An Incredibly Easy Method That Works For All
10 Apr 2021
Maintaining Footpaths and Reporting Overgrown Stiles
Walking the footpaths around Reading is one of the quiet joys of living in Berkshire. Whether you are heading out from Caversham towards the Chilterns, following the Thames Path near Mapledurham, or exploring the shaded tracks around Sulham Woods, you will soon notice that our busiest routes need a little care. Light maintenance by walkers can keep a path usable, but it must never turn into unauthorised landscaping. Before you touch a single bramble, stop and assess what you are actually dealing with.
Public rights of way are legal highways. You have the right to pass and repass, and you may remove an obstruction that blocks your immediate progress, but you must not damage hedges, fences, crops or wildlife habitat. The golden rule is simple: clear only what overhangs the path, take nothing away, and leave the wider verge untouched. If a path is blocked by a fallen tree, a locked gate or a wall of mature brambles, that is a job for the local access team, not for a pocket knife and good intentions.
Light brambles are the most common nuisance on paths around Reading, especially on narrow sections between Sulham and Tidmarsh, or along the shaded lanes near Stanford Dingley. You can safely deal with a few arching stems that snag your jacket, but only if you use the right tools and timing.
Cut material should be placed well off the path, never left in a tidy pile across the right of way. If you are clearing around a stile, clear only the immediate approach. Do not try to repair the stile itself, and do not remove a broken step or rail. That is a job for the landowner or the council's rights of way officer.
Waymarkers are the quiet heroes of countryside walking. A yellow arrow means a public footpath, blue means bridleway, red means byway open to all traffic, and white means restricted byway. Around Reading, you will find these discs and posts on everything from metal gates near the Kennet & Avon Canal to wooden posts above the Pang valley. When one is broken, faded or missing, navigation becomes guesswork.
Do not remove a damaged waymarker, even if it is hanging by a single screw. Instead, note exactly where it is. A grid reference is ideal, but a clear description works too: "the wooden post at the gate where the path leaves the lane above Mapledurham, heading east towards the woods." Take a photograph with your phone, capturing the broken disc and any nearby landmark. Note the colour and direction of the arrow, and whether the post is snapped, rotten or simply unpainted. Pass all of this to your local access team. They can then add it to their maintenance schedule without having to search the whole parish.
Every unitary or district council in the Reading area has a countryside access team or a rights of way officer. They are responsible for the definitive map, for signposting and for keeping paths open. When you find a blocked path, report it promptly and precisely. Include the date, the location, a grid reference if you have one, and photographs showing the obstruction from both sides. Describe what is blocking the way: a fallen branch, an overgrown hedge, a barbed wire fence across a stile, or a gate that will not open.
Use the council's online reporting form if one exists, or email the access team directly. Keep a copy of your report and ask for a reference number. If you are reporting a stile that is overgrown but still passable, say so. If it is broken and unsafe, say that too. Councils prioritise safety and legal obstruction, so clear language helps. You are not being a nuisance. You are providing the evidence they need to act.
Good path maintenance is as much about restraint as action. Close every gate you open. Keep dogs under close control around livestock, and on a short lead near sheep. Do not widen a path by trampling the verge, even if the mud is deep. If a stile is broken, do not climb over a nearby fence as a shortcut. Report it and, if necessary, turn back or take a marked alternative. Around Reading, paths cross active farmland, nature reserves and sensitive chalk streams. Your care protects those habitats for everyone.
Finally, remember that volunteer path wardens and parish lengthsmen often do the quiet work of clearing drainage ditches and replacing waymarkers. If you enjoy a path regularly, consider joining a local volunteering group. But for anything beyond light brambles, the best thing you can do is note it, photograph it and report it. That keeps our Berkshire footpaths open, safe and welcoming for the next walker.
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April 25, 2019 at 10:46 am
Take in the iconic skyline and visit the neighbourhood hangouts that you've only ever seen on TV. Take in the iconic skyline and visit the neighbourhood.
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Soldman Kell
April 25, 2019 at 10:46 am
Take in the iconic skyline and visit the neighbourhood hangouts that you've only ever seen on TV. Take in the iconic skyline and visit the neighbourhood.