Trolls and trees both popular in Northumbria (28/7)

This banner greeted the Forestry Panel as we arrived in Kielder village today on our second visit (we visited Forest of Dean last month).  It made me chuckle. We had a very friendly welcome from local communities.

It was good to see Dave Turnbull from Northumbria Ramblers flying the flag for walking and leisure at the event. It's clear that the forest is so much more than a commercial timber forest (important though that is).  I didn't realise the effort that's going in to create diverse landscapes (by mixing up tree species and staggering tree felling), protect biodiversity (for example, by making sure that red squirrels have food all year round), promoting tourism (with a joint development trust between the Forestry Commission and Northumbria Water), and promote leisure (through promoting footpaths).  Very impressive.

One final statistic that I learnt: a house made of wood uses six cubic metres of the stuff, which means that 1.2 tonnes of carbon are locked up for the lifetime of the house.  

Tom Franklin

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The Ramblers' Association is a registered charity (England & Wales no 1093577, Scotland no SC039799) and a company limited by guarantee, registered in England & Wales (no 4458492). Registered office: 2nd floor, Camelford House, 87-90 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TW.

Visit our website at:

www.ramblers.org.uk
www.ramblers.org.uk/scotland
www.ramblers.org.uk/wales

Trolls and trees both popular in Northumbria (28/7)

Ramblers - at the heart of walking
Please visit www.ramblers.org.uk to find out more
The Ramblers? Association is a registered charity (England & Wales no 1093577, Scotland no SC039799) and a company limited by guarantee, registered in England & Wales (no 4458492). Registered office: 2nd floor, Camelford House, 87-90 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TW.

Visit our website at:
www.ramblers.org.uk
www.ramblers.org.uk/scotland
www.ramblers.org.uk/wales

Leeds-Liverpool Canal

Leeds-Liverpool Canal, a photo by The Ramblers on Flickr.

I spent a bit of time near Leeds this week as part of my work as a transition trustee for the new National Waterways Charity, and was able to get onto the towpath of the Leeds-Liverpool Canal for a walk, close to Burnley. Such a relaxing place to walk. Canal towpaths are used by millions of people each year.

Ramblers Milestone: 200,000 led walks on our Walks Finder

We've just published the 200,000th Ramblers led walk on the Ramblers online Walks Finder.

That's amazing - 200,000 led walks that have been posted on the Ramblers Walks Finder since it started in 2003.

Each of those 200,000 walks were planned, recce'd, and led by Ramblers volunteers. And there are two volunteers who really are unsung heroes of the Walks Finder: Chris Percy and Brenda Horwill. They're the ones who work behind the scenes to make sure it runs smoothly, answer queries and sort out problems. They do an amazing job.

80% of Ramblers Groups currently use Walks Finder to publicise their walks. If your Group isn't one of them, how about joining now?

Thanks to all volunteers involved in this achievement - it's a great success story.

Tom Franklin
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Ramblers - at the heart of walking
Please visit www.ramblers.org.uk to find out more
The Ramblers? Association is a registered charity (England & Wales no 1093577, Scotland no SC039799) and a company limited by guarantee, registered in England & Wales (no 4458492). Registered office: 2nd floor, Camelford House, 87-90 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TW.

Visit our website at:
www.ramblers.org.uk
www.ramblers.org.uk/scotland
www.ramblers.org.uk/wales

Get Ready for the Big Welsh Walk next May (18/7/11)

I was in Cardiff yesterday meeting with the Ramblers Cymru team to discuss its plans for its Big Welsh Walk on 5th and 6th May next year. It's on that weekend that the All Wales Coastal Path is set to open - a continuous path along the entire Wales coastline. Ramblers Cymru campaigned for the path for years - and so it wants a big party along the coastline, with as many people as possible heading for the coast that weekend. 

But if you can't get to Wales, you don't need to miss out. I hope all Ramblers Groups will head for the seaside anywhere in Britain, to put on coastal walks and to celebrate 'Coast for Most'

If you want to organise a walk that weekend, have a look at our festivals page for more information:

http://www.ramblers.org.uk/Volunteer/festivals/

Tom Franklin

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The Ramblers' Association is a registered charity (England & Wales no 1093577, Scotland no SC039799) and a company limited by guarantee, registered in England & Wales (no 4458492). Registered office: 2nd floor, Camelford House, 87-90 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TW.

Visit our website at:

www.ramblers.org.uk
www.ramblers.org.uk/scotland
www.ramblers.org.uk/wales

Arrgh!! I'm missing the Cornwall footpath opening! (16/7/11)

Best laid plans, and all that. I'm meant to be arriving in Newquay around now, to help open Footpath No 8 in St Ervan, which has been blocked for decades, and is now clear thanks to a collaboration between Cornwall Ramblers, the county council and landowners.

Instead, I'm at Gatwick Airport having missed the plane. I arrived here nice and early to then discover I'd left my photo ID at home - so had a mad dash in a cab to home and back, only to get here as the plane was leaving. How silly do I feel! (It's probably a hint that I ought to have taken the train rather than fly.)

Anyway, what am I missing? A circular walk with Cornwall Ramblers group REACT (Ramblers' Environmental Action Clearance Team) along Footpath No 8 in St Ervans - unobstructed for the first time in decades. There'll also be the Ramblers first honorary junior member, nine year old Teggen, an enthusiastic walker and dedicated member of REACT.

Cornwall Ramblers formed REACT in January this year after fearing that cuts to Cornwall Council's footpath maintenance budget would mean access to rights of way in Cornwall would be neglected. Made up of dedicated volunteers and Ramblers across Cornwall, they set to work on Footpath No 8, clearing years of growth to reveal the full stretch of the footpath. After months of hacking, cutting and clearing, installing steps and a bridge, working with Cornwall Council and the landowners, the path has been cleared, unblocked, restored and is ready for all of Cornwall and its visitors to enjoy.

Congratulations to Graham Ronan and your team of Cornwall Ramblers. I'm sorry to be missing today. Ramblers Campaigns Officer Anastasia French DID remember her ID and made the plane, so she'll be doing the honours at the opening ceremony this lunchtime.

Tom Franklin
Sent from my iPhone

Ramblers - at the heart of walking
Please visit www.ramblers.org.uk to find out more
The Ramblers? Association is a registered charity (England & Wales no 1093577, Scotland no SC039799) and a company limited by guarantee, registered in England & Wales (no 4458492). Registered office: 2nd floor, Camelford House, 87-90 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TW.

Visit our website at:
www.ramblers.org.uk
www.ramblers.org.uk/scotland
www.ramblers.org.uk/wales

Get Walking Keep Walking goes West (14/7/11)

Get Walking Keep Walking, the Ramblers scheme to entice people to get walking, is going west!

 

Supported by NHS Swindon, Swindon Borough Council has commissioned the Ramblers to create short routes to inspire more people to start walking, and to publicise them on a new 'In My Area' section of the Get Walking website.

 

It will be launched this autumn as part of the Walk Swindon project. In the coming months volunteers from the North East Wiltshire Ramblers Group will be developing short routes in and around Swindon.

 

Alongside existing Ramblers members, we'll be inviting health walk leaders and volunteers from local community groups to get involved too. Routes will be developed using the Ramblers new routes development website - which is gradually being rolled out nationwide and will be launched nationally next year.

 

Walking was given a boost this week, being frequently mentioned in the new Chief Medical Officer's guidelines on physical activity. And it's thanks to schemes like Get Walking Keep Walking and Walking for Health that more and more people are starting to realise for themselves just how easy it is to improve their health and happiness by walking.

 

To find out how you can bring Get Walking Keep Walking to your area seehttp://www.ramblers.org.uk/Resources/Ramblers%20Association/Website/Get%20Walking%20Keep%20Walking/Documents/April2011CommissionersLeaflet.pdf

 

Tom Franklin

Sent from my iPhone

 

The Ramblers' Association is a registered charity (England & Wales no 1093577, Scotland no SC039799) and a company limited by guarantee, registered in England & Wales (no 4458492). Registered office: 2nd floor, Camelford House, 87-90 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TW.

Visit our website at:

www.ramblers.org.uk
www.ramblers.org.uk/scotland
www.ramblers.org.uk/wales

Cornwall footpath (re)opening on Saturday (13/7/11)

I'll be doing something on Saturday that I don't often get to do:  opening a new footpath.  Or to be more precise, "re-opening" a footpath that's been blocked and unusable for decades.

This time last year, I visited Cornwall to walk some rights of way with Cornwall Ramblers and council officers.  Their condition was some of the worst I'd seen in the country - overgrown and impassable. 

Over the past year, local Ramblers volunteers have been working alongside the council and landowners to get one of these paths - Footpath No. 8 in the parish of St Ervan - re-opened.  And it'll be officially re-opened on Saturday.

Last year, the Ramblers opened or unblocked more than 500 footpaths across Britain. If you love walking and you're not a member of the Ramblers, we need your support. So please join now!

Tom Franklin

Sent from my iPhone

 

The Ramblers' Association is a registered charity (England & Wales no 1093577, Scotland no SC039799) and a company limited by guarantee, registered in England & Wales (no 4458492). Registered office: 2nd floor, Camelford House, 87-90 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TW.

Visit our website at:

www.ramblers.org.uk
www.ramblers.org.uk/scotland
www.ramblers.org.uk/wales

Think the Ramblers only does long walks? Think again! 11/7/11)

We may be famous for long walks in the countryside, but that's not all we do.  This weekend the Ramblers launched a new programme of short walks across County Durham. The programme is designed to be an easy continuation for participants who have been through the Ramblers Get Walking Keep Walking course (for walking newcomers) and who are looking to carry on walking in a group.

 

Eight walks, ranging from 2-5 miles, will take place through the summer.   They're being led by a mixture of new volunteers from GWKW and longer standing volunteers from local Ramblers Groups.  The programme starts with a walk in Durham itself, with magnificent views of the Cathedral and the castle.  Another walk, history themed, is being led by local lecturer and TV presenter, John Grundy.

 

Establishing this programme was one of the targets that was set as part of the Get Walking Keep Walking project funded by NHS County Durham which started in January.   The development of the programme has been supported from the outset by volunteers from local Groups and quickly embraced by the Northumbria Ramblers Area.  It's a great example of how funded projects and Areas/Groups are working increasingly closely together to promote walking. 

 

Another example of that took place in Sheffield last week, with GWKW staff training Walk Leaders for Sheffield Ramblers who have had a recent explosion of participants in their short walks programme.

 

We hope to create sufficient demand amongst participants in Durham to look at setting up a new Ramblers Group dedicated solely to providing short walks.  We're just piloting a new way of running a group that doesn't need a committee, a constitution or a bank account. It will help volunteers concentrate on organising walks and attracting participants – a perfect way for the Durham short walks programme to evolve.  These new types of Group are another way that we're making it easier to volunteer with the Ramblers and to increase the number of walks on offer.

 

See http://www.getwalking.org/durham/for more about GWKW in County Durham   

Well done to the volunteers and staff who've worked together to pull this off. 

Tom Franklin

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The Ramblers' Association is a registered charity (England & Wales no 1093577, Scotland no SC039799) and a company limited by guarantee, registered in England & Wales (no 4458492). Registered office: 2nd floor, Camelford House, 87-90 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TW.

Visit our website at:

www.ramblers.org.uk
www.ramblers.org.uk/scotland
www.ramblers.org.uk/wales

We sign up to the Right Lines Charter (8/7/11)

Ramblers has signed up to the charter, promoted by the CPRE, aimed at holding the Government to account on its approach to high speed rail.  The Charter calls for a national transport strategy, better future-proofing of big transport proposals, effective public participation and a more strategic approach to minimising adverse impacts. At the moment, the High Speed Rail proposals for 'HS2' from London to Birmingham fall well short of the Charter's principles.

Ten other organisations have signed up, including the RSPB, the Wildlife Trusts, and the Campaign for Better Transport,

We generally support improvements to public transport but as well as the adverse impacts to the surrounding landscape, as Britain's walking charity we are concerned that these plans overlook the protection of footpaths. 

Unless the public is involved in the decision-making process and provision is made for access and rights of way, HS2 will sever more than a hundred and fifty public paths – something the Ramblers will campaign vigorously to prevent.

Tom Franklin

Sent from my iPhone

 

The Ramblers' Association is a registered charity (England & Wales no 1093577, Scotland no SC039799) and a company limited by guarantee, registered in England & Wales (no 4458492). Registered office: 2nd floor, Camelford House, 87-90 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TW.

Visit our website at:

www.ramblers.org.uk
www.ramblers.org.uk/scotland
www.ramblers.org.uk/wales

Help us prevent Shropshire footpath cuts (7/7/11)

I’m shocked at the scale of cuts being imposed in Shropshire to footpath budgets.  They are of the scale that many footpaths in Shropshire are going to become unusable.  It’s short-termist on the part of the council – because footpaths help to generate visitors to the countryside, which in turn supports local businesses.

Shropshire Ramblers has set up an online petition, and they need YOUR help.  Please add your name today: http://petitions.shropshire.gov.uk/petitions.ti/prow

But don’t just add your name.  Ask your friends, neighbours, family, and local businesses to sign up as well.  And it does make a difference – remember what happened as a result of the big online petitions over forests!

The Ramblers aim is to get 1000 signatures from Shropshire residents or people associated with Shropshire in some way.  If we get the 1000 signatures then we have the right to present the petition at a full meeting of the council and speak to the petition for 5 minutes. The council then has to have a formal debate about the subject. On the assumption that we will get 1000 signatures, we have set Thursday 24th November as the date to present the petition to the council. Rodney Whittaker, the Chairman of the Ramblers Trustees has agreed to come and present to the council, Rodney has connections with Shropshire in that he has relatives in Shrewsbury and went to school in Shrewsbury. Also on the 24th November we are organising a walk (to celebrate Shropshire’s footpaths) to arrive at Shire Hall at approximately 12 noon, Kate Ashbrook (Ramblers trustee) has agreed to come on the walk and address the media.

Tom Franklin
Chief Executive
Follow my tweets at http://twitter.com/RamblersTom
Follow my blog for Ramblers volunteers at http://www.ramblers.org.uk/Volunteer/chief+executives+blog

 

The Ramblers’ Association is a registered charity (England & Wales no 1093577, Scotland no SC039799) and a company limited by guarantee, registered in England & Wales (no 4458492). Registered office: 2nd floor, Camelford House, 87-90 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TW.

Visit our website at:

www.ramblers.org.uk
www.ramblers.org.uk/scotland
www.ramblers.org.uk/wales