Historical footpaths at risk of being lost, says walking charity

The walking charity Ramblers used volunteers to uncover 49,000 miles of lost walking routes in England and Wales

The race is on to save thousands of miles of historical footpaths across Wales, a walking charity has urged.

The Ramblers have released a map showing what they say is 7,468 miles of footpaths which are missing from official maps.

The charity's Don't Lose Your Way campaign unearthed more than 49,000 miles of missing paths in England and Wales.

Powys tops its list for Welsh counties, with 1,623 miles of lost rights of way.

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Jack Cornish, the Ramblers' Don't Lose Your Way programme manager, said there was an "amazing response" from the public in helping uncover missing footpaths.

"By getting the most useful of these paths back on the map, we will not only be saving a little bit of our history, we'll also be able to improve the existing network, creating new and better walking routes, enabling more of us to more easily enjoy the outdoors," he said.

Research by the Ramblers has shown that being able to access green spaces near our homes is more important to us than ever following the Covid-19 lockdown, with 60% saying that more or better walking routes near where they live would improve their quality of life.

Mr Cornish added: "As we increasingly recognise the huge benefits of being able to easily get outdoors and access nature, saving these paths takes on an even greater urgency."

The charity has started a crowdfunding campaign to help save the paths by getting them officially recorded as rights of way.

If they are not claimed by 2026, the government's cut-off date to add them to maps, the public's right to access them will not be protected in the future, the Ramblers said.

John Bainbridge, a path campaigner and Ramblers volunteer, said: "I knew there were quite a lot of paths that weren't on the definitive map but I hadn't realised how many. We've got to get out there, find the historic evidence for these paths, and save them."