Now... this just infuriates me. The land-owner here (at Cotwalton, nr Stone) has constructed this ugly long enclosure, right across the middle of a number of fields (it goes on for half a mile), in order to herd not sheep... or cattle ... or dogs, but... walkers.
It forces walkers to go in single-file, and the barbed-wire extra is just plain nasty.
I've never seen this sort of thing before. Of course, I have seen fences that shepherd walkers together, but they usually allow two-abreast at least, and don't resort to barbed-wire!
I've never seen this sort of thing before. Of course, I have seen fences that shepherd walkers together, but they usually allow two-abreast at least, and don't resort to barbed-wire!
Okay, some farmers don't like 'wandering' ramblers; that's fair enough. But farmers also need to remember that they require public support, so there has to be a compromise.
This ugliness and this mean-spirited attitude towards walkers - who love the countryside as much as land-owners - is not helpful.
This ugliness and this mean-spirited attitude towards walkers - who love the countryside as much as land-owners - is not helpful.
I've walked this too. Not sure what the saplings are about. Does the land-owner intend to grow them so high that the walker is visually as well as physically enclosed? Or (I hope) they will grow to waist-high to then replace the fence?
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