It's Not About The Cows...

Top explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes appeared on this morning's Radio 4 The Today Programme to defend himself against allegations that he's involved in a tussle with the Ramblers' Association over the right to roam across his land.

The story, which hit the media yesterday, stemmed, he says from The Sun newspaper misinterpreting a court case between landowners in the Exmoor area and claiming, erroneously, that he was seeking to exclude ramblers from his land on the basis that they would frighten his Aberdeen Angus cattle.

'I've got no problem at all [with the right to roam]', he told the programme. 'I am a rambler, I am a runner. I'm rambling and roaming all over Exmoor.' The case, which he's involved in, hinges on whether his and other landowners' land is judged to be agricultural or not, which in turn hinges on expert analysis of the grass type growing on the land.

Fiennes was clearly pretty hacked off with the whole affair and pointed out that quote from the RA that appeared to criticise him were in fact made in response to information supplied by The Sun. The Ramblers' web site now carries a statement acknowledging and supporting the right of landowners to appeal access land adjudications.

Thanks to the wonders of the interweb, you can listen to Sir Ranulph in all his streaming glory at the listen again section of the Radio 4 web site. And if you're wondering what the whole storm in an Aberdeen Angus tea cup is all about, check this article from the Independent.