Once a highway, always a highway ...

... is a fine old principle of English law. It doesn't mean that highways cannot be changed, but it does mean that a legal process is needed to stop up or divert one. You cannot lose a right of way because it has fallen into disuse.

I was reminded of this because shewhomust and I were out walking today, and part of our route took us along Dere Street, the Roman Road from York (Eboracum) to the eastern end of the Antonine Wall on the Firth of Forth. Dere Street was built in the second century CE and this stretch has remained in use for the best part of 1,900 years.

If proof exists that a highway existed at some point in the past — tithe maps or enclosure awards are often cited — then it can be claimed as a right of way and put on the definitive map and restored to public use. But this process is drawing to a close: there is a deadline of 2026 after which lost ways will be lost forever.