Farmers vs. walkers: the battle over ‘Britain’s green and pleasant land’
Updated Countryside Code tells farmers: ‘be nice, say hello, share the space’

A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
The traditional response is to yell “Get off my land!”, said Sarah Hussain in the Eastern Daily Press. But under new guidance, farmers are being advised to ask trespassers if they are lost, and to offer to help them on their way.
The advice, part of the updated Countryside Code, was published by Natural England last week. It instructs landowners to make rights of way more accessible, to use “friendly language” on signs, and not to put up “misleading signage, such as ‘bull in field’, if it is not true”.
On footpaths, the guidance suggests, stiles should be swapped for “accessible self-closing gates”. If dogs are worrying livestock, farmers should calmly “ask the owner to recall or catch their dog, chase the dog out of the area or scare it away”; dogs are to be shot only as a “last resort”. The Code also advises visitors to be “considerate to those living in, working and enjoying the countryside”, adding: “Be nice, say hello, share the space.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
It’s a good time “to start a new chapter in the countryside’s relationship with the general public”, said Sarah Todd in The Yorkshire Post. During the pandemic, “Britain’s green and pleasant land has been engaged in its own battle”. People who were denied foreign holidays, with free time on their hands thanks to the furlough, flooded the countryside. “They’ve cycled, run, dog-walked and rambled. They’ve double parked, littered, left dog mess bags hung on hedges.”
It’s the townies, not the farmers, that really need the guidance. Many seem unaware that most of the countryside is privately owned, even in national parks. Awful attacks on livestock are “rocketing”. “Never has the gulf between town and country been greater.”
“Everyone should be able to wander in the countryside,” said Alice Thomson in The Times. “Farmers need to remember that they are custodians of the land”: they certainly should make footpaths accessible, be polite to strangers, and put up a few helpful hints to stop them “being trampled by heifers”.
But it should work both ways. “Farmers aren’t employed by Disney – the countryside isn’t a theme park.” Walkers must realise that crops and livestock are “a farmer’s livelihood”. So “keep your dog on a lead and always remember to shut the gate”.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
-
The week’s best photojournalism
In Pictures A steaming volcano, a giant crater and more
By Anahi Valenzuela Published
-
Texas and Yelp are suing each other over crisis pregnancy centers
Talking Point A battle over free speech and abortion rights heads to court
By Joel Mathis Published
-
Dianne Feinstein, history-making Democratic US senator, dies at 90
The Explainer Her colleagues celebrate her legacy as a trailblazer who cleared the path for other women to follow
By Theara Coleman Published
-
Artworks stolen by Nazis returned to heirs of cabaret performer
It wasn't all bad Good news stories from the past seven days
By The Week Staff Published
-
Woman reunited with egg she signed in 1951
It Wasn't All Bad Good news stories from the past seven days
By The Week Staff Published
-
American rescued after 12 days in Turkish cave
It wasn't all bad Good news stories from the past seven days
By The Week Staff Published
-
Ukrainian military has ‘shown how the Russian army can be beaten’
Talking Point Recent Ukrainian frontline advances may offer hope for its counter-offensive
By The Week Staff Published
-
Earring lost at sea returned to fisherman after 23 years
feature Good news stories from the past seven days
By The Week Staff Published
-
Bully XL dogs: should they be banned?
Talking Point Goverment under pressure to prohibit breed blamed for series of fatal attacks
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Netanyahu’s reforms: an existential threat to Israel?
feature The nation is divided over controversial move depriving Israel’s supreme court of the right to override government decisions
By The Week Staff Published
-
Farmer plants 1.2m sunflowers as present for his wife
feature Good news stories from the past seven days
By The Week Staff Published