Temporary Access.

This sign post must have been first erected about twenty years ago. It was re-erected a month or so later, and again approximately each month for some time; It was probably a year or two before the local dog walkers decided that it wasn't worth the effort of uprooting and throwing it into the long grass. For several reasons it has absolutely no authority. In Scotland, there is now a legal "right to roam" where-as, in the rest of the U.K, the laws of trespass are toothless: the only right a land owner has is to escort you, by the shortest route, off his land and sue for damage to his property. This particular footpath has been in regular use for as long as we have lived in the village and as such, it would be easy to have it registered as a public footpath.

There used to be a gamekeeper in the area who tried to assert his authority over trespassers, why? We have no idea, there has not been any hunting here for a long time unless you count a handful of local lads with ferrets. At the time we were having problems with the gamekeeper, I mentioned to the farm manager about the ferreting, he was delight as the rabbits were "a bloody nuisance." I made friends with those lads and could have advised them that poaching was illegal, but then again, those rabbits were delicious.


I have just posted yesterday's, "Ant?"