Soapbox

"The biggest ever survey of footpaths and public rights of way in Britain"

Err, for "Britain", read Englandandwales.

Well... yes... the map and the survey quite definitely deals with England and Wales. However, the Ramblers are active in Scotland (President - Cameron McNeish), and there are rights of way in Scotland (Scottish Rights of Way Society), so I wonder why it's not a pan-British thing?

I guess its because the Scots have a more sensible approach to access

> The biggest ever survey of footpaths and public rights of way in Britain

Well, since E&W are part of Britain, a survey of rights of way in E&W probably also constitutes the largest survey of paths in Britain.

So, technically correct.

I suspect that this survey is the one performed during the CRoW definitive mapping process. Since CRoW doesn't apply to Scotland, there was no need to survey Scotland; as JWJ points out, the Scots have a far more sensible approach to access. It certainly puzzled me on first visiting Scotland; looking for RoW markings on the map, and not finding any. Then the penny dropped...

Having seen UKC descend into a series of nationalist rants in recent months, I hope this isn't the start of the same thing on OM...

"Having seen UKC descend into a series of nationalist rants in recent months, I hope this isn't the start of the same thing on OM..."

Amen to that CP. There have been a few such threads recently.

Did you actually read the article before replying? "and will cover every British right of way"

Not a rant, I'm just suggesting that someone in OM needs a bit of education.

Sorry, druidh, I did read the article, but must have missed that (d'oh, given that it's in the title...). Yes, it's a common error, and its repetition must get annoying.

I'm afraid the UKC shenanigans have left me a little sensitive, maybe in the same way that you're sensitive to the common 'England=Britain' error.

And I'm ashamed to say that I wasn't in the best of moods yesterday, and engaged in a bit of ranting myself.

NP - there's been various rants on the Singletrack forum too. Some funny and obviously light-hearted, and some who just take the whole thing too seriously.

The thing about this one is that I clicked on all the links etc. only to find out that my "help" wasn't needed after all. Not that my time is so precious, but if the article had been more accurate, I needn't have bothered.

The most likely reason that the survey is restricted to England and Wales is because rights of way, compiled from the Definitive Maps maintained by highway authorities, are shown on OS maps of these countries. Scotand does not have a comparable system.

I've somewhat belatedly edited the above article since it is indeed slightly misleading. To add extra annoyance, I've also used the phrase 'mainland Britain south of the Scottish border' rather than say England and Wales twice, which is messy.

As I suspect that it's probably the biggest every survey of rights of way in Britain, maybe Europe, I've left that in. Any Cornish nationalists reading this are invited to lodge their objections now. I've conveniently ignored the Isle of Wight since I genuinely believe it to be a de facto part of mainland Britain since it makes my life easier. Ditto Lundy. And Hampstead.

I apologise for any offence caused. Please feel free to carry on ranting :-)

LOL Jon! You missed out Yorkshire! ;-)

It was just wishful thinking ;-)

Hugh - surely not THE author of Walkers Britain?

Well, certainly the author of "The Walker's Handbook". Hugh comes here to ask our advice sometimes...

LOL cp ;-) Hope you haven't been rummaging in your rucksack lately...

Oooooooooo Cpt P - what exalted company one can meet on OM.
That book was one of the first 'outdoors'items I bought years ago, and it led me to start travelling around the UK more, rather than just the local stuff.
I was always waiting for Book 2. Far more variation than the OS book offerings, and nicely rucksack size.