[Talk-GB] Noverton Farm - driveway-becomes-track

[Martin Wynne]

On 13/12/2020 09:06, Nick Whitelegg wrote:

> Apologies for going off topic, but I knew that name (Noverton Farm) 
> sounded familiar.
> 
> A quick check of where it is would explain why. In 1998 I did a  long 
> distance walk from Sussex to the Peak District, following ordinary 
> footpaths (planned using OS maps) and went through this area, the Teme 
> Valley. It was very nice *but*​ the footpaths were in an appaling state 
> of disrepair, I remember on several occasions that day having to 
> scramble through dense shrub cover and attempt to negotiate barbed-wire 
> fences. I seem to recall Noverton Farm as being the site of some 
> particularly badly-maintained footpaths.

Hi Nick,

The footpaths in the area, or at least the ones walked by me, are now no 
worse than in other areas of Worcestershire. Here is Noverton Farm with 
stile:

  https://85a.uk/noverton_stile_1280x800.jpg

The heavy lifting appears to have been done by the local Ramblers 
volunteers:

  https://85a.uk/noverton_ramblers_1280x800.jpg

Others nearby have been replaced with galvanised kissing gates, again 
with the Ramblers doing the actual work.

The state of the footpath between them tends to depend on the time of 
year and the state of the crops. Farmers tend not to regard their legal 
requirement to reinstate footpaths within 14 days as being at the top of 
their to-do list.

cheers,

Martin.