The government has legislated that any ‘ancient paths’ that are not recorded on the Definitive Map used by all Local Authorities must be registered and claimed by 2026 – and there will be no opportunity to claim them after this date. Ramblers has organised a National Campaign ‘Don’t Lose Your Way’ to coordinate efforts by members to make as many useful claims as possible before the cut off date. The details of this campaign can be seen on the Ramblers Web site at
http://www.ramblers.org.uk/get-involved/campaign-with-us/dont-lose-your-way.aspx
Various Ramblers Groups in Cheshire have started this process and have been helped by data from a pilot exercise carried out by Natural England in collaboration with the Local Authority.
Now that tThe initial stage of identifying lost paths from maps about 1900 in Cheshire has been completed we are looking for volunteers to help with the next step in the process. This will which is to try to get some of them reinstated as Public Rights of Way before the opportunity to do so is lost forever in ten years time and also to examine maps from other periods, going back several centuries..
Most of this task will be research work which can be done over the dark winter months. Within our ECR territory forty five lost paths have been identified in 33 parishes. Of these, there are a number which are not worth pursuing for several reasons, for example, they are built over, dead end paths or a suitable alternative path has since been created.
The task involves a few volunteers coming together to decide, in conjunction with our Footpath Committee, which paths we are going to research to see if we can get them back onto the definitive map and reinstate them as a right of way.
The research will involve gathering together as much evidence as possible from various sources including historic maps, tithes maps, estate maps etc to make a claim. We will also need to establish why certain paths were stopped up or lost from the definitive maps in the first place and this is likely to involve visits to local council offices.
This is going to be a learning curve to all of us so why not give it a go and volunteer so if you can give a little bit of your time to help improve our footpath network.
Please contact me or John Edwards or Adrian Flinn or any member of the Main Committee or the Footpath Committee as a first step.
Colin Park
Lost Paths Project Leader
