the.com/bridleway
a path where horses still legally outrank your shiny carbon mountain bike
means A public right of way that horse riders, walkers, and cyclists may use, but which motor vehicles generally cannot.
from A plain compound of "bridle" and "way." "Bridle" — the headgear of straps and bit by which a horse is steered — comes from Old English "bridel," related to the verb "bregdan," to pull or jerk (a cousin of the modern "braid"). "Way" is the equally ancient Old English "weg," a path or road, kin to Latin "via." So a bridleway is simply, and literally, a way for the bridled beast — a route fit for a horse rather than a cart.
- legal right
- cyclists must give way to horses and walkers
- origins
- medieval routes for riders, not carriages
- name
- bridle, the headgear steering the horse
- signage
- England marks them with blue arrows
- no cars
- motor vehicles banned, always
pennine bridleway — 268-mile horse trail across northern england from derbyshire to scotland, established 2002
south downs way — 100-mile bridleway in southern england from winchester to eastbourne, popular with horses and cyclists
offa's dyke path — 177-mile bridleway along welsh-english border following 8th-century earthwork