Public rights of way are very much in the news in Brigg at present, in view of the ruling on Market Lane (previously reported).
Now we've just spotted the public footpath linking Yarborough Road and Churchill Avenue has "Closed" signs, and barriers, at either end.
Maybe the cold light of day - tomorrow morning - will suggest why this has been done, and by whom. On safety grounds, perhaps, following the high winds, as there are wooden fences on either side?
A lengthy campaign was fought to keep this path open, and it is periodically "walked" by ramblers keen to see it continue as a public right of way.
The path is very narrow, often muddy and squeezed between the back gardens of houses in O'Hanlon Avenue and St James' Road.
Some would say it would be better all round if pedestrians just took the very slight detour along either of the adjoining streets. But there's Brigg history involved here.
Clothes Hedge Footpath gained its name because, decades ago, housewives used to hang their washing there to dry in the sun and wind. Or so the story goes.
Nige,
ReplyDeleteI thought it was the in-mates from the workhouse who put washing along the hedges along Clothe Hedge Lane - now better known as St Helen's Road. I believe the workhouse acted as Brigg's laundry.
When I lived in Brigg, the house was built in 1904, part of the deeds indicated that I could, without hindrance, drive cattle and sheep along Clothe Hedge Lane. Why I would want to undertake such an activity was not clear, but it must have been important when the deeds were compiled.