Uncommon Ground by Patrick Galbraith review: Uncomfortable truths about 'right to roam'

Patrick Galbraith spent three years investigating rural Britain to understand what access means to people, writes Katharine Hay

It’s difficult to find a conversation where more than two voices on land access are raised, those being the radical campaigners for “right to roam” and the elite landowners or farmers who are said to be blocking it. But Patrick Galbraith’s second book, Uncommon Ground: Rethinking Our Relationship With The Countryside, offers exactly that.

As the title suggests, it is filled with voices from people who don’t always make the headlines in the UK land access debate, which has gathered fresh momentum since the UK Government dropped it as a policy in 2023.

From sitting in the nude talking to a naturist over a bowl of cereal to tracking down poachers in the Outer Hebrides, Galbraith casts the net far and wide when it comes to gathering perspectives on access.

There are, of course, farmers and estate owners interviewed who make up a fair chunk of the book. But Galbraith does well to refresh some of the reductive statements about the farming and land-owning community. He reminds us that they aren’t all “Old MacDonald or Mr Darcy”, and that restricted access can just boil down to food production or the birds and the bees, rather than simply “I’m rich you’re poor and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

Then there are anecdotes from people who don’t just want access to be protected, but need it, for deeply personal or cultural reasons. The intimate conversations and experiences the author has with people often overlooked in the land access debate makes this a must read for anyone holding up the megaphone to say something about it.

The book includes shoddy examples at both ends of the “right to roam” spectrum, from activists getting figures wrong to inflate online followings, to landowners sitting on swathes of acres failing to acknowledge the responsibility that comes with it. “Humans and the land are inseparable”, Galbraith writes, “and landowners have an immense responsibility.”

Patrick Galbraith pictured and the cover of his new book, Uncommon Ground: Rethinking Our Relationship With The Countryside | Supplied

But the author also doesn’t shy away from uncomfortable truths when it comes to access in rural Britain that will make anyone who likes a walk in the countryside shuffle in their seat when reading this book.

Take dog owners, for example. The book shows complications that land access presents since the rise of dog ownership; what this means for sensitive sites with ground-nesting birds nearing extinction, livestock and the pollution of rivers and waterways.

And yet despite some heart-wrenching anecdotes, including a seal pup separated from its mother who was likely spooked, Galbraith doesn’t deliver these with a damning tone. Throughout the book, and in a punchy conclusion, the author talks about the need for education and engagement. He says it is up to us to be intelligent about creating a countryside that works for all forms of life.

While Scotland’s “right to roam”, a colloquial term for the country’s general public right of access introduced in the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003, is hailed as a shining example for what is needed south of the Border, Galbraith ventures north to unpick some of realities on the ground where people are said to wander free. These include hearing about no camping zones beside Loch Lomond, where bylaws have since been introduced due to unintended consequences of opening up access.

There are some characters that Uncommon Ground unearths who leave you thinking “if only there were more people like that with more influence”, like Nicola, a stalker in the Highlands who is pro-access, but who says it must come with engagement and effort on both sides.

While his own voice neatly sews together the diverse community of voices in his book, Galbraith’s personal views on access rights aren’t entirely clear. But this is perhaps deliberate, and fitting with a book on a complex topic that doesn’t have a straight yes or no answer. Galbraith is trying to encourage more of a discussion rather than what currently seems to be more like a two-dimensional debate.

Aside from this, there’s an undertone of the author’s commitment to nature throughout the book, particularly some of Britain’s declining bird species; a nod to his debut book, In Search of One Last Song: Britain’s disappearing birds and the people trying to save them.

Uncommon Ground : Rethinking Our Relationship With The Countryside, by Patrick Galbraith, William Collins, £22