Why footpaths are signed the way they are

England and Wales share a network of well over 100,000 miles of public rights of way, and very little of it is obvious from the landscape alone. A legal path might run straight across a ploughed field, squeeze between two fences, or slip along the edge of somebody's garden. The signs, waymarkers and little bits of "path furniture" you meet along the way exist for one reason: to show you where the legal line actually goes.

Responsibility for all of this usually sits with the local highway authority — in most places the county or unitary council. They install fingerposts where paths leave a public road, waymark the route across open ground, and maintain the stiles and gates. It is not a perfect system, and some paths are better signed than others, but once you can read the signs you will find the network opens up enormously.

The colour code: what each arrow means

The single most useful thing to learn is the colour of the waymark disc or arrow. These are standardised across England and Wales, so a quick glance tells you exactly what you are entitled to do.

• Yellow arrow — a public footpath. Walking only, so no cycling and no horse riding.
• Blue arrow — a public bridleway. Walkers, cyclists and riders on horseback, though cyclists and riders must give way to pedestrians.
• Red arrow — a byway open to all traffic. Legally open to vehicles, but often nothing more than a rough green lane.
• Purple arrow — a restricted byway. Walkers, cyclists, riders and horse-drawn vehicles, but no motor traffic.
• White or plain disc — a permissive path. Not a right of way at all, but a route the landowner has kindly allowed. It can be closed whenever they choose.
• Acorn symbol — a National Trail, one of the long-distance routes such as the Pennine Way or Offa's Dyke Path.

In Scotland the system works differently: access rights are broader, waymarking is less consistent, and the signs you see tend to mark core paths and long-distance routes rather than individual rights of way.

Fingerposts, discs and symbols to look for

A wooden fingerpost at a road junction is your starting point. It will usually say "Public Footpath" or "Public Bridleway" and often gives a destination and a distance in miles. Beyond that, the waymarking takes the form of small discs fixed to stiles, gateposts, fence posts and occasionally telegraph poles. Many carry a yellow arrow, and some also show a letter and number — for example FP 12 — which refers to the path's entry on the definitive map, the legal record of the network.

Waymarks fade, grow lichen and vanish into summer vegetation. When you lose one, resist the urge to guess wildly. Look ahead along your line of travel for the next marker, and look for the physical evidence of a path: a gap in a hedge, a worn strip of grass, a stile or gate sitting apparently in the middle of nowhere, a footbridge over a ditch. These are usually reliable clues. If you are carrying a 1:25,000 scale map, public rights of way are marked on it, and a compass bearing will get you back on line.

Stiles, gates and other path furniture

The structures along a path tell you what kind of route it is as clearly as any sign. Ladder stiles and squeeze stiles belong to footpaths; wide bridle gates and gaps beside them indicate bridleways, where riders and cyclists need room to pass.

• Kissing gates swing both ways and are self-closing — good for keeping livestock in.
• Footbridges carry the right of way across streams; the path continues on the far side even if it looks overgrown.
• Leave gates as you find them. Closed stays closed, open stays open — unless livestock are grazing and an open gate leads onto a road, in which case use your judgement and close it.
• Lift dogs over stiles rather than dragging them through, and keep them on a short lead around any livestock.

If a stile is broken or a gate is hanging off its hinges, it is worth reporting. Councils can only fix what they know about.

Crops, livestock and the etiquette of the field

Paths crossing farmland need a little extra care, and it helps to know what farmers are and are not allowed to do. A footpath across a field may be ploughed, but the surface must be reinstated within 14 days; for a bridleway the limit is 24 hours. Growing crops are another matter. If a field of wheat or rape has swallowed the line, the correct approach is to follow the path as best you can and, where the crop makes it genuinely impassable, walk around the edge of the field to rejoin it. Report it afterwards rather than trudging straight through.

Livestock deserve respect rather than fear. Cattle with calves at foot can be protective, and bulls are only permitted on fields crossed by public paths under strict conditions. Walk quietly, give animals a wide berth, and never take a shortcut through a field of young stock. Dogs must be under close control and on a lead around sheep or cattle — chasing livestock is an offence, and a farmer is entitled to protect their animals. Never feed or pet livestock, however friendly they appear.

If the path is blocked or you lose your way

Obstructions happen: a padlocked gate, a fence across the line, a hedge grown head-high. Do not be tempted to trespass to get around it. Instead, note the location carefully — a grid reference and a photograph are ideal — and report it to the council's rights of way team. Local walking groups and path volunteers are usually happy to pass on details too.

Watch out for temporary closure notices, which should be displayed at the point where the path is shut and often waymark a diversion. If you find yourself genuinely unsure, backtrack to the last certain waymark and start again from there. Reading the countryside's signs is a skill, and like any skill it sharpens with practice — after a few seasons you will find yourself spotting yellow arrows almost without looking.