2026 and all that ….
Countryside & Rights of Way Act (CROW, 2000)
Guardian article : December 2015
On 1 January 2026 the legal map of rights of way (the ‘definitive’ map) held by the county council will be closed to claims for paths that existed before 1949. Such paths will be legally closed (‘extinguished’).
Well-used, unrecorded footpaths which are not designated rights of way may be lost.
Although this seems some way off, the process of recording footpaths as rights of way is both bureaucratic and protracted.
The County Council are legally committed to processing claims for rights of way, but (especially in view of severe budget reductions) are unlikely to instigate them.
How to claim an unrecorded right of way
The link to the maps below show current rights of way (in bold colours) for all 42 ‘parish’ categories defined by the County Council in the north-east of the county (Bolsover, Chesterfield, & NE Derbyshire).
| Area* | Ordnance Survey |
Bing Aerial |
Area* | Ordnance Survey |
Bing Aerial |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ashover | NED | 
|
|
Holymoorside & Walton | NED |
|
|
| Ault Hucknall | B |
|
|
Killamarsh | NED |
|
|
| Barlborough | B |
|
|
Morton | NED |
|
|
| Barlow | NED |
|
|
North Wingfield | NED |
|
|
| Blackwell | B |
|
|
Pilsley | NED |
|
|
| Bolsover | B |
|
|
Pinxton | B |
|
|
| Brackenfield | NED |
|
|
Pleasley | B |
|
|
| Brampton | NED |
|
|
Scarcliffe | B |
|
|
| Brimington | C |
|
|
Shirebrook | B |
|
|
| Calow | NED |
|
|
Shirland & Higham | NED |
|
|
| Chesterfield | C |
|
|
South Normanton | B |
|
|
| Clay Cross | NED |
|
|
Staveley | C |
|
|
| Clowne | B |
|
|
Stretton | NED |
|
|
| Dronfield | NED |
|
|
Sutton cum Duckmanton | NED |
|
|
| Eckington | NED |
|
|
Temple Normanton | NED |
|
|
| Elmton | B |
|
|
Tibshelf | B |
|
|
| Glapwell | B |
|
|
Tupton | NED |
|
|
| Grassmoor | NED |
|
|
Unstone | NED |
|
|
| Heath & Holmewood | NED |
|
|
Wessington | NED |
|
|
| Hodthorpe & Belph | B |
|
|
Whitwell | B |
|
|
| Holmesfield | NED |
|
|
Wingerworth | NED |
|
|
* B Bolsover C Chesterfield NED North-East Derbyshire
Bolsover
Chesterfield
NE Derbyshire
Any lost ways here ?
1898 map
(National Library of Scotland)
Open Street Map
Open Street Map displays both recorded and unrecorded paths
Google Street View
Google Street View, whilst generally not displaying footpaths, often shows them where they meet roads
Current Definitive Map Modification (DMMO) applications
