Monthly Archives: October 2014

Day four at Common Wood

Posted on 31/10/2014 by campaignerkate

Common Wood: part 5 On 27 October 15 volunteers from the Dartmoor Preservation Association, and butterfly expert Jenny Plackett from Butterfly Conservation, set off from Hillbridge Farm, along the leat to my land at Common Wood on western Dartmoor.  We … Continue reading →

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Lines in autumn

Posted on 25/10/2014 by campaignerkate

Now it is morning again, the 25th of October, In a white fog the cars have yellow lights; The chill creeps up the wrists, the sun is sallow, The silent hours grow down like stalactites. It’s 45 years since I … Continue reading →

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Wales encircled by birds

Posted on 24/10/2014 by campaignerkate

One of the loveliest works of art I have seen in a long time is the ceramic pavement at the start or finish of the Wales Coastal Path, by the old bridge in Chepstow, which is also close to the start or … Continue reading →

Posted in Birds, National trail, Wales, Walkers Are Welcome Towns, walking | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Creech Jones’s failed attempt to win access

Posted on 23/10/2014 by campaignerkate

Arthur Creech Jones, who died 50 years ago today on 23 October 1964, is remembered in our circles as the MP who got the Access to Mountains Bill 1939 on the statute book.  Unfortunately by the time parliament had finished … Continue reading →

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Walkers Are Welcome—a winning formula

Posted on 21/10/2014 by campaignerkate

Last weekend, as patron of the Walkers Are Welcome Towns Network, I went to the towns’ annual get-together.  This year it was in Chepstow, at the start or finish of the Wales Coast Path and Offa’s Dyke National Trail.  It … Continue reading →

Posted in Access, campaigns, Coastal access, green spaces, National trail, Public paths, Walkers Are Welcome Towns, walking | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Government invents public-path law and misleads landowners

Posted on 16/10/2014 by campaignerkate

Over the last few months the familiar websites of agencies such as Natural England have been sucked into a generic government website http://www.gov.uk. The detailed information has been severely reduced and dumbed down.  In the case of public rights of way … Continue reading →

Posted in Access, Defra, Natural England, Obstructed path, Public paths, riding, walking | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Don’t tinker with Tinkers’ Lane

Posted on 14/10/2014 by campaignerkate

When the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Bill was going through parliament, with its pernicious provisions for gating orders on public paths, ministers said it would only be used in urban areas, where crime and anti-social behaviour were a problem.  The … Continue reading →

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Tasting the Lickey Hills

Posted on 13/10/2014 by campaignerkate

I might never have visited the Lickey Hills, south-west of Birmingham, had the Open Spaces Society (OSS) not held its local correspondents’ weekend there. On 10-12 October, we met at the excellent Hillscourt Conference Centre, Rose Hill, on the Old Birmingham … Continue reading →

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Welsh Government tugs its forelock to developers

Posted on 07/10/2014 by campaignerkate

Wales wants to be different from England—but only when it suits it.  When it comes to allowing developers to destroy green space, Wales is only too happy to copy England’s laws. Yesterday the Welsh Government published its Planning Bill which … Continue reading →

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Canal celebration of Northants Ramblers’ 25 years

Posted on 06/10/2014 by campaignerkate

It couldn’t have been a better day on 5 October for the final leg of the Northamptonshire Ramblers’ celebratory six-day walk on the Queen Eleanor Crosses Way between Stamford (Lincs) and Stony Stratford (Milton Keynes). Led by David Yeomans of … Continue reading →

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