The Aardvark Blog

Two messages and random thought
27/09/2025

My two messages are:

1) Our last car boot of the season is happening tomorrow from 9am tomorrow, and you really do not want to miss out on the fantastic bargains that the 30+ stalls will bring you. Weather is looking ok, so truly you have no excuse. Bring lots of bags for your unexpected purchasers.

2) The funeral of my friend Rory Annesley will take place at 12noon at St Barnabas Church Brampton Bryan on Tuesday the 30th of September. If you knew Rory, or would just like to say goodbye to a man who did so much for a number of the most important church buildings in the area, please come and join us.

Now as promised for the random thought. Ethel and I are currently engaged in packing up our belongings, in preparation for a move of our personal base of operations. This will not come as a surprise to any-one who has visited the shop recently as I fear I have been moaning about this process far too much.

When I was loading some pictures into the car this morning I came across a small oil sketch by the fenland painter Alan Parker. This painting which I reproduce below shows what looks like a view of countryside with the sea and sky beyond. It is entitled 'Lucky for a very few'.

I confess this got me thinking about a favourite hobby horse of mine, which is the current regulations around footpaths and the proposal to add a right to roam in England - similar to that available in Scotland. Assuming that Parker was attempting to make a point about land ownership, and how too much land is concentrated in the hands of a small number of people and organisations, I am inclined to support the point he is making. Too many of the best views in this country are not available to every-one, even though - through various forms of subsidy - every-one has paid for them. Some years ago for reasons too complicated to relate, I made an in depth study of the current law in England and Wales relating to footpaths. The 10cent version of my research is that the law is utterly nonsensical, and although it seems to be quite stern when it comes to the obligations of the land owner, it is in reality a toothless tiger. Thus it is that over the last 20 years we have lost some 49,000 miles of footpaths ( equivalent to approximately 1/4 to 1/5th of the total).

And yet recently I have found my enthusiasm for right to roam starting to wane. The reason for this is the current dire state of farming, and my observations as to the way in which country land is currently abused by those who visit it. Following the outworkings of the 2016 decision and the end of access to the CAP, farmers in Britain have had a very difficult time. Add to this the vagaries of the weather - years of endless rain, followed by dry years in which there has been no rain at all - and add in a side salad of worries caused by the recent tax changes - and you have a thoroughly demoralised farming community. If we were to allow a right to roam the burden would again fall on them, and since many of the most attractive areas of the country are still in the hand of small independent farmers, yet another disincentive would be created for small farmers to carry on.

Then there is the evidence of how the countryside is continually abused now. I am afraid that on my daily and nightly walks with Byron I have stopped picking up after other dog owners. The torrent of both doggy doings and even more annoyingly, filled doggie poo bags left on gates and trees, has finally defeated me, Then there are the crisp packets, cans, and general household refuge. Some farmers tell me that they have the additional joy of having to deal with unauthorised use of quad and scrambler bikes, in fields or on unsuitable footpaths. 

I am thus unsure as to the best way forward. I do believe that the countryside should be more available to all, but I do not think that even the broad shoulders of the farming community can bear the extra load that would come if the change were made without financial and practical support. Should you read this and find yourself in the shop please let me know your thoughts.