I was in the Peak District yesterday walking along muddy paths and ones which basically had been rebuilt with stone so it was nearly step like.

This was clearly due to the popularity , some may say overuse, by walkers.
We are certainly not leaving it as it was.

made me think about how we can accommodate the recreational needs of others.

Maybe resources should be assigned for the maintenance of green lanes just as they are for footpaths and bridleways, after all we don't have to pay directly for the work that is done so we can enjoy walking.

Thinking further, the erosion from walking would be reduced if other less frequently used paths were more popular.

So wouldn't it be better IF we are concerned about erosion by motorised vehicles that we open more and more routes to spread the potential wear and allow more recovery time, or perhaps have a rotated roster of which lanes are open each year.

Maybe the same could be applied to walkers routes to allow some recovery.

What are peoples thoughts?

trekkie: Looking at the statistics the number of BOATs (Byways open to all traffic) is dwindling. Of all the UK byways BOATs used to make up 5%, since the CRoW act this has dropped to circa 3%. Surely this is making problems worse. Further more us walkers have 97% of the cake so it seems to be a wee bit unfair to be removing what little the off roading community have left. ☹

Although I am not a 4x4 fan these are ancient rightes of way, many used by man for millennia. We all lose when they are shut and effectively returned to the private landowner. The rights are OUR rights. Personally I don't exercise that right, but recognise that others might wish to do so.

trekkie: ... as for repairing green lanes, I think the point is that 4x4ers like them un-repaired 😋

I entirely agree, You have greatly assisted in showing that it is a far broader issue and in fact could possibly work against us all.
I DO have 4x4's but not for recreational use.
I think that whatever passion people have should be encouraged within reason. I think some mutual understanding and respect goes a long way.
I do think that closing things off is going backwards.

Well said Site Admin.
It is also nice to be a member of a social website where there is a human response from the administrator.

colinjoseph: *bleep* human conversation database loading ... *bleep*
Thank you Colin. I do try.

*bleep* controversial subject loading... *bleep*

We have quite a few green lanes in my loverly Shropshire, all mostly churned up by farm traffic so the odd off roader isn't much of a problem.

We have started exploring footpaths away from the few obvious honeypots and often walk completely alone across untouched fabulous countryside. There are so many footpaths that my tip is to ditch the walking guide and learn to read a map. We are so lucky. Everyone calls the Scottish open access system the gold standard, but there you can't enter a field in the knowledge that you can exit the other side

cont ...

there is much of Scotland where it is difficult to track across the countryside in the way we can in England and Wales. Our rights of way network are amazing and should be kept and fought for. A recent trip to Australia brought this home. There are some amazing landscapes, but your ability to enter them is increasingly restricted. An old open attitude is being replaced by private land owners closing their land and saying "go away". Lets keep the British landscape open.

I used to go green landing in the 90s and there was a culture of overgrowth clearance and maintenance then. Anti 4WD stopped my enjoyment of preserving and exploring green lanes. Been back to one or two since, that are impassable, even to ramblers now. We've all lost.
If you took a zero damage view to walking and maybe took a log or a stone from designated stores where you parked, to where it was needed, to preserve the route or trimmed back a few branches and chopped them up to go on the ground to do the same, maybe that would be a way forward. King of guerilla maintenance, focussed but crowd sourced?

It is a very valid point Malcolm, I do discover overgrown paths and tracks.
Those that don't find them are maybe not exploring sufficiently and possibly sticking to the popular walking routes just adding to the problem of overuse by walkers and cyclists. I cant say I blame them. who would want to go bush wacking in expensive walking gear that gets snagged on brambles etc.?

One of the worst cases of overkill in path maintenance is the stone slabs used to counter erosion. Much of the Black Mountains are like that on top, and mountain routes, such as between Drum and Foel Fras in the Carneddau. If I want to walk on slabs of stone I can do it in the High Street on the pavement. If there is erosion, it needs drainage and gravel.