The Ramblers

HAMPSHIRE AREA

www.hampshireramblers.hampshire.org.uk

Annual Report to 30 September 2014

Annual General Meeting:

Saturday 7 February 2015 2.00pm to 5:00pm

Jubilee Hall, Bishops Waltham SO32 1ED

AGM hosted by Waltham group Contents

1. AGM Agenda 2. The Annual Report The report addresses the Ramblers basic objectives and seeks to show what has been achieved during the year, and tasks for the future. It is addressed to the Board of Trustees, Central Office and Members of Hampshire Area. It has been prepared from inputs provided by Area Officers and Groups. The report contains the following sections.

 Chairman’s introduction  Statement of Hampshire Area and Membership  Area Administration and Organisation  Audited Income and Expenditure  Treasurer’s report  Membership  Footpaths Access and Walking Environment  National Parks in our Area  Publicity  Group Reports  Tables of the names, telephone numbers and email addresses of current Area and Group officers

Notes: This report is not intended for distribution outside the Ramblers’ Association, although extracts may be used for publicity. Copies are distributed to Ramblers Central Office, Hampshire Area Officers and Groups. Copies will be available for individuals at the AGM, or may be obtained post-free from the Area Secretary – see Hampshire Rambler for details. A copy will be posted on the Hampshire Area website.

RAMBLERS (HAMPSHIRE AREA) AREA AGM Saturday 7 February 2015 2:00pm Jubilee Hall, Bishops Waltham Guest speaker: Jane Cecil General Manager for the National Trust in the South Downs. AGENDA 1. Welcome by Chairman 2. Apologies for absence 3. Approval of Minutes of AGM held on 8 February 2014 4. Matters arising 5. Appointment of 2 Tellers (Waltham group) 6. Acceptance of Annual Report 7. Acceptance of Annual Accounts (see following page) 8. Election of Officers and Members of Area Council Chairman (Owen Plunkett – standing down) Vice-Chairman (Alan Marlow – willing to continue if elected) Secretary (David Nixon - willing to continue if elected) Treasurer (Rachel Norris - willing to continue if elected) Membership Secretary (David Nichols - willing to continue if elected) Walking Environment (Phil Wood - willing to continue if elected) Access Officer (Alan Marlow – willing to continue if elected) Footpath Secretariat (Peter Sollars - willing to continue if elected) (Alan Marlow – willing to continue if elected) (Stuart Shurlock - willing to continue if elected) (Margaret Mathieson - willing to continue if elected) (Phil Wood - willing to continue if elected) Publicity Officer (Owen Plunkett - willing to continue if elected) Editor, Hampshire Rambler (Alan Mather – willing to continue if elected) Individual members (Ruth Croker – willing to continue if elected) Affiliated groups VACANCY - volunteer required 9. Appointment of:Webmaster (Mark Austin) 10. Appointment of Independent Examiner (Clive Thompsett) 11. Motions for General Council 12. Election of 3 Delegates to Ramblers GC 2015 (28-29 March, Cambridge) 13. Any other business 14. 2016 Area AGM to be hosted by NE Hants group

HAMPSHIRE RAMBLERS - AREA ANNUAL REPORT

1 October 2013 to 30 September 2014

OBJECTIVES

The objectives of this report are

 to provide groups with encouragement to review each year their contribution to the achievement of the Ramblers constitutional aims  to enable Area Council to exercise its role as manager of Ramblers activity in Hampshire  to report to the Ramblers Chief Executive, as required by the Ramblers Constitution

CHAIRPERSON’S INTRODUCTION Owen Plunkett A very warm welcome to the Area AGM, which is kindly hosted by the Waltham group. I would also like to extend a special welcome to our guest speakers, Jane Cecil, who is a General Manager for the National Trust in the South Downs and to Paul Strong, sent as an observer from Central Office. Jane Cecil previously worked for the Countryside Agency and was very much involved with the setting up of the South Downs National Park. We will be celebrating the 5th Anniversary of SDNP on Saturday 4 April with an event at the South Downs Centre in Midhurst. Kate Ashbrook and Margaret Paren have already agreed to attend and give short presentations. These will be followed with a short walk, after which we will return to the Centre, with the option of a tour of the premises (well worthwhile) and finishing with tea. We hope to see many of you there. We will be celebrating the 80th Anniversary of the formation of our organisation this year. Hopefully, the Area Council and all the Hampshire groups will put on at least one event to mark the occasion and to highlight our great achievements. As I write this in early January, I fear the Ramblers are involved in another crisis. Proposals have been put forward by a panel for what I consider are quite unacceptable Governance changes. All members were asked to complete a badly constructed survey, which gives little chance to put forward opposing views. Not surprisingly, just 0.7% of the membership responded! A recent Area Council meeting condemned the proposals with no dissent and I am not sure I have spoken to a single member who is in favour. My hope is that by the time you read this the board of Trustees will have rejected the proposals. If not, it will be up to General Council to do so. Of course our delegates to the General Council should have the opportunity to comment on whatever proposals are put forward. Another issue which has been discussed by both Area Council and local groups is the future of the Hampshire Rambler. This has been a very successful publication, particularly so under our present editor, Alan Mather and I very much hope we will continue to produce it. The cost for 3 issues works out at approximately 40p per member per year- a very modest sum! I won’t say more as our secretary, David Nixon, has given more details in a separate article. I am expecting this to be the last time that I write this column as a new Chairperson should be elected at this AGM. I have enjoyed my role, but it is now high time someone else took over. So I would like to thank the officers and group delegates for their support and hard work during the last 8 years. Best wishes for a successful year in your campaigning. Happy walking!

THE EXTENT OF HAMPSHIRE AREA AND MEMBERSHIP Hampshire Area consists of the County of Hampshire and the Unitary Authorities of Portsmouth and Southampton. Area comprises 15 groups and had a total membership of 4408 on 30 September 2014. 14 organisations are affiliated to Hampshire Area. 4

AREA ADMINISTRATION AND ORGANISATION Area Council has held four meetings during the year. Area Council comprises the Area Officers and representatives from groups. Each Area Council meeting receives a financial report from the Treasurer, also regular updates on Membership, Footpaths, Access, Walking Environment, Publicity and the Hampshire Rambler. Area Council prepares an annual budget and discusses and agrees the allocation of money from Central Office to the Area groups.

TREASURER’S REPORT Rachel Norris Hampshire Area has ended the financial year with reserves of £3,849.06. This represents a decrease of about 30% since last year. The decrease is the result of a decision to reduce Area reserves in line with guidance from Central Office. Area received income of £7,402 from Central Office of which £5,891 was passed on to the groups leaving an Area income of £1511. We also received a donation of £50 towards practical footpath work. The main items of expenditure this year were:- £1520 costs for printing Hampshire Rambler. This figure is lower than the 2012-2013 figure because only 2 editions were produced this year. We received £459 in advertising revenue to offset against this expenditure. £397 to purchase a new kissing gate which was installed on the Allan King Way. £395 towards a new boardwalk on the Brenda Parker Way at the request of Hartley Wespall Parish Council. £500 for the purchase of a GPS with maps by the North Hampshire Downs group. It should be noted that the group returned £500 of their funding to Area last year. The funding requests for 2014-2105 have been submitted and approved. The total funding requested by the groups was £6,215 which was slightly higher than last year. Three groups did not request any funding, seven accepted their default allocations and three requested figures only slightly above the default allocation. Two groups requested significantly higher amounts, one in order to undertake practical work, the other to cover printing costs for walks programmes. The Area funding request for 2014-2015 is £2,635 which is estimated to be sufficient to cover costs and maintain the current reserves. We will consider reducing reserves further by undertaking practical work if the need arises.

MEMBERSHIP David Nichols At the year-end, 30th September 2014, the membership total for Hampshire Area was 4408. This represents a loss of members on the year of 18, a much reduced loss compared with the previous loss of 231. Costs are still playing a part in Ramblers but the monthly payment of subscriptions seems to have helped. The “No Group” section has slowed and has shown only an increase of 15 net during the year. It is possible the benefits of belonging to a group are being felt. My thanks, as always, are to the valiant membership secretaries throughout the county who, have made my job so much easier. To those who have stepped down this year, my especial thanks for all they have done over the years. Welcome to the new secretaries who have taken their place, thank you for volunteering.

GROUP MEMBERSHIP - 01 OCTOBER 2014

GROUP TOTAL

ALTON 240 ANDOVER 192 MEON 340 NEW FOREST 492 N.E. HANTS 250 PORTSMOUTH 258 ROMSEY 218 SOUTHAMPTON 372 S.E. HANTS 473 WINCHESTER 558 WALTHAM 176 EASTLEIGH 233 NORTH HAMPSHIRE 264 DOWNS HAMPSHIRE 20s 30s 125 HAMPSHIRE 40+ 166 Others 51

AREA 4408

FOOTPATHS ACCESS and WALKING ENVIRONMENT Peter Sollar, Alan Marlow Phil Wood In the twelve months to 30 September 2014 a total of 18 new Rights of Way-related documentation packages/consultations have been progressed through the Footpath Secretariat and the FP Secretary covering the parish involved who responds appropriately. The number of packages received continues to drop to historically low levels; Diversions continue to be the largest proportion. Applications to record new paths are progressed and a few Dedications are received. When Planning Applications involving a possible effect on a public RoW are recognised a review is undertaken. The largest percentage is dealt with by HCC; prior consultation with the landowner is HCC’s preferred approach. Throughout the year, as in previous years, a series of Stopping up Orders from the Department of Transport have been received; their extent is very local, they mostly relate to new buildings within urban setting and are rarely contentious.

Hampshire Ramblers volunteers have continued with the half-yearly, BVPI 178-style (ease of use) parish-survey initiative on behalf of HCC Countryside Services. This year the path failure rate in the November 2013 survey (10 parishes) was 27%, while in the May 2014 survey (also 10 parishes) the rate was 26%. Although the average overall failure rate in recent years has maintained a fairly steady rate of about 30% there are wide divergences between parishes (in the last year ranging from 14% to 54% failure). The average result, over 13 series of surveys and involving 142 parishes (more than 50% of the total number in Hampshire), is 31% FAIL. A significant, continuing feature is that 50% of all failures relate to fingerpost and waymarking problems. Rambler surveyors fix waymarking failures where practical at the time of survey, thereby helping to reduce the failure rate. Data on path-furniture (stiles, gates and bridges) is now being recorded on the parish reports; volunteer-hours accumulated by Rambler surveyors are significant and the work is gratefully appreciated by HCC Officers. During the year there has been increased involvement of volunteer working parties from Hampshire Ramblers groups. The county council’s prime project continues to be the stiles-to-gates programme; several groups have contributed financial as well as working party involvement. There have been new work teams established this year to undertake appropriate vegetation clearance and also a number of ‘one-off’ projects. During the year Hampshire Area contributed financially towards a boardwalk on the Brenda Parker Way in Hartley Wespall parish and NHD Group provided a team to assist with the installation in partnership with the parish council. The Area FPAWE Committee holds quarterly meetings and HCC Officers attend alternate meetings, their presence is much appreciated. The Committee remains a useful platform to discuss important topics noted by individual Footpath, Access and Walking Environment Officers but having a wider relevance. A new approach to ‘Significant Problems’ has been implemented by the Footpath Secretariat; fully documented problems, mostly involving legal or potentially-legal activities, are updated and progressed at FPAWE meetings. The countrywide ‘Path in Crisis’ initiative was widely publicised by Ramblers Central Officer earlier in the year and was supported by an impressive booklet listing councils with the highest average problems-per-paths results. Hampshire was not within the ‘top-ten’ list published in the booklet, but the national Ramblers campaign included Hampshire within the list of problem areas and our local members were encouraged to send critical emails to their local HCC councillor. This was hugely unhelpful to our cause and resulted in significant unnecessary extra work for HCC officers when councillors asked for an explanation. Efforts were made locally to modify this message, stressing that a ‘one cap fits all’ approach is unsuitable and unjustified; this unsuitability was also brought to the attention of the chief executive at the Hampshire Ramblers AGM on 8 February 2014. Although he accepted the principle the matter is still not fully resolved and requires further dialogue with Central Office. During the summer a conference entitled ‘Paths to Partnership’ was organised by HCC for representatives of Parish Councils across the county and was aimed very specifically at encouraging parish councils to become more directly involved with looking after their rights of way. Around 150 delegates representing nearly 100 parishes attended. The event consisted of a series of ‘Market Place’ stands and ‘Workshops’ on topics ranging from working together on Waymarking, Ease of Use Surveys, Stiles-to-Gates,

Grant Schemes, as well as problems of managing shared-use paths, landowners’ issues and vehicles in the countryside. The 5 members of the Footpath Secretariat and Ruth Croker all attended on behalf of the Ramblers and took part in running workshops and by staffing a Ramblers display stand in the Market Place. This attracted a great deal of attention and interest in opportunities to work together with parishes; we are following up these opportunities. Some progress has been made this year with the previously reported problems related to MoD land access, particularly in the north east of the county. There is now recognition by the MoD that walks on MoD ‘managed access land’ are permitted within the bylaws as long as they do not clash with military training (although, of course, military training is not normally allowed to obstruct the use of a public right of way over MoD land). However, there still seem to be occasional challenges by over enthusiastic personnel. A draft Guideline for Walks Organisers, with MoD-contact details, prepared jointly between Hampshire & Surrey Areas with assistance from Central Office, has recently been circulated within the Area and will be formalised shortly. Throughout the year Walking Environment matters have been dominated by wind farms and solar farms. Three major wind farm proposals have been considered this year. Two of them, at Bullington where there was a large scale 14 turbine application, and at Woodmancott have been rejected. The third proposal is the Navitus Bay Offshore Wind Park. The Planning Inspectorate is examining the planning application to erect 194 wind turbines in a 155 sq km site off the coast of Dorset and Hampshire. A decision is not expected until 2015 at the earliest. A proportion of the proposed park is within the12 nm limit recommended by government as the minimum distance from the coast. The park will be highly visible from the south coast and UNESCO has indicated concern as to the world heritage status of the coast. A second proposal has been made by the developer for a smaller site in the southern parts of the area thus reducing the visible impact of the wind farm. A number of planning applications for solar farms continue to trickle through and are concerned with relatively small installations – less than 50 acres. One very large farm – 200 acres - proposed near to Houghton in the Test Valley was rejected during the year, but the developer has now forwarded an appeal to the Secretary of State. As from 1 April 2015 Government subsidies for new solar farms larger than 5 MW will be withdrawn so there may be a rush of new applications to beat this deadline.

New Forest National Park Access Forum Ruth Croker Walking Representative, New Forest LAF The Future of the Forum. This has continued to be a cause for concern. The need for cost cutting by the National Park has meant that the NPA did not appoint a member of staff to replace the previous very-able officer who supported our work. LAF officer support for meetings this year was the subject of much discussion and in consequence has been provided by Hampshire County Council Countryside Service on a 1 year contract. The number of hours is limited. HCC officers are well able to provide information and advice on national issues but getting information related to the National Park is more difficult and at times the forum has needed to rely on what is reported in the press. There are instances when we would have liked to have our advice sought and other occasions when we would have liked to be consulted at a much earlier stage.

Recreation Management. Progress on developing a strategy is extremely slow and the Forum has not been involved in discussions during this year. Recreation. A considerable amount of time has been spent on cycling issues. Cycling activities in the Forest have been very contentious. Walking has not been contentious. The need for better access for those with disabilities has been highlighted, as has the need for better connectivity of routes for all users. The Countryside Access Plan.

Progress is being made. Coastal Access. I foresee a coastal route being difficult to negotiate. Specific issues have not been discussed but the risk of endangering the special qualities of the area are being highlighted.

South Downs National Park Owen Plunkett We celebrated the 4th Anniversary of the SDNP with an event at the Queen Elizabeth Country Park on 5 April. 30 Ramblers and members of the public attended. We got excellent press coverage with three photographers present at the event and articles appearing in the Portsmouth News, the two Peterfield papers and at least one Sussex paper. The event began with three excellent presentations from Doug Jones, a member of the SD National Park Board, Chris Napier from CPRE and Kate Ashbrook, our President. Doug Jones, who is also a member of the Planning Sub Committee of the SDNPA, spoke of the progress that had been made since the National Park was set up. This included the prevention of a number of potentially damaging developments, the creation of a wildlife corridor and much more. Chris Napier reminded people of the great achievement of the South Downs Campaign in getting the park designated and in particular the inclusion of the Western Weald, the beautiful area to the north east of Petersfield. Kate Ashbrook, who has now been the General Secretary of the Open Spaces Society for 30 years said ‘We won the South Downs National Park just in time. Without the designation, the park might now be a very different place, with new development not only beating at its door, but trampling all over it. We must ensure that when we stand on the high spots such as Butser Hill, Harting Down and Ditchling Beacon we do not see further suburbanisation creeping up to the park boundary” These talks were followed by a 6 mile walk, led by Jim Byrne, chairman of the local South East Hants group, through the country park to the attractive village of Buriton. Opening of the SDNP Centre at Midhurst. The Centre, which made use of a converted listed building was opened in early summer, 2014 with the formal launch in July. It serves as Visitors & Information Centre and is available for meetings. 5th Anniversary event at the Centre on Saturday 4 April 2015. Margaret Paren & Kate Ashbrook will give short presentations. There will be a short walk. We will return to the centre for tea and an optional tour of the Centre.

PUBLICITY Owen Plunkett Green Fair We ran a very successful all day stall in conjunction with my Group (SE Hants) at the Green Fair at the Sustainability Centre, East Meon. Although the active members of my Group were away on their annual coach trip, I was very grateful for the all-day support of three members including our Hants Rambler editor, Alan Mather, who provided some very useful extra material. Our stall attracted a great deal of interest (more than I can remember at any of the previous stalls I have run!) Portsmouth News article. The News invited me to submit a short article on the benefits of the South Downs National Park. The article appeared alongside several others on the same subject, including those by a local councillor and an environmentalist.

REPORTS FROM GROUPS Groups were asked to report on their activities during the year, particularly on recruitment, promotion of walking, footpaths, access and walking environment, and any campaigns they had undertaken. Alton group The year started with a very positive AGM in November 2013 but a short time after this there was an unfortunate disagreement about access to the new website. The website was owned by the son of a member and he shut it down and the chairman resigned. Ramblers-Webs helped to create a new website and a new group website-officer joined the committee. An acting chairman was appointed and at this point the treasurer and footpath secretary resigned. At the November 2014 AGM a new treasurer and footpath secretary were elected and I was elected to be chairman. At the same time the secretary resigned. All of this has had some effect on walking numbers and although the overall membership has only dropped by 12 to 240 the numbers on longer walks have been worse than the membership list would suggest. Some members have defected to the independent Liphook group and on the Sundays that they have no walk they return to us and swell our numbers by up to 10. However, the committee now is strong and able and a new advertising campaign is underway with the aim of attracting the attention of new members in the New Year and in the spring. The ‘Walks from Alton’ book has so far brought in more than £5000 and together with commission from Ramblers Holidays our finance is in good shape. So good that we may lose any income from membership subscriptions. We still manage to attract about 25 to social events which include the New Year lunch, bowling, quiz, barbecue, and even a song and dance. Ramblers Holidays in Durham, Croatia and Sicily were made available to members and some were well attended. Two walks were led by our group as part of the ‘Alton Walking Festival’ and this is an association set to continue. Another partnership has been set up with the Alton Town Twinning Association and it is hoped to reciprocate walks in France and Italy. The program of footpath wardens has fallen flat for the moment but it is our intention to set it up again and also to make repairs where required. There are also a number of obstructed footpaths that are under investigation and we plan to challenge one difficult land owner soon. It will be the new membership that will put life back into the group and we are confident of a return to the happy rambling days that we remember. There is a dwindling number of leaders so it must happen now.

Andover group Walks Weekend walks continued as usual on both days throughout the year. The local countryside was covered as well as forays to the Isle of Wight and Bradford-on-Avon. A walk in the New Forest during the storms of last Autumn went ahead and was gamely attended by some of our hardier members. Our Wednesday evening summer walks are extremely popular, averaging around 25-30 members. Several of the walks were rounded off with a pub stop. The social life of Andover Ramblers continues to thrive. In May, a long weekend in the Falmouth area was enjoyed by 24 members. Walks around the Lizard and other areas of interest were well attended in spite of extremely wet and windy weather. A Dorset weekend attracted a good crowd with walks around Golden Cap, St Gabriel’s Valley and Thorncombe Beacon, with a climb to the highest point on the South coast. A BBQ in August went ahead in spite of a torrential downpour. Not to be deterred, our gallant cooks served a delicious lunch to around 35 members. A weekend in Devon will take place on 20/21 September. Rights of Way. All up-to-date. Planning applications continue to be monitored and objections raised as appropriate, with particular emphasis on the applications for the development of solar farms taking place around the Shipton Bellinger area plus the application for the build of over 200 new houses in the Foxcotte Lane area of Charlton. As part of the BVPI project for Hampshire County Council, we spent a total of 79 man-hours surveying rights of way in two parishes. Surveys were carried out in a further four parishes as part of our on-going footpath activities. Publicity and Recruiting We have acquired a dynamic Publicity member who now takes charge of our annual publicity drive in Andover Library for a week in March as well as organising the printing of cards, leaflets and posters. Membership is up to 193 as opposed to 180 last year and all walks are now very well attended. Andover Ramblers membership continues to compare favourably with other groups. Newsletter Our Newsletter continues to be published in good time and is beginning to attract more contributions from members. As with last year, the lay-out of the Newsletter is printed to a high standard and we have no shortage of volunteers to help with the delivery. General Comments Our coffers remain healthy, with the state of both Social and Main accounts changing very little. At our last Group Committee meeting held on 15 September, five members stood down, including our Chairman. New Committee members will be sought when we hold our Annual General Meeting on Saturday 8 November 2014 in Longparish Village Hall.

Eastleigh group General After a number of years without a Chairperson we managed to prevail upon one of our long standing members to take up the challenge and we are happy to report that as she is doing a grand job at keeping us all in check. We hope she will continue for many years to come. The Group is making strides into the 21st Century. Although the vast majority of members are either unwilling or unable to receive information by email and via the Website, the Group now has its own Facebook page and members are regularly adding amusing narrative and photographs about the various walks that are taking place.

Our Rambles Secretary has, once again, managed to produce a full and varied programme throughout the year. The programme included the completion of the Brenda Parker Way with 9 members completing all the stages, further stages of the Shakespeare Way and walking in Normandy, France. The programme this year also included many challenging walks along the South Coast Path in Dorset, and as many hills that could be found in Hampshire in preparation for 13 members walking the first stage of the Coast to Coast through the Lake District from St Bees to Kirkby Stephen. The second half of the Coast to Coast path is to be completed in May next year. Promoting Walking From 9 to 24 August, Eastleigh Ramblers took the plunge and organised their first Festival of Walks around the Borough. A total of eight, six to seven mile rambles, took place aiming to reach the wider community and promote the benefits of walking. Promotion via leaflets and word of mouth invited anybody interested to turn up at the appointed time equipped with walking boots, wet weather gear, a drink and snack. Most of the walks attracted over 20 walkers, many of whom were new walkers or lapsed members who have a renewed desire to walk. On the final walk, Mike Thornton MP for Eastleigh and his wife Peta accompanied us. Mike is becoming a regular attendee on our walks and members expressed again how refreshing it was for Mike to share his views on the many benefits of walking in the countryside and his experiences of walking in challenging environments. It was generally agreed that the festival was a success; to be repeated next year. Footpaths Members are currently involved in Parish Surveys and organising minor bridge repair/replacement works. Funds have also been made available to replace stiles with kissing gates; this work is also currently being organised. Finance Once again, the Group has had a fairly quiet year, financially, leaving its funds in a healthy state. Membership Based on figures supplied by Head Office, our Membership Secretary has reported another disappointing year with a continued loss of members. Correspondence with members leaving the group has indicated that many of them are now at an age where walking is no longer possible or that they can only manage shorter walks; something that walk leaders will be looking to address. However, following the Festival of Walks in August there has been a smattering of members joining the Group; hopefully this will be a continued upward trend, but time will tell.

Meon group Our AGM in November 2013 was well attended with 48 present. Holding the meeting on a Sunday afternoon after a choice of 3 walks has helped to boost numbers. We have had a full set of officers and committee apart from a publicity officer. The committee met 3 times during the year. Our membership has shown a net loss of 10 members over the year and now stands at 340. Most of the newly-joined members are active walkers in the Group. The Group continues to offer 3 walks on most Sundays throughout the year - lengths vary between 5 and 16 miles. There have been 140 Sunday walks over the past 12 months, slightly down on the previous year. The average attendance over these 3 Sunday walks is 40. Due to very low participation we stopped offering our shorter Saturday morning walks. Weather during the winter and Spring again affected a number of walks with 7 - 8 being cancelled. We continued with our coach-assisted walks by starting The Three Castles Path at Windsor. An average of 50 joined in the 3 coach walks so enabling them to contribute to Group funds.

Ill-health has affected a number of our small band of leaders, causing the cancellation a number of mid-week walks. Persuading members to lead walks is still a big issue for the Group. Footpaths: Our Footpath Secretary has surveyed 2 parishes; overall the RoW in these parishes, as elsewhere in our area, are in a reasonable state. No additional gates have been installed. Environment and countryside: The plans for the new settlement of Welborne north of the M27 around Knowle are still being discussed with many concerns about access, transport links including access to and from the motorway and the A32 and infrastructure unresolved. The Stubbington by-pass plans will affect a number of footpaths but details are still not finalised; this new road is unlikely to be built for about 10 years. The Group’s finances are good with monies earmarked for gates. Finances have been boosted through well-attended social activities throughout the year, by contributions from the Walking Partnership and a continuing advertisement in our newsletter placed by Ramblers Holidays. Our newsletter printing costs have been kept down and most envelopes are hand-delivered.

NE Hants group Looking back over the year, 2014 has been another good year of walking, footpath work and social events for the North East Hants Ramblers. The highlight of the year came in our 40th October Weekend. This attracted 41 people, with Tony Price our Honorary President notching up his 40th consecutive weekend. The Cotswolds provided a new walking area for many members and the hotel venue proved excellent. We celebrated the occasion with a Gala Dinner and Dance on the Saturday evening, with a full dance floor and music continuing until well after midnight. The weekend finished with a 4 hour trip to Cheltenham where visits were made to the excellent museum and some retail therapy before a short journey home. We have continued to provide another extensive list of walks, with something arranged for every weekend throughout the year and more occasional weekday and evening walks, particularly during the summer months. Our Rambles Secretary lead another long-distance walk in the past year (the Fox Way) while the Christmas walk in December followed by a festive lunch also realised another excellent turnout Other social events during the year have included a customary slide show of past travels, and a skittles evening. A new Footpath Secretary was appointed at the 2013 AGM, and he has already shown strong leadership in a difficult and sometimes complex area, where access to MOD land has been one of the main topics under discussion. All parishes covered by North East Hants now have an allocated Footpath Representative. Thus, although we have suffered a small further decline in total membership, there remains a high level of commitment within the group, with an active committee of 12 members, complete coverage of our footpaths, and advanced plans for group holidays and other events in 2015.

New Forest group We have had a full programme of Walks and Social events throughout the year. In August we celebrated the Group’s 45th Anniversary with a week of special Walk and Social events, including a Barn Dance and Cream Tea. As this year there is a General Election, Ramblers Central Office are keen that we engage with our local MPs. Julian Lewis (New Forest East) joined us on the evening pub walk during our Anniversary celebration and we have invited Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) to join us on one of our Walks this winter. Last April we hosted the Hampshire Area AGM with Guest Speaker Benedict Southworth – Ramblers Chief Executive. Unfortunately we had to cancel the morning Walk because of 13 flooding. This was a continuing problem last Winter. The Group's AGM in November featured an excellent talk by Jill Daniels on “Villages of the Test River”. The Group also arranges Group Holidays. Last year’s was to Kingham in the Cotswolds and this year’s is to the Lake District. Last year we lost a number of Walks leaders who have either died of not been well enough to continue leading Walks. We have a Map & Compass Training Day planned for next March and hope that this will result in some new Walks Leaders.

North Hampshire Downs group No report received.

Portsmouth group The net increase in membership this year has been in line with other county groups and it appears that there are still many and varied personal reasons for members resigning or not renewing. Many members of other groups and members of the public pick up walks from the internet and Walks Finder in particular. The current walks programme is linked to Walks Finder with the appropriate maps and everyone should know where the group is walking on any particular day. Car sharing is still a continual problem and a source of concern for trying to accommodate non-car owners and whilst many walkers still go direct, we try to encourage people to come to Cosham Railway Station, easily reached by public transport, and car share. This does create its own set of problems as often the drivers have seemingly little knowledge of the walk start locations and do require careful instructions as to getting to them. Once again as in previous years the shorter walks held on a Saturday morning are the most popular; as many people can usually manage 5-6 miles but as an experiment once a month if possible a longer 10-11 mile walk is inserted into the programme which has proved popular also. Once again the full day walks on Sundays have seen an increase in committed members who wish to walk faster and longer, and the numbers are rising. Many of these members have enjoyed more challenging walks by train over several stages on Saturdays during the summer months. Our London walks have continued at two a year and this year involved finishing the walk around Canary Wharf, and then onto Greenwich for a walk to Woolwich. The autumn walk was from Kew Bridge to Perrivale via the Thames Path, then at Brentford along the Grand Union Canal to Hanwell before walking alongside the River Brent. Sadly much off the walk was overshadowed by the disappearance and subsequent murder of Alice Gross who disappeared over a month before and the police were much in evidence for much of our route along with pictures and yellow ribbons. Once again members of the group have been able to enjoy the annual meal in April, a skittles evening at Stubbington, and a Christmas Dinner at Chimes which were both much enjoyed and future events for next year are expected.

Romsey group Promoting walking. The Romsey Group had offered 138 walks during the year with a total of 14627 miles walked compared to123 and 10745 last year. The figures are up on last year but this is partially because all the Tuesday walks have been include for the first time. The Tuesday walks continue to be popular. Details of these walks are sent out by email 2 or 3 days before the walk with members wishing to take part registering to receive emails. Overall although we are still a little short of leaders we continue to offer a varied programme and via the internet we attract walkers from other groups in the area.

Membership Recruitment and Publicity. Membership has remained the same this year compared with a steady drop over the past two years. Website hits which dropped significantly in 2012 and 2013 have increased in 2014 and are nearly back to the 2011 level. A number of good articles were published in the Romsey Advertiser. It was decided not to take part in the Romsey Show this year since over that last two years although we have some interest no new members have been recruited so it was thought the cost and effort could not be justified. Footpath work. Group footpath volunteers have had a very successful year and good relations with Hampshire County Council have been further developed. Group volunteers spent 200 hours on vegetation clearance, fitting kissing gates and erecting finger posts and 56 hours spent on BVPI surveys and site meetings. Meetings attended for the Test Valley BC led Romsey Future project in respect of links between town and countryside and making contact with Test Valley Managers. Work has started to resurrect the defunct Keble Way, assisting an enthusiastic member. Walking Environment matters. With the easing of the recession there has been a huge increase in the number of planning applications during the year. The Committee decided to object to the application to build a Tesco Foodstore on Broadlands land behind Romsey Rapids. The objection was that it was an unnecessary invasion of our countryside and against existing planning policies. We have objected to the proposal to build 1,300 homes at Lower Whitenap and several other smaller proposals. We have not objected to Solar Farms/Parks unless a RoW is affected. The view from our footpaths may be different, but we cannot control that. If we do not like it we will have to walk a bit faster. There were no access issues in our area.

SE Hants group Walks programme and membership. This year’s walk programme included 295 walks led by 51 leaders. There has been a small decline in the number of leaders. Our distribution secretary has reduced the number of programmes being posted to 91 out of 374 (24%). 22% are sent by email and 54% by hand- delivery. This reduces our printing and postage costs by over £500 per year. Group membership fell by 5 to 473. Footpath clearance activities This year the group started a programme of footpath clearance work. 27 members have volunteered and so far three footpaths have been improved. We now have a good working relationship with our local SCAR (Senior Countryside Access Ranger) which will allow us to develop this activity next year. The group is in the process of purchasing appropriate equipment. Footpath surveys etc Footpaths in the parishes of Steep (21%) and East Meon (22%) were surveyed using the BVPI 178 methodology – the figures in brackets give the percentage of failed paths. About 2/3 fail because of inadequate signage. Our Footpath secretary has placed waymarks to reduce the fail rate. New decals (waymarks) were added to the Sussex Border Path where the path is in Hampshire. 42 footpath problem reports have been made to HCC and WSCC. Our Footpath Secretary has been closely monitoring the effect on the footpath network of the West-of-Waterlooville Major Development Area and has made appropriate representations and recommendations to the authorities involved.

AGM and Social activities Last year we changed our AGM from a Friday evening to a Sunday afternoon, with two pre- meeting walks starting at 9:00am (8 miles) and 10:00am (5 miles). Lunch was provided at 1:00pm at Denmead church hall for both the walkers and members attending the AGM only. We are very fortunate to have an enthusiastic catering group in our membership who provide and serve soup, bread and a good variety of cakes. Attendance at the AGM has increased from 25-30 to 55-65 and it has become a very enjoyable social occasion. Other social activities during the year have been get-togethers at a local pub, Christmas meals, Mince Pie walks followed by food and drink and a quiz and our annual coach trip, this year to Bath.

Southampton group The Group celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2014 and marked the occasion with some special events. The Group’s first walk was on Sunday 7 March 1954, starting from the Grand Hotel Lyndhurst. On Sunday 9 March 2014 more than 50 members took part in an anniversary walk, setting out from Bolton Bench, Lyndhurst. Other events included a “Cream Tea” walk in July and a Dinner/Dance in October. The regular walks programme has again been very well supported by leaders and members: 230 walks have been offered. The coach trip series was to complete the last 4 stages of the Ridgeway National Trail, from Goring on Thames to Avebury. There was fine weather for all 4 stages and sufficient support to break even over the 2 years taken to complete the trail. The 2015/6 trail will be the Blackmore Vale Trail, in Dorset. The number of members receiving the Programme/Newsletter/HR by e-mail is creeping up. Most of the hard copies are delivered by hand, thanks to a good network of volunteers, keeping postage costs to a minimum. Advertising revenue from Ramblers Worldwide Holidays and HF Holidays continues making a contribution towards printing costs. The Group received £330 from The Walking Partnership, which is supported by Ramblers Worldwide Holidays and provides direct funding to groups. The main focus for publicity continues to be the libraries. Monthly A4 “What’s on” posters are displayed in most of the Southampton libraries. Recruitment leaflets are on display in the central library and many of the local libraries. Southampton Definitive Map. Since the completion of Bassett ward in 2009 there has been no further progress on the Definitive Map. An application is underway to add 2 footpaths – around the golf course perimeter – to the Definitive Map. Parish Path Surveys. We continue to participate in the parish path surveys organised by Hants CC to BVPI 178 specifications. During the year a survey was completed in Chilworth.

Waltham group Promoting Walking Walks were advertised in all the parish magazines published in the Waltham group area as well as on Walksfinder. Posters for the winter and summer walks festivals were also placed around the area. Volunteers manned a stand at Bishops Waltham Priory Park in March. Membership Numbers overall increased by nine and the group continues to have new members join. There were 2025 attendances at walks, an increase of some 400 on the previous year. Social events are well attended and included a very successful trip to Scotland.

Footpath Work Our Footpath Wardens continued their good work of inspecting paths and waymarking as required. BVPI surveys were undertaken for Shedfield and Droxford. Results showed improvement from the surveys done in 2008. A group of volunteers, helped by Hampshire County Council wardens, replaced four stiles with gates on part of the Allan King Way within Waltham Group's area. Access All 218 planning applications in our 11 parishes were examined online and where necessary objections submitted.

Winchester group  Winchester Ramblers kept itself in the public eye with entries in the Hampshire Chronicle, hosting walks for the Festival of Winter Walks, maintaining our website and Facebook page.  Winchester Ramblers continued the Ramblers “Walk & Talk with an MP” initiative and hosted a walk with Cllr. Jackie Porter, parliamentary candidate, in January.  The Committee met five times during the past year.  We maintained our membership numbers despite a loss of 49 members. New members joined steadily throughout the year closing at 551 compared with 558 members at the beginning of the year.  This year there were 350 walks ranging from 3 to 11 miles in our walks programme.  An electronic news update is circulated to members supplementing the printed newsletter. Savings have been made by hand deliveries. Currently 273 are delivered by hand and 141 posted compared with 279 and 139 this time last year. Footpath and Access  The damage caused by bad weather early in the year has still not been completely repaired and parts of the Itchen Navigation are still officially closed. The HCC maintenance team spent almost all of their time between February and May removing fallen trees from the path network but much other work did not get done.  One initiative that HCC have taken to help to mitigate the reduction in their work force is to try to get other organisations to volunteer to help them. The target has primarily been the parish councils, and user groups such as ourselves.  One major part of this initiative as far as we are concerned is the ‘Stiles to Gates’ programme, which Winchester Ramblers started on last year. To date we have installed a dozen gates on the path network.  We maintained our long-standing programme of parish path surveys, and path waymarking where appropriate. This year we completed surveys of 9 of our 30 parishes. The results have taken a bit of a dip, with only 67% of the paths surveyed being problem-free (compared with 75% last year). Walking Environment  Local planning applications are considered weekly with emphasis on the location and nature of the application and likely effect on the countryside. Formal responses have been submitted in respect of those near to or affecting footpaths within our area..  The group continued to meet representatives of the City Council and developer reviewing detailed plans of the Barton Farm development, with particular attention to a pedestrian and cycle routes, connections with the right of way network and linking open spaces.

Hampshire 20s30s group 2013/14 has been a successful year for the group. Some highlights are:  Membership of 122 as at 30 Sep, compared with 120 last year.  Over 70 walks, led by a total of 19 leaders. This included 5 walks targeted specifically at new members. Most walks were at weekends but there were also a few summer evening walks. We also went to an orienteering competition.  Five trips away, including a summer week in the Lake District, New Year in the Peak District, and weekend trips to Cornwall, Dorset and Shropshire.  Regular social events, including a Christmas meal, a summer BBQ, a music festival, theatre trips and pub socials. Although the number of RA members has been steady, in practice there has been a new cohort of ‘regulars’ which has re-energised the group. This, in combination with now having our own website (separate from the 40+ group), has given H2030s a much more distinct and separate identity. The website is also by far the most common means by which new members find us. If you Google ‘Walking in Hampshire’, ours is the first-listed individual group that comes up, reflecting the search engine optimisation undertaken when the website was developed. This also shows that it is important that we keep our website up-to-date and attractive. In addition our Facebook page has been successful and now has over 300 members. This is also likely to have attracted new walkers, and allows participants to comment on group activities and share their photos. During 2014/15 we intend to build on this year’s success. We will continue to provide walks, social events and trips away but would like to increase the numbers of these so are looking at ways of encouraging and supporting new event leaders through informal mentoring and more formal buddy systems. We also aim to keep a strong and up-to-date web presence to maintain a steady influx of new members.

Hampshire 40+ group The Group has now been in operation for over 4 years, and has continued the process of separation from the Hampshire 20s and 30s Group out of which it was created. Membership has continued to rise and most members are now newcomers to the Ramblers. A full Committee was elected in October 2013 and most members were able to contribute fully for the year. A new website and database went live in January 2014, and although visually more attractive glitches remain and the IT expert, originally shared with the 20s-30s Group, was unfortunately unable to commit the necessary time to removing those glitches. We hope that his replacement will be able to overcome some of those issues and develop the website further. The Group’s Facebook page has been a very useful publicity tool, and has recently been developed further. Through the year there was a good programme of walks, and although the approach adopted during the year to avoid clashes by insisting on a minimum distance between walks when similar length walks were planned for the same day proved controversial, it did not deter new walk leaders from coming forward to lead events. The new committee elected in the autumn of 2014 has taken a more flexible approach, partly by using an additional Facebook page to facilitate communication between those intending to lead walks. During the year there were various trips away involving the group - a joint trip to the Cotswolds with the West Midlands Group in March, a trip to Haworth, Yorkshire on the very wet late May bank holiday weekend, and the very successful trip to the Dingle peninsula in Ireland in late 18

July. In addition, Group members participated in the trip organised by the West Midlands Group to Northumberland at Easter, and some also enjoyed trips to the Quantocks (early March) and Exmoor (early October) that involved individuals booking their own accommodation. Social events have generally been pub evenings, which have happened at venues in Southampton, Romsey, Winchester and Micheldever. The 2013 Christmas event at the Swan Hotel, Alresford, was successful, as was an event planned in July 2014 for Christmas 2014 at St Mary’s stadium, Southampton. However getting members to commit and pay deposits several months in advance, as required by many venues where there is heavy competition from corporate parties is always a challenge, and a large summer party was not attempted in 2014.