Right To Roam

‘TONY Blair can be consistent.

Anorak Comfi-Shortz are perfect for rambling

Having given British troops the right to roam over Iraq, his Government has now afforded the same right to their civilian counterparts in garish parkas and nylon slacks.

Altogether, the Countryside Agency will open up 4,000 square miles of countryside by 2005, the Times reports.

For the first time since the campaign to wonder over land began 120 years ago, ramblers were fully granted the right to roam.

The Independent was there to see the main celebration at Goyt Valley, Derbyshire, where members of the Ramblers’ Association massed.

‘This is a truly historic day,’ said Nick Barrett, the group’s chief executive. ‘These landscapes are as much a part of our national heritage as structures like Stonehenge.’

And with that he and a group of walkers strode out over the fell in all manner of hideous garb and plunging their walking sticks into the open ground.

But it’s not all about freedom and the Times has a few words to the wise for would-be wanderers.

The right to roam does not mean that people can go anywhere they please.

It does not apply to woodland and riverside. Ramblers cannot wander with impunity over cultivated farmland, private gardens, golf courses, racecourses, railways and buildings.

Nor can they roam while seated on a horse, dressed in a red jacket, black hat and blowing a bugle…’

Posted: 20th, September 2004 | In: Uncategorized Comment | TrackBack | Permalink