. It needs to be kept clear of obstructions to a certain width. Apart from that, it’s nature (ie rain is going to make the ground just a teeny bit wet and muddy).

Take this thread as a learning point. If you intend to go for a romp across the countryside, there are plenty of online tools to show you where public footpaths etc are.

OP - as much as you shouldn’t have to, and am aware it’s going to cost money, I think in the long run it would be cost effective to get a few weatherproof signs to put up along the routes through your land. Only because, in the long run, it will hopefully help (because everyone nowadays seems to need a handhold with regards to common sense).

@Viviennemary it’s OBVIOUS there’s a crop there. Anyone too ignorant and unobservant to realise that should stay in.

About time they started re-teaching the Countryside code, I think! We were taught it at school (in a London suburb) - should be taught to everyone.

Some really ignorant people about, OP!

I don't at all understand people who don't use their wellies in this sort of situation - heavy rain day before, it's kind of obvious that there will be mud. If you don't want to walk in the mud then don't go on field walks!

I can imagine that fencing your crop section away from the public right of way path would create difficulties with the farm machinery, or you'd have to lose more acreage on the field to accommodate the machinery within the fence, so I can see why you wouldn't do that (plus it costs money and needs maintenance too, at an ongoing cost).

Maybe a mini-haha along the edge of the path instead? Or (if you're a Terry Pratchett discworld fan) you could go for the BSJ ho-ho instead...

People are so ignorant these days and too selfish to give things a blind bit of thought. The signs seem a good idea but you might need quite a few. Do people just think farmers maintain the land for the good of anyone that fancies a walk?! If there are no animals in the field, of course crops would be growing.

@Dasher789

People are so ignorant these days and too selfish to give things a blind bit of thought. The signs seem a good idea but you might need quite a few. Do people just think farmers maintain the land for the good of anyone that fancies a walk?! If there are no animals in the field, of course crops would be growing.

This! You’d think so, wouldn’t you!

I think some people have no idea of the costs of installing and maintaining a fenced-off, drained, hardcore path and if they do maybe they could explain why a farmer should be paying for it for everyone else for absolutely no return? They work round the clock to feed us on tiny margins and now have to fund our recreation out of their own pockets too???

We’ve just bought a few more acres (we tend to just plant trees and wildflowers), and immediately after we completed we had the PF fenced off (v generously, it’s 4 to 5 metres wide) because people are dicks and think nothing of wandering over, literally through the hedge, to take a gander at our original wildflower meadow/have picnics, bbqs etc as if it were their own bloody garden.

Fencing off a path is not cheap, but necessary round here, especially with hundreds of trippers coming in from London at the moment.

@KathleenTurnerOverdrive

If it's a public right of way why isn't it fenced off from the crops?

It is standard not to fence public footpaths in. Are you going to pay for the fencing?

I think a simple sign would make a big difference

@flamingflamingos

This is my field. It's winter wheat - it's been ploughed and pressed and drilled and rolled and just as it's starting to grow into what will be harvested for flour to produce bread, the general public have trampled it into the ground.

I understand the need to get outside, absolutely I support this country's network of footpaths - we have 6km of footpaths on this farm which are maintained so that everyone can enjoy the countryside.

But this is taking the piss. If you don't want to walk in the mud, don't walk in the countryside in January. Please, stop this. We are all accountable for how we behave.

Oh OP, I so sympathise.

The land round here has been trampled into vast quagmires.

It has only happened since Covid.
Paths get wider...and wider.....and wider until it is a sea of mud.

Where have all these new walkers come from???

@VirtualLearning

I think a simple sign would make a big difference

I don't.

The Covid walkers are not like yer hardcore non covid walkers.

They are a totally different type. Selfish litter droppers who bash down fences, and trample everywhere.

FFS the aggro on this thread. No I wouldn't be able to tell this field is for crops. Why would I? I'm not from the countryside. How the fuck am I meant to know what a winter wheat field looks like? When would that knowledge ever have been useful to me? Make the path obvious or put up a sign. This is what we invented words for.

@CrotchBurn

FFS the aggro on this thread. No I wouldn't be able to tell this field is for crops. Why would I? I'm not from the countryside. How the fuck am I meant to know what a winter wheat field looks like? When would that knowledge ever have been useful to me? Make the path obvious or put up a sign. This is what we invented words for.

With that entitled attitude, maybe best if you stay away from the countryside then!

It doesnt matter if its crops or grass - either is paid for and widening the path is ruining acres of it.

It should have a fence of some kind separating the path from the crops then this wouldn’t happen.