Finally, I have a more substantial item to look at in my role as Footpath Secretary for Wisborough Green. This relates to a problem for walkers near the village.

There is a path which leads up to the A272 east of Wisborough Green, on the stretch before it is joined by the B2133 from Loxwood. There is also a path which leads up to the same stretch of the A272 from the south, but at a point some 350 meters further down the road. Walkers who wish to follow a route using both these footpaths have to walk down the verge of the A272.

The proposal is to provide a permissive footpath to link the two foopaths. The landowners concerned have given their consent to the proposal. The reports connected with the proposal were accepted by the Rights of Way Committee on the 17th November.

My view is that it is a sensible proposal, as I can say from personal experience that the A272 is not a road you really want to walk along for any substantial distance. Indeed, it is a general failing of the footpath system around Wisborough Green that there is no footpath that runs roughly parallel with that road. This is something that forced me to change the pub stop for one of my favourite walks from the Cricketers in Wisborough Green to the Bat & Ball at Newpound Common nearby. The problem was that there wasn’t a footpath into Wisborough Green I could follow, just unsatisfactory walks along one road or another.

As a result of the overrun of the engineering works being done on the canal near the Onslow Arms pub in Loxwood, a short stretch of the bridleway (no. 809) to the west of the B2133 is shut off for 21 days, from the 22nd October.

The (quite considerable) overrun of the engineering works by the Wey & Arun canal trust has caused considerable disruption and annoyance locally, and the current metal barriers to either side of the road are extremely unsightly (leading to a local petition for their replacement by something more in character). Fortunately, we are over the worst, as the road is no longer (partially) obstructed by the digging of the new canal under the road.

A short stretch of bridleway (part of bridleway no. 809) is to be closed for repairs for two consecutive periods: five days from the 26th July, then five days from the 31st July (i.e. 10 days from 26th July – I don’t know what cackhanded bureaucratic process necessitated doing it this way). This bridleway runs along the section of the disused canal to the west of Loxwood and the stretch closed is north of the crossroads by Barberry Bridge.

Again this is all uncontentious, so I have nothing more to add.

The first communication I have received in my new role as footpath secretary regards the temporary closure of a public footpath (no. 802) and public bridleway (no. 1351) near Loxwood. The closure is for five days from the 30th June, and is to allow repair work to improve the surface of the bridleway.

The footpath leads east from Drungewick Lane, at the point where it passes Drungewick Hill Farm. It meets the bridleway roughly in the middle. The bridleway runs roughly north-south, from the Loxwood Road to Gibbons Mill.

This all seems very uncontentious, so I don’t really have any more to say on the matter.

I have recently taken on the role of a footpath secretary for the Ramblers’ Association in Sussex. I am taking on two parishes in West Sussex: Loxwood, and Wisborough Green. Broadly speaking, a footpath secretary is responsible for monitoring the footpaths within his or her parishes, from the physical condition of the paths to legal matters relating to them.

While many of the parishes in East and West Sussex have a footpath secretary, some do not, and anyone wishing to volunteer to take on one or more vacant parish is more than welcome. Please look at the vacancies page on the main Sussex Area website for a list of the vacant parishes.