Eboot – February 2019

eBoot – February 2019

This month’s edition includes:

• Joint A/B walks • ‘In case of emergency’ cards • Map and compass trining • Maps and route planner ! • Notices • Books for walkers • Forthcoming walks • Commercial corner

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Joint A/B walks Recently we undertook a review of our walk grading system (A,B,C) in an attempt to make the grading less hierarchical and provide improved walk descriptions, particularly for newcomers. Largely, we have failed in this endeavour, managing only to ‘tweak’ the grades. We discovered that other walking groups also struggle with this issue under a variety of labels.

Our concern was, and is, that the ABC system tends to reinforce separation between the groups and perceptions of ‘them’ and ‘us’. How to overcome this? Quite a few members who do walk between the grades pleasantly surprise themselves at their similarity. Why the lack of ‘cross pollination’? Probably the familiarity of our usual walking companions, terrain, pace, length of breaks etc., which of course do differ. However, for many of the walks between the grades, there is little difference.

Around the time of our review, a walk was planned for early January 2019 to mark the demise of the Severn Bridge toll (the Group regularly walk in South Wales). This spurred the idea for a joint A and B celebratory walk which became the ‘Toll Free Wye Valley Walk’ in January. The 12 mile walk turned out to be a huge success. Two A and B walk leaders, John Wrigley, Chris Sanders, Anna Kulisa and Ikuko Wilson expertly led a gathering of 48 members on a beautifully intricate walk starting in Chepstow, completing a loop of the lower Wye Valley offering lovely views as we progressed. No one got lost, no one got left behind, people enjoyed themselves, there was a pub stop at the hauntingly beautiful Tintern Abbey. We all got back before dark. Result!

We hope to continue the practice of joint walks three times a year as part of our programme of walks.

‘In case of emergency’ cards The national Ramblers have produced a card for walkers to carry, giving essential information that would be of use in the event of an accident !1 (e.g. who to contact, whether you have any medical conditions or allergies). We strongly recommend all walkers to carry this card. Blank cards are available from walks programme coordinators.

Map and compass training John Wrigley will lead a session on use of map and compass on the evening of 12th March. This will be followed by a practical session on 23rd March, on one of the local orienteering courses. If you would be interested in participating, please contact [email protected].

Maps and route planner There is now a page on our website on which you can plot a route on a map. The display includes the total mileage and the feet of ascent. This a valuable aid to planning walks. It is available under Walks>Map and Route Planner, on bristolramblers.org.uk.

Notices Avon Area AGM The Avon Area AGM will take place on 16th February at the Redland Green Bowls Club. There will be a walk at 10am, a buffet lunch at 12:30pm, and the AGM itself will start at 1:30. One of the national Trustees will speak, as will the Programme Manager for the national ‘Don’t lose your way’ project.

The Bristol Group is hosting the AGM. If you could spare a bit of time to help at lunchtime, please contact [email protected].

Bristol Walk Fest 2019 The Festival will take place in May, and the process of inviting proposals is about to start. If you could help with the administration, please contact [email protected].

Britain’s Best Walking Neighbourhood Award Imagine if the neighbourhoods where we live and work truly put walkers first. If everyone’s natural impulse whenever they set off on a journey was to walk, from doing the school run, to running errands and commuting every day. The Ramblers want to give people of all ages and from all backgrounds the opportunity to enjoy and benefit from walking outdoors, wherever they live and work. That’s why we’re campaigning to ensure that our neighbourhoods actively encourage walking, bringing health, social and economic benefits to individuals and communities.

Britain’s Best Walking Neighbourhood is the Ramblers’ new annual award, designed to highlight and celebrate those places which encourage people to go about their everyday lives on foot. Places where people live and work which are green, with well-connected walking routes and accessible public space. Nominations for 2019 are now open, so if you think your neighbourhood is great for walking please let us know at www.ramblers.org.uk/nominate, and your city, town or village could be crowned Britain’s Best Walking Neighbourhood. Nominations will be

!2 considered by an expert panel in early March, and a shortlist of ten neighbourhoods will be put to a public vote in the summer.

Stoke Park Post-consultation proposals for an all-weather park linking Lockleaze to the housing to the north of the park are at www.travelwest.info/ stokeparkestatepath.

Books for walkers

Alan Morris, chair of the Bristol Walking Alliance, recommends John Muir: The Scotsman Who Saved America's Wild Places by Mary Colwell.

John Muir was an extraordinary person. He lived from 1834 to 1914, being born in Scotland, and dying in the USA. As a child in Dunbar in southern Scotland, he experienced an austere life under the influence of a religious father, whose decision it was to emigrate to the USA. His life there was a series of twists and turns, as he sought to find himself and his part in life in different ways, including a 1,000 mile walk from Kentucky to Florida. He ended up in California, where he was entranced by its wild beauty, and he became an evangelist for wilderness in the face of America’s rapid economic rise and associated exploitation of the environment. His activism helped to preserve the Yosemite Valley and many other wilderness areas. He fought for the first National Parks, wrote books, and became the leading environmentalist in the States. He started as a recluse, but ended up as an international figure. In Scotland, his name is commemorated both in a Trust that conserves natural habitats, and a long-distance path. Mary Colwell tells the story of his life absorbingly and concisely.

If you would like to write about a book that you think has some relevance for walkers, please contact [email protected].

Some forthcoming walks Full details of the walks programme are in the published programme and on our website and also on the national Ramblers Walkfinder.

If you would like to see walks in future programmes, you can see the spreadsheets on our website (walks>led walks>walks for future programme). If you would like to add a walk to one of the spreadsheets, contact the appropriate Walk Coordinator.

Note that, from the start of February, the meeting point for Sunday A walks will be Priory Road.

3rd February - Doynton and Marshfield (B walk, 12.5 miles) Starting from the former pub in Doynton we will walk through water meadows and climb the Cotswold escarpment via Dyrham, eventually reaching Marshfield for lunch (choice of two pubs and a cafe). After lunch we will make our way back to Doynton via Cold Ashton and Hamswell House. Some good views, and very probably some mud!

!3 3rd February - Harptree Combe (A walk, 13 miles) This a typical winter A walk in the Mendip region: quite hilly but not excessively so. Starting by Chew Valley Lake, we will walk across farmland to the village of Ubley. We will then climb onto the Mendip and on to the picturesque Harptree Combe, which contains the scanty ruins of Richmont Castle (if you can find them) and a Victorian aqueduct. Lunch will be at East Harptree, where a pub is available. We will then continue across farmland to Prospect Stile, with fine views across Chew Valley, then on to Widcombe Common before returning to the lake and the cars.

10th February - St Catherine's Valley (A walk, 15 miles) Starting from the Swainswick layby, we climb Little Solsbury Fort, descending to St Catherine's Valley via Charmy Down, and ascending to Cold Ashton. Here we pick up a short section of the Cotswold Way through to Hanging Hill to admire the ongoing dry stone walling project, on to Beckford's Tower (more dry stone walling) and Hamiltion House (guess what! More dry stone walling plus a recently uncovered parish boundary stone). Return to the cars via Upper Swainswick. Just over 15 miles and 2200 ft ascent. Note that there is currently no pub stop.

10th February - Hewelsfield (B walk, 12 miles) A delightful walk in rural, uncrowded countryside. Beginning in Clanna Woods, on the Gloucestershire Way, we head as far as Willsbury Farm before departing the Way, crossing fields to reach the lovely Slade Brook SSSI. We then descend beside the stream to Mork, before next climbing up to St. Briavels for the lunch/pub-stop. Thereafter, a maze of entertaining and complex lanes await us as we make our way towards Hewelsfield via The Nedge and Cows Hill, eventually reaching the remarkable St. Mary Magdalen church. We finish with a gradual descent to the hamlets of Woolaston Woodside and Woolaston Common, completing the day with a lovely stroll beside Clanna Lake. In short, expect woodlands, open-country, pretty villages, a lake or two, plus some great views of the Wye valley from the meandering lanes above.

13th February - Leigh Woods/Ashton Court (Wednesday walk, 6 miles) The walk takes in three areas of woodland. Parking is available in Church Road, opposite The George at Abbots Leigh, where the walk starts. We will walk through Leigh Woods before crossing over to Ashton Court where there will be a coffee stop at the Golf Course café. Next, the route leads through the woods at Ashton Court and then through more woods to the lovely Abbots Pool. From there it doesn’t take long to get back to the starting point where the pub should be open for lunch. The terrain is not particularly challenging but can be muddy in parts. The X4 bus (9.30am from Bristol Bus Station) is a good choice for those wishing to leave the car behind.

17th February - Dyke and Ditch (B walk, 13.5 miles)

!4 A circular walk from Bishops Cannings. In the morning we ascend a downland ridge along the Wansdyke to the Neolithic long barrow known as Adam's Grave. We will then descend to Alton Barnes and the partly Saxon church of St Mary's with its ancient yew tree, estimated to be very old indeed. If people are interested we can stop at the idiosyncratic Alton Barnes photo museum. Our return route is mostly along the canal. Please note that there will not be a pub stop at lunch time, but we can stop at the Crown Inn as we come into Bishops Cannings at the end of the walk. The walk is on the long side for a B walk, but no steep hills.

17th February - Thornbury (shorter B walk, 8 miles) This walk starts in the main car park in Thornbury. We walk to a point about a mile short of Oldbury on Severn for a coffee stop. We then head to Littleton on Severn for lunch, and thence up the hill back to Thornbury. There are splendid views of the Severn Estuary, including the old bridge. The coffee stop in the afternoon overlooks Thornbury, with views of the Cotswolds in the distance.

20th February - Littleton on Severn (Wednesday walk, 6.5 miles) A pleasant stroll from the White Hart in Littleton on Severn. We start along the Jubilee Way with an uphill and muddy climb over Sacks Hill, to get some good views of the estuary. We then head north to St. Arilda's Church near Cowhill for our coffee stop: again with some excellent views and a chance to learn a little of the story of St. Arilda. A straightforward return, via Oldbury Pill, the Severn Way and the Jubilee Way to lead us back to the White Hart where refreshments are available.

24th February - Mynydd Bychan (A hill walk, 15 miles) This walk concentrates on the spectacular north edge of the Black Mountains from where there should be superb views. The route takes in the dam at Grwyne Fawr reservoir, Waun Fach and Y Grib, from where it ascends to follow northern escarpment. It returns via the increasingly popular but delightful ‘secret valley’. About 4000ft of ascent.

24th February - Stinchcombe Hill (B hill walk, 13.5 miles) The walk begins in Wotton-under-edge and follows the Cotswold Way via the Tyndale Monument and North Nibley to Stinchcombe Hill. After circumnavigating Stinchcombe we make our way to the New Inn at Waterley Bottom for lunch. In the afternoon we contour around the Bottom itself before climbing the opposite ridge and admiring the strip lynchets above Wotton and our final descent. Some fine exhilarating views if the weather is decent. There are four steepish ascents split evenly between the morning and afternoon.

3rd March - Clydach Gorge (A walk, 14 miles) The Clydach Gorge is a remarkably compact area of isolated, little communities improbably situated on a steep hillside. Below it, a beautiful wooded valley and stream, above it a desolate landscape of former tips and ruined mine-workings. And sandwiched in between, a complex of vertical quarry-faces, old railway tunnels, functional dwellings and some recent cycle-ways - it's a fascinating shambles of a place. On our visit we

!5 shall have a look at a great deal of the area, the good, the bad and the ugly! In doing so, you can expect a busy day with lots of ups and downs, (about 3,200 ft. of ascent) and some remarkable views (not all pleasant!). What’s more, the walk also includes the world heritage site of Clydach Iron Works. An altogether intriguing day’s outing, by turns rural, rugged and industrial. Bring a head torch.

Keith is currently doing his best to ensure that there will be a pub-stop along the way, but let's just say that route-finding and planning for this excursion are proving particularly tricky, and, whilst he remains confident of finding a hostelry, the research isn't fully completed at the time of writing.

3rd March - St Briavels (B walk, 12 miles, not 11) Chris Saunders writes: ‘I first led this walk in the distant past, when mileage was determined by string and a map. Having walked it again I find GPS says it is 12 miles, not as published in the programme. However, it is a delightful exploration of byways above Tintern so, although there is quite a bit of ascent, it is easy going. The perfect walk to get you out of bed and celebrate the first Sunday of spring!’

10th March - Gray Hill (joint A and B walk, 12 miles) The walk starts in Wentwood Forest which forms part of the largest block of ancient woodland in Wales. We proceed east towards Earlswood Common, skirting Gove Wood before eventually turning south at Hale Wood and passing the mansion Park Maes Ffynnon (‘Springfield Park’). The grandiose Monmouthshire manor is only 12 years old, built on the grounds of a former farmhouse in 2007.

Our lunch stop is the popular Carpenters Arms at Mynyddd-bach. The pub boasts a notable chamber pot collection and a ghostly tale to tell. Beer and cider are available. Mynydd-bach means ‘little mountain’, so after lunch there is a short climb, then across fields and a little more woodland to ascend Gray Hill before dropping down to the start.

Note that the meeting point for this joint A and B walk will be the Water Tower for an 8:30 a.m. departure.

Commercial corner

Ramblers Holidays (and Ramblers Holidays Worldwide) is the Ramblers holiday walking partner. If you book a holiday with Ramblers Holidays, this Group will receive a contribution if you let them know that you are a Bristol Ramblers member (£10 for UK holidays, £20 for short haul, £30 for long haul). See www.ramblersholidays.co.uk/page/ thewalkingpartnership.

!6 Note that this has no impact on the price you pay for the holiday.

Discounts for Ramblers members Most outdoor gear shops offer discounts to Ramblers members.

Cotswold Outdoor is the Ramblers national sponsor, and their discount is 15%.

Taunton Leisure sponsors this local Group, and also offer 15% discounts, rising to 20% at their regular special events. The next of these will be on 7th March.

You are receiving this communication as a member of the Bristol group and you have previously asked to be kept informed of the Ramblers work by email. If you no longer wish to receive communications like this, please update your mailing preferences at www.ramblers.org.uk/my-account.