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?

@AllThatFancyPaintsAsFair

Council property in the countryside?

That's not a thing is it? All rural files belong to a private landowner ime

@FuzzyPuffling

A field, council property? Oh come on! 😁😁

Actually, there's a lot farmland that is council property.

There's something like 87,000Ha of farmland owned by county councils in England. I live in Cambridgeshire and there is something around 13,000Ha (32,000 acres) of county council farmland here.

It's let out to tenants who farm it. However, that still doesn't give you the right to walk over it - just as you wouldn't have the right to go into somebody's back garden just because they lived in a council house.

There's a grass field right behind my house that borders farm land. It is owned by the council who built the houses. There's loads of big patches (fields) of grass on the borders of our town and farmland that are council property. Is that not a thing for a lot of people? Definitely council, they cut the grass and stuff. So if I saw a grassy field with no private property signs, I'd consider it fair game. Stick a sign up and I'd keep out or stick to footpaths or whatever.

Theres a new version of the country code that has been launched due to the problems throughout lockdown.

When I say launched, I mean it's on the .Gov site if anyone wants to hunt for it. And the people who would benefit from reading it, are not going to hunt for it, are they.

@hotpatooties1

There is something really wonderful about a nation recognising that the land ought to be a commonwealth that benefits us all, and taking steps to facilitate that. I think it’s especially true in a nation like Scotland where land acquisition was historically such a deeply unfair and immoral process.

The field didn't go anywhere, it's a corner fenced field with a gate.. there are lots of parks a short drive away that they could take said child and dog to. I wonder if they would still like to treat the field as a commonwealth that benefits them when I move our highland bull in..

It’s not really about one field though, is it? Sure, your single field might not be a rich and abundant oasis, but the cumulative effect of a nation’s land being almost entirely in private ownership isn’t great for the rest of the population.

This may be a more specifically Scottish issue - I don’t really know enough about the way things are in England to argue the toss. But in Scotland we have one of the most incredible and-awe inspiring landscapes in the world in the form of the Scottish highlands, and almost all of that land is in the private ownership of a small number of individuals who inherited it from ancestors who took it unfairly and have protected their own interests ever since. It’s not right, in my opinion, for the wealth of Scotland’s land to be hoarded by a tiny minority for their shooting, hunting, fishing and farming interests when it could and should be shared and enjoyed by all of us.

Right to roam has rebalanced that unfair situation by giving Scottish people the right to make use of almost all of Scotland’s land, so long as they do so respectfully and without causing harm. You can hike, ride, cycle, swim, camp, climb and play almost anywhere, because our government decided to prioritise sharing that wealth over protecting the interests of a wealthy few.

Once you’ve experienced this it’s very hard to see it as a bad thing.

People in general, and dog owners in particular, are selfish twats, and seem to regard every place they see as their 'right'. I live in a rural area and every year see horrific incidents of sheep worrying, farmers' land littered and with dogs running riot, rubbished dumped there etc. Our house is in a couple of acres, surrounded by fields, and I am amazed we haven't yet seen dog owners tramping across our paddock. It shouldn't take advertising campaigns to tell people these things are wrong FFS.

Only if following a footpath. I'm surprise dhow many people do though. There was a field near us that dogwalkers used. The farmer put up new barbed wire and sent a message to the local FB page saying it was actually private land and please could people stop using it. The barbed wire got cut and some of my usually law-abiding friends were happily walking there the following week, even though they had read the message.

Yanbu.

Council fields nearly always have signage. If it's not marked I assume its private and wouldnt dream of just marching onto farm land etc. I would only ever walk where there's a public footpath or right of way.

I find it really irritating when public footpaths and rights of way have barbed wire fences erected and gates are padlocked. It was a big issue where I lived previously. I can’t afford to buy a massive field or loads of land, so I rely on PROW and footpaths to enable me and my children to experience the countryside.

I find it really irritating when public footpaths and rights of way have barbed wire fences erected

I'm amazed this is happening. I've lived in 3 rural parts of the UK and been on holiday in loads more and literally never once seen this happen on a prow

I live in and own land in Scotland and I agree, right to roam is fantastic. I keep ponies and I ride and if I come across a field that has livestock in it or is growing crops, I can simply take another route. I can still enjoy the countryside and my neighbours are not affected by my doing so. We are also lucky to have a lot of forestry in the area where we bother no-one riding our ponies or walking our dogs. Talking to walkers around our way, right to roam gives them a sense of being a stakeholder in the countryside and they want to see it thrive and they care for it by not dropping litter, camping in fields etc. We got talking to a German man who has been holidaying in the area now for 25 years - he comes back every year and loves the place. We are lucky here we live in that it is quite remote and we tend to only get hardcore walkers up here who feel passionate about the countryside and are a bit more clued in than some members of the general public, but honestly, someone riding or walking through my field while ignoring my ponies and leaving no trace of their footsteps, does not bother me or hinder me in anyway in my use of my land. The biggest problem we have is with some local dog walkers, who really are filthy, entitled wankers, quite frankly. However, I do wonder if right to roam would work in countries with high population densities? The sheer pressure of traffic on the land around pregnant livestock and yes, damaging grass and affecting yields might make it impossible to work on equitable basis? Scotland and the Nordic countries that exercise right to roam all have small populations.

Because the local farmers allow it? I've a concrete yard but work away if sitting out there makes you feel better.

I know the local area and the local farmers and everyone around knows which fields are ok to walk in. They are generally not used for live stock or crops. They are just empty, which is why there is no hassle in using them.

I'm amazed this is happening. I've lived in 3 rural parts of the UK and been on holiday in loads more and literally never once seen this happen on a prow

Rural England is pretty large.

It’s horrendous, and even worse when with kids - ‘we’re nearly home kids’ and then ‘nope we’ve to scale a wall as the fence has been padlocked again’ it’s still the same, the landowner hates PROWs - my parents still live there.

@NoIDontWatchLoveIsland

I find it really irritating when public footpaths and rights of way have barbed wire fences erected

I'm amazed this is happening. I've lived in 3 rural parts of the UK and been on holiday in loads more and literally never once seen this happen on a prow

It happens more often that you would think. We moved from Cheshire, from a place that we loved, because a local landowner blocked the only bridle path in the area, wiping out all off road hacking. Despite what she was doing being illegal, the council could not enforce access and local riders were looking at a costly law suit, which she told us she would not honour if she lost. After a driver deliberately drove his car at my 10 year old daughter, panicking her pony (after she had moved into a passing place to get out of his way, I might add)It was cheaper and safer to move. Even up here, we have a local livery owner making it impossible for people to use a core path that runs through her field, which should be accessible 24/7, 365 days of the year, by putting horse on the field and not fencing them back. We have a Welsh farmer move up here and refuses to recognise ANYONE'S right to roam on his land and regularly threatens people who try to do so. Again, very little that is seems anyone can do about it. While I am have sympathy for farmers who find their land trespassed on down South, I resent those who try to close off what little access people do have and I have no time for anyone who interferes with right to roam up here. Having said all that, try living in Ireland where there are very few access rights for anyone!

A bit of publicity about dogs being shot would be a good deterrent.
I'm not sure this happens much at all but I'm sure it has in the past .

Sometimes yes, but mostly no. Is honest truth.
Often depends if there is livestock or a crop in it, basically. Or if there is a track thru that will never have crop on it & no livestock to disturb. Ditto with some local private woods.

The field out front is fair game right after harvest & before being ploughed again, ditto with a few other fields that work out as short cuts from the long distance footpaths. when no crop (all unfenced here so livestock not an option).

Sounds like local people have a long history of using OP's fields as spare public space. How are Jo Public getting into OP's fully fenced fields??

If for any reason we have " lost " a footpath and it looked like we had entered a farm field , then we have followed the hedge/wall around it to get out and hopefully pick up a more public area. I certainly wouldn't tramp over any planting nor worry any livestock.

@Quincie

A bit of publicity about dogs being shot would be a good deterrent. I'm not sure this happens much at all but I'm sure it has in the past .

Dogs can only be shot for worrying livestock, though - so it has no impact on crop/grass fields.

I'd put a biohazard sign or something similar on all the gates.

I don’t think it would be in the interests of farmers to advertise their land was covered in a bio hazard 😂

@Flipflops85

I don’t think it would be in the interests of farmers to advertise their land was covered in a bio hazard 😂

Course it would. It would keep the idiotic public from trampling all over the land. The people with whom they have their contracts aren’t going to give a shit about a few signs are they?

I’m tempted to pop a bull in each fielding pop up a few signs just saying “good luck”.

I sort of understand why farmers do block actual rights of way though, with how much land is routinely abused by fucking idiots ruining it for less idiotic members of the public. 🤷🏼‍♀️

It's not really a new thing tbh, people assuming the right to use land.
Years ago a friend rented some fields that were accessed by a fenced off track, just off a main road. The gateway was used by many passing (or pissing) tourists as a toilet and they were forever clearing up used nappies from the gateway.
Worse came one day when they were going to move the cows out of the fields and found a family having a picnic on the track. They were really unhappy at being asked to move but my friend told them they'd better or they'd be arguing the case with about 20 cows who would be in a hurry to move to new grazing.
But I do think it's got worse since lockdown began due to pubs & things being closed.

I was thinking more about eutrophication tbh

Yes if a right of way and around the edge only.

A couple of rights of way round here do go right through the fields with an ins own path clear. The farmers respect the right of way and always wave hello.

Is there a right to roam?