great video, but a minefield... in county durham I've seen signs stating 'no bicycles' which kinda implies you can't even walk with a bike..! and another one where if you access the track one direction is states a bridleway, but the other entrance it says no bikes or horses...
Think I'll stick to cycling north of the Border. Far less confusing with our right of responsible access and gives you the freedom to explore. Thanks for posting a well researched and interesting video Keep it up Gareth 🙂
You can't cycle here, but don't worry you actually can cycle here. Now here, there's a really helpful sign with a bike on, so you can cycle here, but actually you can't cycle here after all, but in reality you can cycle here! Thanks for clearing that up 😂 great research and a fascinating watch.
Very nice video, also looks a great route. Here on and around the North Wales coast we're very lucky in the fact that we can ride almost anywhere we wish, not always in a strictly legal way but because there's very few other users around and most of the land owners don't really mind so long as you respect them and their land, been riding where I shouldn't really ride for 30+ years giving a friendly wave to the farmers as I go past and getting a wave back, in all that time only ever had one farmer challenge me so now avoid using his land, even though this farmer breaks the law with walking rights of way himself by building things like horse jumps which cross over footpaths on his land as part of a paid horse riding centre, avoiding him is the simple solution since he is well in with the local councillors and has a blind eye turned to his law breaking.
Sounds confusing to me but at least you have a lot of off-road tracks you can cycle. In Holland there are so little offroad tracks to be found that people are fighting over them. The small patches of nature we share with 17 million people are often fenced and at the beginning of every path you will find a sign telling you what's allowed. And very often it is not accessible to bicycles. I'll have to take the ferry to your side of the pond!
As someone who is new to cycling, I was shocked to learn how few places I can 'legally' ride my bike. I have checked my local rights of way map and I have 2 short bridleways and a boat within 5 miles, and the rest are footpaths.
Some of them may be permissive footpaths, ‘traditional’ bridleways or unclassified roads with a footpath marked on top. I was misled by one ‘footpath’ which turned out to be a tarmac’d road to a public car park! I find the following resources help: local authority cycle maps, guide books like the one referred to in the video and maps of long distance routes.
You can legally ride your bike on roads too, so other than motorways, you have very few legal limitations. Whether you WANT to ride on roads is another matter entirely. 😉 Don't cycle on typical pedestrian only pavements, especially busy ones. Fit a bell, warn other people you're there in, plenty of time. Say thanks as you go by, and go slowly, give them plenty of room. I would suggest that unless there are specific signs saying no cycling, you are unlikely to come to grief. If confronted by a landowner on private land, always be polite, simply apologise for your mistake, say you sometimes find it a bit confusing on maps, and offer to leave via the shortest route available. It's generally the cyclists tearing down paths at breakneck speed (and tearing them up too), or mouthing off that most people dislike.
This is really interesting, something I've tried to dip my toe into but got utterly confused about. My biggest gripe always falls with farmers and their bully tactics where they take land over time and claim it as their own, or like you say they put no cycling signs on a path that so obviously is allowable for cyclists. Then there's public access land....dont get me started!
Things certainly need tidying up, there's a lot of confusion. Ideally you'd start from scratch, but unfortunately, there's a lot of historic precedents relating to roads, public footpaths, rights of way, permissive paths etc. Not just for cyclists, but walkers too. Changing individual laws often has knock on effects with other laws and practices. Not just statute, but case law too. Some of them are completely unintentional, but they can cause great problems. Of course, having local authorities making individual decisions, rather than central government, compounds the problem.
Nice video. Nothing better demonstrates the medieval legal mess that some in England still revel in, and the primacy of individual wealth over access for all, than our rights of way legislation... You forgot another class of cycling route by the way - Cycle Track Orders 😁 Also note that as from 2022, the Tories criminalised trespass in certain circs, although probably none that will trouble passing-through cyclists and walkers - their populist target is Roma encampments.
The very fact that you think you should be entitled to access everywhere shows a certain contempt for other people's rights. They do have rights to their property, be it land, buildings, a car, their t-shirt or a packet of mints. Like most people, you'd be pretty upset if random people started using your gardens and private property as shortcuts, a public access route or a play area. Of course, you think that's different... but it doesn't matter whether it's 10 square metres or 10 square miles. If it's privately owned by someone, it's their property. Not everyone who owns land is upper class or rich. Quite the opposite.
The principal of Criminal Trespass in England has been around for a long time. It's basically a codification of already existing laws. It was previously just a combination of offences, and not just something the Tories dreamed up a few years ago... much as I'm sure you'd like pretend. Other parties agreed to it too.
@@another3997 I'm never sure whether I should reply to people who don't believe in their own opinions enough to put their names to those opinions... You make a reasonable point about private property, but as is typical, you conflate two different things - people walking across gardens, and people walking across fields and moors. People should always have a right to privacy and respect for their homes and immediate gardens (which is all that 99% of the population own in any case, including most countryside dwellers). But in my view (and that of millions of others) it should not be illegal to walk, cycle or ride a horse peacefully and non-destructively across open fields, moors, mountains and forests, whoever owns them. We have enough obesity problems and our kids are increasingly stuck indoors glued to screens. Britain is a beautiful country and everyone should have the opportunity to enjoy it. If people cause damage or fail to follow the countryside code then they should be held liable for any damage or consequences. This is exactly the system that has been created in Scotland, it's very popular with the 99% and I don't believe there has been any significant problems caused to the 1%. Seems like a fair policy to me.
Well researched and nicely put together. Thanks for rhat.
great video, but a minefield... in county durham I've seen signs stating 'no bicycles' which kinda implies you can't even walk with a bike..!
and another one where if you access the track one direction is states a bridleway, but the other entrance it says no bikes or horses...
Think I'll stick to cycling north of the Border. Far less confusing with our right of responsible access and gives you the freedom to explore. Thanks for posting a well researched and interesting video Keep it up Gareth 🙂
So jealous!
Great informative video well put together.
Its a pity that bridleways are not kept in good passable condition.
You can't cycle here, but don't worry you actually can cycle here. Now here, there's a really helpful sign with a bike on, so you can cycle here, but actually you can't cycle here after all, but in reality you can cycle here! Thanks for clearing that up 😂 great research and a fascinating watch.
Very nice video, also looks a great route. Here on and around the North Wales coast we're very lucky in the fact that we can ride almost anywhere we wish, not always in a strictly legal way but because there's very few other users around and most of the land owners don't really mind so long as you respect them and their land, been riding where I shouldn't really ride for 30+ years giving a friendly wave to the farmers as I go past and getting a wave back, in all that time only ever had one farmer challenge me so now avoid using his land, even though this farmer breaks the law with walking rights of way himself by building things like horse jumps which cross over footpaths on his land as part of a paid horse riding centre, avoiding him is the simple solution since he is well in with the local councillors and has a blind eye turned to his law breaking.
Sounds confusing to me but at least you have a lot of off-road tracks you can cycle. In Holland there are so little offroad tracks to be found that people are fighting over them. The small patches of nature we share with 17 million people are often fenced and at the beginning of every path you will find a sign telling you what's allowed. And very often it is not accessible to bicycles.
I'll have to take the ferry to your side of the pond!
As someone who is new to cycling, I was shocked to learn how few places I can 'legally' ride my bike. I have checked my local rights of way map and I have 2 short bridleways and a boat within 5 miles, and the rest are footpaths.
Some of them may be permissive footpaths, ‘traditional’ bridleways or unclassified roads with a footpath marked on top. I was misled by one ‘footpath’ which turned out to be a tarmac’d road to a public car park! I find the following resources help: local authority cycle maps, guide books like the one referred to in the video and maps of long distance routes.
You can legally ride your bike on roads too, so other than motorways, you have very few legal limitations. Whether you WANT to ride on roads is another matter entirely. 😉 Don't cycle on typical pedestrian only pavements, especially busy ones. Fit a bell, warn other people you're there in, plenty of time. Say thanks as you go by, and go slowly, give them plenty of room. I would suggest that unless there are specific signs saying no cycling, you are unlikely to come to grief. If confronted by a landowner on private land, always be polite, simply apologise for your mistake, say you sometimes find it a bit confusing on maps, and offer to leave via the shortest route available. It's generally the cyclists tearing down paths at breakneck speed (and tearing them up too), or mouthing off that most people dislike.
Very interesting, thank you. Is the track on the south side of Wylam, next to the railway, open yet?
It wasn’t when I filmed this a couple of weeks ago.
@@GriffKane Cheers. I was carrying my bike around the older barrier, but then they put up a fence that Donald Trump would be proud of :)
This is really interesting, something I've tried to dip my toe into but got utterly confused about. My biggest gripe always falls with farmers and their bully tactics where they take land over time and claim it as their own, or like you say they put no cycling signs on a path that so obviously is allowable for cyclists. Then there's public access land....dont get me started!
Things certainly need tidying up, there's a lot of confusion. Ideally you'd start from scratch, but unfortunately, there's a lot of historic precedents relating to roads, public footpaths, rights of way, permissive paths etc. Not just for cyclists, but walkers too. Changing individual laws often has knock on effects with other laws and practices. Not just statute, but case law too. Some of them are completely unintentional, but they can cause great problems. Of course, having local authorities making individual decisions, rather than central government, compounds the problem.
Nice video. Nothing better demonstrates the medieval legal mess that some in England still revel in, and the primacy of individual wealth over access for all, than our rights of way legislation...
You forgot another class of cycling route by the way - Cycle Track Orders 😁
Also note that as from 2022, the Tories criminalised trespass in certain circs, although probably none that will trouble passing-through cyclists and walkers - their populist target is Roma encampments.
The very fact that you think you should be entitled to access everywhere shows a certain contempt for other people's rights. They do have rights to their property, be it land, buildings, a car, their t-shirt or a packet of mints. Like most people, you'd be pretty upset if random people started using your gardens and private property as shortcuts, a public access route or a play area. Of course, you think that's different... but it doesn't matter whether it's 10 square metres or 10 square miles. If it's privately owned by someone, it's their property. Not everyone who owns land is upper class or rich. Quite the opposite.
The principal of Criminal Trespass in England has been around for a long time. It's basically a codification of already existing laws. It was previously just a combination of offences, and not just something the Tories dreamed up a few years ago... much as I'm sure you'd like pretend. Other parties agreed to it too.
@@another3997 I'm never sure whether I should reply to people who don't believe in their own opinions enough to put their names to those opinions...
You make a reasonable point about private property, but as is typical, you conflate two different things - people walking across gardens, and people walking across fields and moors.
People should always have a right to privacy and respect for their homes and immediate gardens (which is all that 99% of the population own in any case, including most countryside dwellers).
But in my view (and that of millions of others) it should not be illegal to walk, cycle or ride a horse peacefully and non-destructively across open fields, moors, mountains and forests, whoever owns them. We have enough obesity problems and our kids are increasingly stuck indoors glued to screens. Britain is a beautiful country and everyone should have the opportunity to enjoy it.
If people cause damage or fail to follow the countryside code then they should be held liable for any damage or consequences.
This is exactly the system that has been created in Scotland, it's very popular with the 99% and I don't believe there has been any significant problems caused to the 1%. Seems like a fair policy to me.
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