Sir: I sympathise with Mr Alisop's indigna- tion (28 February)
at the rudeness he Sir: I sympathise with Mr Alisop's indigna- tion (28 February) at the rudeness he
encountered on his country walk, but I feel that somebody should put the case for the farmer, over whose 'factory floor' footpaths run. I can think of very few farmers who would be pleased to see three strange dogs running loose in a field containing sheep, especially in or near lambing time, however careful the owner was.
Unfortunately much damage is done by ignorance. A family playing cricket in one of our fields moved off very quickly when I explained that the grass was being grown for seed, and that they were damaging the crop. Other experiences have not been so happy.
We preserve our hedges, as we like the wild- life they harbour, and we usually leave the blackberries on the roadside hedges for visi- tors. One Sunday, while working on the com- bine harvester, my husband noticed a middle- aged couple with a dog blackberrying. He found that they had snapped off the leader of a metasequoia he had planted by the gate. The wire netting surrounding it had preserved it from animals, but not from humans. It still grows, but will never be the beautiful tree it could have been.
During haymaking the contractor found his entrance to the field blocked by the car of a courting couple and had to make a detour of nearly two miles with heavy machinery. Another couple were most abusive when we asked them to move their car from our drive so that we could get home.
We have a footpath on our land, and have no intention of applying for its closure, but on fine weekends and Bank Holidays we prefer to stay at home, lest visitors unwittingly damage our crops and our stock. By all means preserve footpaths, but please teach their users the 'Country Code.'
Susan Ranson Gordons Lodge, Ashton, Northampton
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