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Now we have two (ring necked parakeets)…….
They don’t seem to have frightened the smaller birds thank goodness. The only thing is that they screech!
I went shopping to Westwood and Mal went to the allotment as there is a lot of produce needed picking! I called in at M&S and bought their £10 meal deal which is ridiculously cheap, a whole chicken, a side dish, a bottle of wine and desert! I know I shouldn’t have chosen the calorie filled desert but I did!!
Mal spent quite a while looking for our next camping destination!! I forgot to mention whilst in Sainsburys I bought a reduced price camping BBQ!! It looks as though we will be going camping again!
It rained in the afternoon and I watched “Hive Alive” with Chris Packham. It was really interesting. .
Credit where it is due, Martin the footpath warden for Stelling Minnis replied.
Stelling Minnis Public Footpath Problems
“Hi Malcolm
Sorry to hear you had a bad experience walking HE19. However, I’m afraid that the minimum legal requirement for stiles are the type that you have to climb over. Stiles are the responsibility of landowners and whilst I do recommend that they upgrade to gates that are more accessible, they can’t be compelled to do so and many can’t afford to do so. Many footpaths aren’t really made for people like yourselves who have large dogs who need to be lifted over although we are fortunate round here to have the Minnis to walk across, which has no such obstacles and there are a few footpaths with dog doors. HE19 passes through land owned by someone who isn’t keen on walkers, so not willing to improve their stiles. I’m not sure where you ended up in a jungle on HE19? It starts from Bossingham Rd as a track and then passes through two grass paddocks at the rear of the house and then ends where it meets HE18. Were you perhaps on HE18 at this point? I haven’t walked along HE18 for a few weeks but it was clear then. Unfortunately, due to the austere times we live in there is no longer any funding for path clearance where they get overgrown at this time of year and therefore Kent County Council have stopped this work altogether. Footpath Wardens like me are Volunteers. I work full time and haven’t managed this year to find any time for clearing paths. I am hoping that in a couple of weeks we may have a team of people on probation who will do some clearance of overgrowth.
Kent County Council are responsible for the footpath signs. I couldn’t in any case agree that signs on paths that aren’t accessible should be pulled down as there are plenty of hikers who quite like the challenge of stiles and don’t mind wading through some overgrowth.
Happy to hear your story about HE11/12″
Yes, we did get the message that many of the local wealthy landowners don’t want Joe Public crossing their land, so do their best to create obstacles. We will continue challenging them! I hope others do as well or we will have no walks left, with or without a “large dog” !
Mal’s reply……….
“Hi Martin
I know your job is difficult, if not nigh on impossible, but overgrown paths and stiles in disrepair that become dangerous should at least be reported in order that the situation is made known to whoever is responsible for rectifying the problem. Our local Footpath Warden took on the role specifically for that reason, it isn’t his job to clear the paths only to check them at a time when they are most likely to be used and to have become overgrown; in other words now.
There seems to be some argument about who is responsible for maintaining footpaths, although the chance of litigation is negligible in my view.
https://www.hewitsons.com/latest/news/liability-for-maintenance-of-public-footpaths
With the current atmosphere of austerity, needed partly to pay for much more important items (but I won’t get into that) I doubt if an offer to walk every path and document them on a website would lead to any improvement so I’ll forget Stelling Minnis and their footpaths forever. We will however inform other walkers on our website.”
Martin was obviously not impressed with this and replied…………
“Hi Malcolm
I can assure you that I have on a number of occasions raised issues with the landowner of HE19 but she has not been willing to take any action. She has also in the past been reported to KCC, who can take action, but this has not resulted in any action being taken. I feel there is little point in raising issues with her again or with KCC, who are so under-resourced these days, they can only deal with major issues. Stiles in poor repair and overgrown paths in summer are very low ranking issues.
You haven’t clarified where you ‘descended into jungle’ as I would like to ensure this is on the list to be tackled in coming weeks by the ex-offenders who are due to do some clearance.
The majority of paths in Stelling Minnis are passable for most of the year and the main landowners are good at keeping them clear. Where it is reported to me that there is an obstruction, I can usually get it sorted fairly quickly but I’m afraid I do have 3 or so landowners who are not good at responding. For instance, HE32 currently has a potato crop in the field and the farmer doesn’t seem to care about marking out the path. He has such aggressive dogs, I don’t feel inclined to pay him another visit.
I do however have some successes. You mentioned HE12. This path had vanished but I persuaded the landowner to reinstate all the stiles.
As a volunteer and the only person who has put himself forward to be Footpath Warden in Stelling Minnis for the last 6 years, I would ask that you be a little bit more respectful of what I can and do manage to do, in the limited time I have for the Footpath Warden role. Suggesting to other walkers and posting on whatever website you have that Stelling Minnis footpaths should be avoided is not helpful to the cause of walking in the countryside.”
Well, aggressive dogs, potato crops, as I say wealthy landowners who don’t want people to use the footpaths which we are all entitled to walk.
Mal’s reply…..
“Hi Martin
The jungle is to the right after two stiles have to be climbed.
As for your comment “little bit more respectful of what I can and do manage to do”, I shall ignore it as I did the two landowners’ comments – seems to be a local attitude.”
The two landowners were ones we encountered on our walk. Both were quite unpleasant to us and extremely unhelpful. What has happened to this country and our countryside?! We won’t be returning to Stelling Minnis.
Thought for the Day – “The most important decision you will ever make is to be in a good mood.” ~ Voltaire