Right to roam?

Just a short post and a bit of a rant really, but from what I’ve seen it appears I am not the only person who’s annoyed by what’s happened, and not the only one either to take the culprits to task.

I’m not talking about the alarming prospect of five years of  “Bumbling Boris,” Britain’s own tousle-headed version of Donald Trump. Instead I’m talking about something far more important, and that is the obstruction of a well-used and highly convenient footpath, close to where I work.

The path I’m referring to runs from just opposite St Luke’s Church, on the edge of Chiddingstone Causeway, to the tiny hamlet of Charcott. It is a tarmac footpath which leads across the old Penshurst airfield; a grass landing strip which saw active service during World War II, before closing shortly afterwards.

It is a well-trodden and familiar route which forms part of my regular lunchtime walk; or at least it did until a couple of weeks ago. Now, the path, whilst still open, has been given over to a herd of sheep, and although towns folk might consider these animals cuddly and lovable, they make one hell of a mess!

Sheep have pretty much always been a feature of the first field, on the right hand side of the path, and there is nothing finer than seeing the new born lambs, skipping about, each spring, without a care in the world.

So far, so good, but the other two fields, an equal sized one also on the right, and a massive one, which is the size of the other two fields combined, on the left, have always contained arable crops. These range from barley to oil seed rape, maize and turnips.

It is the latter crop that has attracted all the controversy, as turnips have been planted in the both large and small fields, but not as a food source for humans, but for our woolly-coated friends instead.

To begin with, the sheep were confined to the larger of the two turnip fields, hemmed in  by a low, electric fence. The plan, so far as there appeared to be one, was to let then eat the foliage of the turnip tops, before then uprooting the turnips themselves by a bit of nifty harrow work.

Again, this was not a problem until earlier last week, part of the electric fence was removed, allowing the sheep to roam freely between the large field on the left, and the smaller secondary one on the far left. To prevent the sheep from escaping via the public footpath, temporary gates were fitted at either end of the path, with strict instructions to the public, to keep these gates closed at all times.

Now I don’t have a problem with sheep, and will happily walk through a flock of them without fear or hindrance. What I do have a problem with is the mud they have trodden all over the normally clean tarmac footpath, along with the far more unpleasant matter that comes out of their rear ends!

This, combined with the heavy rain we have experienced in recent days, has made the path virtually impassable – certainly to any one wearing normal shoes of the type acceptable in an office environment.

Along with other colleagues of mine, who also enjoy a lunchtime stroll, I have given up on this path until the livestock is removed and the whole thing tidied up. It seems we are not alone in our annoyance, as local residents are not happy either. People who live in Charcott rely on this footpath to access the nearby Penshurst station, as well as local buses and  shop and Post Office in Chiddingstone Causeway.

One local has been so incensed by the farmer’s thoughtless action that they saw fit to affix their own laminated sign to the gate. As you can see from the photo, one angry Charcott resident has, quite rightly, castigated the thoughtless farmer/land-owner, but shaming his/her actions. The section where the farmer is brought to task over making the footpath unusable for elderly residents is very apt, as it the line stating that there has never been a gate on the footpath.

I was particularly impressed by this anonymous, public-spirited individual, and after reading they had reported the matter to Kent County Council, I decided to follow suit. KCC have a section on their website, where members of the public can report problems on rights of way, so as soon as I arrived at work this morning, I’d registered an account and reported the problem caused by the sheep.

Once you’ve registered and logged in, you have access to an interactive map, where you can highlight the path in question (every footpath in the county has its own unique code, which makes things much easier).

I was really impressed to have received a response by mid-afternoon, and a positive one at that. I was informed that their Public Rights of Way Department have inspected the problem and are working with the land owner/manager responsible to resolve the problem. They went on to say that the gates and cable should be removed within 24 hours, and the path cleaned and fencing put back along the sides of the path to keep the sheep off the path.

Now that’s what I call a result, and whilst I suspect they acted following the initial complainant’s report, mine must have helped to spur them into action. I shall wait and see whether the farmer is as good as his word. It’s good to know too, that the local authority take these matters seriously, so that all Kent residents, as well as visitors, can enjoy unfettered access along the county’s footpaths.

 As well as being well-used by inhabitants of both Chiddingstone Causeway and Charcott, several of my work colleagues also use the path at lunchtime. Like me they will be pleased to the livestock properly fenced in, and the path cleaned up.