Have you ever been on a walk in which you’ve got to a certain point but you can’t proceed, due to the path being blocked, overgrown or flooded? Or maybe you’ve come across broken gates or missing signs? You’re not alone. Over 86,000 issues occurring on England’s paths last year alone were reported.

Across England and Wales, there are 140,000 miles of pathways, something which Ramblers chief executive Benedict Southworth has called "one of our nation's biggest assets". Additionally, he has said that: "We know that there are currently problems on our paths that stop people in their tracks. We need to find the true extent of the problem and explore how this affects anyone who uses our paths, whether that's on their shortcut to the shops or while they're out enjoying our glorious countryside.

To aid the Ramblers in discovering the true extent of the decay of our foot paths, they have designed a brand new app which allows users to report problems straight from their smartphone, or on the Ramblers website. As well as issues, positive features of any such walk can also be noted, effectively letting you review a 1km square of land.

This free app is titled ‘The Ramblers Big Pathwatch’ and is available now on both the App Store and Google Play.

Due to the cuts in employment of the workforce looking after our paths – over 20% in five years – the number of problems has unsurprisingly risen, so this is a great idea to collect lots of information which will be compiled and hopefully used to improve and cause less trouble for walkers.

This survey closes in December 2015, but as well as recording the issues, the Ramblers’ Path maintenance teams have pledged to fix as many reported problems as possible. A full report based on these findings will be released in spring 2016.

If you’re planning on providing your feedback on any of the paths in your local area, make sure that you’re fully equipped with all of the necessary equipment, such as walking shoes/boots, as well as clothing items and accessories such as Sprayway rucksacks. You will find everything that you need either in our Macclesfield store or on our website – where we offer free delivery for purchases over the price of £50 and free exchanges. Make sure to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to keep updated with the latest news, offers and competitions!