DON'T LOSE YOUR WAY
Don't lose your way is an initiative led by the Rambler's Association which aims to document lost historic footpaths and report them before the government set deadline to report lost ways. The first phase of the scheme involved checking every square kilometre of England and Wales, comparing paths on historic maps to current maps to identify any lost footpaths and rights of way. Reporting the lost paths and providing evidence that they were once used by the public, will mean that they can be suggested to be added to the definitive map which would protect it as a public right of way for the future. Around 49,000 miles of lost footpaths were identified during this phase in England and Wales.
The restoration of these footpaths is important as they can connect dead ends, allowing communities to be more accessible on foot and re-establish the lost connections. They also play a large part in the cultural heritage of areas as many of them were ancient ways people would travel across the country before the invention of other modes of transport. Furthermore, restoring the lost ways opens up a large part of the landscape that has not been explored by the public for centuries and would encourage people to experience nature, if they have more accessible routes local to them. Another advantage is that opening up access to more spaces would reduce the footfall, and the erosion that comes with it, on existing footpaths and open spaces. This would release the pressure off current footpaths and reduce the traffic and erosion caused in one specific area. By getting these footpaths on the definitive map, it would also protect them from being built on and developed so that these historic routes would be lost forever.
As part of the Rambler's scheme, people are encouraged to document anywhere they think is a lost footpath. This has inspired a new direction in my project as I want to help document the historic ways by making them the focus of my project. I want to walk down the historic footpaths and make images documenting the beauty of the landscape that could be lost if the way is not protected and also how the landscape has changed, since they first appeared on the map, due to human or natural intervention, highlighting the turbulence of nature.
I used the tool on the Rambler's website where you can type in your postcode to see the identified lost footpaths in your local area. There are 144 miles of footpaths that could be lost near me.
I intend to conduct a shoot on one of the routes to see what kind of terrain and condition these footpaths are in and to also see if it is a strong idea going forward in my project.
