Using a public footpath or bridleway is a precious right, but also a privilege, and we all have a responsibility to care for the countryside we love and cherish, says Colin Speakman, vice president of Friends of the Dales. Rights of way have never been more vital, but we must observe social distancing, not take unnecessary journeys, and stay local.

One thing the UK Government got right when lockdown was announced was the decision to allow everyone who can to take short outdoor exercise close to home, whether walking, running or cycling, without strict (and unenforceable) time restrictions though driving or using public transport for this purpose are currently discouraged.

Both the Government and National Park Authorities have however been concerned about people abusing this precious local exercise freedom to drive to crowded honeypots such as Malham, or Bolton Abbey at a time when facilities are closed or restricted. However local residents in villages like Grassington or Kettlewell also need their local footpath network for their own badly needed exercise.

In terms of medical advice this was sound. We now know that, providing social distancing rules are rigorously adhered to, and away from confined spaces, the virus is not transmitted. Indeed, you are safer outdoors than indoors.

This has allowed millions of us, whether alone, with our dogs or our immediate family from the same household, to enjoy time outdoors.

For many people this has been a life saver. Spring 2020 has brought some of the most beautiful weather in living memory, and the birdsong, no longer drowned by traffic noise, and wildflowers have been stunning. Whether walking, running or cycling, this daily exercise has probably saved the NHS billions of pounds by reducing stress, depression and in building up our immune systems, including vitamin D from sunlight, that has helped reduce the impact not only of coronavirus but of many other conditions.

Especially critical have been the benefits to mental health. Studies have shown the huge benefit of walking in green spaces, in woodland, or through natural landscapes to help us deal with a range of anxieties and mental stresses. Get Walking and Save the NHS might be an appropriate slogan.

Vital to this ability to access precious green spaces close to where we live has been our local footpath network. How grateful must we be to the work of local authorities, including North Yorkshire, Lancashire and Bradford Councils, the National Park Authorities, Parish Councils, and countless teams of volunteers who have worked over the years to keep local paths open and in repair.

Many paths near where I live in Wharfedale which were faint grassy ways in February are now well used and noticeably wider and well-trodden. But farmers and landowners have also had to cope with a sudden increase in people crossing their land.

Most farmers near our towns and larger villages have been very understanding, realising that the increased numbers of walkers crossing their fields in their precious free time could include many NHS or care workers, or others working in essential services for whom an hour in the open air with their families is helping them cope with often deeply stressful situations.

Even though we know that providing that people observe social isolation rules, and keep to rights of way, there is no risk whatsoever to the farming community or their livestock, a very small minority of farmers or landowners have tried to take the law into their own hands by illegally closing paths or putting shameful “Stay at Home” notices on gates or stiles. Yet in a few months’ time some of these same people will be asking the public to “Buy British” and “Support our Farmers” as indeed we all should.

Equally a small minority of walkers have been abusing our precious freedom by not keeping to rights of way, allowing dogs off leads near livestock, cycling on footpaths where bikes are not allowed and disgustingly leaving black plastic “dog-poop” bags presumably for other people to collect. Such selfish behaviours in times like the present are unforgiveable. Using a public footpath or bridleway is a precious right, but also a privilege, and we all have a responsibility to care for the countryside we love and cherish.

I live in a suburban street in Wharfedale which leads out of our village to join several walking routes. Every day I see scores of walkers and their families within four metres of my lounge window heading for the footpaths which my wife and I are also able to enjoy. I am delighted to see them, as it is a reminder to me that we all, at this most terrible of times, depend so much on each other.

So, whether you are a user of our wonderful heritage of footpaths and bridleways or live and work in the countryside through which they pass, what we need more than ever before is mutual respect and understanding.

History teaches us that sooner or later this pandemic, like the even more devastating plagues of the past, will pass. If life will never be quite same as it was just a few weeks ago, we will soon be able to do many of the things which we enjoy and make life worth living, including the vital need we all have to be with family and friends, to socialise. Coronavirus will have taught us two important things – firstly our dependence on the natural world and how only by understanding and respecting it will humanity have a future. Secondly is a recognition of how much we all need each other. In a powerful way, our footpath and bridleways connect us both with the natural world and with each other. They have never been more vital to us.