Obituary to Chris Beney

We were sad to hear about the passing of ‘rights of way activist’ Chris Beney.

Chris, who died aged 93, was a long-time champion of wide, and accessible, public paths. He spent a significant proportion of his life championing accessible paths in the Watford and Bushey area, and beyond.

He previously chaired the Open Spaces Society and was a member of the British Standards Institution’s panel on structures on public paths. During his time, he protected more than 100 public spaces and kept them open to the public. For his efforts, he was granted the Award for Outstanding Personal Endeavour by The Open Spaces Society. He was also an eminent member of the Bushey and District Footpaths Association (BADFA)

Noted for his strong negotiating skills, Chris’s activism was particularly beneficial to people with disabilities. He challenged the introduction of ‘stiles,’ which require walkers to scale a fence in order to continue on a path, and designed specifications for ‘kissing gates.’

In fact, closer to home, he was responsible for the kissing gates around Attenborough Fields, and registered the footpaths that criss-cross the fields.

An OVEG member shared her reflections on Chris, fondly remember his participation in work parties in the fields. She noted that he would always wear sandals – even in muddy winter conditions – and was “a walking encyclopaedia on anything to do with rights of way and paths; the go-to person if you needed help with a footpath problem.”

You can read the Guardian’s obituary to Chris Beney.