Walking paths in England and Wales are a pattern of feast and famine | Dominic Bates

While prestigious routes are well-maintained, smaller footpaths under the care of local councils are suffering from budget cuts - and it's these we need the most

The largest ever survey of footpaths in England and Wales has found that almost half are in need of improvement, with a tenth of the 140,000-mile network in serious disrepair. For anyone, like me, who considers a decent yomp a staple of any good weekend, those results won't seem in the least bit surprising.

Of the 59,000 problems reported by the 3,250 citizen surveyors who took part in the Ramblers' Big Pathwatch, a third were for missing signposts that can quickly turn a pleasant country stroll into an epic trudge as the detours mount up. But most were for obstructions, like barbed wire and collapsed bridges, or footpaths made impassable by flooding and overgrowth that would likely force you to abandon your walk altogether.