Permissive paths are a precarious privilege we shouldn't abuse

I've always loved a 'permissive path' - a route across private land that the owner, manager or tenant has decided voluntarily to open to all. It's always seemed like the nicest of invitations. A surprise, a welcome, a generous act, as well as an implied pact between walker and landowner: here is a safe route to use, responsibly. The direct opposite of “get off my land”, it is the action of a farmer or land manager interested in and part of their wider community.

- 

Many permissive paths work well and have done for a significant amount of time, enhancing or connecting our network of public footpaths, byways and bridleways, however unevenly distributed. And there is much to gain in mutual benefit, too. For walkers, perhaps a route that 'makes sense' across the land is scenic or interesting, invites curiosity and enquiry into what's living or growing in a place through the seasons. For land managers, they can introduce a lot of cheer and mutual goodwill: great public relations, a gateway to building understanding and respect for the work and life of the countryside, plus more love for what else lives, or has lived, in a place, historically or ecologically. It can also offer the flexibility of closures or alterations.