UKC

Where I often walk the dog, there has been a route I take which goes by a house kind of out of the way beside the golf club. All of a sudden a self painted sign goes up, 'private land, no right of way' or words to that effect. I would be very surprised if they own the land, being where it is it would be worth a fortune, and the rest of it is common land with no obvious border lines. How can I find out if it is private land, or they just don't want people walking dogs on the lane.

In reply to Dominicandave:

Take a look at a OS map first and see what is marked on the map in regards to paths etc? Then you could take a look at the rights of way website to see if anything is recorded. You could also contact your local council authority and request any info?

In reply to Milesy:

Call in the Red Socks brigade - tehy will make a point of making the "owners" lives a misery until they give in

In reply to Dominicandave: How much the land is worth is no real indicator of who owns it. What if they bought it in 2007 with a view to developing it? It may be worth 20% less thna they paid for it.

Land registry would be a place to start for actual ownership?

In reply to balmybaldwin:

Red Socks are so out of date now. It is all about Gaiters for low level country walks.

In reply to Dominicandave:

When you say you 'walk the dog', does this mean you let it do it's business and leave it, or do you clean it up?

I have a service lave at the back of my house which is mine and the neighbours we do not restrict anyone access and we let other kids play there (even if they are a little noisy sometimes.) we have to maintain it or pay someone to do so. locals feel they are 'walk their dog' down there, let it pee on our walls and often don't pick up after them and the mess is sometimes inadvertantly carried in to our homes on shoes.

Some folks just don't care. A polite sign might be going up soon !

In reply to Milesy:

Steal the sign. Replace with one that says "No it's not"

In reply to Dominicandave:

The "definitive map" shows all the rights of way. Your local library might have it or you may have to contact your local council...if you're really lucky, depending where you live, your council might have decent information online.

In reply to Dominicandave:

http://store.xkcd.com/xkcd/#CitationNeededSticker

In reply to Dominicandave:

Just ignore it & keep walking there. Civil trespass, at the moment anyway, is a civil matter and not a criminal one. Yes, the landowner could potentially sue you in court, but they can't get the rozzers to come & drag you off the land without a court order etc.
If you are on the land with "...the intent to intimidate or disrupt people taking part in a lawful activity.", then it turns into Aggravated Trespass and you can be carted off by the boys in blue. Obviously burglary, theft & criminal damage will also result in handcuffs. I don't know if letting your dog lay a cable & not picking it up is a criminal or civil offence (it should be a case for stoning though), or if it could result in charges of criminal damage.

In reply to Milesy:

Gaiters (with red socks underneath) and two walking poles.......don't forget the walking poles

In reply to An Triubhas: Disagree - I see far more using one pole than 2. 2 I can understand as its effective (even if pretty useless in the application employed by ramblers)... one is about as effective as a chocolate teapot.... what do you think? If 100% of the efficiency of poles is gained by using 2, does one even get 10% efficiency?

In reply to Ferret:

Depends on how quick you want the plumbing done I guess

In reply to Dominicandave: Some info here:

http://www.ramblers.org.uk/rights_of_way/knowledge_portal/rights_of_way_law...

See No.4

Note that the signs does not say keep out. Just identifies it as no actual public right of way. On Common Land it may be that someone has tried to claim that section... could be the Golf Club? so the owner has found the need to stick their crude sign up.

In reply to Dominicandave:

Possibly an attempt by the land owner to prevent a prescriptive right of way being created? Putting up such a sign might scupper your right to walk it if you and others haven't done so for more than 20 years.

In reply to Dominicandave:

In my experience with an allotments boundary a few years ago, the planning department will have a map of where the boundaries are. The land registry would be the ones to tell you who owns it.

In reply to Dominicandave:
Depends if you are in Scotland or Englandwales.
If in Scotland contact the local authority access officer who may be able to help.