Step Out

April Issue, 2019

STAFFORDSHIRE AREA RAMBLERS The Ramblers’ Association is a registered charity (number 1093577) and a company limited by guarantee registered in and Wales (number 4458492). The opinions expressed in Stepout are not necessarily the official views of the Ramblers, Area or National, but those of the authors concerned

Photo – Autumn colours in an Urban environment CONTENTS

Editorial 3

Obituary Don Evitts 3

Why Ramblers 4

Trent Valley extension in 6

Don’t Lose Your Way 7

Ramblers Funding 12

Photographs on Group Walks and GDPR 13

Cannock Chase ANOB Management Plan 14

Ramblers Insight Hub 15

Blocked Path…What can you do 16

Chair’s Report 17

Group Reports South Staffs Footpath Report 18

Biddulph 19

Mid Staffs 20

Sandwell 21

Stone 22

Wolverhampton 23

2 Editorial. Welcome to the Spring edition of Stepout. A subject that keeps cropping up at meetings is the question of what the Ramblers does for us. It’s a bit like the Life of Brian sketch ‘what did the Romans do for us?’ In this edition I will attempt to give an answer to that question. I know that many of us do realise the importance of the Ramblers so I apologise to those in advance. Sadly last year our past Chairman, Graham Rothery passed away. He became Area Countryside Secretary in January 2007 but later in 2008 he became Area Chairman, a position he held until November 2011. He was the MD of Pace Print, who produce Stepout for us. Walking was a great part of his life and in addition to his involvement with the Ramblers he was Chairman of the Heart of England Way Association. He was also involved with the Scouting movement and was District Commissioner for his area. He was one of those people who did make a difference and he will be missed by many. In this issue some useful ideas come from the Group reports. Whilst not a Ramblers project, the Transforming Trent Valley project, led by Staffordshire Wildlife is, I think, of great interest to us as ramblers so I have included their article which appears on a website. And finally the Ramblers are starting the Don’t lose your way project and again I have reproduced their web based article here, since not all have a computer. It is a golden opportunity to help play our part in getting more rights of way onto the definitive map. An earlier exercise in Stoke on Trent found a substantial number of unclaimed paths, which if repeated in Staffordshire as a whole could result in many miles of extra footpaths.

Obituary to Don Evitts Don Evitts sadly passed away on 1st November 2018 aged 75 years. Don was widely known throughout the rambling community serving as a regular walks leader, with his wife Betty, and a committee stalwart of Sandwell ramblers. He was equally active as a long standing representative on the Staffs Area Council where he was always looking to share his knowledge with other groups and at times raising a few eyebrows. Don was never one to be slow in coming forward whether plaguing the local press to include and report on his walks programme or include any number of special events. This was typical of his passion for local walks activities, none more so than the development of the Sandwell Valley area and the Six Towns Marathon. Sandwell Valley was to develop significantly for all outdoor activities 3 including many walking trails in this urban environment, and it was a common feature to see Don on his leaflet patrol as he encouraged all to become ramblers, and work to establish the “John Scott Way”. He had a Black Country brogue of his own with a wonderful technique of changing the course of a committee discussion to any topic he fancied at that time. His passion for walking never wavered and he loved to relate tales of walks no longer within the group’s capabilities such as the 18 mile Derby Dawdle or the 19 mile Kinver Clamber. He was always looking to help others and was a great supporter of events such as the annual festival of walks, Remembrance Sunday observance and the 14 mile London Bridges walk to support Kidney Research. Over the years the memories improved with age, as did his passion for the railways, especially the steam era. It engendered his love of the Staffordshire Moorlands, were he led many walks, and tales of rail lines long gone, but it is fair to say Dr. Beeching was not his favourite person. Sandwell Ramblers has lost one of our “soulmates”. We will cherish his totally naive disregard of political correctness and his favourite greeting of “Petal”. The tales will long be told and no doubt improve with time, but it is for Sandwell Ramblers to treasure, develop, and preserve the legacy of the friendly club which he so helped to establish. One of Don’s favourite sayings when on a walk with wonderful views was “ they doh luk “ perhaps that will change or may be not. We will all remember him. Barry Jordan

Why Ramblers. It is said by some that as you become older so you become grumpier. Whether this is true or not I wouldn’t like to say but personally it does seem to be the case. One of the things that makes me grumpy is when people challenge the need to be in the Ramblers. I can understand why those walkers who are not members of the ramblers might not feel the need to join but it comes as a surprise to me that sometimes our own members seem to question it. And this makes me grumpy and I apologise if I am preaching to the converted. The object here is to give answers to anyone who raises that question. It is often said that it is expensive and you can join a walking club for less cost. That is certainly true but there are two points. Firstly by being a member of the Ramblers you actually belong to every Group in the country. Yes, you belong to the Group in which you live but you are free to walk with any group at any time. But secondly, and to me at least, more importantly, we are not a walking Club. That is 4 not the aim of the Ramblers (two of its aims are The provision and protection of foot paths and other ways over which the public have a right of way or access on foot, including the prevention of obstruction of public rights of way and second, the protection and enhancement for the benefit of the public of the beauty of the countryside and other areas by such lawful means as the trustees think fit, including by encouraging the provision, preservation and extension of public access to land on foot). Few can remember the Kinder Trespass, though of course we all know of it. Many of us will remember the state of the paths in the early 1960’s. A few more will remember the privatisation of our forests and water boards. Well if it wasn’t for the Ramblers, we would probably not have access to all that water board land, neither would we have the access to forests that we have now, and before the Kinder Trespass we wouldn’t be able to walk on much of our uplands. As for footpath retention, many of the paths that we now enjoy would have been closed, barricaded or simply lost. In other words it is the Ramblers which allows us to enjoy the walks we do. Some may feel that the work of the Ramblers is done. But far from it. We have HS2, land is gobbled up for housing and industrial estates, roads, airport expansions and the like occur all the time and are threats to our footpaths.(See Guide to finding lost rights of way). As individuals we can, of course, make our objections known. But how much better it is if there is a body able to represent us, to make objections to projects, to attend and speak at public enquiries, to help formulate law in respect of us walkers. That is why we have the Ramblers, it is our voice. Just being a member adds to our number. An organistation of one (i.e the individual) is unlikely to be listened to but an organisation of thousands has a much greater opportunity of being listened too, even more if it comprises tens of thousands of members. But it is not just the big, it is the small. If you come across a blocked path or a planning application to divert a path (or heaven forbid find that a path has been closed because nobody thought to object) what do you do. Most people use the somebody else excuse. I won’t report it because someone else has (or maybe not knowing whom to object to). At the moment there is somebody else. That somebody else is a member of the Ramblers who has taken on the role of footpath officer. Not only do they act on information received, they keep an eye out for any planned closures, diversions etc. Obviously a national organisation cannot deal with local issues. That is partly why there are Groups. Each group and Area will have a footpath officer who can deal with these. Lose the Ramblers and this vital resource is lost. I suspect 5 that other walking Groups do not generally involve themselves with such matters and just enjoy the walk and leave the question of obstructions etc to others. Equally Groups have volunteers who will clear footpaths of obstructions, work with local authorities and generally help to maintain our paths. Once again, I suspect that most walking clubs do not undertake such tasks although there are other local Groups such as the Peak and Northern Footpath Society but they are few and far between. So if someone asks what is the point of being a member then some of the responses are given above.

Trent Valley Way Extension in Staffordshire. (Adapted from Staffordshire Wildlife website) A revitalised landscape of wildlife-rich waterways and wetlands is being made possible thanks to the ‘Transforming the Trent Valley’ project successfully securing a grant of £2.7m from the National Lottery. The ‘Transforming the Trent Valley’ (TTTV) project is a partnership of 18 organisations working together to restore and enhance the natural and cultural heritage of the Trent Valley, with Staffordshire Wildlife Trust - the county’s largest nature conservation charity - at the helm. Thanks to National Lottery players, the TTTV scheme aims to reconnect people with the rivers and floodplains of the area, increase their appreciation for the local heritage, and involve them in decision- making about the future use of the landscape. The scheme will undertake a wide range of environmental, cultural and community-led projects within the Trent, Tame and Dove river valleys, covering some 200 square kilometres from Uttoxeter to Tamworth and including the river valleys within or near to the main towns of Burton, Rugeley, Lichfield and Derby. Projects will include river restoration, improved access to explore hard-to-reach areas, and creating ways to reconnect communities with their natural heritage. Projects include making the landscape more accessible - footpaths and cycling paths for instance, encouraging communities to learn more about the cultural and natural heritage of the Trent Valley and improving connectivity in the landscape for wildlife. That will be achieved by re-naturalising stretches of the river which have been engineered and creating new habitats for wildlife to thrive. The partnership programme was successful in 2016 for a first stage Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) grant to deliver a wide range of projects aimed at reconnecting communities to the Trent Valley area.

6 The second stage of the project can now begin after an application to HLF for a grant of £2.7million was successful. The total value of the project is £4.7million. Ros Kerslake, Chief Executive of HLF said: “The landscape of the Trent Valley is home to significant archaeological and industrial heritage and wetland habitats, but what was once integral to the working lives of local communities is now hidden from view and difficult to access. We’re delighted that funding from the National Lottery will rejuvenate this historic landscape and will once again see people get up close and personal with the natural heritage that surrounds them.” Julian Woolford, Chief Executive of Staffordshire Wildlife Trust, said: “Our vision for TTTV is to create wildlife-rich waterways and wetlands at the heart of a resilient, accessible, beautiful and culturally rich landscape and in turn a brighter future for people, business and wildlife in the Trent Valley. “We’re delighted the next stage of the bid has been successful, and the funding will allow us to focus on one of Staffordshire and ’s most treasured landscapes. “By working with the communities that live, work and play along the , we hope to build a sustainable landscape that is enjoyed by all and protected for the future.” Garry Jones, Chair of the Partnership, said: "Securing this funding from the National Lottery means that we can start delivering some high quality projects in the landscape and bring positive change to an area that is under significant pressure for housing, road and rail infrastructure. By working together we can achieve more and create a positive outlook for the future." My understanding is that one of the projects being considered is a waymarked trail from Uttoxeter to Rocester and back encompassing both sides of the Dove valley. A further project being considered is a waymarked trail along the length of the Churnet Valley. The Churnet Valley is one of a number of areas being considered for AONB status, which if granted, would give that area greater protection.

Don’t Lose Your Way:The Guide to finding lost rights of way Well over 140,000 miles of public paths criss-cross England and Wales. This network has evolved over centuries with many paths dating back to medieval times - or earlier! These paths link villages, hamlets, roads and towns - they describe how generations before us travelled to the pub, field or shops and reflect the changing patterns of human interaction with the

7 landscape. To this day, millions of people across our towns, cities and countryside, use this fantastic network. However, miles and miles of our public paths will be lost, simply because they are not recorded on the definitive map - the official record of the public’s rights of way in an area. One estimate suggests that 10,000 miles of rights of way are at risk - enough to stretch from London to Sydney. These public rights of way have been created by use over centuries and must be recorded so they can be used and enjoyed by generations to come. If they are not recorded by 1 January 2026, they will be lost for ever. The Ramblers’ Don’t Lose Your Way project is supporting volunteers from all over England and Wales in finding these lost rights of way and making applications to local authorities to get them back on the map. This guide explains how you can start the hunt for lost rights of way in your area. Finding lost rights of way There are three easy ways to start hunting for lost rights of way 1 Explore the old maps: Old maps show what your local area looked like in days past, and often show lost rights of way that may have fallen into disuse, or simply not been recorded on more recent maps. Old maps are available from local and national archives – and often laying in boxes in second hand bookshops. But they can also be found and studied online, so there’s no need to wait or set out on a big expedition. You can get hunting today!

8 Left, Map of Ringmer 1907 Map of Ringmer 2018

Above converting path onto definitive map.

The National Library of Scotland has digitised a range of maps (which cover the whole of the UK) - all of which are georeferenced so you can zoom right into your local area. Just select any of the Ordnance Survey (OS) or Bartholomew maps on the left toolbar and see what roads and paths used to exist where you live. If you find a footpath (ER), bridle road (B.R.) or a road marked on a historic map, but which you can’t see on a current Ordnance Survey map - this might be a lost right of way! There are many other sources of historic maps online, including many which just cover your local area. The Ramblers has created a handy directory of all these sources. 2 Look for clues around you: When out walking you can look for clues which may reveal the traces of historic paths in the landscape. Some clues are: Rows of two hedges (often Hawthorn) which can show that where a bridleway or carriageway might have once run A path which has been “hollowed out” by use over generations Evidence of an old stone surface in a field which may indicate a historical road

9 Cobbles laid in a river which might show the presence of an old ford. It is also worth checking to see that the routes you may use every day are actually on the definitive map. It might sound silly, but there are many routes being used today that still have not been recorded. Only by recording them can we safeguard these routes for the future. A worn stone stile which may indicate an old entranceway and footpath 3 Study the current network of rights of way: Simply by looking at the current rights of way network - on an Ordnance Survey map or on your local definitive map - it is possible to see things that don’t quite make sense, for instance: A right of way that suddenly stops, perhaps at the parish boundary. It is rare that a right of way will be a dead-end, so perhaps

something is missing? (See above) A right of way that doesn’t quite reach the road. Perhaps the road has moved over time but the recording of the right of way hasn’t been adjusted? A parish which has an abundance of rights of way next to a parish with relatively few. Why should there be such a difference? 10 If you would like to get involved in the hunt for lost rights of way in your area or think you have identified a lost right of way, please let us know: [email protected] 4.Byway Open to All traffic All local authorities in England and Wales are required to have one (except inner London boroughs and the Isles of Scilly) The legal record of the rights of way in an area. The definitive map records footpaths, bridleways, restricted byways and byways open to all traffic.

Information derived from the definitive maps is also shown as rights of way on Ordnance Survey maps (always check the definitive map to ensure this is correct and up-to-date!) Local authorities are required to keep and make public a register of applications of proposed changes to the definitive map. Most local authorities have these online.

11 Types of public rights of way Restricted Byway Bridleway Footpath

DISCLAIMER: Please note all images shown here are for illustrative purposes and do not necessarily imply that a public right of way exists.

Ramblers Funding. As an aside it has been questioned on how the Ramblers funds are spent. The Ramblers Annual report for 2017 extends to 48 pages and I must admit that although I am Area Treasurer I find their Accounts baffling as they are not broken down in the way I would expect. If anyone wishes to read the report it can be found on the Charity Commissions website or I can email anyone a copy! The largest source of income is from membership subscriptions. However other income comes from players of The People’s Postcode Lottery and a minimum of 32% of all funds raised from the draws promoted for the Ramblers supports their vital work. Grants are another important source of income which enable the Ramblers to deliver specific projects to promote the benefits of walking to selected audience groups. Additional funds are raised through appeals, raffles and donations. Ramblers members in particular contribute generously to this extra income. Furthermore Gift Aid from the Government on voluntary income is received giving an extra income of 25% at no cost to individual donors. Legacies are hugely important in maximising our charitable impact over the longer term. Other funding sources are: corporate partnerships; advertising; publications; investment income and locally generated income (via our network of Areas and Groups). The majority of expenditure relates directly to delivering the charitable aims at a local and national level. This includes: campaigning work - for example work to secure a continuous coastal path around England; protecting the places where people walk - which includes challenging footpath blockages and carrying out path clearance work; promoting walking - including the health, environmental and social benefits of walking. Money is also spent delivering various grant-funded projects which relate to promoting walking to new audiences. As for all charities, a proportion of the income needs to be spent on generating funds (for example marketing costs), governance (such as holding the

12 annual general meeting) and support costs (which include ICT). These costs are kept to a minimum. It is not easy to separate figures from the way the accounts are presented so I have not attempted to do so. I did try but came to a sticky end! Another question often posed is Group funding and what is it based on. At present each Group is entitled to £95 plus £0.99 for each member it has. However this is not always sufficient and each Group has an option of making an annual budget to account for any expenditure that may exceed the basic amount. In normal circumstances the budget figure is accepted, unless there was an obvious overspending. The only other criteria is that of Group reserves. Normally a Group would be expected to have no more than 40% of its annual expenditure left at the end of the financial year. If a Group has large reserves then their budget may not be allowed in full. In addition should a Group decide on a special project during the year or there is an unseen expense then they can always apply to the Area Treasurer for extra funds to meet that need. Some members consider that all their subscription should go to Groups but for reasons outlined in ‘Why Ramblers’ this would defeat the whole purpose of being a member. Each Group, has sufficient income for its needs. If it received the full membership fee there would be a large excess each year which would not only be a waste of funds but also be against Charity Commission Rules which do not allow a large surplus of income unless it is retained for a specific purpose.

Photographs on Group Walks and GDPR I came across the information below which may be of interest to Groups. Photographs of participating individuals taking part in Ramblers events may be used in Stepout, Group Newsletters, on the website and on social media channels. The Editors/controllers of such publications should make all reasonable efforts to remove such photos from the website or social media channels under their control, if requested to do so by anybody featured in such a photograph against their will. When you are on one of our Walks and you don’t want your mugshot taken, please withdraw well away from the camera. It is suggested that walk leaders are asked to give you a chance to do so whenever a group photo is being taken. If you see someone take a photo of you without your permission, please ask them to delete that photo. Any photo should be removed from any of our websites (including Group websites) as soon as possible, if you ask us to do so.This means referring the request initially to the photograph taker as 13 well as the appropriate webmaster or newsletter editor. Any Group photo submitted to Stepout will be assumed to have been approved via the sender. The Information Commissioner’s Office has said that this approach is a proportionate approach to the privacy issue. Please remember that you should never take photos of children and young people [up to age 18] without explicit parental consent . This should also extend to those adults who may not be in a position to give their informed consent but this is difficult to judge sometimes.

Cannnock Chase AONB Management Plan, (2019-2024). To those using Cannock Chase AONB, the quiet beauty of the area often belies the extensive amount of work going on behind the scenes aimed at maintaining it’s condition for the benefit of all who make use of it. As I’ve mentioned previously Cannock Chase is a small area that receives a very large number of visitors and this shows no sign of altering; in fact visitor numbers are likely to increase further in the future as major sporting events and a significant expansion in local housing move ahead during the coming years. Hence it is impossible to simply wait about for this to happen and risk failing to take action until it is too late to avoid permanent damage to site, and so several measures are ongoing at present to tackle the long term threats to the AONB environment, that should contribute to the stability of the area and keep it from major harm despite the increased use it will receive. Owing to it’s ANOB classification Cannock Chase it obliged to be administered via a ‘Management Plan’ which is reviewed and updated every 5 years. The latest Plan, (2019-2024), focuses on five themes Landscape Character and Planning; Wildlife and Nature; Historic Environment and Culture; Experience and Enjoyment; Communities and Business, and shows the priority objectives that have been identified for each theme and the policies relating to these. Associated with the polices are the planned actions that will be taken to deliver the objective, a list of who will be the key partners in each of these endeavours and also how the Plan’s progress will be monitored. This year the Plan has been modified to make the aims more understandable than they appeared in previous versions, and this has been a significant step towards helping those of us on the ‘periphery’ of the AONB’s wider aims understand how the themes relate to the management of the Chase and to each other. During the previous Management Plan period, (2014-2019), a series of Task and Finish, (T&F), Groups were set up that attempted to bring both key partners and AONB users together to ensure that the 14 actions from the Plan that each group considered delivered a balanced output. Rambler’s representation has been on the Visitor Management T&F group which has involvement in the production of a car parking strategy, the planned improvements for the Special Area of Conservation, (SAC), improved visitor communications and the development of the Visitor Centres amongst others. How this arrangement will function with the new Management Plan remains to be confirmed. The final version of the Plan will be presented to the March Joint Committee meeting, following which any necessary minor modifications will be made before production. The Plan is to be submitted to the Secretary of State by the end of March, to meet the statutory deadline. After which is should be available via the AONB web-site and might be something to have a look at from time to time since it does capture and display much of the supporting activity that most AONB users don’t necessarily appreciate is happening. Dick Turton.

RA Insight Hub Some of you may have heard of the Ramblers Insight Hub. You do need to register to use it, as it is members only, but if you are like me and like looking at figures it is very interesting. It is broken down into 4 sections, Membership, Pathwatch, Volunteering and Walking. Membership is really for Group and Area Membership Secretaries and newsletter Editors as it contains membership details which of course are subject to GDPR and therefore only available to authorised persons. However it is the other categories that are useful. Volunteering and membership give a record of the numbers of volunteers and members and what they do, age breakdown etc. As with all categories there is the option to look at the country as a whole, Areas or individual Groups. In the case of Staffordshire Area of the reports received during the last three years I learnt that our Area has 46 volunteer roles of which 45 are filled using 32 volunteers of which 24 have more than one role. The average tenure is 9.4 years and the average age is 74. The ratio of volunteers to members is 1 in every 72. I haven’t done a comparison with other Areas but that may be a subject to cover in a later Stepout! In terms of membership our Area shows a net loss of 33 over a year. The average age is 65 and the average length of membership is 13 years.

15 For those of you who are interested in figures the breakdown can be shown as Under 20 1 20-29 18 30-39 73 40-49 155 50-59 308 60-69 660 70-79 618 80+ 204 Unknown 574 The next category is walks. The charts show the timetable of past walks so it is easy to see not only which days are the most popular in any given month but the preferred starting times as well. Another feature shows the popularity of areas for walking and a third feature gives popularity by grading. For example 405 members (in the whole country) chose easy walks during the last year, 4090 chose a moderate grade walk and 2316 a leisurely grade. This can be broken down into areas and Groups but only 1 is shown for Staffordshire. This particular category is a more controversial one. To be truly effective it needs dedicated volunteers to input the information. This could be an admin nightmare as any such volunteer is unlikely to be on every walk. Not everyone wants to be recorded and so on. The information, whilst interesting to some in itself, is of great assistance to National Office as it can add substance to any grant application or lobbying to parliament. By quoting actual figures a case is strengthened. It can also be used for recruitment and publicity purposes as it identifies populations to target. To sign up for the Insight Hub is not unduly difficult but it is a separate log in process from the normal log in procedure to the Ramblers main site which is perhaps a disadvantage.

Blocked Path…what you can do. if you come across a blocked path etc what can you do about it? After all if the paths are like this now, what will they be like in a few years time if nothing is done. There are two things really. Firstly, where a path is obstructed by vegetation it is lawful to remove it. Several of our Groups do this as matter of course , individuals can as well. Some of our members do so on a regular basis and it is a great help in keeping the paths open. The main thing though is to report it, preferably directly to the local authority (Staffordshire County Council through their website https://prow.staffordshire.gov.uk). This site gives a map of all paths 16 plus their reference number and the process takes you through the procedure. An alternative is to let your Group, or Area Footpath Officer know, or through Area website, http://www.staffordshireramblers.org/footpathproblems.html. It is tempting to think that with the cuts, nothing will be done. That may be the case, after all, resources are limited. But it is the backlog that is important. If no problems are reported, then come budget time each year, those making the decisions will think that there is no problem and cut even further. On the other hand if they see that there is a long list of problems it shows that there is a need. It may not stop further cuts but certainly it should reduce them and possibly even prevent further cuts. However a time will come when cuts no longer apply and more money becomes available. Like me, many of you will remember what paths were like in the 1960’s. It is not a situation that we would like to see repeated.

Chair’s Report As I have only been Area Chair for a very short time this report will inevitably be brief. First and foremost I would like to thank George on behalf of the Area’s membership for his excellent work as Chairman over many years. I am really pleased that he has agreed to take up the post of Vice Chairman to provide support and ensure a smooth transition. I would also like to thank Graham Evans, Harry Scott and others for the advice and support they have given over the last few months. It is much appreciated. I would like to reassure anyone who is considering becoming a future Area Chair that there many Members who give constructive advice and support. In addition Central Office is very responsive and proactive when approached with a whole range of queries. You will not be alone and will learn a lot. It is positive that we continue to have Public Rights of Way Stakeholder meetings with Staffordshire County Council but news about the large budget cuts is disappointing. This means the work of our local path maintenance teams is more vital than ever. One bright thing on the horizon is the proposal that the Churnet Valley become an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. As an Area we now need to work on how best to support this proposal in partnership with other interested organisations. Finally I would like to thank everyone who has completed their ‘Volunteer Check-in’ details If you have not yet ‘checked in’ please try to do so as soon as possible by going to the Volunteer Zone on the national web site. Recording volunteer activity in this way gives

17 Ramblers a full picture of the varied and impressive amount of work carried out by all our volunteers. Judith Rose, Area Chair

Around the Groups

South Staffs District There have been very few changes to the footpath network in South Staffs District over the last year - three extinguishments and one diversion. Footpath No. 26 which crosses the main railway line in Great Wyrkey has been closed for safety reasons and Footpaths Nos. IR 2231/238 and 22B have been closed as they were in the grounds of a school. There are alternative paths close by. The Diversion of Footpath No. 24 in Bobbington Parish by Halfpenny Green Vineyard was confirmed by an Inspector in March. The path now diverts around the field edges. I have received a record number of Planning Applications over the last year, a total of 40 and most of these are seeking permission for house building. It is alarming to note how much Green Belt land is being lost to housing development since the Government relaxed the Planning Laws again, and old farm buildings are being converted to houses. This is bad news for things like bats, owls and swallows. I have submitted a number of complaints to the County Council, mainly concerning broken stiles and damaged footbridges. Early last year David sustained a serious injury while walking along a public footpath in a field in Naughton Parish. He was engaged in footpath clearance at the time. Unfortunately he was attacked by a farmer's ram that was in with a flock of ewes. His knee was crushed and he needed several operations to enable him to walk but has not fully recovered to his previous fitness. This has been a life changing event for both of us and walkers who walk alone or with a group should realise that this could happen to them and ensure that they have personal injury insurance. It is only bulls that come under footpath law and other farm animals are not included in the Dangerous Animals Act of 1971 even though they can be just as dangerous. David was very disappointed that his injury was not referred to in the Mid Staffs annual report, especially as he has been a RA member for 50 years and carried out over 360 days of strenuous footpath work to the benefit of everyone. He has now resigned from the work. The developer of the new homes in Penkridge has made an excellent job of creating a new footpath along the old railway track

18 which has links into the canal towpath to create two circular walks that are proving very popular. The decision to approve the proposed Rail Freight Interchange at Four Ashes between Galley and the M6 rests with the Secretary of State for Transport. An Inspector will now consider the application and Preliminary Hearing has now commenced on 27th and 28th February. A decision is expected by August 2019. There are many objections to this including from the District Council as it would swallow up a huge area of Green Belt Land and subject this area to greatly increased heavy diesel traffic. Marjorie Cashmore,South Staffs District Footpath Secretary

Biddulph Group Writing an interim report can sometimes be difficult if there have been relatively few developments since the previous one and the A.G.M. I am able, however, to report on our current position and identify some changes. Regretfully, our much respected Webmaster of many years, Eric Barker, needed to step down mid-year. We were all immensely proud of the unique site which he created but our new Webmaster, Roger Whatley, found its operation far too complex and needed to begin again from “scratch”. We owe tremendous thanks to Charlie Bigley from Stoke and Newcastle Ramblers for all the work he did in helping to set up the new site. This is more akin to the national one but we have, thankfully, been able to retain some key features which we were concerned about losing particularly our walks archive and the photographic records of walks and holidays. Importantly, Roger is now able to maintain the site without difficulty. We average about 12 walks each month. The most popular walking day is, as it always has been, Wednesday. Alternating between medium and short walks we can attract up to 30 walkers on that day. The monthly pub walk day is always very popular as members enjoy the additional social time as well as the meal. We moved our Christmas meal to having a late afternoon spring walk followed by an evening meal. This was so successful that we plan repeating it again in 2019. Apart from Wednesdays we have a rotating pattern of Thursday, Saturday and Sunday walks which tend to be longer and more challenging. As our members and leaders have grown older both the length and grade of walks has been steadily decreasing leaving the least popular walks the Sunday long ones. Like other groups, we have struggled to find leaders, but always seem to just manage to fill all the walk slots. We have recently been heartened that a small number of new leaders have come forward 19 recently several of whom are lady members. Our summer evening programme, which is our contribution to the annual Biddulph Festival has once again been a tremendous success attracting a number of the general public. Most of them work but support our regular activities, including our social events, where they can. We are now announcing all walks on the Facebook Biddulph Community page which seems to be having some success. This was particularly apparent on New Year’s Day when a short walk, open to all, attracted 24 people, many of whom were walking with us for the first time. Our membership remains stable with a very slight increase from this time last year. We are pleased about this given that there are a number of other active walking groups in Biddulph. The committee too is stable with all posts filled and we are pleased to welcome a very enthusiastic Environment officer to complete the team. This post has been vacant for very many years. We are indebted to the work done by the social sub-committee in organising events beyond our walks programme. This year we look forward to 2 weekend breaks - to London and Ross on Wye with a longer mid-week break in Yorkshire, coach rambles to Shrewsbury and Llangollen, a theatre visit, spring evening walk and meal and two social evenings. Our winter social features a local social history talk from one of our members, an accomplished history writer and speaker. The summer social evening also has a speaker with a talk about remedies used pre N.H.S. Both will have a hot supper as part of the evening. November 2019 sees us hosting the Area A.G.M. and a planning team are actively preparing for the event. There will, of course, be more details in the autumn issue of STEP and we look forward to welcoming fellow Ramblers to the event. Linda Drakeford

Mid Staffs Report After many years of dedicated service to the Ramblers, David and Marjorie Cashmore have now retired from their footpath clearance work. They have been RA members for over 50 years with David attending his first General Council for the North Staffs and South Cheshire Area in 1971 and in recent years, together with Marjorie, five General Councils for the Area. David was Area Treasurer for three years and Group Treasurer for seven years. Marjorie was Area Countryside Secretary and District Footpath Secretary for South Staffs for fourteen years, receiving all planning applications that could affect public Rights of Way. She was on the Mid Staffs Committee dealing with Publicity, Countryside, Access and Footpaths. I am sure that all 20 of the Mid Staffs members, past and present, would like to thank David and Marjorie for the sterling work they have carried out in their endeavours to protect our Rights of Way. It is unfortunate that, during some footpath clearance work last year, David was seriously injured. We all send our very best wishes to him for a good recovery. On the same theme, we thank a new member, Margaret Pritchard, for taking on the role of Footpath Secretary. Marjorie will be a hard act to follow but I am sure Margaret will give it her best shot and has already started to monitor footpaths in three different local areas. We also have new walks' organisers; Steve Craddock and Suzanne Jackson will be in charge of collating the Sunday walks' programme and Nick Gray has taken on the role of -collating the Wednesday walks' programme from Carole Pattinson. Thanks to all of them for volunteering. This year there will be two coach rambles; a joint one with the Wolverhampton Group in May to the Lake District and a Mid Staffs coach ramble in July to Castleton in the Peak District. A weekend to Skipton is to take place in May, organised by Sally and Gerald and another weekend in September to Keswick, organised by Nicky. Carole's holiday to Beddgelert is virtually full and will take place in October. On the whole, numbers on walks is very promising with a steady flow of new members. There has been a map reading day recently organised by Mike Birch to help novice leaders. We have a full weekly programme organised to the summer and thank all walks' leaders for volunteering to lead walks. Angela Spencer, Chair

Sandwell Group After a quiet year in 2018, the coming year will be one of change and challenge for us as we continue to modernise and create a contemporary walking group aimed at all ages and abilities. We have started to dip our toes into the world of social media and are organising several trips away, including a walking holiday to the Spanish island of Menorca with our own leaders. We are also significantly improving our social side with many new events. In January we launched on the social media site Meetup, which is for those looking to make the most of their leisure time and to get together with like-minded people. The result so far has been very encouraging. Like many groups, our membership was ageing and declining in numbers. 2019 has seen that go into reverse with a 10% increase in membership already and an almost doubling of our walk attendances, which have been as high as 42 this year. We have 21 improved our age profile on walks and are now attracting significant numbers under the age of 50, which is a huge positive and brings a fresh energy to the group. This kind of growth brings its own challenges of course. Like many groups, we have a shortage of walk leaders which restricts how many walks we can put on for our growing membership and we also struggle to get our existing members involved in committee work. We also need to think very carefully now about car parking at the beginning of walks and leading such large groups requires higher levels of care, skill and experience. We will need to address this with walk leader and navigation skills training. However, as a committee, we are all looking forward to the challenges of what we hope will be a transformative year as we attempt to sustain this forward momentum. Paul Kortz, Chair. Sandwell Ramblers.

Stone Group Winter will be well and truly over by the time you read this report, we had glimpses of Spring sunshine really early in the season with record temperatures recorded. The state of the weather is so important to an enjoyable days walking. Despite all the hi tech equipment available today it's so much nicer to end the walk in dry conditions. Throughout the winter Stone Group members have provided walks of varying lengths, along Edges, Ways, Trails,Tors and Mountains, via Moors, Loops, Dales, Hills and Valleys. They've been circular and linear and led us along rivers and canals to reach Water Parks and Lakes. The commitment of leaders is appreciated by all who walk. Special thanks to the people who compile the program, John, Gerald and Pam. The Ramblers holiday to Portugal in October proved a success. New ideas are always welcome. Visits to Fordhall Organic Farm and a snowdrop walk to Rode Hall were organised. Coffee and lunches in the cafes gave a good opportunity for people to catch up on gossip. The skittles evening and buffet in November was well supported and enjoyable. This year the New Year Lunch took place on a Saturday . The venue was local, a short walk led by Terry preceded lunch. However the lunch proved more popular than the walk, more of a luncheon club that day. The AGM in November was well attended. The speaker gave information about the work of the Friends of the Peak District. An area in which we regularly walk. Members did well at ‘ spot the location’ with the slides used in the presentation. It was good to hear about the 22 hard work that goes on to protect one of our National Parks. Walking for Health has met throughout the Winter and offered an interesting variety of short walks to encourage people to improve their fitness or regain health after illness and operation. The Working Party remain active around Stone, supporting the council to keep our footpaths,stiles and gates in good working order. The days are lengthening Spring flowers have bloomed, enjoy your Summer walking program. Carol Skelton

Wolverhampton Report Our new walks programme started in January. Many of the walks had very large groups of members and a few non-members who later joined Ramblers. This was no doubt encouraged by the unexpected fine, sunny weather during part of January and most of February. Now March is here with wind and rain which can be discouraging. We must thank our walk leaders who willingly turn out to take members on a wide variety of rambles whatever the weather. All leaders are volunteers and give freely of their time planning walks in great detail, so do support and encourage them. New walk leaders are always welcome. We continue to have joint events with other Groups. There will be the annual Lake District coach ramble in May organised jointly with the Mid-Staffs group. Members of the Sandwell group have also joined us to help fill all the seats on the coach. There is another coach ramble scheduled to Castleton in North Derbyshire. Thanks to Mid-Staffs group for organising this. It is sharing the cost of the coach with other groups that has made these enjoyable trips possible. There has been a suggestion that perhaps the Staffordshire Area could help groups ‘advertise’ vacancies on coaches and holidays by developing a central system maybe through the Area website or some other means. Judith Rose

Contact details At the time of writing the new data protection law (GDPR) is in force and until we know the full implications of what details can be published without permission ( I give myself permission to publish my details!) in respect of individuals the normal contact list is currently suspended so that we do not fall foul of any legislation.

23

National Office The Ramblers Association, 2nd Floor, Camelford House, 87–90 Albert Embankment, London, SE1 7TW. Tel 020 7339 8500

Stepout Editor Peter Matthews,1 Barbrook Avenue, Longton, Stoke on Trent, ST3 5UG. [email protected] Tel 01782 336556

Area Website http://www.staffordshireramblers.org/

National Office Website http://www.ramblers.org.uk/

Ramblers Routes Want to find a walk, then try the Rambers routes,then try http://www.ramblers.org.uk/go-walking/routes-and-places-to- walk/about-ramblers-routes.aspx

Next Issue Will be published mid October. Contributions please by 15th September.

And Finally If you do change your address please let our Membership Secretary know, not the Editor as he does not have the membership list.

24