Hacking out is an integral part of horse riding. Whereas most of our hacking is done on public roads and byways one of delights of riding is to be able to get off the beaten track and enjoy the countryside. Fortunately for us not only do we have some fine countryside to explore, we as a club, have a member, Zia, who has dedicated considerable time and effort to championing the rights of the riding community regarding bridleways. This includes the establishment of a network of legal rights of way, via the work done within the Shropshire Great Outdoors project, as well as the maintenance and accessibility along established routes. Her enthusiasm for the task in hand was evident to those of us who attended Wednesday night rallies, which were a de facto club night, where Zia was often in attendance giving us an update on her latest successes and challenges.
SDRC Bridleway Page
Zia Robins presented her 2023 bridleways report at the AGM. The key points shared in the report were:
Zia has represented the club recently at the BHS National Access and Safety Conference, where they talked about road safety. BHS has been asked by police to ask members to report incidents as crashes or collisions instead of calling them “accidents”. All serious incidents including those with dogs or mountain bikers should be reported using the form on the BHS website.
Bridleways are maintained and safeguarded by many volunteers who actively help to keep them open or to reopen them. There are some issues with connections not showing on maps, so Zia is coordinating a local effort to put in claims to the Council to keep small routes open which are key to connecting bridleways.
As riders we are integral in this since we experience our locality when out hacking. Our experiences can be compared to the definitive bridleways map made available by Shropshire County Council and found on the Interactive definitive map on the Shropshire’s Great Outdoors website This can be filtered to show all the bridleways, restricted byways and restricted county roads. Please review these and see where there are any gaps. If there is a gap, members should contact Zia who can help to submit a claim to keep these open.
The home page of the Shropshire Great Outdoors website shows “Access and Rights of Way” and on the right hand side, you can see all the claims made in the past as well as current ones. There is a long list! If you find a missing part on a route, you need reference number to report the claim. This can be found under “Rights of Way and Other Access” settings. Click on the relevant part to get “status and reference number”. Click on route to come up with the reference number for the parish/bridleway/section reference which is needed for reporting.
The Interactive map allows Horseriding routes to be downloaded by PDF and print or to follow on your phone. Leaflets are also available on the BRC website.
Zia is linking with BRC members about locked gates, illegal notices, blocked routes. Zia provides advice and guidance and can also get in touch with landowners to help resolve issues, as council is often too busy to follow up in a timely way. Parish council partnership groups may be in place, or liaise with landowner to help keep bridleways clear. Poor gate fastenings on bridlepaths can be replaced with new horse friendly fixings onto current gates by the council, although Shropshire Council have large backlog of work on bridleways.
Zia made a plea for all riders to please remember to ride in High Viz when riding, so riders can be seen. This is not just on road, but generally.
Zia urged all members to go out and find some new routes for when the weather improves.
This article summarises the main points of the AGM report. To read the report in full follow this link.SDRC Access & BW Report 2023 given at AGM 24th Nov