THERE are less than 10 years left to save our historic paths. the Open Spaces Society (OSS) warns.

The national conservation body has launched its Find Our Way fund, to support its work against the clock to save historic public-paths.

The Government has ruled that many unrecorded pre-1949 routes will be extinguished on January 1, 2026, unless applications have been made for them to be added to official maps.

The society is a member of Natural England’s rights-of-way stakeholder group, and is working with landowners, local authorities and other users to thrash out agreed measures to speed and simplify the procedures for claiming paths ahead of the 2026 guillotine.

It is running training courses for people to locate and understand the evidence needed to claim historic paths, including inclosure awards and tithe maps.

The OSS is working with other user groups, such as the British Horse Society and the Ramblers, to plan a joint bid to fund the digitisation of vital records.

Its general secretary Kate Ashbrook said: “With less than 10 years remaining before many unclaimed routes will be lost for ever, we need to gear up our campaign to record them.

“We can all apply for paths to be added to the map, we just need to gather the evidence that they are public highways.

“Otherwise, routes which we have taken for granted, and which could be of value to future generations, will be lost for ever.”

The rule is ‘once a highway, always a highway’ so if a route has ever been recognised as a public highway and not officially closed or moved, it is still a public highway and should be claimed for the definitive map of public rights of way, held by the county council.

But in England, the Deregulation Act 2015 will activate a provision in the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 which will close the definitive map on January 1, 2026, to claims for unrecorded footpaths and bridleways which existed before 1949, so those routes could be lost for ever.

For more details visit www.oss.org.uk