FARNHAM RAMBLERS....NEWSLETTER 62....SPRING 2014
Hello everyone - Our very wet winter has been followed by an even wetter spring not the best walking weather!!! But our walks continue apace ....
.... but not perhaps over Bishops Meadow on Christmas Eve. John Hemsley, Chairman Walk Leaders and Training Thanks to our walk leaders for their continuing support and particularly new leaders Dennis Barker, Neil Clements, Jenny Colquhoun, Mo Cregan, and Ann Watson - we all need you!!. The walks programme would not happen without you! We are encouraging leaders and prospective leaders to go on a Walk Leaders Training Course. One was run locally in September last year and a second in January 2014. Both highly successful. Based on the reports I have received, these courses were much enjoyed and are found very useful. Surrey Area are running the next course on Saturday 29th. March - see details below.
New ‘RingGo’ System for National Trust Car Parks The National Trust have introduced a new cashless parking system at some of their car parks that we occasionally use for our walks. Car parks affected include the Devil’s Punchbowl Café at Hindhead, Harting Down, and Ranmore Common (also known as Denbies Hillside). We understand that ‘pay and display’ machines are still available at Hindhead and Ranmore, but that at Harting Down payment must be made via RingGo, either by phone or on-line using a debit or credit card. The simplest way round this is to ensure that one person in your car takes their National Trust member card, as parking is still free for NT members!.
Our WEBSITE As you know the new Farnham and District Ramblers website went live last year www.farnhamramblers.org.uk. It shows all our walks available in many formats. If you click on a given walk, further details appear including a map to the car park. There is a Home Page Notice Board and moving banner which will immediately show changes to or cancellation of walks or other urgent items. There is a members only area which requires a user name of SR03 and, from January 2014, a NEW PASSWORD which is FR2014 ( for Farnham Ramblers and the year hopefully easy to remember ). This will give you access to social events, walk leader phone numbers etc. A section of the website shows pictures and news items linked to our walks and social programme. So if you have one or two good pictures linked to the activities of the Group that you’d like to display, please email them, with some text / captions to our Publicity Officer, Mike Desborough, on [email protected] or to our web master, John Cregan on [email protected]
COMING UP
Our Spring Social - Saturday March 8th. We meet in South Farnham Middle School for a prompt 7.00 pm start. Graham Parlett who will talk about the Geology of where we walk around Farnham - so a date for your diary. Why is it called the Greensand Way, what is the Weald and how was it formed, how old are the Caesar's Camp gravels, how was the Devil's Punch Bowl formed etc. All the questions you want to ask on a walk but usually don't get an answer. Graham is a Rambler and runs the Geology classes at the U3A. This is a free evening but please bring a plate of food and your own plates and cutlery as usual. Drinks and glasses will be available. Any raffle prizes will be gratefully received.
Walk Leaders Training Course - Saturday 29th. March. Surrey Ramblers now have several venues for these courses. For 2014, there will be a course in Croydon on 29 March, If you need details or wish to attend, please contact Peter Roud on 020 8689 2622 or 07969 988493 or email [email protected]. To help organise these courses, we have set up an application form on the Surrey Area website. In addition, there are 2 courses at Wotton on 29 April and 23 September, and we, here in Farnham, are running one in late October. We are encouraging anyone who leads walks or is interested in doing so to attend the courses. Many have said how helpful and interesting the courses are. Please check on the Surrey website for the application form and up to date course information. ( Surrey Area members pages- ID: Surrey, password: boots42 ). Email Sue Ford if you need more information on [email protected]
Saturday Special - 5th. April - Richmond Park Liz Witham is planning a Saturday Special in Richmond Park on April 5th. The idea is to share cars, starting at 9am, from her house. Then drive to Pembroke Lodge, Richmond Park. Inside Richmond gate, turn right at mini roundabout and car park is 400 yards on the right. Grid ref: TQ 187 728. The 7 mile walk will start from Pembroke Lodge at 10.15am, led by Denis Barker. Bring lunch. 1 steep descent and gradual ascents, via Isabella Plantation, Roehampton gate, Richmond Terrace and King Henry’s Mound. Good views. Denis’ mobile: 07 901 838 348 No need to book. But ring Liz on 01252 721087 to organise cars.
'Get Walking Week' This year we start with Dave Gibbs' walk on 4th. May and end with Linda Rowland's walk on 10th. May. Everyone is welcome - non members, friends, neighbours etc. So invite someone to join you on a walk and have a great time. This is a real opportunity to help others experience the pleasure of enjoying walking in our beautiful countryside and possibly joining Farnham Ramblers!
Coach trip to Stourhead - Saturday 7th. June - booking required. Alan Keeley is organising a trip to the National Trust site of Stourhead near Mere in Wiltshire. Pick up time 0830 Farnham Golf Course Car Park on Folly Hill GR SU 838475. (Please share cars to use as few places as possible in the car park ). Bring NT cards to gain free entry. Return 19.00 Estimate.
Walk 1. 9 miles - with just time left to visit garden or house or pub!! Walk 2. 3 miles - with just time to visit both house and garden. Other walks are possible within the grounds.
Cost £12 per person- please make cheques payable to Farnham Ramblers and write name and contact telephone number on the back. This is to cover the cost of the coach. Please send cheques to Alan Keeley, 58 Middle Bourne Lane, Farnham, Surrey GU10 3NJ Any questions phone Alan on 01 252 723694
Spring Holiday 2014 - Isle of Man - bookings have been made. This will be at the ISLE OF MAN WALKING FESTIVAL which runs from Sunday 11th May to Friday 17th May 2014. We would arrive on Sunday 11th and leave on Saturday 18th. The festival comprise of 5 walks on Monday (4 to 8 miles), 5 walks on Tuesday (4 to 13 miles), 6 walks on Wednesday (4 to 11 miles), 6 walks on Thursday (4 to 10 miles) and 5 walks on Friday (5 to 9 miles) and some 10th. Anniversary Special Events. There is also the Coastal Path Walk over 5 days of a total distance of 95 miles, the Millennium Way over 2 days of a total distance of 24 miles and the Herring Way, a 15.5 mile walk in a day. All of these are for experienced walkers only. During the week, there are numerous social events including a Walkers dinner every evening, Manx dancing, a Male Voice choir, Oompah Band and others. The COST OF THE HOLIDAY in £s will be - by sea from Heysham as a walk-on passenger 520 per person based on 2 sharing a room by sea from Heysham with car, driver and 1 passenger 580 per person based on 2 sharing a room ( Total cost for car and 2 people 1160 + extra people as walk-on passengers ) by air from Gatwick 596 per person All the above prices are plus £84 for a SINGLE room supplement if appropriate The price includes the walking festival package, travel ( see booking form ), Dinner, Bed and Breakfast in a 3 star hotel, all chosen walks and social events, unlimited travel on all forms of transport on the island, welcome evening and supper, timetables and a local map. Bookings have already been made but if you are interested, please contact Dudley Elsmore, our organizer, on 01 252 311864.
Autumn Holiday 2014 - Yorkshire Pennines - Booking NOW Liz Witham has booked a holiday based at Hebden Bridge in the south Yorkshire Pennines for Sunday 21st. September 2014 to Sunday 28th. This is a seven night holiday, walking around Calderdale and on the South Yorkshire Moors. It is planned that there are options of 3 walks per day - short 3-4 miles, medium 6 and long 9 to 10 depending on the terrain. Wednesday is planned as a rest day!. On Sunday afternoon, when we arrive, Liz is planning a short town trail.
We shall stay at the White Lion Inn in the centre of Hebden Bridge and it can be viewed at www.Whitelionhotel.net. In addition, if numbers are high, Liz has arranged some other B&B accommodation nearby. We plan to all meet at the White Lion for a 3 course dinner each night. Town centre parking is free in the evenings. See booking form and further details below or contact Liz on [email protected] for more information. If any one venue is overbooked, a ballot will take place.
Spring Holiday 2015 in East Kent: 26th April - 1st May 2015 - advance notice This is a five night holiday in East Kent in spring 2015. Accommodation will be in Canterbury, at the Abbots Barton Hotel. If you come, you will be walking in the Garden of England, with its delightful countryside, coastal paths and local cider. More information and booking form in a future newsletter. Meanwhile, contact Tim Devis at [email protected] for further details.
WERE YOU THERE ?
Our AGM and Social Evening - Saturday 16th. November. Some 80 members met in South Farnham Middle School. Liz Witham and Elaine Turnbull stood down from the committee and were thanked for all their efforts on our behalf. Both had been stalwarts for some years and both were in multiple roles on the committee. Liz was Chairman, where among other things she started up the Friday walk programme which is now a great success and latterly helping with recruitment. Her expertise at organising holidays is legendary!! Her advice has always been a great help to me as current Chairman. Elaine held a term on the committee and took over as Secretary and then returned to the role again to help when other plans fell through. She always kept me ( or tried to keep me ) under control and has been an inspiration in organising our raffles and wheedling money for tickets out of all of us.. They both have worked very hard on our behalf and I wish to acknowledge their significant contribution to the success of our Ramblers Group over the years. Thank you both very much. Geoff Scott was elected as secretary. All other committee members were voted back into office. David Ross gave a very interesting and informative presentation - 'Footpaths - Protecting where we walk'. This ranged from definitions of the various types of paths, who owns what, who is responsible for what and ended with what we as walkers can and should do to help protect and develop our paths.
Christmas Lunches
The 5 lunches were all well attended and, from the rumours that filtered back to me, very well enjoyed by all - certainly the two which I attended were great. The lunches started with the Wednesday Short Walk on 11th. December at Forest Lodge Garden Centre. Followed on the 19th. December with both the Thursday Short Walk and Thursday Long Walkers having theirs on the same day. The last one in December, on the 20th., was Friday Walkers Xmas lunch at the Water Witch, Odiham. The Wednesday Longer Walks had theirs after Christmas on 15th. January. Thank you Anne, Janet, Liz, Sarah and Tim for organising them. Thursday long walkers' Christmas lunch at the Rose & Crown, Upper Farringdon Farnham Ramblers' Festival of Winter Walks as success despite the weather. The weather gods tried to throw cold water on Farnham Ramblers' Festival of Winter Walks which took place from 21st. December to 5th. January – but they failed to dampen their enthusiasm for country walking and good camaraderie. The south-east of England suffered some of the wettest and stormiest weather on record this Christmas that saw trees blown down. Roads and paths were flooded and fields turned into lakes or quagmires. Despite all this, over 200 people joined Farnham Ramblers' annual Festival of Winter Walks. Seventeen walks over the Christmas / New Year break explored some of Swans take to the road, making the best of an overfull pond the finest countryside in the Farnham area. near Lydling Farm in Shackleford on a Sunday walk
Walk leaders were sometimes forced to improvise when they found their planned routes impassable, but they always managed to find a safe path around the obstacles.
A popular ramble, despite a very wet and windy day, was called the 'Bah/Bar Humbug Walk'. With stops at some of the fine hostelries along the Bourne stream in south Farnham and free humbugs for every walker, this was an excellent way to avoid the last minute Christmas shopping frenzy.
Walk Leader Training Course - January 11th. This very successful course was held in Farnham. The morning session consisted of discussions and talks about Leading a Walk, Map Reading and Orienteering. After lunch small groups were led around Farnham Park to put the theories into practice. There should have 15 attendees of which 1 was from Surrey Heath, 3 from Woking and the remainder from Farnham. Unfortunately there was 1 no show.
Classroom Break Practical Exercise in Farnham Park
Thank you Sue Ford, Alan Keeley and Gerald Turner for running these courses. I strongly encourage Walk Leaders to attend this course. Surrey Area will be running other courses - the first on March 29th. - see details above. We will be running another in Farnham in late October. If you are interested in the latter, please contact Sue Ford on [email protected]
Surrey Area AGM 8 February 2014 The Area AGM was held in East Horsley Village Hall and the guest speaker was Christine Grant, Director of Services for the Ramblers Association. About 120 members attended. Hosts, Mole Valley, organised a wet muddy ( what a surprise! ) 6 mile pre meeting walk. Lynette Long ( Croydon ) was voted in to replace John Nathan as Area Chairman. Thanks to John Nathan for his tireless dedication to the Ramblers and for his support to Farnham. See the AGM reports and other officer appointments on the Area website - members area ID: Surrey, password: boots42. Lynette Long, David Ross and Mike Ellis both from Farnham were appointed to represent Area at the General Council Meeting in March. Christine Grant is new to Ramblers and she explained that the charity is mid way through a restructuring of its organisation. She emphasised the mission - Protect the ability of people to enjoy the sense of freedom & benefits that come from being outdoors on foot, Promoting walking and Protecting and expanding where we can walk. She also said that there would be greater focus on our aims - one such being merchandising.
Footpath Maintenance. Our series of maintenance working days are held on the Third Tuesday each month starting in 2014 on March 18th with the last one on October 21st. These eight working days make a real difference to the quality of our paths and the enjoyment of our walks. Thank you, John Plympton, for organising them in 2013 and to Mary Stuart-Jones for support in the planning, management and occasional first aid. Another good year of volunteer work.
If you can help on these Tuesdays, or need further information, please contact John Plympton on 01 252 725661 or 07939 601174. More work ahead In addition, we welcome our five new fully trained Footpath Wardens - Susie Duffy for Frensham, Mo Cregan for Peper Harow, Jill Cross for Ash, Pam Taylor for Dockenfield and Alan Bird for Pirbright. We now have nineteen Footpath Wardens all trained by Surrey County Council covering Parishes from Pirbright in the north to Thursley in the south with four covering the non parished areas of Farnham, Badshot Lea, Wrecclesham and Hale.
50th. Anniversary Badge
We still have a small number of this badge available If you would like one, please contact Geoff Hooker [email protected] or 01252 713752. Cost £5 each. Size 9 cm
Ramblers Worldwide Holiday, The Walking Partnership or HF Holidays. Just a reminder that every time one of us makes a booking with Ramblers Worldwide Holidays or HF Holidays, we should nominate Farnham Ramblers. As long as this nomination is made before the holiday takes place, then Farnham Ramblers or Ramblers Central Office will receive a payment. If you would like more information or would like to contact Ramblers Worldwide Holidays to nominate Farnham Ramblers, then please contact them on [email protected] telephone 01 707 331133. This is a useful revenue stream for us and costs you nothing. So please nominate Farnham Ramblers when you book a holiday.
Autumn Holiday 2014 to Hebden Bridge, West Yorks, th Sun 21st-Sun 28 September. Please book by Saturday 5th April. This is a seven night holiday, walking around Hebden Bridge in Calderdale and on the South Yorkshire Moors. We shall stay at the White Lion Inn in the centre of Hebden Bridge and it can be viewed at www.Whitelionhotel.net. The hotel can accommodate 18: 7 double and 2 twin rooms and has only a small car park, so no big cars please. Cost £440 pp. I have found some other B&B accommodation nearby, and we would all meet at the White Lion for a 3 course dinner each night. Town centre parking is free in the evenings. B&B details:
Kersal House, 5 minutes walk away, has 2 double/twin en-suite. Cost double £352.50 pp, single £415. The Hare and Hounds Inn, 1 mile drive away with lovely views, has 1 twin and 4 single (or small doubles) and a big car park. Single £435 pp. Share £365 pp. Robin Hood Inn, 2 miles away with good views, has 4 doubles and a big car park. Cost £345pp.
There will be 5 days of three walks of 9/10 miles, 6 miles and 3/4 miles, and a rest day mid- week. My daughter Kate, who lives there, is planning the walks, but I would like some volunteers to lead them. On Sunday afternoon, when we arrive, I can take you on a short town trail. There are shops nearby for buying packed lunches. I shall try to fit everyone in, but it would help if you could give me your 2nd choice of accommodation when you book. The cost (which includes B&B&dinner, £10 for tips and £5 for admin) per person: White Lion : £440pp Kersal House: £352.50 pp sharing, £415 single Hare and Hounds: £365 pp sharing, £435 single Robin Hood: £345 pp sharing
Please cut off and send booking form and non-returnable deposit of £50, by 5th April, to the organiser: Liz Witham, 31 St Johns Rd, Farnham, GU9 8NU.
Cheques payable to “Ramblers Association, Farnham Group” ******************************************************************************** Booking form for Hebden Bridge
Name(s)...... Telephone...... Address
I enclose a cheque of £50 per person.
I/we would like a DOUBLE / TWIN/ SINGLE room, at 1st choice= 2nd choice= I would like a lift if possible. I would be willing to give a lift, and can take ...... people.