The rights-of-way project, part one

The part about walking that I like the least is the driving. 

So I've begun a project to walk the public rights of way within walking distance of my house. This will not take long; there aren't many. This may be related to the fact that the land is reclaimed, or drained marshland so doesn't have a network of ancient established paths that you find everywhere else.

I had to walk a 10-mile circular route to be able to reach these first two paths. They're both short stretches but in both cases it was very pleasant to get off the road.

First I want to mention Lade Bank Pumping Station. It has a distinctive chimney which you can see for miles because it's a very flat area. I've driven past a number of times but this is the first time I've been past on foot and stopped to have a good gander. 

You can feel the history. It turns out that the first pumping station was built here in 1867, replaced on the original base in 1936 and is still helping to keep this land drained and my home dry today. I've just enjoyed Ben's video about it.

The first public right of way for today is very short, around a third of a mile, and is a dead end. But I found it well worth the walk to reach it and a very enjoyable walk both ways. 

It was a very pleasant place to park my butt and have a little picnic away from the ever-present heavy vehicles on the local roads.

The second is longer at two thirds of a mile and this time it usefully joins two roads and so formed part of my circular walk. 

It's marked Stoodale Drove on the map. No, I didn't know what a drove is either. Apparently it's "a route for droving livestock on foot from one place to another, such as to market or between summer and winter pasture".

Half of it is lined by poplars on an adjacent property and half looks like it's used by farm vehicles to access the fields. Again, very pleasant walking.

I've called these 'rights of way' but you can see that Ordnance Survey has marked them with green spots, meaning "Other route with public access. For rights and restrictions contact the local authority" which I will try to do. 

Neither of these were signposted at all, making me a little uneasy. I couldn't help picturing a red-faced angry farmer with a gun coming out of a farmhouse to challenge me. At this point don't take my word for it that these are open to the public. If the footpaths officer at LCC confirms or denies, then I'll post an update here.