National Trust threatens to sue adventure firm over coast path access

The National Trust ‘does not need to justify their decision’.

The Times reports:

The National Trust is threatening to sue a family-run adventure company for trespassing on a coastline that has been used by the business for 30 years.

Lawyers for the trust say that it owns part of the Wales Coast Path, where businessman Jethro “Jet” Moore has been teaching coasteering since the 1990s. They say that Moore’s business has no right to access the cliffs in Pembrokeshire, where he has taught thousands of thrill-seekers for many years.

The legal letter asserts that there is “no statutory public right of access” to the land and that “any access is by permission only”, even though tens of thousands of people use the coast path every year.

The disputed land at Ceibwr Bay, Pembrokeshire, is said to be part of the 870-mile Wales Coast Path, which was designated as publicly accessible in 2009.

Moore, who runs Adventure Beyond, said: “My family have been in Pembrokeshire for generations. I came here as a small child and I have never left.

“I know every rock, every current, every cave at Ceibwr. I’ve been taking people into that sea for 30 years — not just to experience the thrill of it but to understand it. I teach people how to be safe on this coastline, how to read the sea and how to respect the wildlife around them.

“I bring people here who would never otherwise experience a place like this — people recovering from trauma, young people finding something that changes how they see the natural world. This place belongs to all of us.”

A letter from Birketts, the law firm, said that the National Trust “does not need to justify their decision” and that, as private landowners, the trust may restrict use of the land as it sees fit.

The trespass notice issued to the company states: “Until recently, Adventure Beyond accessed the Land for the purpose of undertaking organised commercial coasteering activities pursuant to an oral permission granted by our client on a telephone call between our client’s Mark Underhill (Restore Nature Delivery Manager) and your Jethro Moore on 20 May 2025.

“That permission was expressly withdrawn with effect from 31 March 2026 in an email from Mr Underhill to Mr Moore dated 31 March 2026 (09.38).

“For the avoidance of doubt, from that date you have had, and continue to have, no right whatsoever to enter or use the land for commercial coasteering or for any other commercial purpose.”

The letter added: “Contrary to your assertions and following a close review of status of the land with our client, the land is not registered open access land under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 or registered common land.

“Section 4(2) of the National Trust Act 1907 grants full powers of ownership to the National Trust to manage its land and accordingly the National Trust may grant or restrict access. There is therefore no statutory public right of access as you seek to assert and any access is by permission only.

“Our client has instructed us that, notwithstanding that the oral permission has been expressly withdrawn, Adventure Beyond continues to access and use the land for organised commercial coasteering activities. Such conduct is entirely unauthorised.”

A National Trust Cymru spokesperson said: “While there is an ongoing legal dispute, it would not be appropriate to comment in detail on this matter.

“However, we’d like to assure people that we are in no way restricting the public’s legal rights to use the Wales Coast Path.”