Saving our footpaths

It’s estimated that over 49,000 miles of public footpaths have been lost from our maps, including 786 miles in and around Cambridge. The Ramblers Association have been working with thousands of volunteers to find, map and save some of them. The government has set a deadline of 2026 to achieve this.

Volunteers have been helping by finding these paths and applying for them to be added back onto the map. They are following a five step plan to achieve this:

• Identify historical paths which may be lost rights of way.
• Prioritise those paths which add the most benefit for people.
• Research the individual path to find out if it can be saved.
• Build an application based on historical evidence.
• Submit the application by 1^st January 2026.

You can find out more about the campaign and how you can help on the Don’t Lose Your Way campaign pages.