Our chair of trustees, Phil Wadey, and his colleague Sarah Bucks have recently published the second edition of their book, Rights of Way – Restoring the Record which aims to enthuse, enable and empower rights of way researchers to make definitive map modification order applications to ensure that routes that would be extinguished in 2026 are saved from the cut-off date. This invaluable reference book covers identifying routes, the key sources of evidence of historic ways, where that information is located, what it can tell us, and how a systematic research method is the best way forward.

For those of you who may already have a copy of the first edition, the main updates are as follows:

. new examples for each document source
. additional evidence sources not considered in the first edition
. references to how the courts have interpreted evidence
. a new chapter on research projects

All hyperlinks have also been checked and updated as necessary, updates from the first edition have been incorporated, and text revised following queries from book readers or from attendees at related training days.

The 2nd edition is available to OSS members at a price of £27 inc p&p; please reference OSS when ordering. For further details or to order, visit Restoring the Record here.

For details of Restoring the Record training days please visit the Training Courses page of our website.