Rights of Way in England and Wales - Public Bridleways

Public Bridleways

A public bridleway is a way over which the general public have the following, but normally (only 'normally' because of Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 at s56(1)(b) ) no other rights:

• to travel on foot and
• to travel on horseback or leading a horse, with or without a right to drive animals of any description along the way.

Note that although Section 30 of the Countryside Act 1968 permits the riding of bicycles on public bridleways, the act says that it "shall not create any obligation to facilitate the use of the bridleway by cyclists". Thus the right to cycle exists even though it may be difficult to exercise on occasion. Cyclists using a bridleway are also obliged to give way to other users on foot or horseback.

Public bridleways are shown as long green dashes on Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 maps, or long red dashes on 1:50,000 maps. They are often waymarked using a blue arrow on a metal or plastic disc or, informally, by blue paint dots on posts and trees.

Many public bridleways (as well as Roads Used as Public Paths, Byways Open to All Traffic and Restricted Byways) were recorded as mere footpaths as a result of the burden of maintenance required by the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 and so are now wrongly recorded on the definitive map at a lower status than they should be. Definitive Map Modification Orders are needed to correct these errors.