Cases - Alford v Hannaford
Record details
- Name
- Alford v Hannaford
- Date
- [2011]
- Citation
- EWCA Civ 1099
- Legislation
- Keywords
- Easements
- Summary
-
The appellant purchased agricultural land in 1991 and was granted in the transfer a right of way over land retained by the vendor ‘at all times and for all purposes with or without vehicles to pass and repass ...’ over a track. In the transfer the vendor reserved to himself a right of way ‘at all times and for all purposes with or without vehicles and animals to pass and repass ...’ over a track on the land transferred to the appellant. The appellant was obliged to install a gate at a point marked on the plan annexed to the transfer.
A dispute arose as to:
- whether the right of way included a right to drive animals along the track or was limited to vehicular or pedestrian use; and
- whether the appellant could access the track through the gate she had installed even though it was overgrown and impassable.
The county court judge held that the right of way did not include a right to drive animals along the track and that the appellant was not entitled to use the gate because the right of way was limited to the only useable track in existence in 1991.
The appellant appealed claiming:
- the language used in the transfer was ambiguous and that regard should be had to other matters such as the physical features of the land; and
- a reasonable person would construe the right of way as being that shown on the plan annexed to the transfer.
The appeal was dismissed. The Court of Appeal held that the language used in the transfer was unambiguous and that the judge had been right to have regard to the situation on the ground in 1991 in circumstances in which the plan was out of date and the marked route was impassible.
The court will give the words used by the parties their natural and ordinary meaning consistent with the context in which they are used.
Background facts, such as the physical features of the land will be an aid to construction when the contract is ambiguous or unclear.
The starting point is always the words used in the grant of a right of way itself but there may be some situations in which other factors have relevance.