More than 49,000 miles of public footpaths are missing from modern maps in England and Wales and risk being lost for ever, according to a “citizen mapping” effort led by the Ramblers, the walking charity. The government has set a cutoff date of January 2026, after which it will no longer be possible to reclaim and safeguard lost rights of way.
More than a fifth of the lost paths – 9,000 miles – are in south-west England, and Devon tops the list of counties with the most missing rights of way, with enough lost paths (2,949 miles) to take someone from Plymouth to beyond the north pole. The West Midlands has the highest density of lost paths to be potentially added to official maps.
Miles of lost footpaths
England – 41,628
Wales – 7,468
By English region:
South-west England – 9,210
Eastern England – 6,505
West Midlands – 6,291
South-east England – 6,221
Yorkshire and Humber – 4,524
East Midlands – 3,889
North-west England – 2,508
North-east England – 2,011
Top counties:
Devon – 2,949
North Yorkshire – 2,651
Herefordshire – 2,253
Lincolnshire – 1,934
Suffolk – 1,918
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/nov/02/more-than-49000-miles-paths-lost-maps-england-wales
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