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?

@booksandnooks your post wasn't really anything to do with the OP, it was more to do with generalising about people from the countryside v city..

@PangolinPenguin

I do it sometimes. I wouldn’t go in a field if there were animals or crops other than grass or if I had to climb over a gate to get in. But sometimes I let my dog run away from the path if Theres a path going through the field and sometimes take shortcuts around edges of fields or through tractor tracks. I don’t feel bad about it tbh. I doubt it causes noticeable damage and I don’t leave litter or poo. I can’t exercise my dog around other dogs so need quiet places. I think the comparisons to gardens are ridiculous. Gardens are smaller and right by someone’s house. The field owner isn’t anywhere near 99% of the time so why not enjoy the countryside even if it annoys the rich Tory who happens to own some of the fields.

I think you'll find people tend to do it precisely BECAUSE of that last point.

I would go across a field if there was a public footpath across it. I wouldn't let a dog off lead in a farmer's field, as they may worry the livestock or trample the crops depending which sort of field it is. I'd stick to the footpath and cross as quickly as I could.

My friend is a farmer and she had an argument with a very entitled woman recently. Apparently this woman uses the field to train her dog in, and my friend had no business telling her to leave. The fact the field belongs to my friend and there is no footpath going through it made no difference. Neither did the sheep and lambs who are now living in that field. My friend had to threaten to call the police before the woman finally left.

Farmers aren't generally rich tories who just so happen to own a few fields..

Those fields are our business and income, they aren't abandoned bits of land. They are ploughed, sewn, sprayed, fertilised, harvested etc. A lot of work goes into it.. it's not like I'm sat in a mansion house surrounded by fields that I don't use but just so happen to own and I'm unhappy because people are walking on them just for the sake of it.

I've walked around the edge of fields which aren't strictly rights of way in areas I know well, you tend to know the places locally it's ok

I used to work for a governmental body which was reclaiming subsidies from farmers as a result of the foot and mouth crisis. From what I saw, there are some large farming companies who do make money but the vast majority of ordinary farmers really don't and live from year to year, hoping that there isn't a crisis (whether disease, weather/climate related or similar). The crops grown in their fields or the animals kept there are their livelihoods and it beggars belief that people would justify destroying crops or allowing the opportunity for their dogs to worry sheep or other livestock because they believe that the farmer is a 'rich tory'.

I don't think the majority of people realise that grass is a crop just as much as any cereals, either.

A lot of farmers might be Tories (subsidies being the main reason I think) but they certainly aren't rich. It's a stressful and very hard job and just isn't appreciated. There's a high rate of suicides among farmers. Like a previous poster said, there's a few farming businesses doing well but the vast majority of farmers live from year to year, just about clinging on and a lot of them have second jobs.

The disrespect farmers get is baffling to me.

YANBU. There are plenty of rights of way for people to use.

That said, I walk my dog off lead on designated footpaths paths (where there is clearly no livestock) as her recall is excellent. The footpaths are so narrow that to walk (even on a short fixed lead) next to me she is on the crops anyway, it makes little difference if she’s running around.

I would if it was a right of way or access land.

There's a lot of access land near where I live, and the farmers bloody hate it. One of them got one field de-designated, and tried to do the same with several more, but didn't succeed.

Think lockdown has made it worse! We had people running fucking laps round the enormous field but including right by the fence at the bottom of our garden, so intrusive!

We had one women and her dc on a sodding pony lunging it in the field next to us when they have their own sodding field, dog free range, running into our drive, not a thought to how annoying that would be

Thinking foot paths are bridleways and not getting why the locals don’t like the footpaths being churned up.

Let’s hope when people have to get back to work, it’ll go back to how it was

There are huge amounts of footpaths around and there is no need to walk around fields that don’t belong to you

We only ever walk on the footpaths round here and have maps etc, many people don’t do their research or follow the signs

So sick of having to explain to people that just because a footpath goes through a field it doesn't make the whole field fair game to exercise the dog, have a picnic etc.

Many farmers can also tell you tales of members of the public seeming to believe that farms generally are open to the public. We regularly have people on the (completely private but adjacent to a footpath) piece of grass outside the farm house to have picnics. At this time of year it's not unusual to see people going off the path to go into a shed to look at the lambs. People going for a nosey drive down the (private) farm lane and parking up and having their sandwiches in the farm yard.

Too many people have lost all understanding that farms are work places and that farm animals aren't cuddly pets at a petting farm.

I'm flabbergasted at the number of people on this thread who openly admit to letting dogs run around off lead etc but 'it's fine because...'

No it's not fine, you aren't a special exception to the Countryside Code and no matter how good you think your dogs recall is your dog shouldn't need recalling on someone else's property in the first place.

If any of you are using open access land to exercise your dogs please remember that at this time of year they need to be on a lead and on footpaths at all times to protect groundnesting birds. It's the law.

She sounds a bit thick, but I would walk on the edge of fields for access or on a marked path. I wouldn’t just kick my kids into someone’s field for a play, that’s ridiculous.

The country code needs to be promoted and advertised more. I’m farming family and none of us have an issue with people using paths or bridle ways, we look after the land for future generations and it’ll be here long after we’re gone. Most people do seem to respect the guidance when it comes to dogs, crops, kids etc. and most people popping up in the middle of somewhere they shouldn’t be are lost.

@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

Oh, I have. And plenty of places where the RoW has became terribly overgrown, to the point where it's impassable.

Around my way, there is a local footpaths group who go out for rambles every other weekend, pretty much year round. They report every obstruction, broken stike etc to the council's RoW officers, who tell the landowner to get it sorted. The council has the power to sort it out themselves and charge the landowner if the landowner fails to rectify it.

Mind you, this is the county where a blocked footpath made national news in the 1990s, thanks to Nicholas Hoogstraten. The footpath, designated "Framfield 7", became quite famous and you could buy t-shirts with the slogan "Free the Framfield 7". The legal action cost the council 10s of thousands. The "palace" he was building on the land the path runs through is now an unfinished ruin. Security guards patrol the estate, and I have no idea if it's possible to walk the Framfield 7 without being accosted by them.

I agree that the countryside code needs to be better publicised. I think if I was a farmer, I'd put laminated copies on every gate and stile.

When I was a child (1960s), there were short public information films about it (along with Keeping Britain Tidy, not blowing yourself up with fireworks etc) broadcast between programmes on tv. We need to reintroduce that imo.

I would go in fields that have public right of way. I would never walk across crops and I would never loose my dog in a field with livestock. It's about a balance, if people respected the countryside, there's no reason why we can't all enjoy it.

My husband's family are all farmers and the entitled fuckwit Walkers ruin it for everyone. One wanker walked through a field bashing the crops down with a stick yelling that the middle of the field was a public footpath and the crops were in the way. Walk round the edge like a decent person dickhead.

we border a field and the owners are fine for us to cross it. they even put a gate in at their own expense so we could walk the dog there and just bo through our garden, and not have to climb the fence, as they were redoing the fencing anyway and my husband walked the dog there, so they decided to make it easier for him. Which was lovely of them.

People shouldn't go on cultivated land, leave gates open or leave litter, and I've seen way too much of this.
As for an open grassy area, I can understand it doesn't cross some people's minds that it's owned, and I wonder if signage may be the solution, even wondering if there should even be some duty of care to display warning signs if there is active chemical treatment on the land.

@PangolinPenguin

I do it sometimes. I wouldn’t go in a field if there were animals or crops other than grass or if I had to climb over a gate to get in. But sometimes I let my dog run away from the path if Theres a path going through the field and sometimes take shortcuts around edges of fields or through tractor tracks. I don’t feel bad about it tbh. I doubt it causes noticeable damage and I don’t leave litter or poo. I can’t exercise my dog around other dogs so need quiet places. I think the comparisons to gardens are ridiculous. Gardens are smaller and right by someone’s house. The field owner isn’t anywhere near 99% of the time so why not enjoy the countryside even if it annoys the rich Tory who happens to own some of the fields.

If you tried that in my fields, I would set my working dog on you. Or my unpredictable longhorn bull.

You’re a moron. 🙄

The field owner isn’t anywhere near 99% of the time so why not enjoy the countryside even if it annoys the rich Tory who happens to own some of the fields

Farming is a backbreakingly hard job with very slim margins. Its an industry people leave in droves every year.

Since you presumably enjoy being able to purchase and consume food you should probably think this one through a bit.

@LakieLady

I agree that the countryside code needs to be better publicised. I think if I was a farmer, I'd put laminated copies on every gate and stile.

When I was a child (1960s), there were short public information films about it (along with Keeping Britain Tidy, not blowing yourself up with fireworks etc) broadcast between programmes on tv. We need to reintroduce that imo.

I remember the he public service announcements

It’s more relevant now than ever before

Dog ownership has increased, there are more people walking than ever before, more cycling, more mountain biking and we all have to know what we can and can’t do.

@LakieLady

The footpath, designated "Framfield 7", became quite famous and you could buy t-shirts with the slogan "Free the Framfield 7". The legal action cost the council 10s of thousands. The "palace" he was building on the land the path runs through is now an unfinished ruin. Security guards patrol the estate, and I have no idea if it's possible to walk the Framfield 7 without being accosted by them.

Your post prompted me to have a look and it is indeed a really interesting story.

Although, one little point, it's actually Framfield 9.

campaignerkate.wordpress.com/the-framfield-footpath-story/

Above is the story from the woman that took this all the way to the Court of Appeal (actually the Appeal judgment is a very interesting read and very relevant if anybody is in a similar situation). It's a really interesting story.

I have no idea if it's possible to walk the Framfield 7 without being accosted by them.

You can actually go out and specifically walk "Framfield 9". This website gives some more history and also the route to follow:-

odddaysout.co.uk/framfieldnine

It’s such a shame people are so uneducated about it all. I watch people’s dogs chasing roosting birds out of hedgerows and trample field margins that are specifically grown as habitats for grey partridges or yellowhammers. It’s just ignorant.