16 December 2011
Signed off the Annual Review with the printer today. This year
there are 24 pages compared with the usual 20, the extra cost being
largely covered by advertising revenue. In fact the cost of using
a commercial printer, which includes supplying and printing the
envelopes and "stuffing" them with the Review, is
significantly below what printing alone cost five years ago when we did
it ourselves and in addition there is a hefty discount on the
postage. If you wish you can view a low resolution version of the
Review here but if you spot any errors please
don't tell me as I can do nothing about it now.
9 December 2011
Area Council met in Maidstone this evening. Once again the
difficulty of filling volunteer and Officer posts was a major
topic. We subsequently found a candidate for Area Chair but we are
still looking for someone to take responsibility for co-ordinating the
public rights of way work across the Area. If you are interested
in all or part of this role, please get in touch.
2 December 2011
The Ramblers' Board of Trustees met and chose its nominees for the
Chair and Treasurer posts that will become vacant in April. Yours
truly will be the Board's candidate for Treasurer and Jonathan Kipling
(current Treasurer) will be the Board's candidate for the Chair.
30 November 2011
The day of the public sector strike about pensions, but I had no
trouble getting into London for the interviews for the new Chief
Executive of the Ramblers. We decided to offer the post to
Benedict Southworth who will take up post on 1 February 2012 and attend
the Kent Area AGM on 4 February as his first public appearance in his
new role. Please join us.
30 September 2011
The main item of business at the Area Council meeting was the
need for people to fill vacancies for Area Officers. We need a new Chairman and Vice Chairmen in February and a new Public Rights of
Way Manager as soon as possible. We are happy to be flexible if
anyone wants to take on only some of the duties of one of these
roles. If you are willing to help in any way, please get in touch.
28 September 2011
We took our stall to the East Kent Ploughing Match at
Sheldwich. The weather was superb, the countryside glorious and
the event well-attended. We were pitched next to the Explore Kent
tent and had a steady stream of visitors eager to discuss walking
issues. Those with footpath problems we were able to refer
directly to the Explore Kent team.
16-18 September 2011
Attended Ramblers' Board meeting at Glenmore Lodge near Aviemore
where we started mapping out a ten year vision for the Ramblers.
My initial scepticism about the notion of a ten year vision was not much
dispelled by the weekend but there's a long way to go yet. Nor did
the weekend dispel my childhood memories of Scotland as somewhere it
always rains - I probably saw more rain in three days there than in
three months down here in Kent. Some of us climbed a nearby
mountain on the Saturday and got thoroughly drenched.
11 September 2011
We took our stall to a sponsored walk organised by the Friends
of the Wisdom Hospice in Capstone
Farm Country Park, Gillingham. We hoped that we might
interest those participating in walking more regularly. Tony and
Ann Faulkner from Medway Group and Ray Lawrence, Area Treasurer, came
along to help. The weather was a pleasant surprise compared with
the thunder storms that had been forecast a few days earlier although
the strong wind meant that keeping our marquee on the ground was a
challenge. The monkey on the Virgin stall next to ours had come
without tent pegs but we were able to lend him some, otherwise he might
have needed his tree climbing skills to retrieve his tent.
The event was opened by Mister Maker, the children's TV
personality. Perhaps not surprisingly, I hadn't heard of him
before but he was clearly popular with many of those taking part.
5 September 2011
We held a Kent Area Management Team meeting. The major item
discussed was the chronic shortage of volunteers for all sorts of roles,
particularly the Officers who make up the Area Management Team - four of
the six will not be continuing beyond the next AGM in February. If
you would like to help in any way, large or small, please do get in
touch.
2 September 2011
I spent this morning sorting through a file of correspondence about
the Wealdway dating back
to 2004 and 2005. While it was a bit of a tedious job, I was
struck by the enormous amount of effort put in by Ramblers' volunteers
in Kent to protect and improve this superb long distance path.
Without the work of our volunteers and the support of our members, the
Wealdway would not exist let alone remain one of the finest long
distance paths in the South East.
30 August 2011
Despite our misadventure of a fortnight ago (see 17 August below),
Maureen and I ventured into East Sussex again today and did a circular
walk from Mayfield. The main purpose of the walk was to check
progress by East Sussex County Council in reopening a blocked path that
I reported to them more than five years ago and over which we have
already exchanged 68 emails. Sadly, although ESCC have installed
new stiles at each end of the path, the middle section is still
completely unusable. In case anyone is interested, the path is
known as Heathfield & Waldron 20 and passes through grid reference
TQ600227 skirting north of Hill Farm.
We also encountered three other seriously obstructed paths that I
have reported to ESCC. There were so many badly damaged stiles and
broken finger posts that I lost count.
27 August 2011
Took our stall to the Summer Festival at the Crane Valley Nature
Reserve organised to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Kent
High Weald Partnership. Our stall was manned by John Smout,
David Seaman and Paul Boullier from Tunbridge Wells Group with Robert
McKinnon from the marketing team at Central Office. We were lucky
with the weather - just a few light showers compared with torrential
downpours elsewhere in Kent that day.
17 August 2011
Went for a walk near Stonegate in East Sussex. Big
mistake. My wife Maureen and I often joke that we can tell when we cross
the border from Kent into Sussex because the path quality deteriorates
so badly. But it's no joke really...
Within ten minutes of leaving Stonegate station I'd been bitten by a
dog let loose by a cottage occupant who clearly didn't want walkers
using the path past his cottage; all waymarks had been destroyed
too. Then we tried to use a path that proved to have been
"officially" diverted but there was no clue as to where the new route
might be found; on returning home I find that the latest Explorer and
Landranger maps show the paths in different places. There was a
locked gate across the next path we tried to use and climbing it wasn't
feasible so a quarter mile detour was required. Next we
encountered an electric fence across the path at two points; at the
first there was no provision for walkers to cross; at the other the
fence remained continuous and live even when the provided handle was
unhooked and I ended up with several electric shocks. The final
path that we tried to use couldn't be found at all. At the stage
we'd had enough and headed for home.
I have reported all problems to East Sussex County Council and wait
to see what action they will take. Sussex Ramblers are following
the issues up too.
3 August 2011
Walked part of the Sussex Border Path south of Ticehurst across Dale
Hill Golf Course and found that the finger post on the course had been
rotated so that walkers arriving from Ticehurst are pointed in
completely the wrong direction across the course. I have emailed
the course operators and asked them to restore the post to its correct
orientation, which they have promised to do. Should you happen to walk that way (TQ709303), please let me
know what you find.
26 June 2011
We took our stall to Keston Countryside Day
ably manned by Bromley Group. Amongst other countryside
organisations present were those promoting badger protection, local
history, bee keeping, hen keeping and improvement of commons.
Displays included a children's orchestra, maypole dancing, Morris dancing, a barn dance and a tug of war. Unfortunately attendance
seemed rather lower than the last time it was held, perhaps because it
was one of the hottest days of the year, but a steady stream of walkers
visited our stall.
We are always keen to hear of other events to which we can take our
stall, preferably where we will not be charged for a pitch. We are
also very keen to find a volunteer to help with these events,
particularly to ensure the deliver of our kit to and its collection from
events. If anyone is interested in this role, please email us at info@kentramblers.org.uk.
11 June 2011
We took our stall to the Big
Wheel of Kent in Canterbury where we did our best to persuade
cyclists that walking is fun too and takes one to places that cycles
can't go.
10 June 2011
Area Council Meeting in Maidstone.
A major topic was the allocation of postcode sectors in Swale that
are not currently covered by any of our geographically based local
groups. We decided to allocate them to the adjoining groups as
there are not enough members in Swale to make a separate group for the
area viable. The affected postcode sectors are shown uncoloured on
the map below:
Another topic was the inclusion of group walks on
the national Walks
Finder. We decided to make every effort to ensure that all
group walks are put onto the Walks Finder and also onto the Explore
Kent database of guided walks.
We decided to hold Area Council meetings on Tuesdays
in 2012, subject to availability of the meeting room.
9 May 2011
Took our stall to the NHS Medway Health & Wellbeing Day,
supported by Cathy Sargent and Alison Hargreaves. Lots of
interest; just hope that this turns into a reasonable number of new
members.
8 May 2011
In the afternoon did very nice short walk from Chiddingstone
Causeway. You can view the route
and directions if you fancy trying it.
4 May 2011
Did a walk in Joyden's Wood near Swanley, conveniently combined with
a visit to Ruxley Manor Garden Centre. Amazingly passed only three
other people during the whole walk. If you would like to try it,
the route and directions
are on the web site.
16 & 17 April 2011: General Council
This meeting, effectively the Ramblers' national AGM, took place at
Keble College, Oxford where all 50 or so Areas were represented.
Kent was represented by Neville Machin and David Gatward. Although
the theme of the meeting was "increasing membership", the 18
motions debated covered a much wider range of issues. Of
particular interest to Kent was the passing of a motion calling for a
review of the structure of the Association in Greater London. A
consultation will take place and we will be working hard to ensure that
the wishes of members in Kent, particularly in Bromley and North West
Kent Groups, are taken fully into account.
1 April 2011: Area Council Meeting
Area Council met primarily to discuss proposals for a continuous
coastal path between Folkestone and Ramsgate. Recommendations for
routing the path were agreed and will be published on the site
soon. Meanwhile you can see our full survey of the Kent coastline here.
23 March 2011
Yet another great day for walking so we did one from Penshurst via
Bidborough. The route
and directions are on the web site, although on this occasion we did
the walk in the opposite direction (i.e. anti-clockwise) which is
probably an improvement.
20 March 2011
Another perfect day for walking and we did a near perfect walk,
circular from Groombridge via Withyham. So that you can enjoy it
too, I have put the route and
directions on the web site.
19 March 2011
A perfect day for walking but unfortunately I had to spend the day at
a Board meeting at Central Office. We discussed motions for General
Council and the two Trustee resignations that had recently taken
place.
11 March 2011: Area Council Meeting
We discussed funding of walking festivals and how best to use our web
sites to support existing members and attract new ones. I would be
very interested to receive suggestions for additional information that
people would like to see on the Area web site.
26 February 2011: Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Area AGM
I attended the above AGM as guest speaker. We had a very lively
debate on a wide range of issues. The one that created the most
discussion was how to get across to walkers who do not want to walk with
a Ramblers' Group the message that they still benefit from the work that
we do campaigning and protecting the footpath network on their behalf
and that they need to support us to ensure that we are able to continue
with this vital work.
19 February 2011: Board Meeting
A meeting of the Board of Trustees took place at Central
Office. More details can be found here: February
2011 Board Minutes
14 February 2011: Ramblers' Greater London Forum
The main topic at the meeting of the Forum
held at Central Office was the organisation of a walking event in London
in 2011. We chose the Capital
Ring, a 78 mile circular walk around the London suburbs, to be
walked in sections on consecutive days, provisionally from Monday 26
September to Sunday 2 October.
14 February 2011: Area Management Team Meeting
The major issue we discussed at our meeting was coastal access.
Ian Wild has completed a survey of Kent's coastline and identified all
the places where public access needs to be improved to make a decent
coastal path. His survey can be viewed on the coastal
access pages of this web site. Ian has also produced
recommendations as to what the improvements should be for the section
between Dover and Margate which is the section being tackled by Natural
England in 2011. These recommendations will be considered at a
special meeting of Area Council, probably on 1 April.
We also noted that currently we know of very few events in Kent in
2011 to which we can take our stall to promote the Ramblers and recruit
new members. We will be very grateful for suggestions for such
events.
Falling membership is a matter of concern to the Ramblers nationally
and locally as we depend on their subscriptions to support the work we
do protecting and enhancing the footpath network and championing the
interests of all walkers. If you would like to support the work we
do, whether or not you wish to walk with us, you can do so here.
We are currently trying to develop this web site into a valuable
source of useful information for all walkers in Kent and as a
recruitment tool for the Ramblers. If you have any suggestions for
material you would like to see on this site, please let us know.
5 February 2011: Kent Area Annual General Meeting
Our "best ever" AGM was hosted by North West Kent Group in
Bexley... [read more]
2 February 2011: Ramblers' 75th Anniversary Party
This party, postponed from December because of the weather, took
place at Central Office on Wednesday 2 February 2011. Speakers
included Janet Street-Porter (former President) and Julia Bradbury
(current President). It was a very good opportunity to meet staff,
volunteers and representatives of other organisations with kindred
interests.
December 2010: Bayham Abbey Public Inquiry
The long-awaited inquiry took place at the Hop Farm near Beltring
from 6 to 16 December 2010. The inquiry concerned claims by the
Ramblers that two paths across the Bayham Abbey estate south west of
Tunbridge Wells should be placed on the definitive maps of Kent and East
Sussex County Councils. The Secretary of State had already ordered
that this should happen but the owners of the land crossed by the paths
had appealed. You can see where the claimed paths are here.
The Ramblers' case was extremely well documented and many witnesses
came forward to testify that they had used the paths during a twenty
year period ending when the estate, formerly owned by the Marquesses of
Camden, was sold off in the 1970s and 1980s. The witnesses had to
endure aggressive cross-examination, in some cases for several hours,
and we should be grateful for their public-spiritedness in exposing
themselves to this for the benefit of the community. We should
also be grateful to Tunbridge Wells Group, especially Ann Mervin and
before her Chris Barrow for their huge effort in preparing and managing
the Ramblers' case.
Sadly we learnt on 4 April 2011 that the inquiry had gone against
walkers and the footpaths have not been confirmed by the Inspector on
the grounds that public use of the paths had been interrupted on
occasion by locked gates and a damaged bridge so that twenty years
continuous use could not be established.
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