Bids to preserve 'forgotten footpaths' in Northumberland set to rise

Bids to officially recognise Northumberland’s forgotten footpaths are expected to rise as a Government deadline gets closer.
The search is on for forgotten footpaths in Northumberland. Pictured is the view of Cheviot from Doddington. Picture by Jane ColtmanThe search is on for forgotten footpaths in Northumberland. Pictured is the view of Cheviot from Doddington. Picture by Jane Coltman
The search is on for forgotten footpaths in Northumberland. Pictured is the view of Cheviot from Doddington. Picture by Jane Coltman

Every English council is expected to maintain a ‘definitive map’ detailing public rights of way across an area.

But with many still missing thanks to decades of admin errors and clerical oversights, many campaigners are facing their last chance to preserve hundreds of routes in the county.

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David Brookes, infrastructure manager at Northumberland County Council, said: “There’s a small number of people in the county who have got together to research routes, to see if there’s any unrecorded rights of way which exist and which could be included on the definitive map.

“As of 2026, claims for rights of way based purely on documentary evidence will no longer be able to be made. Over the next few years, we expect groups will spend time looking at the archives to find rights of way which may exist but which are not registered.

“In reality, the work has been undertaken by [county council] officers and parish councils over the past 20 to 30 years and a lot of the routes are now known about and recorded.”

In Hadston, the county council approved an application to formally recognise three footpaths on land between Simonside Crescent and St John’s Estate.

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Landowner Karbon Homes, a social landlord, objected to the proposal, claiming it had “no record of the existence of the alleged footpaths and no evidence that the alleged footpaths have been used as of right”.

But its absence from official records was described as an “anomaly” by Scott Dickinson, county councillor for Druridge Bay and leader of the opposition Labour group, who insisted “hundreds of people use the paths every day”.

Castle Morpeth Local Area Council sided with Coun Dickinson, and the council’s highways team, which recommended approval.

A separate application for a bridleway near Belsay Hall, however, was turned down after the historic records provided as evidence were found to have been overruled by later development in the area.

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The Don’t Lose Your Way campaign by walking group Ramblers has called on the public to research historic routes at risk of being lost.

This has prompted warnings that more than 2,000 miles of historic footpaths could be lost if they are not registered, of which more than half are in Northumberland.