What a public right of way actually is

A public right of way is exactly what the phrase suggests: a legal right for the public to travel along a defined route across land that still belongs to somebody else. The farmer owns the soil, the crops and the livestock, but the right to pass is yours — and it is recorded on the definitive map held by your local highway authority. That map, not the signpost, is the legal record. Worth remembering on the day a marker has rotted away or been pushed sideways by a tractor. There are four types of right of way, and they are not interchangeable:

• Footpath — walking only. Usually waymarked with a yellow arrow.
• Bridleway — walking, horse riding and cycling. Usually a blue arrow. Cyclists must give way to walkers and riders.
• Restricted byway — as a bridleway, plus horse-drawn vehicles. Often a purple arrow.
• Byway open to all traffic — rare, and in practice usually a rutted track used by walkers, riders and the occasional brave driver.

If a path crosses a field, that does not make it a permissive route or a favour. It is a right, and the landowner has a duty to keep it usable.

Reading the waymarks

Most English and Welsh authorities waymark with small discs or arrows fixed to a wooden post, a gate or a stile. Look for the coloured arrow and the words "Public Footpath" or the county name. Yellow, blue, purple and red follow the scheme above, though some authorities add their own flourishes and a few parishes still use beautifully weathered cast-iron fingerposts. A missing waymark does not mean a missing path. If you are unsure, the giveaways are a worn line through the grass, a gap in the hedge, a plank footbridge over a ditch or a stile sitting by itself in a wall. Ordnance Survey maps show rights of way in green dashes — long dashes for footpaths, short dashes for bridleways — and they are a sound companion to what is actually on the ground.

Stiles, gates and the small courtesies

Britain's footpath furniture is a pleasure in itself: the stone squeeze stiles of the Peak District and the Yorkshire Dales, the wooden kissing gates of the Home Counties, the ladder stiles of Devon's high hedges. Use them as intended rather than climbing walls or hauling yourself over fences, which damages both the wall and the goodwill of the person who maintains it. Gates deserve a moment's thought. The rule is simple: leave a gate as you find it. If it is shut, shut it behind you. If it is tied open, leave it tied open — the farmer has done that deliberately, perhaps to move stock or machinery. Never leave a gate open onto a road.

The Countryside Code in practice

The Code boils down to respect, protect and enjoy, which is easy to nod along to and slightly harder to do on a wet Tuesday in February. In practice it means:

• Keep to the path where it crosses growing crops, and walk in single file on narrow field edges.
• Take litter home, including fruit peel and dog bags. There is no bin at the top of the hill.
• Do not feed or approach livestock, and never touch farm machinery.
• Give horses a wide berth, slow down and speak before you pass.
• Park so that gateways, field entrances and passing places stay clear.
• Leave gates, walls and fences as you find them.

Dogs and livestock

Under the law in England, dogs must be on a lead on a public right of way between 1 March and 31 July, and at any time when near livestock. Outside those dates, keep your dog in sight and under close control. If cattle come towards you, let the dog off the lead so it can get clear, and walk steadily away without running. Cows with calves are the ones to treat with real caution — give them space and take the long way round if the path allows.

When a path is blocked or you lose your nerve

Landowners may not legally obstruct a right of way. Guidance suggests footpaths should be at least 1.5 metres wide across a field and 1 metre across a growing crop, with bridleways wider still. If you meet an electric fence across the path, an overgrown stile, a locked gate or a bull in a field with a footpath through it, report it to your local highway authority's rights of way team. They have a duty to act, and they genuinely welcome the information. Temporary diversions and short closures for agricultural work do happen, and should be signed. If you simply lose the line of the path, retrace your steps to the last waymark, then scan the far side of the field for the stile or gap you are heading for. Nine times out of ten it is there, quietly waiting, and you will wonder how you missed it. That small click of recognition — the gap, the arrow, the plank bridge — is half the pleasure of walking the British countryside.