Ramblers (From Barry And District News)

Ramblers

NORMALLY I ignore Karl Langford's juvenile rantings in his regular letters to the Barry & District, but his last letter needs answering. He wants to close footpaths in the Vale of Glamorgan area and cites cases involving Madonna and Nicholas van Hoogstraten saying that 'ramblers wish to wander over private land unchecked, prying into the private lives of the famous.'

As a regular rambler and a member of a large rambling club I can assure him that none of the walkers I know would go three yards out of their way to see Madonna or to spy on anyone else.

They are too busy enjoying a day out walking in the fresh air with their friends and not causing trouble to anyone.

Nicholas van Hoogstraten on the other hand blocked a 140 year old public footpath with a locked gate, barbed wire and eventually built a barn across it to stop the members of the public who he labelled 'scum' and 'peasants' from walking on 'his land.'

Many local authorities have failed in their duty to protect the public's right to walk in the countryside, and in this case the Ramblers' Association took up the case.

It took 13 years to get the barn destroyed and the path opened and Nicholas van Hoogstraten still owes £93,000 in fines to Sussex Council. As more than a quarter of public footpaths remain blocked in England and Wales, long live the Ramblers Association.

Julie Binding

Hawthorn Road

Barry