Legal Right of Access to our Coast

Legal Right of Access to our Coast

Last week the government confirmed that it would legislate to give a legal right of access to the English coastline. This was a very welcome announcement at the Labour Party Conference and followed strong lobbying by Natural England, the Ramblers Association and many others.

The public consultation period only ended on 11 September (see earlier post) so this was an unexpectedly quick decision from the government and no doubt the timing of the conference had a helping hand in this. Whatever the reason though, this is very welcome news for anyone that gets real pleasure from our varied and dramatic coastline.

Read more at The Government Backs Coastal Access

Today's coastal pub walk: Sailor's Return in East Chaldon, Dorset.

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Coastal Access - Public Consultation Ends

Coastal Access - Public Consultation Ends

11 September marks the end of the public consultation period of proposals to open up an uninterrupted public access corridor around the English coast. I last wrote about this in June in my post Coastal Access - Right to Roam our English Coastline when the consultation process began.

According to The Ramblers Association, 94% of the English public support the wide-ranging proposals presented to the government by Natural England. Let's all just hope now that the government has been listening.

Read more at Coastal Access and the right to roam our English coastline
See update...

Today's Pub Walk: The George Inn in Middlezoy, Somerset.

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St. Ives wins vote for improved coastal access

St. Ives wins vote for improved coastal access

The Guardian’s ‘Best Seaside Town Award’ has just been won by St. Ives in Cornwall with one of the reasons for it earning this award being cited as improved access for walkers.

The 22 judges included Chairman of the Ramblers’ Association who highlighted members’ enthusiasm for the improved coastal access with public transport around St. Ives helping walkers explore the South West Coast Path.

You might have seen in my previous posting on coastal access that the competition for the Nation’s Favourite Pub Walk has a special "Favourite Coastal Pub Walk" category with its own prize for the person submitting the walk - maybe St. Ives could be the setting for the winning entry for that too!

The coast path here is one of the best stretches in my view with some rugged walking and spectacular coastal scenery. St. Ives also has its share of historic pubs to entice pub walkers and I was already trying to book a last-minute holiday in the area. So keep your eyes open for some new pub walks there this summer (not that I would qualify for my own prize of course)!

To find out more click on coastal access helps St. Ives win award.

Today's pub walk: The Victoria Inn in Plymouth, Devon, which includes a section of the South West Coast Path.


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Walking for Exercise is Replacing Gym Membership

Walking for Exercise is Replacing Gym Membership

It seems that twenty and thirty-somethings are turning their backs on the gym in favour of keeping fit in the great outdoors. An incredible 72 per cent of 20 to 39-year-olds surveyed this month by the Ramblers' Association (RA) would rather go for a walk than work out in a gym.

And this is against a back-drop of another recent Sport England survey that confirmed walking as the most popular recreational activity with over 8 million of us walking at least once a month.

Pub walkers already know that walking is a great way to meet new friends and an excellent way to keep fit while enjoying fresh air and scenery instead of staring at a dull gym wall. And some of those savings on gym fees can be spent on enjoying some wholesome pub food and real ale as a "reward" for all that exercise. All in moderation of course!

To read more about the Ramblers Association's survey, click on Walking for Exercise is Replacing Gym Membership.

Today's pub walk: The White Hart (walk 2) in Campton, Bedfordshire.

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Coastal Access - Right to Roam our Coastline

Coastal Access - Right to Roam our English Coastline

Yesterday saw the start of the public consultation over coastal access. The question is whether the right to roam should be extended to grant uninterrupted public access along the length of the English coastline.

Natural England first presented their proposals to Defra earlier this year and I wrote about this then at Coastal Access is on its Way. Public support is very strong for a continual coastal corridor which would bring England into line with Scotland and shortly Wales. However it is strongly opposed by landowners and the battle is not yet won. Read more at Coastal Access and the right to roam our English coastline

To help maintain public and media focus on this initiative, MyFavouritePubWalks.com has decided to add a special "Favourite Coastal Pub Walk" category in its search for The Nation's Favourite Pub Walk. The additional prize will be a copy of "The Walkers Companion", published and donated by The Ramblers Association who have been strong campaigners for coastal access.

Today's participating pub: The Inn with the Well in Ogbourne St. George, Wiltshire.
Prizes offered: 1st - Meal for 2 with wine; 2nd - Bottle of Chianti or Pinot Grigio.

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South Downs Wind Turbine a Monstrous 230 ft High

There simply has to be a better way of generating alternative energy than by destroying the views over one of our few remaining wilderness areas in England. With the South Downs already designated the UK's 15th National Park, who can possibly justify building a monstrous 230 feet high wind turbine in its midst?

Apparently a company called Glyndebourne Productions Ltd can. However, they have a battle ahead of them as some of the strongest countryside campaigners have lined up to take them on: the Ramblers' Association, the Campaign to Protect Rural England, the Council for National Parks and the South Downs Society.

Although wind turbines are sited on National Parks elsewhere, it is the shear scale of this one that is causing immense concern. Expected to be visible over an area of hundreds of square miles, it's 230 foot height dwarfs the 40-50 foot ones previously used.

So let's support renewable energy sources but not at any price. We need to protect our natural environment as well as the planet for enjoyment today as well as in the future.
See update...

Today's pub walk: The Green Dragon in Cambridge.

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Campaign For Real Ale celebrates National Mild Day

Today is "National Mild Day" and May is "Mild Month" for the Campaign For Real Ale (CAMRA) as they aim to revitalise interest in what used to be Britain's most popular type of real ale. They have produced a map showing the location of breweries with an award-winning mild and is encouraging us all to seek these out in our local pubs and give some of them a try this month.

Oh and while you're there, don't forget to work up a thirst with a pub walk first! And of course, Write it down, take a few photos and you have the chance to enter the competition to find "The Nation's Favourite Pub Walk".

Check out MyFavouritePubWalks.com/competition to see all the prizes on offer including copies of The Good Pub Guide, The Walkers Companion and Blacks vouchers.

Today's pub walk: The Chester Arms in London.

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Mass trespass on Kinder Scout

This weekend sees an important anniversary. An organised mass trespass of over 400 ramblers took place 75 years ago on Kinder Scout, the highest hill of the Derbyshire Peak District. The protest was against the English law of the day that denied access to land and footpaths that had previously been public rights of way.

The mass trespass resulted in imprisonment of its ringleaders and is widely considered to be the most significant event in the campaign for the rights to roam we enjoy today. So this seems a good excuse (if one was ever needed) to get out into the countryside this weekend and exercise our rights!

Today's pub walk: The Three Horseshoes, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk.

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Increased Coastal Access is On The Way

There is much comment about coastal access at the moment following Natural England's recommendation for "a 4,500 km continuous corridor of clear and well managed public access along the entire length of England’s coast." Natural England, the Government's new conservation advisory body, are in for a bumpy ride.

The proposals are brave in their vision but, as with everything, the devil is in the detail. The Ramblers are generally encouraged but want national legistlation and have real concerns over implementation if this is left to local authorities, given their a mixed record in enforcing rights of way. The National Farmers Union of course are up in arms about a statutory approach, calling for local solutions and compensation, while the Country Land and Business Association raise the issue of how this would impact other individual rural businesses too such as gold courses, holiday parks and caravan sites.

The Government is committed to action but will undertake further consultation later in the year. Let's hope talk gives way to real action soon. In the meantime, why not try today's pub walk below which includes a stretch of the South West Coast Path?
See update...

Today's pub walk: The Mussel Inn, Down Thomas, Devon

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Posted: TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 2007

Blacks and Millets join the Quest

The Good Pub Guide, the Ramblers… and now Blacks and Millets have added their names to the list of supporters of MyFavouritePubWalks.com and our Quest for the Nation’s Favourite Pub Walk.

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Now Sponsored by The Good Pub Guide 2007 (Ebury Press)

First the Ramblers, then The Good Pub Guide – interest in supporting the Quest for the Nation’s Favourite Pub Walk is gathering pace! Ebury Press, editors of the Good Guides series, have given us 5 copies of their 25th Anniversary Special Edition of the Good Pub Guide for prizes.

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Ramblers Association adds its support

Following the launch of MyFavouritePubWalks.com on 29 March 2007, feedback has been very positive and the word is spreading. It's great to see that the Ramblers Association has added its support to the Quest for the Nation's Favourite Pub Walk by sponsoring some prizes. They are donating 10 copies of "The Walker's Companion", a light-hearted compendium of "facts, stats, quotes and notes of the greatest of British pastimes - walking". ). Keep a look out too for a mention of the quest in their magazine “Walk” which is distributed to their 140,000 members.

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Talking Bull

Is it me? I just get so annoyed by getting ¾ the way around a circular walk only to be faced with a stile and the ominous sign “Bull in field”. What does this mean? Bull in field is harmless? Bull in field so continue at your own peril? Or bull in field but hey, don’t worry, if it attacks you can always sue? Only the farmer knows and he is certainly not letting on.

Two recent walks were frustrated in this way. One required us to travel 3 sides of a very large square and the other had no viable alternative within our allotted time despite our being so close to our destined refreshments that the gastric juices were already flowing! On both occasions the same pre-printed laminated sign was used and it would have been easy to have included some additional information to indicate how the sign should be interpreted.

Maybe the farmer was just happy for us to be thwarted in our efforts to use the public footpaths across his land. Or maybe we should simply be made of sterner stuff. Somehow childhood memories of being chased by stampeding bullocks seem to linger on …

If you are unsure how to react when you encounter cattle or a bull in a field then the Ramblers give some good pointers in the “Cattle in fields with public access” section of their “Animals and Rights of Way”.

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