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Sunday 28 September 2014

Rhosyfelin footpaths

Following my recent chat with Dave W on this blog, I thought I'd better check out the footpath situation -- and I have discovered that there are TWO footpaths affected by this dig site, not one.

This is the map that pops up on "Where's the Path" when one looks at this area:


What we see are two paths / public rights of way, leading from the cottage near the ford towards the S and SW.  The path is shown from the edge of the garden.  One path runs very close to the edge of the rocky spur, just where the 2014 digging has been going on, and the other runs up the middle of the little channel between the spur and the road.  The path is not shown leaving the road on the hairpin bend.  That path, if it is indeed a designated right of way, appears to have been completely obliterated by the 2011-2014 digs.

So if the path as shown is correct there has either been a deliberate blocking of the path or an attempt to prevent public access, which would either be a criminal offence, or else, with the assistance of the Highways Authority (presumably the National Park in this case) a temporary diversion of some sort.  That presumably would involve some notification to the public -- and I'm not aware that there has been any such notification.

Then things get even more messy.  If you look at the 1:25,000 map for the area it looks as if this second path leaves the road right on the hairpin bend, more or less as we see on this old OS 6" map:



That must be an old trackway, running beneath the word "felin" -- and you can also pick it out on the satellite image.  So the path running past the tip of the spur is shown by the dashed lines, but the other path isn't.

All very confusing.  But is is important, because I and lots of other people will want to know whether, if we go and wander around the dig site and take photos, we are actually on a designated public footpath.  Alternatively, are we technically trespassing?

I will try to find out from the National Park what the truth of the matter might be.........


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