April 2020
Although all our group activities have come to a halt for now, we will continue to send out our monthly newsletter. This will include updates about all things to do with walking that we get to hear about during the coronavirus crisis.
Friday and Sunday walks
As you would expect our walks are cancelled until further notice. We will resume as soon as allowed. In the meantime, we hope that you are managing to get out once a day for exercise and see something of the emerging spring countryside around the village. Much has changed since our last Sunday walk that was so well attended less than four weeks ago.
Walking Friends
If you would like to get in touch with someone you have got to know on one of our walks but don’t have their contact details let us know. We can pass on a message by email.
Rambles from the Roundhouse walking leaflets
A reminder that our three ‘Rambles from the Roundhouse’ leaflets are available for £1.50 each at Cohens the Chemist and the AM/PM Post Office. The Green leaflet has five short walks suitable to meet the current restrictions. The Brown and Lilac leaflets give ideas for longer routes that can be adapted to any length walks. All routes start from the centre of the village so you don’t need to use a car. You will find a summary of the walks on our website at https://www.waw-burleyinwharfedale.org/published-walks.html . Let us know if you can’t find the leaflets so we can try to get one to you.
Litter picking walk
Sadly, we had to postpone our litter picking walk with Plastic Free Burley on 28 March. We hope this can be rearranged for some time in the autumn.
Working party with Open Country
Our working party with Open Country on 28 April is also postponed until further notice. This was to have been to improve the surface of a section of Hag Farm Road. However, we are pleased to report that the Burley Community Trust has generously offered a grant for a bench. When restrictions permit this will be installed at the end of the improved section of Hag Farm Road so that wheelchair and mobility scooter users can stop to enjoy the view with their friends and carers. We hope it will also get well used by other walkers who pass by.
This year’s AGM
The AGM, planned for 13 May, has been cancelled. David Shaftoe from Open Country was due to be our speaker. We hope this can be rearranged for later in the year. In the meantime, we will circulate our Annual Report with the May newsletter.
Burley Summer Festival August 2020
The Festival Committee has had to cancel all major events although still plans to have some limited activities, such as the Scarecrow Trail, that can be enjoyed by individuals or family groups. As far as the Festival walks programme is concerned, given the current uncertainty, we will not do any more planning for our themed walks this year. Instead we look forward to offering them in 2021. Nevertheless if it becomes possible to resume any sort of group walking by the end of August we should still to be able to organise a limited number of guided walks at short notice, We will keep you updated about any plans.
Walking guidance during the Coronavirus crisis
We have received a number of reports of walkers being deterred from using public rights of way by landowners posting notices, some quite impolite, suggesting that a public footpath is closed and / or that walkers are unwelcome. This has become a national problem and has led to DEFRA circulating advice this week to remind landowners and other stakeholders of the legal situation.
In summary, the advice acknowledges the concerns expressed by landowners about the risk of exposure to the coronavirus to residents and farm workers through use of public rights of way. However, it considers the risk to be very low as long as people follow the Government’s advice about social distancing. It confirms that landowners do not have the legal right to block or obstruct rights of way or access land. In very limited circumstances, where large numbers of people are using such routes, landowners should consider a number of measures. These include tying gates open, displaying polite notices encouraging social distancing and to suggest use of alternative routes. Any temporary alternative routes that are provided must be safe to use and the original route must remain open so that users with differing abilities have a choice. Landowners are reminded that it is an offence to obstruct free passage along a right of way, and an offence to display a notice which contains false or misleading information likely to deter the public from using a right of way or access land.
Bradford Council has now devised official Council notices for landowners to display, depending on the local situation. One notice advises that an alternative and safe permitted path is available to avoid private gardens, working farmyards and stables, and that users should follow the temporary way markers. The second advises that, where there is no alternative route given the current uncertainty, users should maintain social distancing, hand wash / sanitise after touching any shared surfaces such as stiles and gates, and to keep dogs on a lead near livestock. I understand that these notices have already begun to be circulated to local landowners.
Please get in touch if you have any concerns about access to public footpaths in the Burley / Menston area. If you come across what you consider to be an illegal notice (i.e. one that deters use), please take a photograph if possible so that we can then forward it on to Bradford Council for follow up.
Working parties
With working parties curtailed for the time being, there is a risk that some of our most popular footpaths may get overgrown with brambles, nettles and bracken as spring and summer progress. Please let us know if you identify a path that needs some attention. One of our working party volunteers can then be invited to slash, prune or lop as they take their daily exercise or dog walk. We now have permission and funding for three more gates around the Burley and Menston area. So we can look forward to organising some future working parties whenever that might be.
Sun Lane to A65 footpath
Finally, some good news about the footpath route to Ben Rhydding mentioned on the walks page of our website. https://www.waw-burleyinwharfedale.org/wharfedale-grange-circular-walk.html
We have been hoping to replace the wooden step stile onto the A65 at the end of the Sun Lane footpath, (close to the Kashmiri Aroma restaurant), ever since we started installing replacement gates some five years ago. The stile has been in a broken condition for most of this time and more recently become dangerous to use. Without landowner consent to replace the stile, the adjoining field gate has normally been open to use as an alternative. Unfortunately it was recently padlocked. However, we can report that the stile has now been permanently dismantled by Countryside Services, the chain and padlock removed and instead the gate is now secured by a rope. Stock are frequently kept in this field so it is very important that walkers make sure the gate is fully secured after passing through, given it opens onto the A65. However please alert us as soon as possible if you find that the field gate has again been locked. In the coming weeks we hope you will have chance to enjoy the countryside nearby. Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns about walking in our area.
Friday and Sunday walks
As you would expect our walks are cancelled until further notice. We will resume as soon as allowed. In the meantime, we hope that you are managing to get out once a day for exercise and see something of the emerging spring countryside around the village. Much has changed since our last Sunday walk that was so well attended less than four weeks ago.
Walking Friends
If you would like to get in touch with someone you have got to know on one of our walks but don’t have their contact details let us know. We can pass on a message by email.
Rambles from the Roundhouse walking leaflets
A reminder that our three ‘Rambles from the Roundhouse’ leaflets are available for £1.50 each at Cohens the Chemist and the AM/PM Post Office. The Green leaflet has five short walks suitable to meet the current restrictions. The Brown and Lilac leaflets give ideas for longer routes that can be adapted to any length walks. All routes start from the centre of the village so you don’t need to use a car. You will find a summary of the walks on our website at https://www.waw-burleyinwharfedale.org/published-walks.html . Let us know if you can’t find the leaflets so we can try to get one to you.
Litter picking walk
Sadly, we had to postpone our litter picking walk with Plastic Free Burley on 28 March. We hope this can be rearranged for some time in the autumn.
Working party with Open Country
Our working party with Open Country on 28 April is also postponed until further notice. This was to have been to improve the surface of a section of Hag Farm Road. However, we are pleased to report that the Burley Community Trust has generously offered a grant for a bench. When restrictions permit this will be installed at the end of the improved section of Hag Farm Road so that wheelchair and mobility scooter users can stop to enjoy the view with their friends and carers. We hope it will also get well used by other walkers who pass by.
This year’s AGM
The AGM, planned for 13 May, has been cancelled. David Shaftoe from Open Country was due to be our speaker. We hope this can be rearranged for later in the year. In the meantime, we will circulate our Annual Report with the May newsletter.
Burley Summer Festival August 2020
The Festival Committee has had to cancel all major events although still plans to have some limited activities, such as the Scarecrow Trail, that can be enjoyed by individuals or family groups. As far as the Festival walks programme is concerned, given the current uncertainty, we will not do any more planning for our themed walks this year. Instead we look forward to offering them in 2021. Nevertheless if it becomes possible to resume any sort of group walking by the end of August we should still to be able to organise a limited number of guided walks at short notice, We will keep you updated about any plans.
Walking guidance during the Coronavirus crisis
We have received a number of reports of walkers being deterred from using public rights of way by landowners posting notices, some quite impolite, suggesting that a public footpath is closed and / or that walkers are unwelcome. This has become a national problem and has led to DEFRA circulating advice this week to remind landowners and other stakeholders of the legal situation.
In summary, the advice acknowledges the concerns expressed by landowners about the risk of exposure to the coronavirus to residents and farm workers through use of public rights of way. However, it considers the risk to be very low as long as people follow the Government’s advice about social distancing. It confirms that landowners do not have the legal right to block or obstruct rights of way or access land. In very limited circumstances, where large numbers of people are using such routes, landowners should consider a number of measures. These include tying gates open, displaying polite notices encouraging social distancing and to suggest use of alternative routes. Any temporary alternative routes that are provided must be safe to use and the original route must remain open so that users with differing abilities have a choice. Landowners are reminded that it is an offence to obstruct free passage along a right of way, and an offence to display a notice which contains false or misleading information likely to deter the public from using a right of way or access land.
Bradford Council has now devised official Council notices for landowners to display, depending on the local situation. One notice advises that an alternative and safe permitted path is available to avoid private gardens, working farmyards and stables, and that users should follow the temporary way markers. The second advises that, where there is no alternative route given the current uncertainty, users should maintain social distancing, hand wash / sanitise after touching any shared surfaces such as stiles and gates, and to keep dogs on a lead near livestock. I understand that these notices have already begun to be circulated to local landowners.
Please get in touch if you have any concerns about access to public footpaths in the Burley / Menston area. If you come across what you consider to be an illegal notice (i.e. one that deters use), please take a photograph if possible so that we can then forward it on to Bradford Council for follow up.
Working parties
With working parties curtailed for the time being, there is a risk that some of our most popular footpaths may get overgrown with brambles, nettles and bracken as spring and summer progress. Please let us know if you identify a path that needs some attention. One of our working party volunteers can then be invited to slash, prune or lop as they take their daily exercise or dog walk. We now have permission and funding for three more gates around the Burley and Menston area. So we can look forward to organising some future working parties whenever that might be.
Sun Lane to A65 footpath
Finally, some good news about the footpath route to Ben Rhydding mentioned on the walks page of our website. https://www.waw-burleyinwharfedale.org/wharfedale-grange-circular-walk.html
We have been hoping to replace the wooden step stile onto the A65 at the end of the Sun Lane footpath, (close to the Kashmiri Aroma restaurant), ever since we started installing replacement gates some five years ago. The stile has been in a broken condition for most of this time and more recently become dangerous to use. Without landowner consent to replace the stile, the adjoining field gate has normally been open to use as an alternative. Unfortunately it was recently padlocked. However, we can report that the stile has now been permanently dismantled by Countryside Services, the chain and padlock removed and instead the gate is now secured by a rope. Stock are frequently kept in this field so it is very important that walkers make sure the gate is fully secured after passing through, given it opens onto the A65. However please alert us as soon as possible if you find that the field gate has again been locked. In the coming weeks we hope you will have chance to enjoy the countryside nearby. Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns about walking in our area.