Ramblers volunteers are working closely with the British Horse Society and the Open Spaces Society on a joint campaign. Much of the research into historic rights of way is being guided by the book “Restoring the Record” (the “Green Book”) by Bucks and Wadey of the BHS. Copies of this book are available to loan from Roger Bangs, the Countryside Officer (see Contacts).

Ramblers main website has a list of resources and links

Ramblers carried out an exercise to compare the current OS maps with the historic second edition OS Maps (around 1900). Many of the old routes now go through buildings, or were replaced by new routes nearby, but some may indicate routes that can be claimed. See the results here. You can sign on with your normal Ramblers log in details, or register if you're not a member. 

British Horse Society – Dobbin site

The BHS have a campaign to claim unrecorded bridleways and byways – see here for an introduction and to read about their 2026 Toolkit.

The main research resource can be found on their Dobbin site. A map for each county shows what routes are currently under investigation (Hertfordshire is in the Eastern Region). This is open to all apart from robots. You will see that many DMMO Applications have already been submitted, and many more routes are under investigation. Look for a link near the top right of the Hertfordshire map page to the Evidence Library holding photos of archive records.

The site provides a research tool to help collect all evidence for a route in one Research Record. It includes handy links to the National Archive of Scotland map library so that you can gather evidence from a series of old maps.  When you have collected all the evidence, it will use the Research Record to prepare a DMMO Application, so simplifying the job greatly.

Resources you will need and where to find them

This PDF lists the types of documents that are available to DLYW researchers in Hertfordshire and our London Boroughs, and where to find them.  Many of them are in the Dobbin Evidence Library. The resources are listed roughly in order of ease of use/access.