Chester walking club celebrates centenary in style
‘The Chester Rambling and Hill Walking Club has provided pleasure and adventure to walkers for 100 years. It could take a lead in campaigning for walkers’ rights too.’ So said Kate Ashbrook, our general secretary, speaking at the club’s centenary dinner in Chester on Thursday 16 May. More than 135 club members at the dinner…
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York Council told to ramp up its work on public paths
We are pleased that the local government ombudsman has told the City of York Council that it must speed up its work on updating the official (definitive) map of public paths. This follows a complaint by our member Graham Cheyne about the council’s inaction on his application to add a path at Fulford to the…
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Make OSS your Amazon Smile Charity Beneficiary
AmazonSmile is a simple and automatic way for you to support Open Spaces Society every time you shop, at no cost to you. When you shop at smile.amazon.co.uk, you’ll find the same Amazon prices, selection and convenient shopping experience, with the added bonus that Amazon will donate a portion of the purchase price to the charity…
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Campaign to Double the Number of School Children Enjoying our National Parks
Although over 60,000 school children visit the national parks each year, the government has long promised increases to this number. The Society, as a member of a coalition of five charities including Campaign for National Parks and with celebrity support, has now demanded urgent action to more than double the number of school children who…
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Fylingdales fencing plan rejected
We are delighted that a proposal for fencing across splendid moorland in the North York Moors National Park has been rejected. Planning inspector Martin Elliott has refused consent to the Manor of Fyling Court Leat, to erect over five kilometres of fencing on Fylingdales Moor. The applicant wanted to graze livestock there, but was deterred…
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East Sussex steps up to replace missing signposts
We are pleased that East Sussex County Council has responded to pressure from path campaigners and has replaced missing signposts on many public paths in the county. Our local correspondents and other members reported missing signposts early in 2018, as part of the campaign to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Countryside Act 1968 which…
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We Save Bridleway Across School Grounds
We have helped to save a 935-metre-long section of public bridleway across the grounds of Christ’s Hospital School, near Horsham in West Sussex. Our local correspondent, Paul Brown, and society member Ruth Fletcher (of the Horsham District Cycling Forum) were among the objectors who fought the change at a public inquiry—and won. The existing bridleway…
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Call For England Coast Path To Extend Up The Hamble Estuary
We have called on Natural England to extend the England Coast Path up the Hamble estuary in Hampshire to cross at the A27 bridge. Tn Natural England, which is defining the route of the path, proposes to rely on the Hamble-Warsash ferry to provide a suitable crossing point. It has not proposed to extend…
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Celebrate The 70th Anniversary Of National Parks In The Peak District
This year is the seventieth anniversary of the National Parks & Access to the Countryside Act 1949 which gave us national parks, areas of outstanding natural beauty, national nature reserves, long-distance paths (national trails) and definitive maps of rights of way among other things. None of these was achieved without a great deal of lobbying,…
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25-Year Environment Plan Evasive About People’s Enjoyment Of The Outdoors
We have criticised the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) for being vague about how it will measure its success in encouraging people to benefit from the natural environment. The society has responded to Defra’s consultation on measuring environmental change through its 25-year environment plan which was published in January 2018. In the…
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