Private Land

Peter Eaton

Well-Known Member
Does anyone have any information please with regard to private land.
My mate has shooting in a large forest , private but with marked footpaths and bridle ways. Unfortunately the usual crowd who think they have their rights are always around.

The place has been vastly improved for runners, dog walkers etc. to enjoy as decent hard-core road have been put in. All paths marked and private areas fenced off. Yet this eve as we turned up a local was running through the private part having cut through the temporary tie wraps on a double get (twice) but that now has a lock on it.


When challenged in a polite manor he said he knew the area was private but it needed to have signs put up...he refuse to give his name and carried on.

What signs are needed ie wording size etc and where from please, this also applies to our high seats as I am sure one of these idiots will see one soon and have a peek at it or wreck it.

Also if he is on the private ground can a photo be taken of him , I believe in a public place this is legal?

Utterly ironic as he was trespassing , running with a dog off the lead , no collar as he went onto the public highway....Most likely carry a knife to have cut the tie wraps....so actually commuting several possible offences ..

Would really like to halt the trespassing of such idiots but need to know how to go about it legally of course.

I have though about graffiti paint on the areas where folk climb the fences.


Many thanks.
 
If you have FPs and bridle ways , and by the sound of it the owners have encouraged the public to use it, your only option is to live with it, no amount of signs will make the slightest difference.
 
There's all sorts of legislation that could apply. For example having with you an object to cause criminal damage. That could be the knife he is carrying or equally would apply to a spray can, magic marker, hammer etc.
 
There's all sorts of legislation that could apply. For example having with you an object to cause criminal damage. That could be the knife he is carrying or equally would apply to a spray can, magic marker, hammer etc.
Agreed, but if you have legal purpose/use for a knife, it is legal to carry/have a knife. My vehicle is classed as public place(incidentally I don't agree with this), but I have several knives of varying sizes and designs in the vehicle, I also have two employs that require these tools, along with my shooting/stalking needs of same.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
We live in a tiny crowded island. It used to be rural and people accessed all the land all the time and that view is still within the DNA of most people. There are a lot of paths - both marked public as well as undesignated that have been used for centuries. However there are an increasing number of particularly "new" monied landowners who come in and erect all sorts of fences and "keep off my land" type signs. That is a red flag to most.

Yes a few people do damage - the vast majority do not. The vast majority of people pay taxes and most landowners receive large levels of grants to maintain the countryside.

In Scotland the land access legislation enshrines both the right of access but also the responsibility of access - the one good piece of legislation IMHO, just a pity that the powers that be do enforce the responsibility bit on those few idiots who cause damage.
 
As much as I sympathise with you, there is not a lot you can or should do. Apart from work around it and live with walkers
 
Unfortunately on this ever more crowded little island there is little you can do. I suspect the Police wouldn't be in the least interested, I have always found a polite pleasant approach works best. Educate them that shooting goes on in those woods and that any risk of accident is greatly reduced if they stick to the rights of way where they are expected and planned for.

As Churchill put it "Jaw Jaw rather than War War."
 
I'd make it as ackward as possible for any tresspassers.

Plant/dump jaggy trees bushes/brambles/whin at the obvious places there coming off path. Not sure if u can wrap the top of gate in barb if no stock, create some puddles just off track if possible. Fell some trees or dump brash to stop them.
But have more discrete paths for u to get around the woods

I'd dump some stinky stuff nearby off track so there dogs wil roll in it and take it home with them

Ideally warning signs shoud work but they won't, so either a bird nesting conservsation area type sign, or warning signs for ticks/lyme or adders or even alabama rot? or some random disease that doesnae really exist here

I say f**k them make there life as difficult as possible if they leave the track, we don't go traipsing round there gardens
 
It`s not an offence to carry a knife.

Yes it is.

It depends on the constriction of the knife ie it classed as an 'everyday carry. and within the criteria. If it is not is it an illegal knife ...ie flick knife or gravity knife. What is the purpose for someone carrying a knife....ie a 12 inch Bowie knife in a pub would be legal would it? .....This also applies to such as Leather man tools , they are locking knives and illegal to carry in public places . You can even be charged for a knife in the glove box of your car as it is classed as a public place? I am sure my mate FGYT will go into this in more detail if he sees this thread .

Finally he was on private land, that I would imagine would be considered aggravated trespass as said trespasser cut the zip ties in order to get onto the land which were clearly there to keep the gate shut.....not once but on two occasions so his dog could drop a turd on the private land.

Also in Scotland the laws are even tougher. Zero tolerance with knives.

Here is the official line ...the shortened version

Buying and carrying knives: the law - GOV.UK
 
Last edited:
If you have FPs and bridle ways , and by the sound of it the owners have encouraged the public to use it, your only option is to live with it, no amount of signs will make the slightest difference.

It has a foot path and bridle way. All clearly marked and the owners is fed up of folk not sticking to the paths.....he has just spent thousands on improving the paths , bridleways , new gates ...exactly the opposite he has done it to stop the trespassers.
 
It has a foot path and bridle way. All clearly marked and the owners is fed up of folk not sticking to the paths.....he has just spent thousands on improving the paths , bridleways , new gates ...exactly the opposite he has done it to stop the trespassers.
Having spent seven years working with the same predicament, we could still not get people to use the newly installed paths, as a matter of fact the horse users demanded more improvements.
I have done similar to shakey jakes idea, but with deer guts, if you can get them to roll in it as well as eat it all the better.
 
Back
Top