Punishment for riding on 'footpath'? and or routes Darwen.

TowerRider

Hi, I have searched the forum and can see quite a few posters do or have ridden on Darwen Moors plus Tockholes/Rivington/Winter Hill and I wondered if any of you had gpx/tcx routes you would (privately if you wished) share.
I mainly ride Witton Weaver Way which iI believe is legal and the land on Darwen Moors is Open land but my ignorance means I don't know if it is legal to ride on the 'footpaths' . I also happily ride through SunnyHurst Woods although I see a tiny pic of bike with line through (no bikes) and no one has ever stopped or spoken to me bar one person who was rightly told to go back and pick their dog's poo up or shut up.
I wondered what the actual legal punishment was.

piker

I am no lawyer but i think its a civil offence to ride on footpaths and it has to be proven you have caused damage to the path.Might be wrong though.

TowerRider

Just looking at it on the internet and like you say it appears it is local by laws and from that I would guess our council will have done nothing. To be honest they shouldn't as they want to encourage cycle useage and I am certainly not damaging anything.
Really must get out and do more of the moors - last ride I went on was very calming and physical at the same time. Felt I could have collapsed and not been found for months - very peaceful

sparrowlegs78

I've yet to ride up to the Tockholes moors and Darwen tower way...i'm a bit lax really lol.
There's no bridleways that go right up to the Tower at Darwen BUT there s a booklet by Blackburn and Darwen council that actually has a ride in that sends you up to the Tower, so the Council can't be that fussed can they
Caz xx

largephil

I regular ride up to Darwen Tower, as do lots of others, its a good ride.

One hell of a climb up the steep side though.

Never seen anyone taking objection to me being on my bike up there.

x-isle

It's all gone a bit silly really. If everyone respected everyone else's interests then we wouldn't be in this state and England and Wales would have the same rights as Scotland.

As already mentioned, it is a Civil Offence to ride on a Footpath and there has to be the proof of criminal damage. It's unlikely to ever be enforced, but is there for a reason.

I'm not saying don't ride it, I'm not saying ride it. I'm pretty sure that a lot of us have been guilty of riding where we shouldn't (even if we don't know we've done it!). A lot of the time, there are no markings tellings us we can't.

What I would say though, if you are going to ride it, just respect the other users (Walkers and Horse Riders) as they do have right of way. In fact, if we all did that on Bridlepaths, we'd have a better level of respect. Unfortunatly, there are a small number of riders who give us all a bad name!

Whether the law is right or wrong in your opinion, please respect it. After all, whether you're a biker, walker, horse rider or even dogger, we are all out there for one thing.........enjoyment! Let's enjoy it together....

TowerRider

Pretty sure we can legally ride on Bridleways. I follow Witton Weavers way and West Pennine Moors paths which I am also pretty sure I am allowed on. There are a few 'paths' which seem to be good routes and these were the ones I was initially wondering about BUT I am no longer concerned and will get out there and enjoy the countryside while respecting others - not dog walkers who are out for one reason!

x-isle

Yes, most Bridleways are open to cyclists, although some have been known to exempt them and will clearly display a no cycling sign.

You still have to give way to pedestrians and Horse Riders. There are then Permissive Bridleways, it's a way of a land owner to get brownie points by allowing access across their land.

This is a pretty good write-up - the world revolves around Wiki!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rights_of_ ... _and_Wales

PBo

x-isle wrote:

It's all gone a bit silly really. If everyone respected everyone else's interests then we wouldn't be in this state and England and Wales would have the same rights as Scotland.

As already mentioned, it is a Civil Offence to ride on a Footpath and there has to be the proof of criminal damage. It's unlikely to ever be enforced, but is there for a reason.

I'm not saying don't ride it, I'm not saying ride it. I'm pretty sure that a lot of us have been guilty of riding where we shouldn't (even if we don't know we've done it!). A lot of the time, there are no markings tellings us we can't.

What I would say though, if you are going to ride it, just respect the other users (Walkers and Horse Riders) as they do have right of way. In fact, if we all did that on Bridlepaths, we'd have a better level of respect. Unfortunatly, there are a small number of riders who give us all a bad name!

Whether the law is right or wrong in your opinion, please respect it. After all, whether you're a biker, walker, horse rider or even dogger, we are all out there for one thing.........enjoyment! Let's enjoy it together....

coffee -> nose -> keyboard!

cheers

Mancunianfightingcat

I live right near the Sunnyhurst Pub, there's loads of routes up Darwen. PM me your email address and I'll send you some GPX files.

I stay out of the Sunnyhurst woods as it's very local to me, but regularly go over to Roddlesworth reservoir and the woods round there as there's some great singletrack. The trails are in fab condition at the moment too.

Tuesday nights at 6pm, there's a crowd set off from the Sunnyhurst and I've seen guys on a Sunday morning too, but I'm usually working then. Thursdays are normally my play day if you want a guide!

Skonk

x-isle wrote:

It's all gone a bit silly really. If everyone respected everyone else's interests then we wouldn't be in this state and England and Wales would have the same rights as Scotland.

As already mentioned, it is a Civil Offence to ride on a Footpath and there has to be the proof of criminal damage. It's unlikely to ever be enforced, but is there for a reason.

I'm not saying don't ride it, I'm not saying ride it. I'm pretty sure that a lot of us have been guilty of riding where we shouldn't (even if we don't know we've done it!). A lot of the time, there are no markings tellings us we can't.

What I would say though, if you are going to ride it, just respect the other users (Walkers and Horse Riders) as they do have right of way. In fact, if we all did that on Bridlepaths, we'd have a better level of respect. Unfortunatly, there are a small number of riders who give us all a bad name!

Whether the law is right or wrong in your opinion, please respect it. After all, whether you're a biker, walker, horse rider or even dogger, we are all out there for one thing.........enjoyment! Let's enjoy it together....

I thought footpaths were for people walking on foot only, not people riding horses?

Horses sure as hell do far more damage to the path then a bike would.

x-isle

Skonk wrote:

I thought footpaths were for people walking on foot only, not people riding horses?

That's correct, sorry, I might of been a bit misleading. Footpaths are just for foot. Bridlepaths are for walkers, horses, cyclists and women who are about to get married....

kaytronika

I was riding my wife up a bridleway and was told to dismount...

x-isle

kaytronika wrote:

I was riding my wife up a bridleway and was told to dismount...

:P

largephil

Mancunianfightingcat wrote:

Tuesday nights at 6pm, there's a crowd set off from the Sunnyhurst and I've seen guys on a Sunday morning too, but I'm usually working then. Thursdays are normally my play day if you want a guide!

Seen a fairly big crowd this Tuesday just gone. Must have been 10+ bikes. I was in a group of 4 going the opposite direction (the one that nearly ran into you all on a blind bend) if you were out in that group

rhext

I think it's illegal to ride on footpaths on the side of the road. I believe that there are also bylaws which allow Councils to designate some other paths as cycle-free (they'll have the cycle in the red circle marking on them).

As far as 'countryside' footpaths are concerned, I think that the situation is that while walkers have a right to use them, no-one else does. So if the landowner has a problem with you being there he has a legal right to do something about it.

As to what that right is, I'm not clear. I think it's merely the right to request that you get off his property as fast as reasonably possible, plus the ability to make a civil claim against you if he can show your presence there has cost him money (or presumably a criminal claim if you've caused a lot of damage somehow).

I also suspect that the 'relationship' is between you and the landowner, so if there's a walker also using the footpath who objects to your presence, the only thing they can actually do about it is go complain to the landowner and hope that they do something about it. It's not their call whether you should or shouldn't be cycling along the path.....

I think this is the situation, but I'd welcome some clarification from someone who actually knows! I'd also be interested in what the situation is should the footpath be crossing common land!

x-isle

I think you've pretty much got that spot on as far as I know.

Access Law is very vague and dificult to grasp. Someone once told me that they knew a guy who had been to Uni to study it and it took 2 years and he was still non the wiser!

largephil

The laws are complicated and its almost impossible to know for sure exactly what the laws are on every part of a long ride, especially if its an area that you dont know so well.

The easiest law to remember is "respect". If you respect and are curtious to other path users, be it bike foot or horse, then I find that people are respectfull in return, most of the time. 8)

chalkyrollo

Hi all Witton Weaver's Way is mostly bridleway that can be ridden on bike, however you can't ride on witton weavers way over at Entwisle Resovoir.

The group you mention that leave on a sunday am is Darwen MTB club, we are on group on facebook, look us up and join. If anyone want's to come we post rides on facebook usually cycling around Darwen tower, healy nab and Rivington. With the odd trip further afield. We go at the pace of who ever is slowest, it's more of a social thing go for a ride then a pint or two.

We know nearly all the local trails around these parts and rides vary from 2-6 hours long usually.

Bignige

x-isle wrote:

kaytronika wrote:

I was riding my wife up a bridleway and was told to dismount...

:P

Inuendo Bingo anyone...

mak3m

rules and regs relating to rights of way on non highways are covered by civil law and are notoriously hard to bring a case, however some local authorities use legal governance acts to issue tickets very similar to parking offences in de-criminilaised areas. this mainly happens around urban fringe in prolonged problem areas and its highly unlikely to happen in a rural area.

as mentioned above classification as a footpath is usually for a reason, mainly that the formation of the track/path isnt sufficent to hold up to bikes. for every 10 decent upstanding mtbers there will be one twat who will go out in the ping rain and rip the track up making it impassible for anyone.

bridleways are completley different matter, they are 9 times out of 10 highways and are covered by the highways act 1980, newer created bridelways sometimes termed as permissive bridleways are not highways and have the same civil protection as other public right of ways. most bridleways cater for bikes but some do have excemptions. to make an exception a traffic regulation order has to be made prohibiting the use of cycles. if you ride on one of these routes it is a criminal offence and the police can ticket you. however, i have never come across one and you would have to catch a copper on a very very bad day way out of his normal patch, lol but i did watch a jacobs ladder youtube vid today with a copper car half way up kinder :P .