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Tom Franklin: Leaping into the open

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At Easter, I walked along the breathtaking Hadrian’s Wall. Again and again, as I climbed over stiles and went through gates along the route, I came across those small square discs with a brown circle that denote access land. Every time I saw one, I felt pride at the role the Ramblers played in achieving the freedom to roam over open countryside.

It’s now ten years since Ministers first announced their intention to legislate for the freedom to roam. A decade later, the controversy surrounding this freedom has all-but vanished. The dire predictions that opponents made at the time did not materialise. Land values did not plummet. People do not run amok. Flora and fauna are not harmed. As the Ramblers always predicted, the new rights have been used with responsibility by a public that responds well to being treated like adults. Incidents or problems are few and far between.

That’s great news. But what disappointed me while out walking in Northumberland was the scarcity of people actually using the access land as we intended. I know that these things always take time to take off. It took a while for the first long distance trails to become popular. But my sense is that many people out walking don’t really understand the rights that they have. They are nervous about stepping off ‘the beaten track’. As a result, many are missing out on the sheer exhilaration that can be experienced at being in the middle of an environment untouched by human hand.

As we approach the ten-year review of the legislation, the Ramblers will be giving a push to the promotion of walking over open access land, with Ramblers groups helping to promote access land walks. We can’t do it on our own. I want to see local councils, national park authorities, and bodies like Natural England, do much more to explain to people how easy it is for them to use their rights. It took a leap of faith, and courageous people, to bring in the law for freedom to roam. Now we need a leap in imagination to encourage people to step away from the footpath, and to begin to explore their wilder side. Go on, give it a try!

Tom is chief executive of the Ramblers

  One Response to “Tom Franklin: Leaping into the open”

      At 5:55 am on August 29th, 2009 Pam Hainsworth wrote:

    As Australians we greatly admire and are thankful for your freedom to roam policy and all you have done to achieve this.
    My husband and I have walked the Coast to Coast – beautiful variey; the West Highland Way – wild Scotland; parts of Hadrian’s Wall Path – amazing history; and the Cumbria Way, as well as day walks in the Lakes, which we love.
    Here we are mostly restricted to national trails or state forest. But you could come over and walk 963kms on the Bibbulmun Track – Perth to Albany. Great Australian countryside, beaches and forest!
    Aussies in our 60s.

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