now that might seem like an odd title for a video but bear with us about six months ago
we made a video on the pathways it just stop and we tried to get to the stopping
point and find out why they stopped but in 75% of the cases we could only get halfway
along those Pathways or not even at all this is the story of the pathways that
just vanish my name is Paul and I'm Rebecca and this video is sponsored by blinkist today
thank you very much, so the first thing that we wanted to.... Rebecca Rebecca
yeah before we show you some more Vanishing Pathways we wanted to
check out one that we actually reported in the last video [Music]
so one of those Pathways that we reported to Wiltshire Council using their wonderful app
was this one West Lane sort of south west of devises and we tried to get to the end of it
and it just stopped halfway because somebody had put some metal railings across so we
couldn't even make halfway along it so uh let's have a look now and see if anything
has changed in the six months have the council uh managed to reopen it [Music]
oh so this is good and if I'm brutally honest unexpected Bravo to Wiltshire Council well done
because they've actually got those uh the farm back there to move those huge trellises that
were there last time blocking the pathway you'd literally had to have climbed them when we came
here last time they've actually moved it this pathway is now all right away is now as open
as it has been in the last 20 or 30 years I feel like we've done some good here [Music]
well because the obstacle had been removed which is good we've come a bit further along the pathway
and it's blocked we're not at the end of the pathway it should go a lot further another three
or 400 yards that's offense it's been there a long time it's Barbed wired so we can't actually get to
the end of where we should be able to so we'll put this down as another Grumble so before you join us
on the ground let's show you an example of what I mean from the comfort of our own home [Music]
okay so this is Salisbury Plain now a few old routes are still mapped here and they remain
on the definitive Maps that's important now I assume that they went North and stop well
basically because of the military area there but actually it looks like they stop on the Wiltshire,
Hampshire border so that's a bit different you know sadly no such
route exists on the ground as you can see by these Google Images instead you've got
these signs well then you really don't want to cross, across those.
okay so before we look at some real on the ground examples of exactly what we're trying to do today
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you also get a seven day free trial Good sounds good to me now we promise you Vanishing Pathways
we've already seen the example of of the one online but there's only one problem with that
but that was military so we can't really Grumble about the military,
......unless that's a video in its own right however my assertion remains at the moment if
you find on an OS map one of these Pathways that just stops well I reckon you can't get down it at
all that is my assertion so we've identified two more on an OS map that just stop and I'm gonna
gamble with it I can't get down or we can't get down either of those Pathways no research
whatsoever prior to this we've just identify those two on the map let's see if we can get down them
oh so I'll get your leg up there in it crikey [Music]
get out my bag, we are being followed
it's after food I mean we'll keep around the edge of the film because that seems like the
most sensible thing to do after you join us uh east and west of Romsey near the Hampshire
Wiltshire border which is key to a lot of these uh pathway Mysteries and as I said
number one we've identified the pathway just stops so go on my hunch can we get along it
right so hunch kind of true and where the pathway starts well there is no sign and it's been damaged
quite considerably to the point that we've ripped our jeans on the barbed wire trying to get over
it and the pathway right now goes between us up to the corner of those trees there's no pathway
there it's just complete field so you'd have to walk across the farmer's crops it's not a
nice thing to do to get to it we're kind of 50 right on this one yeah we've got another
one to look at okay let's go [Music] so where are we now right well we're somewhere new that
we've not been before we're near a place called Earth font which actually is near the middle
of Wiltshire so what I want to show us and our lovely viewers today is a few wonderful
little features something absolutely beautiful which I've seen in someone else's video [Music]
so here is an OS map of our location and you'll Note free parallel Pathways we're
on the North or the top side of these we want to get to here x marks the spot so from the
north side where we are now right so we want to turn uh left here or southwards
on the middle of those three Pathways and I think going through there is the way we want to go
because then we get over the side of the Railway [Music]
okay so we can see the railway up ahead of us we're now walking southwards through the field
interestingly there are no footpath signs here whatsoever now what we have done this morning
is we have checked the definitive rights of way map for Wiltshire and this is definitely still
a path the feature that I want to show you is just the other side of it literally just
the side nose trees there ahead of us outside the railway yes the other side of the Railway
uh so we need to find the underpass right turns out then there is no wonder pass here
whatsoever it just stops that kind of adds up when you look at the definitive map because
the pathway breaks Rebecca's just looked and found out that in 1961 there was an embankment
collapse here and it looks like British Rail didn't repair the underpass at the time a bit
disappointing they've got away with doing that but it looks like to get to that point there which we
just see across the railway we've got to walk about a mile all the way back down background
um sorry [Music] so as you walk on this pathway South we'll notice where I left there's a big
not a cliff Edge but very close to a cliff Edge but the path doesn't take that the path kind of
goes straight through it and as I said it's one of those hidden gems in this part of the country
a sunken Lane and already what a shot ahead of us look at that that's quite amazing foreign
[Music]
ahead of us there's no marked pathway whatsoever despite the fact it's a bridal way so if we head
on over all this Shrubbery recently been cut I can see a sign ahead of us dead end public
Royce of dead end public right-of-way no through available that's very misleading isn't it it's
very misleading and it's bright red you kind of think it's going to be a yeah private private
land yeah and look at the very head of us it's not well it's not managed not managed at all we've got
a climb do a bit of climbing there but that's fine let's head on self and see what we find [Music]
but look what we're walking down we're walking around another sunken length and it's beautiful
isn't another part of this sort of trackway system around here which is as old as I suspect you can
imagine it's really beautiful it's quite difficult to walk on because it hasn't been managed but it's
really beautiful look ahead of us Rebecca this this is in danger of being closer because clearly
somebody wants it closed by the effective use of that signpost up there but look at that [Music]
right we're not actually well we're about halfway down I would say this Lane towards the railway
now the feature that I want to show everyone is like an old mansion a ruined mansion that
this guy built in the 1730s Seymour and raw and it's called rorton Manta rotten Folly it's just
there in the woods but they blocked the pathway and they've not only brought the pathway with
not a sign this time but barbed wire thick barbed wire all the way across in front of us we're not
halfway down the footpath so we I want to continue because I want the whole point is I want to have
a look at this Mansion there's a lot of history down here and this is an ancient trackway sunken
Lane there's no reason why we shouldn't be able to walk down here this is what this video is about
right so this is the end of that pathway officially definitive rights of ways suggests
it stops here as we said when we're the other side but we've made it to the bottom sadly by climbing
the barbed wire now Rebecca's pointed out that there's loads of old brickwork here all hidden
away in the rubble and looking at the old Maps or the pathway in the underpass would have gone
down there which adds up with a picture of the landscape we've also got the Folly just up here
now that was abandoned in I think 1790 when that chap was hit by a carriage and died in an accident
um and the the remains of it are pretty much all gone I think but there are some
Earthworks now these Earthworks here that form this shape in front of me where those Earthworks
um are the foundations of the Folly itself so again you can come down here and you can see a
240 year old holding the ground basically yeah hi Bessie here yep I am actually the brains
behind this channel not those two human beings don't let them tell you anything otherwise so
action points for today go and have a look at a local map an OS map of your area and tell us if
there's any Pathways it just stop I'm willing to bet you that they just vanish and you can't
actually even get halfway down them well then leave us a comment below and let us know how
you got on and of course you could always pop across to ramblers.org.uk and report it let's
get involved people because there's always a bit of history at the end of one of those pathways
thanks for watching and of course a big thanks to our sponsor this week
who is blinkist you can check out their offer in the doobly-doo below Bessie out
[Music]