From Gary W

Thursday, 22 May 2025

I spent my entire childhood (I was born in 1970) growing up on the Fairfield estate. Throughout that period, (and continuously since) the path along Railway view was the route that all parents children and adults used to walk to central infants street school, riverside junior school or indeed to get to Hebden Bridge town centre. 

This right of way therefore goes back over 50 years, far longer than the 20 years of continuous use that is usually required to establish such easements (see here: https://bhwsolicitors.com/news/claiming-rights-long-user/ )  

To my mind, trying to weaken such a long established right of way is akin to moving next door to a church and then complaining about the sound of the church bells.

From Vikki Uttley

Sunday, 25 May 2025

Like Garry, I and my family friends have used this 'cut through' since the 70s, later I always felt it was a safer way than going over the railway bridge all be it with traffic light. Something similar happened adjacent to St John Close and the cut through to access Stubbings School, access blocked but after 'discussions'  has since been resolved.

I can't  understand why people move to Hebden Bridge because they like the sense of community and the, to use a lovely hippy term, laid back atmosphere. It would appear we can't in some instances continue to live and let live and then have to  sometimes, call out the lack of community spirit which does impact on our neighbours and friends. I hope the issue gets resolved so all involved are happy.

From Steve W

Saturday, 31 May 2025

I have lived on the Fairfield estate for 25 years. I have lived in Hebden Bridge for 30 years. I have always loved living here but, as the previous comment says, have seen a change in the live and let live attitude.

The walkway at railway view has always been a well used right of way. I have noticed that access has been reduced and the path being made narrower and narrower. I believe that pushchairs and wheelchairs can no longer use this right of way because of the narrowing. Its almost impossible for a wheelchair or pushchair user to go up and down the hill, around the right of way. Also the elderly would find it difficult to access Hebden centre from Fairfield without this right of way, isolating themselves from the community and shops.

I find this selfish attitude of denying access a poor reflection of society today. 

From Patricia Guilfoyle

Tuesday, 3 June 2025

I have noticed today that the residents concerned have removed the signs and also made the pathway easier to navigate. I appreciate their decision to do this.

From Toby Rainland

Wednesday, 4 June 2025

Yes, it certainly is so disappointing that the issues surrounding Railway View have yet again been re-ignited because a few residents removed items from our garden, harassed us, accused us of stealing land, of being liars, etc.... are all very unpleasant and stressful. 

As the resident of 8 Railway View, hands up, due to the above I did put up a sign saying "Welcome (permissive path) - Railway View Garden Established 2015 - Privately owned & managed by Toby & Stella". 

This might not have been the best wording but under stress this is what I wrote. It's meant to convey that you are welcome to come through and we are not preventing you from doing so. I apologise if it meant something else to you.

However, none of us are legal experts in land issues which are very complex indeed.  

More importantly our letter sent to the public meeting in (was it 2018?) was not permitted, by those hosting the meeting, as it could have saved years of misunderstandings!

This is what the letter stated, condensed as its too long to write it all out.

Sent to the Public Meeting in 2018

"We are not objecting to a 'right of way' application....all of Railway View is privately owned...once a right of way is established we hope you have more success of moving the white van than we have... As friends of Fairfield we would hope you are able to encourage positive communication and behaviours and actively discourage negative attitudes towards all members of the community..." 

So to yet again re-confirm our position

1. We do not object to a public right of way being officially established, this would be helpful to all of us
2. The land is privately owned
3. We have never blocked the path over Railway View
4. The width of the path is maintained by us to be 1.2m wide
5. The final width of the path I believe will be determined by the Rights of way officer
6. We will not be posting anymore signs regarding the path
7. We respect due process of the legal system 

We would like to simply enjoy peace & quiet in our small but perfectly formed garden area created because our neighbour has blocked access to it for 8 years!

From Patricia Guilfoyle

Thursday, 5 June 2025

In response to the message last posted by Toby Rainland, I can assure you the letter was not added to the agenda of  the meeting as the meeting was about how residents could apply for a Right of way and map modification definition.

The organisers tried hard to keep the meeting on track as there was a lot of anger and discussion about the history of why the actions had been taken . We obviously limited the personal aspects as much as possible. 

There was no invitation given to the residents to attend the meeting due to the essence of the meeting being about how to apply for a definitive map modification order marking the established ROW and as the residents had made it clear they wanted to close the access,  it didn't seem appropriate to therefore invite them to a meeting which was designed to achieve the opposite. 

The letter may have been interpreted as an attempt to prevent the application for a map modification order being made,  and as feelings were very raised we deemed it best to continue with points on the agenda. 

However the details of the letter were discussed and shared on Hebweb for which The Friends of Fairfield were appreciative. 

Also, there were quite a few unsubstantiated claims against other residents of Fairfield, similar to the ones made in this message, therefore we decided not to comment, or offer any signs of appreciation as tempers were raised on both sides. 

I urge the residents concerned to report any actions of theft or damage to the police using their CCTV evidence and log anything else of concern with the police.

To be fair, this is what all residents need to do when un-neighbourly and anti-social behaviour is occurring and spoiling their rights to live in a safe and peaceful environment. 

It is a shame that the sign appeared to be a challenge to the Right of Way. 

If the residents wish to join the Friends of Fairfield Facebook page to try and avoid this happening again they would be eligible and welcome. 
By joining the page it might give you the opportunity to communicate if anti social or criminal behaviour occurs or to ask for information before trying to solve the issues by putting up signs that  could be perceived as threatening or limiting to others access. 

I wish the residents the very best on the behalf of the Friends of Fairfield, we recognise the efforts to build a garden whilst ensuring their neighbours are free to walk safely and peacefully on a path that has been in use for many years.

We hope you do not experience further anti social behaviour, but sadly we all are experiencing it at times. Hopefully this matter has come to a resolution and if the Friends of Fairfield can support in any way it will …. you are part of that community , and you also, can support the community you live in. 

Peace be with us all. 

From Toby Rainland

Wednesday, 11 June 2025

In Response to Patsy's Guilfoyle posts: 

What do I really feel? That the truth has not been shared in the public domain and that the misinformation placed online has been consistently perpetuated leading to significant disharmony in the community. 

The sign we put up said: WELCOME to RAILWAY VIEW GARDEN (permissive path) established 2015, Owned and Managed by Toby & Stella. According to the councillor this "could be perceived as threatening?' 

It's unfortunate that this sign was interpreted negatively and that the above was posted in the public domain without speaking to the residents, as to why they felt compelled to put up the sign in the first place. 

We had contacted the police regarding an altercation on the footpath where we were informed that we were liars, that it was public land, that we were stealing land and that we were blocking access! Untrue on all accounts, (as verified by a visit from the council days before).

The councillor then posts "Yet again the residents on Railway View are challenging the established right of way" 

However, the real facts are that the term 'permissive path' cannot be a challenge to a right of way that is currently in progress. I am saddened that the above post, incorrect in its interpretation only served to increase tensions. 

Unbelievably this was posted "the residents of Railway View claim to own the land". How on earth can this still be thrown into the public arena? As quite clearly all have been informed that the land is indeed privately owned. Why keep on spreading this misinformation when the facts are easily checked on the land registry. 

The statement: 'It is not an excuse to land grab' again seems to discredit specific residents of Railway View and has no basis of truth. 

More importantly, the omission of our letter at the original meeting in 2017, we feel was a huge error and injustice to all concerned. 

It certainly silenced the residents of Railway View, and it prevented the facts from being presented at a time when it was most needed. 

At no point did Friends of Fairfield reach out to have a conversation. 8 years on and we are now officially welcomed to join the Friends of Fairfield group by the administrator who is also the councillor.

The elephant in the room is that the garden was only formed because our neighbour, has blocked vehicle access to all the residents of Railway View, now in its 8th year) by dumping an abandoned white van at the entrance to the street. I built a fence because not even the council could move the vehicle and I was sick of seeing it!

We are tired of the insults from a small minority of the Fairfield estate, and the spreading of fake news. In the midst of all of this there have been few voices of support, we have certainly felt the full burden of this silence. 

So we are asking the people who have insulted us over the years to stop, to leave us in peace, and to enjoy walking through our beautiful garden area. 

We ask that you to trust in the legal process and to refrain from the deliberate spreading and posting of false information which only serves to portray the targeted residents of Railway View as villains.

Note for contributors to this thread: please do your best to follow the HebWeb guidelines for writing forum contributions. Many thanks - Ed

Preiously, on the HebWeb

Fairfield 'Right of Way' Footpath (July 2018)