rights of way - alleyway

[rollingpin]

We live in a terraced house in the middle of the row. There is an alleyway at the back of our property approx 3 ft wide. When we brought the house the previous occupier had moved the back fence and blocked of the alleyway making the 20ft garden slightly bigger. We have since claimed possessory title for this land, next door have also used this land to make their garden bigger but do not have possessory title. The blockage of this passageway gives much needed security to all the houses in the terrace.
A man has moved into the next street and sent a solicitors letter to us informing us that he has right of way down the passageway to gain access to the back of his 140ft back garden. We have been sent a copy of conveyance for 1922 and again in 1963, mentioning these rights pf passage.
This passage has never been used and indeed we have two residents, one that has lived in their house since the early 70`s and another who has been in their house since the early 60`s, to confirm this.
My question is, does he still have right of way? He is threatening court proceedings but after such a long period of non-use does this represent abandonment of this right?
The land is un-registered and as a result we gained possessory title quickly. I am sure that none of the other residents want this alleyway open due to security reasons.

If anyone has any comments on this issue I would be very grateful. I have been looking on the Internet and becoming more confused by the minute, what is the difference between right of way and easement, can extinguishment be claimed after such a long time? Dominant and servient tenements are a very worrying terms. Please help me through the treacle!!

[cassa333]

How long have you owned the house and for how long did the previous owner extend his garden?

[buildersmate]

You've done well to get that far in your understanding.
An easement is the generic term for a right that one landowner has over another's land. There are other sorts of easements - a right to free passage of water or drainage, for example. So think of a right of way as an example of one type of easement.
Easements are not automatically extinguished over time. So whilst you may have obtained entitlement to claim and register the land as your own (have you succeeded in doing this?), the easement is still there over the bit of land you claimed.
It sounds like this is not a public right of way. In other words, it is just the owners of these specific bits of land with the easements in their land titles.
I reckon you cannot deny this new owner his right to go through there. You are entitled to block the access from the general public, but you are going to have to come to an arrangement with a locked gate or similar, to which he has a key.
I'm sure you can use your powers of persuasion that it is in everyone's security interests not to have general access to anyone opened up again.

[rollingpin]

we have lived here for six years, the previous ower was here for ten years, and re-moved the fence, gaining another 3ft to the garden .

[rollingpin]

yes we have have succeeded to register the land in question to our house, does this make any difference to his right of way over it ? also the rest of the alleyway is un-registered land? and does not belong to anyone.

[buildersmate]

No, the easement would still exist.