The UK government announced on 16th February that the 2026 deadline to register historical paths in England is set to be abolished. This means that horse riders, carriage drivers and walkers don’t have to save thousands of unrecorded routes by 2026, enabling more time to research and save unrecorded routes. This has been welcomed by the British Horse Society (BHS) who have spent some years campaigning for members of the public to get such routes registered, and assisting with the necessary resources and support to do so.
Changes to the law introduced by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 meant that many historic routes used by horse riders and carriage drivers would have been lost on 1 January 2026 if they weren’t either formally recorded on the legal record of rights of way, the Definitive Map and Statement, or the subject of an application to record them.
The BHS has been lobbying the government about the 2026 deadline to ensure unrecorded routes are protected. The Society and their team of dedicated volunteers have been working tirelessly to save these routes via their “2026 Campaign”, with financial assistance from Sport England and British Equestrian, and with the latest news of the repeal it means that many more unrecorded routes will now be saved for the benefit of the nation.
These historic routes are vital to horse riders, carriage drivers and walkers as well as having many economic benefits to the local area. Many owners of equestrian premises have used this as an opportunity to find historic routes in their area to aid better off-road access for their clients, with many being successful in claiming such routes, but also in improving the maintenance and unearthing of other long forgotten routes in the process.
The 2026 campaign has been a great success for the BHS with over 2100 DMMO applications having already been submitted to over 50 local authorities. The Society now looks forward to continuing this much needed work so that these historical routes are recorded to ensure more safe off-road routes are available to equestrians.
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