Inaccessible Public Footpaths: What's the Answer?

Last week myself and Rachel attempted to follow the route of one of the walking guides that can be found on the Wythall Parish Council website. (If you'd like to read that, click here).

Unfortunately we had to cut that walk short because the public footpath we were directed to walk down was completely overgrown with brambles and stingers. 

There was no way through it so we had no choice but to walk back on ourselves. 

This got us thinking, who's job is it to look after public footpaths? 

There are a few signs around saying areas are maintained by the Wythall Countryside Carers but we couldn't find any evidence anywhere to suggest they're still operating. 

We then checked legally and it's the job of the landowner to ensure the footpaths are clear and free for people to walk across but when it's on public land it's a grey area. 

It's such a shame that there are so many beautiful walking areas in our village, but some of them are just inaccessible. 

We wanted to open the conversation to see if, as a community, we could come up with an idea of how to tackle this. 

Maybe we start up the Wythall Countryside Carers again? Could we continue the good work they were doing maintaining the green areas in our village?

Or perhaps you've got another idea! Make sure to leave them in the comments below and we can start this discussion. 

It would be such a shame for our green spaces and walking areas to become overgrown.