Muddymike wrote:
"Bob Hobden" wrote in message
...
Angus wrote ...
Ramblers origins come from Manchester Communists.

Have you ever heard of a commie that can keep his/her mouth shut?

They're a blight on the countryside.

I must admit that when I'm out for a quiet walk in the Surrey Hills which
includes watching wildlife etc and come across the usual platoon of
chattering Ramblers which I can usually hear from half a mile away I would
tend to agree with you.
I also don't agree with their philosophy that the countryside must be 100%
for them alone and that they won't share it with anybody else, like 4x4
drivers. But then I also drive a mud covered 1986 Landrover 90 (our mobile
allotment shed!).


Being both a walker and a 4X4 owner who occasionally enjoys a trundle around
a few high level unsurfaced county roads and BOAT's I does **** me off that
the ramblers association seems to want all lanes restricted to walkers. They
already enjoy thousands of miles of public footpaths against a miniscule few
hundred miles of vehicle rights of way.

Mike



Whilst OT I'd like to add this...

I had a problem with a group of Ramblers in Cheshire committing what can
only be described as vandalism.

I was in one of my woods repairing a fence and was accosted by a group
purporting to be Ramblers. Harmless enough thinks I. How wrong! An
elderly guy started laying into me about driving my 4x4 on public land.
How wrong, again! My land, public right of way to cross from one side to
the other without stopping or deviating from the marked path. Anyway, he
informed me that I was breaking the law by blocking a badger sett and he
wilfully set about removing the work I had done. Knowing a bit about
badgers I have badger gates on the permanent runs but where the young
boars dig rutting holes I repair the fences. Off they toddle and I make
good the rather pathetic attempt at damaging the fence and drive further
along the track to find the same old guy trying to dislodge an old and
albeit mouldy stile. There is no fence and for the last 25 years folk
have walked around it. Fair play though, they were keeping to the edge
of the wood and these were only the rantings of an old gent who felt he
had a point to prove to his younger wards. Anyway, they break out of the
tree line and proceed to meander across one of my cropped fields
ignoring the path that is waymarked and kept free from crop for them. I
follow in my pickup and get a tirade of abuse for following them and
they threaten to report me to the landowner. "I am he" says I. And they
scuttle off! I checked the Ramblers Association web site as I really
wanted to register my displeasure at this all. And do you know what?

The Ramblers Association advocates the deliberate ignorance of Public
Rights of Way due to the fact that it is unlikely that a land owner will
be able to prosecute anyway. How irresponsible is that? I really
expected a guiding paragraph to all Ramblers along the lines of please
keep the landowners happy since despite the freedom to roam act, there
are bits that plainly belong to somebody else!!!

I generally find the quad bikers and 4x4 drivers to be more friendly
than the Ramblers and the Horsey set. Yes there are ruts but a few weeks
into winter and after a spot of erosion and the ground is flat again.
The quad bikers in my area even offer to make good any real damage they do.

Simon