Summer's here and the brambles are growing.

Today is the last day of term and parents will have to start to wonder what they're going to do with their children over the long summer holiday. If you live in Eastfield (a substantial community to the south of Scarborough) you might decide that it would be a good idea to walk with your children the 4km into town and then, perhaps, take the bus back. This way you'll all get some decent exercise and enjoy the sheer pleasure of being out in the open countryside.

But, if you choose to take the most direct, and nicest route, into town by following the bridleway that runs up the Dell and then continue on down past South Cliff Golf Club, you best not wear your shorts. Not, that is, unless you don't mind getting stung by nettles or scratched by brambles.

Overgrown path as it approaches Oliver's Mount

Of course, you could turn left when going up the Dell and join the new, replacement, bridleway that's been built by Keep Moat (the company responsible for the new Middle Deepdale development) and head across to Musham Bank roundabout where you could then take the path that runs through Blue Bell Woods and around the back of The Mere. But, then again you'd be out of luck because the path here is also overgrown by nettles and brambles,

Path from Musham Bank overgrown by brambles

The new path goes off to the left from the Deepdale bridleway

It then crosses fields as it heads to Musham Bank

Where it joins another bridleway before going down the lane to the roundabout.

We know that low levels of physical activity are beginning to cause major health problems and that the best way to avoid these problems is to incorporate physical activity into our everyday lives. The simplest way to do this is to stop being a passenger and start  getting places under our own steam. 

Politicians, health workers and public servants need to begin to take this issue much more seriously. I've no doubt that the cost of clearing a few paths will be more than covered by savings in health spending but, for reasons about which I can speculate but won't go into here, it just doesn't seem to be happening.

Claiming the Health Dividend:A summary and discussion of value for money estimates from studies of investment in walking and cycling