Would you walk across someone else's fields?

[hotpatooties1]

Just that really. I've been surprised since moving to a farm just how many people are willing to walk across other peoples land and allow their dogs to run all over it too. Some of the fields have just been sewn and are sprayed with fertiliser regularly..they don't seem to care.

I wouldn't do it, was brought up on and around farms and was told not to walk over other peoples land. I understand the right to roam and that lawfully, they are doing nothing wrong. It just doesn't seem right.

This morning I drove past one of our fields that is gated. A woman had gone into it with her dog, let it off lead and had a kid on a bike in it..AIBU? Would you do that?

I stick to following rights of way.
I have made errors in unfamiliar places and ended up in the wrong place. Markings/ lines of walking are not always clear. Sometimes subtlties on maps are awkward to interpret correctly. I'm usually on local territory that I know well and the local land owners are sensible about maintaining clear access points so it's not a frequent issue.

There is a well used cut through on the edge of our area that seems to be quietly tolerated by the farmer. Until 2020, there was a fairly unobtrusive couple of feet of worn ground.across one field This year they seem to have quietly refrained from ploughing within 10 ft of the hedge which will be at a cost to them.
The ultimate issue there is that rights of way are historic and don't match lines of desire for modern settlements. The path links to a multi-use trail that wasn't linked up to access to a large supply of users on a large housing estate that doesn't link to the rights of way network. Either it's part of a 5mile+ circular walk an awkward out and back, or links via busy NSL roads. Safe, practical off-road access was not planned in. I suppose that if the farmer blocks it as is within their rights, then with time, an alternative cut would be created, so it's better to leave it be within reason or a more awkward problem would be created.

Regardless of the rights and wrongs of it (and having lived my whole life in the country I recognise the problem) I wonder if its worth sticking a sign on the gates:

• keep gates closed
• risk to health- fertiliser/weed killer sprayed etc

I'm sure there are many who'd disagree with my suggestion but im not saying you should do, just that its an idea to deter and educate ppl.

@sipsmith1 no crop at all, just grass hill. Only walk to the side if it's impassable as the hedge has grown or your walking boots about to get pulled off in the bog.

TBF if I thought it was going to be that wet/impassable I wouldn't go on that walk anyway.

Fields getting built on next year

I would and have done if it's a right of way. I shut gates etc...
We have right to roam in the UK and I think that's important.

@upsydaisyssinging

I would and have done if it's a right of way. I shut gates etc... We have right to roam in the UK and I think that's important.

Only over open access land. Not over private land which this clearly is.

No. I use public footpaths everyday, though.

But, I will say that often the signposts aren't clear, and you get a sign pointing you through a field, but there's no gate at the other end (or anywhere visible) so it's not necessarily very obvious where you should go.

If you don't know the area, it can be easy to get lost.

I know plenty of people who were raised in towns that aren't dumb enough to walk across someone's field. It's an entirely conscious act.

@romdowa

I have done if its empty or just grass but never if there is crops as I would presume I could be liable for any damage done to the crops.

Grass is a crop. It's food for sheep/cows/horses. Just because people don't eat it doesn't stop it being a crop.

But, I will say that often the signposts aren't clear, and you get a sign pointing you through a field, but there's no gate at the other end (or anywhere visible) so it's not necessarily very obvious where you should go.

Yes, there are a few like that around here. I actually found the 'official' other end of a footpath yesterday, when a dog disappeared in a thick patch of overgrown hedgerow and I had to fight my way in to hook him out. There was a very rickety stile buried under several years worth of bramble with a very tatty old 'Public Footpath badge on it. This particular route belongs to a really decent farmer who permits access on all the headlands around his arable fields, and since there's a good gate about a hundred yards further down, we all use that instead. Since the area isn't particularly scenic and not easily accessible by car, users are all local and treat it with respect. I was chatting a few years ago with a chap I found cutting back undergrowth on a waymarked trail, I said it was the first time I'd ever seen anyone from the local authority doing this, he replied that he wasn't surprised, there were only three people doing the job for the whole county.

I only walk / run / ride on fields where I have access/ permission or where there is a PROW. However, I am currently very frustrated by the number of local bridlepaths which have been ploughed and not re-instated. The erosion of PROWs round here is depressing.

That said, I'm often astounded by people who allow their dogs and children to roam about in the fields away from the path - even when they've clearly just been sprayed/ fertilised.

If it’s a public footpath in the field then yeah I’d walk there with my dog. If it’s a private field and fenced off etc then no I wouldn’t.

Are you sure it is not a public row or permissive footpath?

No I wouldn't I have heard farmers complain about damage done to their fields, gate being left open etc. They work hard enough without having to deal with anymore.

I have when I've got lost

This drives me absolutely insane. I’ve had people picnicking, leaving gates open, feeding my animals (), leaving trash,
out of control dogs scaring my animals, children chasing animals, burgeoning crops being trampled, people on quads and scrambler bikes, people driving into gateways and abandoning cars, camping (group of four tents, thought they could pitch up for a whole fucking weekend!)....

We have no footpaths or rights of way were obligated to honour. We have ‘private property’ signs. It’s sheer ignorance and entitlement.

I may just put up signs saying ‘unexploded bombs, proceed at own risk.’ (And then put a few cow bones inside a walking boot and leave it near the sign). Or ‘trespassers will be shot’, and then let off a few rounds near them.

I’m honestly out of ideas.

Not unless it was in an emergency such as a fire.

Is trespassing now a criminal offence? There was talk and I don't know if that was changed.

@peak2021

Not unless it was in an emergency such as a fire.

Is trespassing now a criminal offence? There was talk and I don't know if that was changed.

Still civil, unless aggravated, as far as I’m aware.

Yes, I would. I wouldn’t walk over crops and wouldn’t let a dog off the lead, but I would otherwise use the space.

We have the right to roam, and sometimes it’s not practical to avoid a particular field. I’m respectful of the space though - leave gates as I find them, avoid crops, steer clear of animals etc. I don’t feel bad about it tbh.

Had people digging up my wild flowers bulbs too and having campfires too.

It’s awful because sometimes they’re genuinely unaware of what they’re doing wrong, so when you see a small family trying to have a nice time you feel such an arsehole for asking them to leave. It’s easier when they’re obnoxious twats.

@OolieMacdoolie

Yes, I would. I wouldn’t walk over crops and wouldn’t let a dog off the lead, but I would otherwise use the space.

We have the right to roam, and sometimes it’s not practical to avoid a particular field. I’m respectful of the space though - leave gates as I find them, avoid crops, steer clear of animals etc. I don’t feel bad about it tbh.

You only have the "right to roam" on public access land, and even then, only on public rights of way.

Or would you be happy if hordes of people started trampling through your private garden?

@OolieMacdoolie

Yes, I would. I wouldn’t walk over crops and wouldn’t let a dog off the lead, but I would otherwise use the space.

We have the right to roam, and sometimes it’s not practical to avoid a particular field. I’m respectful of the space though - leave gates as I find them, avoid crops, steer clear of animals etc. I don’t feel bad about it tbh.

No, we don't - not over fields. Where does this shit come from?

www.gov.uk/right-of-way-open-access-land/use-your-right-to-roam

@OolieMacdoolie

Yes, I would. I wouldn’t walk over crops and wouldn’t let a dog off the lead, but I would otherwise use the space.

We have the right to roam, and sometimes it’s not practical to avoid a particular field. I’m respectful of the space though - leave gates as I find them, avoid crops, steer clear of animals etc. I don’t feel bad about it tbh.

You don’t have the right to access ‘excepted land’, even if it’s shown in an open access map. And much private farmland is excepted, so you can only access via marked footpaths.

@OolieMacdoolie

Yes, I would. I wouldn’t walk over crops and wouldn’t let a dog off the lead, but I would otherwise use the space.

We have the right to roam, and sometimes it’s not practical to avoid a particular field. I’m respectful of the space though - leave gates as I find them, avoid crops, steer clear of animals etc. I don’t feel bad about it tbh.

This is the ignorant entitlement I was talking about. 🙄

@sunflowersandbuttercups I live in Scotland so the rules may be different to those in England, but up here right to roam allows you to access most areas of land. There are limited exceptions - the immediate vicinity of buildings and farmyards, quarries, railway property and airfields, and private gardens. I think fields with crops growing are also excluded. But other than that the public have a right to access and use the land.

I would obviously not enjoy people using my garden, but gardens are excluded from right to roam and are also quite clearly different from a field in the countryside.