Am I a cf for asking a farmer this question?

[Whye]

We want to buy a house which is off a rarely used but fast winding country lane - only wide enough for one car. The speed limit is 30 but we have seen cars zooming along. I would not feel safe walking my dog on these country roads. There are some woods nearby but I would probably have to load dogs up each time for the 2 min drive.

There are fields all around. Would I be cheeky to ask the farmer who owns the fields opposite us if I could potentially walk my dogs on the perimeter of his fields, obviously I will pick up messes and be respectful.

We would be 5 mins from a decent sized market town so there are plenty of options just not convenient. Am I being cheeky?

Indeed. Just illustrating that people have very wide definitions of what constitutes rude.

Mine are much narrower. And even a total stranger asking to borrow something/use something etc is not, as far as I'm concerned rude.

Still this farmer might be one of those people with such a wide definition of entitled that they do think simple questions are rude so maybe OP shouldn't take the chance.

Honestly @Whye if the dog walking would put you off don't buy it. We live in a similar, but much more rural area. The farmers hate people walking on their fields and durng lockdown fenced/padlocked everything off. I can't blame them. People were tramping over their land and leaving mess everywhere. Plus it is never 100% clear who is liable for an accident if something goes wrong.

Whatever the field is used for now, could be subject to change over time too. It is working land and unlikely to remain unused indefinitely. Plus what a farmer says one day doesn't mean it will always be like it. Plenty of land and access disputes round us.

If there are no footpaths and access means you can't use the road safely I would carry on your house hunt. You will find equally lovely houses with much better walking elsewhere.

Thanks for being a voice of reason. Many posting are just angry NIMBYers who live in the countryside advocating on behalf of farmers!

I would look on the local council website or OS website, and look for the nearest public footpaths to your property. Chances are you'll only have to go along the lane a few hundred yards to a footpath. You can also scoot along the road in Gooogle and check out the passing places eg wider bits, field gate entrances, entrances to other properties. I'd check how wide the road is anyway - if only wide enough for a car/small van you'll have delivery issues anytime you need a bigger delivery, and it may impact the delivery cost of eg heating oil, building supplies etc if they need a smaller vehicle. .

I don't think this house is right for you. If you won't walk on the lane and don't want to go in the car then you're going to feel pretty trapped, even if the farmer allows you to walk around the field opposite. Plus even if they do say yes, things can easily change and then you're in a house that does exactly what you said was a deal breaker

Issue I have is what if he says yes you move in but years later the land changes hands and the new owner says you can no longer access the fields

If that is what you are looking for, then you need to buy a property with more land yourself so you can do that.

If you own it, you can do that and feel as free as you like, it will just cost you more to buy it.

Would you just ask a neighbour in a private house if you could take your dog for a stroll through their back garden because it was less hassle for you?

Honestly, I think you'll find in a year you'll be looking to move back to somewhere more town like.
Just because you can't see concrete on it, doesn't mean you can use it at all.

If the farmer gives permission it can never become a right 🙄

You can ask.

It is his livelihood, so he'll say no.

Have you ever lived in the country? Busy roads with no footpaths are standard.

(Child of farmers)

OP, (from my own experience) if there’s a local pub or cafe I would be lingering there, hanging out and chatting to locals, tell them you are hoping to move into the area and they will hopefully be open to questions - you can gain a lot of insider knowledge that way - where do people walk their dogs, are the landowners amenable and so on…

Also, being trampled by a cow (or indeed, many cows) is not an irrational fear.

I know 2 farmers who had their legs broken by cows kicking out whilst being milked. And a friend of mine (also incredibly rural) was trampled by a herd of cows in a field where she had walked for years and had broken ribs and needed her face reconstructing.

Def.not if there are likely to be sheep in the fields.

It sounds daft, but friends who used to live in very rural N Devon found it so much easier to walk their dogs when visiting us in outer SW London - we have a huge park a short walk away. At home they would have to drive for at least 15 minutes before getting to anywhere they could let them off the lead.

Don't presume you will have any right to walk your pets in the woods either. There are lots of ground nesting birds that are now in danger of being extinct because of entitled dog walkers.

Just checking you are in England not Scotland?

The posirion in Scotland re acess to land is completely different.

Farmer here. Hard no, the farmer doesn’t know you, people often start taking liberties when given any permission, damaging crop margins, letting dog off the lead (“just this once”) trying to claim rights on the land after a period of time. We have seen this time and time again. So you can ask but I imagine it will be a hard no and he/she would be right to say no.

Also from a farming family and every farmer I know would say no.

My cousin has had so many sheep injured by dogs. My uncle lost several metres of crops because walkers were letting their dogs and kids run through it. We've had sheep and cows get onto arable land because gates were left open.

Then there's what happens if someone gets injured on your land, especially if you've given permission to be there.

I've been allowed by a farmer to use his land to walk, but after several years of chatting to him. He knew I understood the lifestyle and any consequences of mistakes on the land. He knew I'd keep the dog in check. At first, he told us immediately that there was no dog walking on his land. My cousin and uncle have said no to people on their land before now too.

I'm here giving my experience of what will be said and the reasons for it. Not because I want to speak for a farmer because I live in the countryside. I lived rurally. Currently I live on the edge of a housing estate.

Who knew that there would be several farmers perusing mumsnet on a saturday afternoon?! What's that I smell?! Is it cow dung 😆

If the road is rarely used, just use the road and make sure you're in bright clothing. 2 mins in the car is also nothing. I wouldn't lose a house I loved over that.

This thread is bizarre.

@Whye of course you aren’t being a CF in asking the question. A CF would just be walking their dogs without asking permission.

Our local farmer has certain fields, about six of them, that he doesn’t mind people walking around the perimeter with dogs/running/on horseback. However, they are all crop fields and he’s losing very little ground but managing any presence to a very restricted area.

I wouldn’t choose to live anywhere where I absolutely had to drive to walk the dogs. Ask your question politely. They may even be amenable to charging a fee? Have the conversation and see how you feel after that.

Find a different house. No farmer is going to want to allow you leading to others trying to use it then a right of way becoming an issue.

Also just because today it’s a field of corn doesn’t mean in 1/2/5/10 years it won’t be a cow field or an entire housing estate.

If an immediate walk on path/forest is a requirement find that.

Farmer's granddaughter here, brought up on a farm but in Scotland. In Scotland OP can walk in that field as long as she behaves responsibly. She doesn't need permission.

Right to Roam Scotland

A lot of people in certain areas of the country certainly will know farmers. There is six within 30 minute drive here and then there is use who have more small holding types. Though maybe because we live in a very flat area.

Farming is hard enough to survive without people expecting to just use your land for a dog walk or general stroll unless a right of way already exists and even then people take the piss.

I normally lurk these days. I’m a sheep farmer. There are quite a few farmers on here. It would be a polite no OP.

I know loads of farmers thanks but I'm not pretending to be one.

Don’t make your problem his problem 🙄 🙄 If he lets you then he’s opening up the possibility of other people wanting to walk their dogs there as well. I think you’re being very cheeky and I would say no if I was the farmer.