Villagers unite to save ancient Welsh footpath

Dale Spridgeon – Local democracy reporter

More than 75 villagers have united in a community walk as part of a bid to save an “ancient” Welsh footpath which passes by the remains of a beautiful castle.

It was organised by locals Dr Nick Stuart and Gareth Phillips to illustrate a disputed route in the Llangoed area on Anglesey which has been at the centre of a long running legal access battle.

They were “delighted” at the turn out which they hailed as an “extraordinary and fantastic response” from locals who braved the cold and rainy weather, early on Sunday morning (December 7).

The pair have long argued that a footpath, which runs by the 11th century Aberlleiniog Castle and down through woodland, towards the Lleiniog beach, between Llangoed and Penmon, should be protected.

Years of legal wrangling were sparked when padlocks appeared on gates on the route around five years ago.

The matter is now to become the subject of a public enquiry by PEDW (Planning and Environment Decision Wales).

An appeal raised by the campaigners had been allowed by PEDW against a previous Anglesey County Council decision not to register the route.

The council was then directed by PEDW to make an order to add the path to the Definitive Map, the legal record of public rights of way.

But that order is now being challenged by those with interest in the land.

As part of their bid, campaigners had to prove the route was used for 20 years.

Statements gathered from the community and  many older residents had claimed the route had been accessed by generations of local families and visitors.

The campaigners had also linked the footpath to ancient features in the landscape,  mooting it was a route possibly used for hundreds, possibly even thousands of years

But Davis Meade Property Consultants Ltd, on behalf of Gerwyn Parry and Delwyn Parry, of Llanddona, had  stated that they had farmed the land, crossed by the order route during the relevant 20-year public usage (2000-2020 and they said it was private.

The public inquiry, the very final assessment into the situation, is now due to be held, although no date has yet been confirmed.

Gareth Phillips said: “There were about 75 people by the end who joined us on the walk.

“Many added their names to the list of those who could share memories and long standing experiences of walking the path over many years, which will help us in the forthcoming enquiry, although we are not sure when that will be yet.

“We were delighted that so many turned up, especially as it was such rotten weather.

“It really was an extraordinary response for such a small village and it  showed the strength of feeling locally over this issue.

“We didn’t take the walkers on to the disputed padlocked section but we showed them where it was, and talked about the history of the area”.

The walk had started from the village hall in Llangoed where a  short talk was also given.

Mr Phillips said they had received  “many messages of support”.

“We’ve had lots of really supportive and appreciative comments from people from right across the country. It has been amazing.

“We’ve heard from  people who have been in similar situations, people telling us  to ‘keep going’ and thanking us, we are very grateful for their support.

“We are hearing lots of stories about these types of access problems which are happening all over Wales.”