2018 Annual Report Ramblers Area October 2017- End September 2018 gloucestershireramblers.org.uk [email protected] Some highlights of the year

th Forest of Dean Ramblers 40 Anniversary Walking Together at Kings Stanley Over 40 years ago Gloucestershire Ramblers On Saturday 15th September, Groups and members began setting up local Groups within affiliated Clubs from Gloucestershire Ramblers the Area to make it easier to look after paths. Area got together to lead a series of walks.

Cirencester was the first Group in 1974. BBC Radio Gloucestershire carried a piece the Forest of Dean Ramblers began on 27th Sept week before and some 60 walkers joined in, 1978. Saturday 22nd September 2018 saw 70 25% new to Ramblers. The 3-11 mile walks current & former members meet at Yorkley took in the Stroudwater Canal, Selsley Art & Community Centre to celebrate 40 years, with Crafts Church, Coaley Peak, venturing as far a nostalgic walk in the forest. as Frampton on Severn.

Present were Robin Warren, his wife Susan Group hosted the event, organising and also Ray Short, the Founder Chairman, welcome tea, coffee and cake. Gloucestershire Secretary, and Treasurer. (Obligatory 70’s County Council Footpaths team arrived in the photo below.) The day concluded with the afternoon & Peter Carr, our local (Shropshire) cutting of a suitably iced celebratory cake Ramblers Trustee rounded up the day.

2017/2018 A year of building Bridges? A417 Missing Link – Air Balloon The Ramblers year opened with news from In March, Highways opened a non- Forest of Dean about the footpath crossing statutory consultation on a dual carriageway the Stowfield Viaduct or Black Bridge at between Cowley roundabout and Brockworth Lydbrook. Bypass. They had discounted 3 tunnel options

on a shortlist of 5. This left their preferred Used by over 20,000 walkers a year as part option 30 and an option 12 with a tight bend. of the 136 mile Wye Valley Walk, the bridge Both are surface routes and demolish the Air had been closed on safety grounds in 2016. Balloon pub with a 100ft deep cutting. Option Gloucestershire & Herefordshire Councils 30 adds a link road from behind Shab Hill to carried out a feasibility study this year Barrow Wake crossing 2 public rights of way. leading to the Wye Valley AONB applying for All of the tunnel options kept the Air Balloon lottery funding to repair the bridge. site and had no link road. The application wasn’t successful at this time. However we’re grateful that, in order This part of the AONB is a well known meeting to give safe passage under the bridge, the place for the Cotswold Way and Gloucestershire two Councils decided to board the bridge Way. Ever since the Birdlip bypass was opened, surface. This created a temporary walkway, ramblers have been campaigning (& protesting and was reopened to walkers at the end of outside the Air Balloon) to get through traffic September. off local roads, preferably with a tunnel.

Many Groups raise funds through creating We responded objecting to both options but if books of walks. Sales of North Cotswold Option30 was chosen, we could work with them Group’s Diamond Way meant they were able to minimise its impact. (Maybe head below the to finance replacement of a footbridge on pub car park & delete the link road.) Funding is the Diamond Way at Bleddington, which was allocated so they’re considering next steps but kindly installed by the Cotswold Wardens. hope to start in 2020 and complete by 2024. The Ramblers' Association (Ramblers) is a registered charity (England & Wales no 1093577, Scotland no SC039799) and a company limited by guarantee, registered in England & Wales (no 4458492). Registered office: 2nd floor, Camelford House, 87-90 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TW Tel: +44 (0)20 3961 3300. Our privacy policy is at ramblers.org.uk/technical-stuff/privacy-policy GR Annual Report to end Sept 2018 draft 2/8

2018 AGM Norton Village Hall

Saturday 13 January 2018 saw members from across Gloucestershire meet at Norton Village Hall for the 2017 Annual General Meeting. Gloucester Group kindly hosted the event and Kate Ashbrook attended as Ramblers Vice Chair. Peter Hillier of GWG gave a short talk on the 20- 30s sub Group and Martin Thornley of Cleeve Group demonstrated the use of the County Council on line Public Rights of Way map. Derek Hughes, Gloucester Group Chair led an after lunch walk to Norton and Wainlode. Following Area and Group AGMs, the table below lists the members able to take part in the meetings of Gloucestershire Ramblers Area Council.

Honorary (elected) Area Officers Group Representatives to Area Chair Bernard Gill John Bookwood Phil Gearing Vice Chair Vacant Forest of Dean Vacant Secretary Vacant South Cotswold Richard Davis Penny Fernando Minutes Secretary Geoff Smithdale Gloucester Derek Hughes Dave Sanderson Treasurer Gwen Chaney Cleeve Brian Payne Gerard O’Driscoll Footpath Secretary Richard Holmes North Cotswold Sue Salmon Membership Gwen Chaney Gloucestershire Vacant Secretary Walking Group Area Walks Susanne Zamze Affiliated Organisation Representatives Individual members Cotswold Rambling Club Geoff Smithdale Lorraine Hedges Gloucestershire Mountaineering Club Sue Stirrups Mark Roberts Rambling Club Penny Fernando Group Chairs and Secretaries are assumed as contact if no Group representative is available. The Chair has covered at times for vacant posts.

In April Gwen Chaney, and myself as Delegates, together with Pete Hillier and Mark Roberts as Visitors, attended Ramblers General Council in Bangor. We all found it quite productive and fed back information gleaned to subsequent meetings. The Area Chair role involves taking an overview, continually taking feedback from other Area Officers, Group Officers, Members as well as views from other bodies and walkers. Trying to separate opinion and fact can sometimes be tricky especially where opinions are strongly held! However we seem to have come through the year having achieved a lot as the front page and subsequent pages show. Please come along to one of our meetings if you’re interested in what we do. Many thanks go to all members for supporting Ramblers & especially to those who give their time to help us achieve our aims. Bernard Gill, GR Area Chair

GLOUCESTERSHIRE AREA MEMBERSHIP REPORT Membership in Gloucestershire has continued its steady decline roughly in line with national figures. The reason for this is not fully clear, but reversing the trend is seen as a priority for the Ramblers. Investment is going into new computer systems and new staff. Membership figures over the last 12 months are shown below To end of 30/09/2017 31/12/2017 31/03/2018 30/06/2018 30/09/2018 Year % Cirencester 196 193 194 189 192 -2 Forest of Dean 207 207 203 206 205 -1 South Cotswold 396 396 402 392 388 -2 Gloucester 223 224 218 217 210 -6 Cleeve 300 298 296 284 280 -7 North Cotswold 101 102 99 102 100 -1 GWG 126 130 133 132 127 0 Glos Area only 70 68 79 87 82 +17 Glos Area Total 1618 1614 1623 1609 1586 -2 GB Total 104,694 104,617 104,022 103,605 102,514 -2 The year on year percentage change reflects the 2% decline nationally. Bear in mind that Members join an Area and up to one Group. There is a significant increase in members only joining the Area and who may subsequently choose to join a Group.

Membership secretaries have been coping with the challenge of the implementation of the th General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) which came into force on May 25 2018 and which, for some, has led to an increase in the workload involved in mailing out newsletters. Gwen Chaney, GR Area Membership Secretary GR Annual Report to end Sept 2018 draft 3/8

Gloucestershire Ramblers Area Footpath Annual Report

Across the County are Ramblers who monitor the 3,500 miles of known public rights of way in Gloucestershire. Each Group has a Footpath Secretary who co-ordinates the reports of obstructions, follows up on landowner requests to divert paths and liaises with staff from GCC. Volunteers also undertake practical work, either as individuals or as teams. This includes working on specific problems, checking routes, clearing overgrown paths and stiles and putting up way marks. Over the past year more than 130 problems have been followed up with site visits and further action. More than one third have now been resolved but many problems remain as long term issues. Ramblers are included in the planning process for the diversion and extinguishment of public rights of way. Generally we would not support the closure of routes and often we are approached before a formal application is made. Recently we received a request for a closure (stopping up is the correct term) of a path which runs through the middle of a small lake in . The lake, now used for fishing, was created through gravel extraction in the 1960s. An alternative route is open, well used and is designated as a public footpath. It is thought that the line on the map through the lake is an oversight but nevertheless there is a process to be followed before it can be closed. Several members of the local footpath committee have visited the site and there will be a further investigation before a final decision is reached. Luckily this involves a co-operative land owner who has already allowed a fence to be moved to accommodate a path that is disappearing into a river.

Pathwatch is now working well. The fortnightly reports are now analysed so local volunteers receive accurate information on the specific path and the location of the issue. On average across the County we have about 20 reports a month to follow up. Most reports are specific issues which require intervention. Some reports are errors, for example people following paths that have been formally diverted, or people who are simply lost. Most groups have volunteers based around the county who will visit the site to check and follow up the Pathwatch reports. Sometimes this is as simple as using secateurs to clear an overgrown stile, at other times there are the more challenging problems of barbed wire and locked gates. The Pathwatch reports are being entered onto the GCC PROW reporting system which means it is also being formally reported. However the limited resources of PROW means not every report is acted upon. We are currently exploring the potential of working more closely with GCC on this issue.

We are always seeking volunteers to assist with the issues our path network creates so if you are interested in helping please contact your group Footpath Secretary or myself. Richard Holmes Area Footpath Secretary 29.10.18 ------Group Reports Cirencester GR01 We have a full programme of short midweek walks as well as regular Sunday walks and during the summer months, evening walks, which were well attended. Social Events included Walk and Strawberry Tea on 24th July, Trip to Gloucester Docks with a walk and boat trip on 9th September, Midweek break in Torquay 8-12th October and Skittles Evening on 20th October.

Over the past year the Footpath Committee has held four meetings and have followed up 42 different footpath issues across the Cirencester area. Members of the committee have been out to visit sites and discussed with GCC (Gloucestershire County Council) and landowners. They have responded to queries from Pathwatch, Ramblers and members of the public.

Meanwhile the Path Maintenance Volunteers are continuing to make progress along the WYSIS Way. This year they have delivered more than 150 hours of volunteer time and have cleared back vegetation and improved signage from Bisley to Gloucester. We are also pleased to report that following a donation from an individual and support from the Cirencester Committee we now have a fresh supply of vinyl way marks and new loppers and saws.

Pat Beckley, Cirencester Group Secretary

GR Annual Report to end Sept 2018 draft 4/8

Gloucester Group GR04 Report to Area

The Group and the Social Club Committees have both met on 6 occasions over the year. The last Annual General Meeting was held on the 30th November 2017.

Points noted at the meetings of the Group Committee. The Group offered two walks which were included in the Ramblers’ Festival of Winter Walks programme and these were also advertised by Radio Gloucester and also used in the RA’s own publicity material. The Group arranged and hosted the Area AGM which was held at the Norton Village Hall in January ’18. We also acted as hosts at the Area Event at Kings Stanley on September 15th which was aimed at attracting new members to the RA. In June, 12 of our Group members enjoyed a walk on the Nidderdale Way, a 52 mile walking route in Yorkshire, which included 5 ‘one-day’ walks.

We continue to monitor footpath issues and concerns that have been reported in our area.

Group Membership numbers have reduced slightly during the year with 223 members reported at the November ’17 AGM and 210 members in September ’18. We have reserved funds for an update and reprint of the Glevum Way leaflet which was last printed in 2006.

Points noted at the meetings of the Social Club Committee. We had a successful ‘Christmas Festive Dinner’ attended by 40 members in December ‘17 at the Bowden Hall Hotel near Gloucester. In June we had an evening walk which was followed by a buffet for about 30 of our members at the Farmers Arms in Apperley. On July 22nd we arranged a BBQ at Robinswood Hill which was attended by 20 people. Plans are well advanced for our annual ‘End of Year Celebration’ which will take place on 18th January 2019 at the Brickhampton Golf Club. David Sanderson, Group Secretary November 2018

Forest of Dean Ramblers GR02 Summary Report for Area, November 2018

2018 has been a significant year for the Forest of Dean Group being “40 years old” on 27th September 1978. This milestone was celebrated throughout the year in a number of ways all of which recognised the commitment of our members in ensuring our Group has had many wonderful walking experiences and holidays over the years. This culminated in a social event to which previous and current members were invited to share a short walk, take a trip down memory lane with the help of photos, old walks programmes and other memorabilia. Roger Cox and Susan Warren, walk leaders who have both led walks throughout the Group’s 40 years and continue to do so today, were each presented with a gift by Kate Ashbrook to mark this remarkable achievement. Founder Members, Robin Warren, his wife Susan and Ray Short who were the Group’s first Chairman, Secretary, and Treasurer, joined forces once again to cut the cake.

Our Group has actively supported the campaign to re-open Stowfield Bridge, Lydbrook which was closed for safety reasons resulting in the loss of a vital river crossing for the Wye Valley Walk. Shared responsibility between Herefordshire and Gloucestershire County Councils complicated matters however a solution, albeit temporary, was reached in September. The bridge is now open to walkers and has restored access to many other footpaths in the area.

The Group has also used book sales to help open a footbridge from St. Mary’s Church over the railway at . This is a £150,000 project largely funded by the Dean Forest railway but our donation of £750 will allow them to complete the project and reopen a network of footpaths.

Jackie Huck Group Secretary

GR Annual Report to end Sept 2018 draft 5/8

North Cotswold Group GR07

We continue to offer members walks on the second and fourth Saturday in the month: attendance varying between 3 and 29! The lowest attendance was on a 10 mile walk round Chipping Norton on one of the hottest days of the summer but the conversation was so interesting and varied. The best attendance was on a 6 mile walk in March round Mickleton – the walk leaders were totally taken by surprise. Another memorable walk took us “through” the Oxford Canal from Fenny Compton to Wormleighton – no sign of flooding on the recce the day before! Our Away Break in April took us to Larpool Hall in Whitby. We enjoyed 4 days of walking on the along the coast and over the moorland – both very different terrains to our own . Fish and chips at the famous Magpie cafe also proved to be a big success.

For some years The Group has operated a special Account at a local timber merchant to provide materials for The Cotswold Voluntary Wardens to maintain and improve local footpaths. In 2018 this fund was put to good use by contributing materials to a new bridge project in Bledington. At our AGM we will discuss transferring more of the proceeds of Diamond Way guide sales to this Materials Account to support future projects. Sue Salmon

Cleeve Ramblers GR05 Annual Group Report for Gloucestershire Area Council All in all Cleeve Ramblers has had a positive year with the outlook being equally good. Our AGM will be on Saturday 17 November at Southam Village Hall. Feedback on last year’s AGM was very favourable with a short circular walk commencing at 10.30 to be followed by reports and elections and a bring and share lunch. It is expected that all major roles will be filled.

Group Committee Meetings These continue to be bi-monthly normally booked 1 or 2 in advance, this has continued to be successful formula ensuring all items are dealt with in a timely manner while meetings are normally kept to ninety minutes. There are nine members of the committee and normally at least six in attendance.

Membership Although our numbers had been showing a slight decline, recently there has been a small number of new members joining. A number of people who have joined over the last twelve to eighteen months have indicated a willingness to lead walks, this is a very welcome event as the workload on existing leaders had been on the rise.

Footpaths The Footpath Committee continue to meet on a three monthly basis and is addressing a number of issues raised by the general public and members in regard to footpath condition and availability. Some progress has been made on identifying lost ways (2026 time scale) but we have not seen any additional volunteers come forward to really give the work a kick start.

Walks Programme With the exception of a few walks lost due to poor weather a full programme of weekly Sunday walks and Monthly mid-week social short walks has been maintained. Average attendance of 14 with Average Distance of 7.7 miles. Our oldest leader is 87. CR has seen a number of new walkers during the year and hopes to retain them on a regular basis.

Website and Newsletter During the year we have seen a change in roles with Gerard O'Driscoll taking on both. It has seen the website move from an independent host to the Ramblers website which has proved to be more user friendly. It is the Group's intention to make much more use of the website to publish day to day records of activity and proposals for the future.

Social Events Social events have included the Annual Dinner, Skittles evening & visit to Severn Cider. As we now have a new Social Secretary and assistant it is hoped our social side will increase. It has not proved possible to organise a walking holiday this year but work is ongoing for 2019. Brian Payne GR Annual Report to end Sept 2018 draft 6/8

Report From South Cotswold Ramblers Group GR03

Another year full of activity with in excess of 160 walks, attendances usually exceeding 20 and sometimes over 40. It has been noticeable that we frequently find members from other groups and outside the Area on our walks, perhaps a sign of the times as more people use the walk finder facilities on the Ramblers website. We are finding that the shorter walks are proving more popular although we do owe it to our members to put on as wide a variety as possible. Some of our members opt for the Area walk on a Wednesday when looking for a longer walk and it was interesting recently to see 40 Gloucestershire Ramblers at the Haresfield CP on the same day, 20 for a South Cots Walk and 20 for the Area Walk (led by a South Cots member).

We have had two Group Holidays this year the first in Gozo and the second in Ravenscar Yorkshire. Although numbers on these holidays were relatively small compared to the halcyon days when more than 30 could be expected we all agreed that both were most enjoyable, the Gozo holiday being enhanced by a cancelled return flight resulting in a three nights stay on Malta at the expense of Ryan Air. . Ravenscar proved very popular, although for one member it did involve and afternoon in Scarborough Hospital checking out the facilities and a ride off of the North York Moors with Mountain Rescue. Richard Davis Chairman

Report from Gloucestershire Walking Group GR50

GWG has enjoyed a busy year of walks, socials and holidays. We have almost 30 walks leaders and our subgroup of members in their 20s and 30s continues to grow in popularity. This year we introduced ‘Walkover Sundays’ which proved popular.

Sadly we pay tribute to Jonathan Moore, a long standing member who collapsed and died on th our walk on 15 July. Thank you to everyone who helped him on that difficult day and to those who organised and attended his memorial walk in September.

Highlights for 2018 include a trip the Pyrenees in June where members enjoyed a challenging high altitude hut to hut trek with spectacular mountain views and a few days relaxing in the tiny village of Lescun with lower level walking, communal cooking in our gite and practicing French. A heatwave weekend in July saw our campers sweltering on clifftop walks and pitching tents in our very own field near Corfe Castle. August took us briefly to North Cornwall and our September trip had us walking, cycling and munching Bakewell tarts in the Peak District. Closer to home members enjoyed a varied Sunday daytime and Thursday summer evening walks programme covering much of the classic Cotswolds as well as an urban Bristol city walk, a Paella walk, a Pudding Club walk and a brisk 16 miler tracing the from source to sea.

The social programme saw members enjoying Nepalese food, theatre, crazy golf, ceildihs, the Banff Mountain Film Festival, beer festivals and other outings. Braver members zip-wired through Snowdonia, some canoed the and many pedalled the Sustrans Bristol to Bath cycle trail. We are looking forward to celebrating Christmas 2018 at the Old Courthouse in .

We extend a warm thank you to everyone who has led a walk, organised a trip away, social or served on the committee and look forward to 2019.

Martina Kensbock, Nov 2018

GR Annual Report to end Sept 2018 draft 7/8

GLOUCESTERSHIRE RAMBLERS AREA TH END OF YEAR ACCOUNTS TO END 30 SEPTEMBER 2018 INCOME Budget REQUEST Received to Received to year to 30/09/18 30/9/2018 30/9/2017 Central Office 2,500.00[a] 2500.00 2000.00[a] Deposit interest 0.00 0.00 Ramblers Holidays 90.00[b] 40.00 [b] Get Together 13.95[c] TOTAL INCOME 2,500.00 2,603.95 2040.00

EXPENDITURE Budget REQUEST Paid to Paid to year to 30/09/18 30/09/2018 30/09/2017 Cirencester 250.00 250.00 125.00 Cleeve 379.00 379.00 635.00 Forest of Dean 293.00 293.00 152.00 Gloucester 316.00 316.00 159.50 North Cotswold 0.00[d] 0.00[d] 93.00 South Cotswold 0.00[d] 0.00[d] 0.00 GWG 216.00 216.00 201.00 SUB TOTAL 1,454.00 1,454.00 1365.50 Campaigns/ Footpaths 100.00 111.16[e] 72.24 casework SUB TOTAL 100.00 111.16 72.24 Walks Related Get Together 0.00 117.50[f] 0.00 SUB TOTAL 0.00 117.50 0.00 Newsletter/ GR News 150.00 188.05[g] 104.78 Publicity SUB TOTAL 150.00 188.05 104.78 Meetings Annual Report 450.00 160.84[h] 387.87 printing and distribution Area Council 150.00 228.00 174.00 meetings AGM room, etc 100.00 55.00 0.00 Travel 150.00 10.00[i] 107.32 SUB TOTAL 1,200 453.84 669.19 General and Welsh General/Welsh 350.00 [j] 572.76 [j] 0.00 Council Council SUB TOTAL 350.00 572.76 0.00 Admin Postage 27.84[k] Stationery 47.40 Dissolution CSW 42 [m] SUB TOTAL 100.00 27.84 89.40 TOTAL 3,354.00 2,925.15 2,301.11 EXPENDITURE GR Annual Report to end Sept 2018 draft 8/8

UNITY BANK MAIN ACCOUNT 30/09/2018 30/09/2017 BALANCE 1,300.02 1,621.22

SURPLUS (DEFICIT) UP TO 30/09/2018 IS (£321.20)

LILIAN'S LEGACY [m] INCOME Budget REQUEST Received to Received to year to 30/09/18 30/09/2018 30/09/2017 Bank interest 0.00 2.50 EXPENDITURE Budget REQUEST Paid to Paid to year to 30/09/18 30/09/2018 30/09/2017 Wysis Way Refurb. 104.30[n] 0.00 LILIAN'S LEGACY 2,411.93 2,516.23

BACKGROUND Area received its full budget request for 2017/18 following a period of reduced budgets whilst group reserves were reduced to within Central Office Policy. This was achieved by a combination of some groups designating money for named projects and other groups taking less than their standard allowance. This policy has continued throughout 2017/18 and the full budget request for 2018/19 has been met.

Please note that Unity Bank have now commenced charging for deposits at the rate of 50p per £100 for Cash deposits and 30p per cheque deposits. No payments have been made to the bank as no expenditure of this kind has occurred during 2017/18.

Notes [a] - The budget request of £2,500 was granted in full [b] - Walking Partnership payments to ex-Mid-Glos members Group. [c] – Tea Coffee Donations from the Get Together organised at Kings Stanley [d] - North & South Cotswold agreed not to take any allocation and Cirencester reduced theirs. [e] - Area footpaths meeting expenditure. [f] - Kings Stanley Village Hall rent for Walking Together. More expenditure is anticipated. [g] - Higher than anticipated probably due to GDPR. [h] - Lower than anticipated, not sure why - perhaps many groups have not claimed from area. [i] - Level of travel claim has reduced. [j] - Includes costs of all attendance at Council Meetings in England and Wales. [k] - Higher postage incurred at area due to GDPR. [m] - Concerns the dissolution of CSW in 2016-17. [n] - Improvements to the Wysis Way. Further expenditure is anticipated which will be taken from the main funds.

Signed: Date: 30/10/2018

Honorary Treasurer: Gwen Chaney ______Having carried out procedures in accordance with the Area & Group independent examination guidelines, I consider the " GR Area "accounts to give a fair representation of the Area’s/Group’s financial activities for the year to 30 September 2018. Signed:

Date:

Name of examiner: