The arrival of the car pushed walkers off the roads, leaving them with nowhere else to go – it’s time to right that wrong, writes Tony Hufton. Plus letters from John Birtill, Mike Stein and Kathy Moyse
The Ramblers’ report into public footpaths (Whitest parts of England and Wales have 144% more local paths, study finds, 20 September) highlights an injustice. But this is a problem with a long backstory and it’s about more than lost rights of way. Before the coming of the motorcar, pedestrians used the roads to get about the country, sharing them for many centuries with riders and horse-drawn vehicles. When you read the chronicles of some of our greatest walkers – Coleridge, Keats and, even as recently as 1913, Edward Thomas – it’s clear that they are mostly walking on roads, not footpaths.
The car, backed by massive state investment, has progressively pushed walkers off the roads and left them with nowhere else to go.
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