Could anyone tell me, or point me in the direction to find out, what the current laws and bylaws, are concerning travelling the highways and byways.

Forget 4x4 or any motorised vehicles full stop.

My interest is travel by foot or bicycle only.

Back in the late 1970's, I used to do a bit of hitch-hiking. Once I was stopped and questioned by the police, they asked me to produce a 5 pound note.
Once done, I was informed they could not arrest me for vagrancy on the kings highway.
They told me the laws on vagrancy had been introduced in the 1930's during the depression and had not been changed.

I know `new labour' had a policy unit set up to look into all kinds of old laws and a lot were scrapped or reviewed. Some rules and regulations were introduced by parish, town or borough councils and these cover many localised areas. Other organisations such as the countryside commission also have their own set of rules and conditions for travelling on the land they manage.

I remember being told all manner of laws by a Scottish policeman who gave me a lift one time. "Officer, cover me" being a prime example of old Scottish law within the market place of major towns. (If you needed to relieve yourself in public, you asked the PC or WPC to pull their coat around you and you could relieve yourself on the ground they stood on, usually their boots!) You had to use these exact words or it wasn't valid.

He also told me that I could never be considered a tramp or vagrant if I was in possession of a bicycle as this was considered in the eyes of the law to be equal in value to a working mans weekly wage.

If travelling the canal system, you can sleep, light a fire, and cook a meal on the towpath, as long as it does not hinder or affect the passage of other travellers.

I was asked by a New Zealand, world wise backpacker about visiting Avebury. Recommended he fly into Heathrow, catch a bus into Reading and buy a bicycle. He had far more time than money and could make his way down the Ridgeway or Kennett and Avon canal to the Avebury area, camping on the way.
He would get to see the best sites very cheaply and in a very original way.

As I cycle a lot, I encounter many European cyclists who ask all manner of questions concerning travelling in the UK by bike. Is there a web site dedicated to such answers or is this another case of local knowledge? Can I be prosecuted for just walking along a footpath with a bicycle, for example?

Thanks for any help

Chance