Congratulations to Sarah Bucks!

Congratulations to Sarah Bucks, Chair of our bridleways association who has been awarded an MBE for services to the Public Rights of Way Network in the New Years Honours list.

https://www.chardandilminsternews.co.uk/news/ilminster_news/24828880.ilminster-woman-receives-obe-award-new-years-honours

Sarah became a member of South Somerset Bridleways Association in February 1995, soon committing to life membership in 1997 before taking the reins from the late Stephanie Wheeler MBE to become Chair. Sarah quickly emerged as the driving force for our organisation’s objectives to preserve and maintain existing bridleways and restricted byways and to restore old rights of way. Sarah is a determined and resilient champion of multiuser paths for vulnerable road users, adding the development of new routes to her considerable achievements.

Spurred on by the now removed ‘cut-off date’ introduced by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, Sarah has spent countless hours of her own time poring over both local and National archives to research and evidence historic routes. She has submitted over 200 Definitive Map Modification Orders in South Somerset and around 350 in total for Somerset. A pioneer of the work required to save these lost routes, Sarah co-authored ‘Rights of Way: Restoring the Record’ with Phil Wadey in 2012. They have generously shared their knowledge, organising and leading training days to help others identify and research old Rights of Way. This in turn must have led to many thousands of miles of access routes being preserved or improved for all types of users.

Sarah has a vast knowledge of both the existing and historical routes within our local patch and further afield. She effectively rallies support for work parties, leading by example with secateurs, and nurtured constructive working relationships with landowners, Parish, District and County Councillors. She has helped to identify priority routes, assisted with the processing of DMMOs, found funding for blocked routes and consulted on major infrastructure projects with Highways England.

Sarah is a great motivator and works collaboratively with members of the British Horse Society, Ramblers, Open Spaces Society, Horse Access Campaign, Sustrans Somerset Local Access Forum, Rail to Trail and other bridleway associations. Never dwelling on constraints, Sarah is always focused on the end goal of securing safe off-road routes, proactively offering advice and practical support.

There is no doubt that Sarah’s determined efforts have already benefited many riders, carriage drivers, walkers, low mobility users, and cyclists. Her selfless commitment to improving the Rights of Way network will also leave a profound and valuable legacy for future generations.

Seedlings and saplings for natural protection

Hedges make a great natural shelter for horses (and other animals!). It’s a good idea to plant new hedges along bare fence lines and add saplings into old ‘gappy’ hedges. Our Committee member, Belinda, has a few spare seedlings and small saplings of native hedge species (Hawthorn, Field Maple etc). Please call her (telephone number on the newsletter) or email info@southsomersetbridlewaysassociation.co.uk if you would like to collect some from her home near South Petherton.

Vote for Our Access Champions Phil Wadey & Sarah Bucks

Phil and Sarah have worked tirelessly for many years to try and restore our lost bridleways and restricted byways.

If you enjoy riding out and off road, please show your support by clicking on the link above and voting for our amazing access champions, Phil Wadey and Sarah Bucks.

VOTING CLOSES THIS THURSDAY 27TH OCTOBER AT 11.59PM

Restoring the Record – Free Training

Want to find out what your evidence can unlock, and how to create a systematic research method to make DMMO applications to record & save lost routes? The British Horse Society is collaborating with the Ramblers to deliver two training days on Restoring the Record in the South West of England.

The courses will be conducted by two experts, well-known to the BHS: Sarah Bucks, Historic Research Advisor – South Somerset, and Dr Phil Wadey, CABO Hertsmere, Historical Research Advisor to AROWAC & Hertfordshire County Committee Member. They will run from 10am-4pm, covering how to research and apply for routes and the key resources used to study them.

The courses will run in the following locations (click on the link to find out more and book):

The courses are free of charge, but spaces are limited so please book your place if you’d like to attend.

Volunteers Needed Compton Dundon [Edit] Postponed Until 6th March 2022

Would you like to help improve a new bridleway by helping to plant trees (small whips) in the Parish Council Allotment land between Peak Lane and Somerton Road. This will continue the new hedgeline which will delineate the boundary of the new permissive bridleway. 

The new green lane runs from the B3151 opposite L7/12 (Restricted Byway Touch Lane) through an existing vehicular access around the fields to Peak Lane by the southern end of Public Footpath L7/11.


Pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders will be able to cross the B3151 where there are clear sight lines and no longer need to travel along the road to/from the Peak Lane junction. 

For further details or to register your attendance please email info@southsomersetbridlewaysassociation.co.uk

New permissive bridleway in Compton Dundon

What defines a good path for you?

Natural England has commissioned the Oxfordshire County Council, Systeme D and the University of Oxford to undertake a project to understand the most important qualities that define a good path (e.g. footpaths, bridleways, byways) for different types of uses. As part of this project, they are conducting a survey to collect feedback from user groups across England to identify the top quality metrics for different use types. The results will be openly available and published on greenspacehack.com/.

The survey comprises of 7 questions and should take less than 10 minutes to complete:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScpJhkuHDmioChQq0Acsx7N82RFkDcxQ2phIzHWzgLF2mR6Kw/viewform?fbclid=IwAR03Z1IXFDc-jHd1_fti8N-sWp21hqT_04AeV3xNPWZ4VUDIlEt1mVLVRco

Volunteer! Tree planting to mark a new bridleway in Compton Dundon

Would you like to join the Compton Dundon Volunteers on Tuesday 23rd March from 10.00 to plant trees (small whips) in the Parish Council Allotment land between Peak Lane and Somerton Road?

The new hedgeline will delineate the boundary of a new permissive bridleway (see route below). 

The new green lane would run from the B3151 opposite L7/12 (Restricted Byway Touch Lane) through an existing vehicular access around the fields to Peak Lane by the southern end of Public Footpath L7/11. Pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders will be able to cross the B3151 where there are clear sight lines and no longer need to travel along the road to/from the Peak Lane junction. 

Please email info@southsomersetbridlewaysassociation.co.uk by Sunday 21st March if you would like to join us to help the fantastic Compton Dundon Volunteers with this very worthwhile project. We will send you the Covid compliant joining instructions and details of where to meet. Thank you.

Permissive-Bridleway-Plan