Less than ten years left to save our historic paths, warns Open Spaces Society

Less than ten years left to save our historic paths, warns Open Spaces Society

The Open Spaces Society, Britain’s oldest national conservation body, has launched its Find Our Way fund, to support its work against the clock to save our historic public-paths.  

The government has ruled that many unrecorded pre-1949 routes will be extinguished on 1 January 2026 unless applications have been made for them to be added to the definitive (official) maps.

The society has warned its members that their unrecorded paths are at risk and has urged them to get involved in claiming them before it is too late.

The society is a member of Natural England’s rights-of-way stakeholder group, and is working with landowners, local authorities and other users to thrash out agreed measures to speed and simplify the procedures for claiming paths ahead of the 2026 guillotine.

It is running training courses for people to locate and understand the evidence needed to claim historic paths (inclosure awards, tithe maps etc.), and it is working with other user groups, such as the British Horse Society and the Ramblers, to plan a joint bid to fund the digitisation of vital records.

Kate Ashbrook, general secretary of the Open Spaces Society, said: “With less than ten years remaining before many unclaimed routes will be lost for ever, we need to gear up our campaign to record them. We can all apply for paths to be added to the map, we just need to gather the evidence that they are public highways. Otherwise, routes which we have taken for granted, and which could be of value to future generations, will be lost for ever.” 

Roy Thorniley, Rochdale Ramblers Footpath and Countryside Secretary, said: “The Rights of Way Forum on 19 April at Number One Riverside was well attended by members from various walking groups, bridleway associations, Friends of Hollingworth Lake, council members and staff from Environmental Management, Planning and United Utilities. The Planning Department updated us on the progress made with the new Definitive Map. Staff have now examined over 7,500 archived files and good progress is being made. However, it is unlikely that we will see a new map before 2017.”