Right of way is baa-ffling!
Sheep are legally allowed to make their way through a Black Country booking office, after a council failed to properly close a right of way, it is claimed. Sheep are legally allowed to make their way through a Black Country booking office, after a council failed to properly close a right of way, it is claimed. Historians said Wolverhampton City Council never formally applied to close the right of way through Wolverhampton's Woolpack Alley before it was bricked up to create the new Midland Box Office. So according to old highway laws, the right to pass through Woolpack Alley, including the right to drive sheep, still stands. The fact was revealed by Frank Sharman, who, along with the rest of the Wolverhampton History and Heritage Society, fought to save the alley from closure. Read the full story in the Express & Star.
Historians said Wolverhampton City Council never formally applied to close the right of way through Wolverhampton's Woolpack Alley before it was bricked up to create the new Midland Box Office.
So according to old highway laws, the right to pass through Woolpack Alley, including the right to drive sheep, still stands.
The fact was revealed by Frank Sharman, who, along with the rest of the Wolverhampton History and Heritage Society, fought to save the alley from closure.
It dates back centuries and was used to keep sheep when Wolverhampton was a key town in the wool trade.
Mr Sharman, who wrote about the matter in the society's newsletter, said he had been pressing the council about the matter to no avail. "Many years ago the council changed the line of Woolpack Alley and did so without any legal authority. The result of this is that the original right of way continued in existence," he said.
Wolverhampton City Council spokesman Tim Clark said: "We have been sent a copy of the article in the History Society's newsletter and will look into the issues that it raises."
