I don't understand the 'rules' of the countryside.....please help me!

[RuralMuppet]

have namechanged for this as I don't want it linked to other posts! I know this might sound a bit bizarre but I lived abroad for a large part of my life and when I returned, I have only ever lived in London. I met dp a few years ago - and he moved in to my apartment. But I did commit to moving to a larger place, in a more rural location near his dcs (mine have left home).

So in a rather non commital way, I looked at properties last year. Dp was hugely invested and I sort of left him to it as he knows the whole area and I know v little. We found a beautiful cottage in the summer, which looked glorious and we completed and moved in in November.

well OMG. The mud. THE MUD. I have never seen so much mud. November was v different to the summer. The house was freezing. Everything was freezing. It rained all the time. I had visions of beautiful country walks but they were just nightmarish. I realised it was far harder to make friends here and dp's friends were all divorced men who had no partners for me to even say hello to! The commute was awful, everything just felt dreadful and I cried and desperately wanted to leave.

And then lockdown happened and suddenly I had a bit more time to spend in the area. And I bought neoprene lined wellies which I live in, I have overalls for spending time in the fields. But there is a lot I don't understand. I bought an OS map with all the rights of way/paths etc. and I do long runs and walks now but I don't understand a few things

1.Sometimes on the map, there's a path. And when I get to the path, there's a sign (that says path or whatever) and I can follow that sign (even if it's across a field).

1. Sometimes on the map, there's a path. And when I get to the path, there's no sign and it's across a farmer's field - do I assume that I shouldn't use this path? Does the path not exist or does it mean the farmer doesn't want to acknowledge the path?
2. Near me there are paths that are labelled (by sign) as 'bridleways'. Now I know that means the horses use them but can I run on them too?
3. In a farmer's field, if there is a signposted path that is across his field, I would assume the farmer would be happier going around the outside except I often see he's kept a narrow path clear down the middle - should i use that rather than going round the outside?

sorry if these seem ridiculously obvious but if you haven't lived here before, it's really confusing!

also, if I run in the road, I run facing the traffic (no pavements) - is that ok? I see a few people doing it but wasn't sure if it was totally acceptable

thank you :)

Please wear something reflective or dayglo even in daylight. Glare on windscreen, shade from hedges or trees, can all make pedestrians invisible on country roads.

@kangaroolady If the ROW is through the farmers crops thats the way you must go. If there's no path through then make your own. Never use an undesignated path around. Ive never come across traps in a farmers field ever. Where I live there are paths through the fields. Farmers often don't make a path through crops for you.