The Ramblers’ Association (RA) has won a battle to save a public bridleway on Dartmoor. It was announced on July 28 that the path, near the village of Throwleigh in the parish of South Tawton, northern Dartmoor, will remain open after a landowner’s bid to close it to the public was rejected.
The 200m route runs along the edge of beautiful countryside and is near to open moorland including Throwleigh Common and Kennon Hill.
It was threatened with closure after landowners applied to have it deleted from the legal record of public rights of way – known as the ‘definitive map’. The landowners argued that the path had been shown by mistake. They successfully appealed to the Secretary of State, who ordered Devon County Council to commence proceedings to remove the path from the definitive map.
But the RA, along with other organisations including the Dartmoor Preservation Association, the Open Spaces Society and the Byways and Bridleways Trust, objected to the move. An inquiry was held in June, and on July 28 a Government Inspector announced that the path would stay open.
After years of neglect, the path is obstructed by vegetation and a stone wall. The RA, the leading walking charity which campaigns to keep rights of way open for the public, is now asking Devon County Council to clear it so people can use the route again.
