Land access and ownership in Scotland

 

Game larder on a shooting estate

Despite the good intentions behind September's post, nothing happened here.  Our good friends moved to Spain and set up an Instagram account to keep in touch with family and friends.  So instead of sharing the great places in Perthshire that we were visitingvia a blog, I joined the throng and did the same.  Maybe I wanted to believe I could keep up with people who were born after the concept of an "app" was born,  I was already grown up when the internet started to be used by ordinary people.  Maybe an app would just be quicker.   

But every week I come across land access issues so have decided to describe them here for those interested in land access in this area and as both record for myself and for anyone in the future interested in how land access in and around Perth and Kinross was in e.g. 2021 as experienced by an ordinary walker.

Anyone who walks in the countryside regularly finds themselves wondering where they can and can't walk.  The far-reaching effects of the Scottish Land Reform Act (2003) are described at Scotways, with explanations or links to key concepts like rights of access, core paths and local access forums. 

The subjects of access rights and land ownership are inextricably linked.  Walkers in Scotland have more freedom  than in England, where the limited access rights are covered in a beautifully illustrated work by Nick Hayes:  The Book of Trespass (2020).   

There were two interesting articles in the Guardian (2019) on land ownership.  "Half of England is owned by less than 1% of the population". The article on Scotland covers the Scottish Land Commission's report on land ownership.  Discussion of land ownership and access in Scotland often runs into discussions about grouse moors which cover 15% of the land.  This was topical recently under renewed consideration of a controversial licensing scheme.  Raptor persecution linked to grouse moors is an ongoing problem.  The RSPB has an introduction to the subject of grouse moors.  Campaigners against grouse moors released this spoof video in October 2020.