BBC Countryfile star shares story of ‘threatening’ encounter while out walking in West Wales

Amelia Jones 

A BBC presenter has revealed how a countryside walk with his son and a friend was interrupted after a woman confronted them over their use of a public footpath.

Countryfile Magazine Plodcast presenter Fergus Collins had been enjoying a walk in West Wales with his son when they were approached by a woman in a car who accused them of trespassing.

He said the woman was threatening and aggressive and told them they were not allowed to be there.

Collins is a familiar face and voice to audiences across Wales through his work with BBC Wales. He has worked for the BBC for many years and is known for presenting across BBC Wales’ television and radio output, as well as his work covering the Welsh countryside, weather and outdoor life.

He  has often shared his enthusiasm for getting outdoors and exploring Wales, making the encounter particularly striking given that he was simply out enjoying a walk with his family and friend.

In a video shared online, Collins explained what had happened and said the incident had put something of a dampener on what had otherwise been an enjoyable day.

He said: “Things were slightly ruined because from nowhere a lady, I’m working with my son and a friend, and a lady drove up and sort of saying that we’d been trespassing.”

Collins explained that the group told the woman they had been following a clearly marked public route.

He said she eventually accepted that they were not trespassing, but then raised concerns about pheasant shooting.

He said: “She said, quite aggressively, well you know it’s dangerous to walk around here because there’s pheasant shooting and I said well it’s not pheasant shooting till September.”

According to Collins, the woman disagreed with him. “She said no, October I think you mean darling. Hilariously patronising.”

The exchange then turned to vermin control, with Fergus again questioning whether this was a reason to challenge people using a public footpath.

He recounted: “She said well there’s vermin control and I said but not on a public footpath and she very quickly corrected herself.

“But she was quite threatening and quite aggressive and just a bit unpleasant on a beautiful day. Totally unnecessary.

“We were all polite. We’ve let it go. But just shows that sometimes you, you know, you’ve just got to be on your guard a bit.”

He suggested that the incident reflected how protective some people can be about the countryside around them.

He said: “Certain people feel very protective of their parts of the countryside.”

However, Collins was keen not to allow the encounter to spoil the rest of his day.

He finished the video by saying: “Anyway, moving swiftly on I’m going to continue a beautiful walk and hopefully not meet any other proprietorial folk who think they like to challenge me for walking on a footpath.”

You can watch the full video here. 

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