FORBA

30/06/2026

At last - the opening of Marl Pits bridleway refurbishments yesterday by the worshipful Mayor of Rossendale, Liz McInnes and guests consort Steve Duxbury, Mark Weston British Horse Society Director of Access, Chris Peat Forest of Rossendale Bridleways Association and British Horse Society Regional Bridleways Officer for NW, Lyndsay Holden BHS Regional Manager NW, Julie Proctor and Jason Robinson Directors of Terra Firma, Elizabeth Morgan Lancashire Environment Fund, horse riders Sue Fletcher and Ann White and other members of FORBA, Kay & Graeme Bruce, Wendy Walmsley, Denise Rushton, Wendy Taylor.
Thanks to LEF, BHS, and RBC Pride in Place for funding the project and Terra Firma for their professional delivery.
Thanks also to CRUMB CATERING of Rawtenstall to an excellent buffet lunch

17/02/2026

Sent to all Access & Bridleways Officers, Access Representatives & Equestrian Access Groups
Hi all,

Just in case you didn’t see this in the members’ e‑newsletter, I’m sharing it again. The Safety department would be grateful if you could take a moment to complete the survey. Your experience matters!

Road safety survey
Closes on Friday 27 February

If you’ve been out on the roads with a horse or pony in the previous year, we'd love to hear from you! It can be with your own, one you loan or share or even one you only occasionally exercise.

We'd like to hear about your activity and experiences when using public roads together, as well as your thoughts about road safety.

To take part in this survey, you must:
Be at least 18 years of age
Live in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland or Republic of Ireland
Have used roads with a horse or pony in the previous year (this can be in any capacity – riding, carriage driving, leading in-hand, etc).

This survey will take about 15 minutes to complete. No personal data will be collected; all responses are fully anonymous. The results will help support our campaign for better equestrian safety on the roads.

Whether you're riding, carriage driving or leading — we want to hear from you all.

Survey Link

https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=Pxp2YZ8PvUOozuOehIJNnmTx5g3WwSJNqRLf17TmwXVUNThHVTlNNFNDSzMwVVhKNkVXMllZNFBJVy4u&route=shorturl&utm_campaign=2288319_E-News%20January%202026%20East&utm_medium=email&utm_source=British%20Horse%20Society&dm_i=51LF,1D1OF,PHTH1,5M5HU,1,0,0,0

With very best wishes,
Lucy

16/02/2026

At long last, after 14 years I have had the Inspector’s decision on Buckhurst Road and Sales Lane - the roads have been found to be restricted byway as their names suggest! Both were also mentioned to be Cross Roads in the summing up (thanks Susan Taylor for your useful book on Cross Roads). No doubt there will be obstructions to deal with before it is rideable but I will get LCC on the case if so. Thank you to everyone who gave evidence. The Inspector mentioned that the user evidence destroyed the landowners story that horses had never been seen on the lanes!

08/01/2026

Has everyone seen this weeks E-news from the BHS.
Please contact your MP and ask them to support these two important debates.

An important week in Parliament
It promises to be a momentous few days for equestrian safety in parliament next week. A debate titled ‘Horse and Rider Safety’, and introduced by MP Lee Dillon, will take place in Westminster on 14 January.

This event will precede the second reading of the Road Traffic (Horse and Rider Safety) Bill, again introduced by MP Lee Dillon, which is set to take place on 16 January. If this Bill is passed, it could help save lives and prevent horse-related incidents on our roads.

We need your support to encourage your local MP to support both events and attend the debate on 14 January. Every email, letter and message counts. To make this process as easy as possible, we have a template email available to customise and share.

It doesn’t end there. On Monday 19 January Redwings’ firework petition to reduce the maximum noise level of consumer fireworks from 120 to 90 decibels will be debated.

Together, let’s make a difference. The more MPs hear from us about these important milestones, the greater the chance that we’ll see promising change towards protecting horses, riders and drivers.
Contact your local MP

23/12/2025

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND ALL THE BEST FOR 2026.
Here’s to more bridleways!

12/12/2025

Good news everyone - I’ve had my grant request agreed with LEF to fund the Marl Pits bridleway restoration work and necessary permissions have been granted by RBC for access etc. Now all I need to do is stop the local idiot who insists on screwing planks of wood across the gateways, and leaving sharp 6” screws sticking out at fetlock height. I’ve spoken to the suspect who denied it but then admitted it was him in a roundabout way.
Hopefully work will begin as soon as the weather and ground conditions improve next year.
Chris Peat
Secretary Forest of Rossendale Bridleways Association.
Some pictures of the “before” state of the path.

07/09/2025

This poor chap has lost most of his sheep and a tractor due to a flash flood - help him get re-stocked with a small donation.
Go to gofundme website and search for Help Tanerdy Farm if you want to help 🙏

05/09/2025

AT LAST!!!! Height Barn Lane concessionary bridleway is open to everyone - horse riders, cyclists and walkers. Its still needs signing and advertising, as LCC have done it back to front - not insisted the definitive line is opened up after the public inquiry in 2019 and THEN considered a diversion! Six + long years we’ve had to put up with no way through! Just a couple of minor alterations to the fence still to do and the signing of course, but at least it can now be used.

29/08/2025

Horse riders - your help is needed with a short survey!

I have been approached by Proffitts (a local company who specialise in nature conservation and restoration) who are involved in the Brookside Restoration at Stanhill in Hyndburn asking for horse riders to fill in the survey - link below - as they are including multi user paths in the project. The survey only takes a couple of minutes and even if you aren’t aware of the scheme it will help them with funding if plenty of surveys are returned, so please help.

The first link is Brookside’s website to give you an insight into what goes on. You may have to copy and paste into a browser.

https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.proffittscic.com%2Fcommunity-projects%2Fbrookside-restoration-project%2F&data=05%7C02%7C%7C7aab9a7e470c44bf5b9108dde718c9d9%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C638920815868787510%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=O3BGNsf77o7vMrKe4ii50AgZZcBLfhxZ2gQKO63%2BlyI%3D&reserved=0

This is the link to the survey:

https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.surveymonkey.com%2Fr%2FBrooksideProject&data=05%7C02%7C%7C7aab9a7e470c44bf5b9108dde718c9d9%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C638920815868764361%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=jDtiVuGCpn5uR8S2HM4jgRlMlr9r1l%2BhxpiElY%2BEToA%3D&reserved=0

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