Who owns England?

Church of England

Duke of Northumberland

Trevellayn’s

And other gentry.

a bloke who’s written a book on the subject

I read the book 'Who owns England' by Guy Shrubsole a while back. I suspect quite a few on here have, as it's been discussed a fair bit. I'm guessing the video is a brief precis of the book?

Around the same time I read the 'Book of Trespass' by Nick Hayes.  Hayes and Shrubsole are co-founders of the Right to Roam pressure group.

Didn't Private Eye publish a map showing all the land owned by offshore companies way back? I remember looking to see that all the "likely to be developed" land near us was all offshore owned ?

They did and it's a bit shocking.

I glibly thought "China and Russia" when I read the OP, but I think it is more nuanced than that.

I watched that vid for about 5 seconds before thinking he is really annoying, its all for the likes and subscribes

Around the same time I read the book of Trespass by Nick Hayes.

I tried to read it a year or so back, and TBH, while I have sympathy with the aims of the book, it felt like it could've been a long essay. Each chapter felt like a repeat of the last with just the names changed.

I think my own thoughts about access and trespass have shifted over time, I broadly agree with the aims of right to roam, but largely my own view is that if there's a defined track - however marked on the map, I'll ride it if it gets me where I want to go. I'm not going to break locks, but I will climb over gates that are locked across footpaths. Byways etc if its possible to do. I don't engage with the public about whether I'm allowed there or not,  but I'll comply if confronted by the legitimate owners.  I don't think access laws are going to change in my lifetime, so I'm not going to wait about.

I'm in the same place Nick. Younger me wouldn't have dreamt of climbing a locked gate, cycling on a footpath or stealthily wild camping where it's technically not allowed. At 60 I'll happily do all those things and more. Too much of the countryside (the vast majority of it) is barred to us in England and Wales. I dream of a responsible right of access but too many vested interests mean it will never happen.

At least in terms of land, England's an occupied country and has been, more or less, since 1066.

Take the Duke of Westminster, for example, whose estate I was ejected from for the crime of riding a bicycle (by some other peasants like me albeit in a Landrover).

The Grosvenor Estate had an operating income of 1.2 billon dollars in 2017 an a total worth of 66.2 billion dollars, according to Wikipedia.

The "Duke" paid zero tax on an inheritance of £9 billion — yet my family paid the full tax on my late uncle's estate.

Tell me again why migrants are being blamed.

I'm a big fan of 'non invasive' trespass in the countryside - i.e leave only footprints, no broken fences or any damage to flora/fauna etc. Have been for most of my life but certainly since I read Hayes and Shrubsoles books I've been slightly more militant about it.

Obviously Rule 1 applies and whilst I'll happily cycle on a footpath if its safe to do so and there is no other real option on that route, I'll tailor my 'private self acknowledged' access rights to the time of day, day of the week etc etc - no point riding a busy footpath on a Sunday when all the ramblers are out and getting into needless confrontation but no worries at 7am on a weekday or late in the evening or on a horrible rainy winter day. I ride slowly past animals and people (I do that anyway) and am always polite.

As far as walking goes, I'll pretty much walk anywhere I feel like in the countryside as long as it won't get me shot or into danger with bulls etc or if farmers have crops down/forestry workers are clearly working in the area. I'm certainly not going to worry about some historical quirks of fate which gifted thousands of acres to various people who had no more right to the land than I do - especially as I'm contributing to its upkeep most of the time.

the Book of Trespass states that there was no concept of property until William the Conk declared england to belong to him, back in 1066

That must be long past its sell by date

I've got a few acres. A very few acres.

Was brought up in a forest, mentioned in the other thread. When I was very young, it was "closed off", especially Haye Park and I was taught at a very early age to be very quiet in the forest and that keeping us out was wrong.  Got off to a flyer, been having problems reading English goml signage ever since.

Not you.