St Breward Parish Council

Restoration of an ancient footpath

The closure of St Breward Stores and Post Office in Row, and their relocation to The Old Inn at Churchtown in 2017, meant that Churchtown became the sole focal area of St Breward, with the parish church, village Shop & Post Office, the Old Inn and village hall all residing there. This role has increased with the recent closure of Row Methodist Chapel.

From the Millennium and before, St Breward Parish Council had actively tried to improve the poor condition of the parish’s principal public footpath (FP 13 in the list of the parish’s paths). Cornwall County Council, which had a statutory duty to maintain the footpath, pleaded lack of funds and the path deteriorated year on year.

Footpath 13 is a gold footpath within the Parish network, which goes alongside the Primary School up to Churchtown. Footpath 13 was the Parish’s principal footpath. Footpath 13 was downgraded from a green road in the 1950’s and since that time no one claims ownership of the path and its Cornish hedges.

On the formation of Cornwall Council our FP13, alone in all of Cornwall, was chosen to receive a one-off grant of £30,000 to repair the tumbling Cornish hedges. We were told the money was ring-fenced, but when we asked for the cash to begin the repairs, personnel in the Council had changed and the money was spent elsewhere.

Helped by our Cornwall councillor Mr. Dominic Fairman and Chris Monk, Senior Countryside Officer, the PC successfully applied for and was awarded just under £44,000 from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development through the Atlantic & Moor Local Action Group. This grant represented 80% of the project costs with St Breward Parish Council securing the remaining 20%. We would also like to thank Cornwall Council for a loan to pay for the works, as the grant money was not released until the project had finished.

Your Parish Council is committed to keeping FP13 maintained to a high standard and is committed to build up a dedicated cash reserve so that, hopefully – a long time in the future – when the Cornish hedges need major repairs, we won’t be dependent on others and will not have to wait years for repairs.

So, when you enjoy using FP13 remember that if it wasn’t for the financial help from European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the Atlantic & Moor Local Action Group, you would not be able to use FP13.

Your Parish Councillors are proud to have successfully delivered this major project

Denis Lusby

Chairman St Breward Parish Council