Andy Page 02476 304825 28 Seymour Close, Coventry CV3 4ER

www.warwickshireramblers.org.uk

The Ramblers’ Association Warwickshire Area The Charity Working for Walkers

Annual Report and Accounts For the year

2013/2014

The Ramblers‘ Association is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales. Company registration number: 4458492. Registered Charity in England and Wales number:1093577. Registered office: 2nd floor, Camelford House, 87-90 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TW

Area Officers 2013/2014

Chairman Andy Page 02476 304825 28 Seymour Close, Coventry CV3 4ER

Secretary and Group Liaison Officer Bill Burton 07917517310 30 Woodcote Avenue, Kenilworth, CV8 1BH

Treasurer John Phillips 02476 592 291 44 Wyley Road, Coventry CV6 1NW

Footpath Secretary, Countryside Secretary & Access Officer Michael Bird 0121 705 1118 16 Melford Hall Road, Solihull, B91 2ES

Membership Secretary and Solihull Chairman Nick Hillier 01564 772 986 or 07736 794 763 15 Broadfern Rd, Knowle, Solihull B93 9DE

Area email address—[email protected]

Local Groups Web Sites Castle Bromwich www.btck.co.uk. City of Birmingham www.birminghamramblers.org.uk Coventry www.coventryramblers.org.uk Mid Warwickshire www.midwarksramblers.org Solihull www.solihullramblers.org.uk South Birmingham www.sbramblers.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk Stratford upon Avon www.stratfordramblers.com Sutton Coldfield www.suttoncoldfieldramblers.co.uk The Bear www.bearwalkinggroup.co.uk West Midlands Walking www.wmwg.co.uk West Midlands 40 plus www.wm40plus.org.uk Rugby www.rugbyramblers.org.uk Southam

Notice AGM Saturday 7th February 2015 is to be held at United Reformed Church, 1 Brassington Avenue, Sutton ColdfieldB73 6AA

Refreshments and lunch:- Tea & coffee is being served between 09.45 and 10.15 Lunch will be provided immediately after the meeting. There will be a choice between four hot main courses, including vegetarian, followed by a choice of three desserts.

Afternoon Walks: After lunch members of Sutton Coldfield Group will lead two walks of 2 or 4 miles.

Travelling to the venue:- By train: Members of the Sutton Coldfield will ―meet and greet‖ at Sutton Coldfield station. The walk to the venue only takes a couple of minutes By car: The church is on Brassington Avenue the A5127 road. Car parking is limited, please consider using the train Request for Nominations

Management of the Area is vested in an Area Council which meets quarterly and consists of:

The Honorary Officers - as shown in the Agenda on page 4 Two representatives from each RA Group in the Area Six Members representing individual members or affiliated clubs

(Up to two additional members may be co-opted by Council)

Members are invited to nominate Officers and Individual Members of Council for 2013/2014

Nominations, signed by the proposer and seconder, must be received by the Area Secretary not later than six weeks before the AGM motions.

Any motions for the Annual General Meeting should be submitted, in writing, and must be received by the Area Secretary not later than six weeks before the AGM. Please email motions to [email protected]

Warwickshire Area AGM 7th February 2015 held atUnited Reformed Church, 1 Brassington Avenue, Sutton Coldfield B73 6AA

1. Apologies. 2. Minutes of the last AGM. Matters Arising from the Minutes. 3. Adoption of Annual Report & Accounts. Matters arising from Annual Report & Accounts. 4. Any Motions received by the Secretary. 5. Election of Officers. Chairman Secretary Treasurer Footpath Secretary Countryside Secretary Access Officer Membership Secretary Publicity Officer Group Liaison Officer Area News Editor 6. Election of six independent members of Area Council. 7. Appointment of Auditor. 8. Any other Business.

Guest Speaker Christine Grant Ramblers Director of Services

To be followed by a free two course hot buffet

TRIBUTE TO MAURICE LESLIE MENZLER (Deceased)

Leslie Menzler, the Society‘s correspondent for Warwickshire died on 5th August aged 93. His solicitor acted as executor as he had no surviving family. Very little is known about his early life but old family photos show Les living in Surrey with siblings and servants. His father F.A.A. Menzler CBE, is described as a civil servant and statesman, author of several books with three portraits in the National Portrait Gallery so Les came from good stock. As an adult it is known that Les worked for many years for British Thomson Houston and GEC in Witton, Birmingham. Google reveals that he has two patents to his name in the field of electrical engineering. After retirement GEC called him back as a research consultant, clearly a man of great intellect. Les emerges as a main player in Open Spaces Society (OSS) and RA footpath campaigns in the mid -1950s when he was (among other things) the Warwickshire footpath secretary in the old RA Midland Area. From 1974 Les concentrated mostly on his work for the Society. A shadowy figure, he rarely attended meetings but worked tirelessly in the background using his considerable research skills to influence the early stages of the definitive maps in several Midland counties including a prolific input to the first review of those maps. Les also researched the archives of several Midland County Record Offices and his listings and interpretations of enclosure, tithe, and quarter sessions etc. records are still valuable today. Indeed, Council rights of way officers still contacted Les for his knowledge and recall of path matters right up until his demise. Perhaps one anecdote will do justice to his patience and skill. Shropshire County Council (in compliance with the Inspection of Parish Documents under Section 17 of the Local Government Act 1894) published ‗Shropshire Parish Documents‘. Tucked inside Les‘s copy is a letter from the County Archivist in 1978 profusely thanking him for the corrections he had made to several references and for alerting them to another important document of which they had no prior knowledge. Such was his diligence. Not many people knew Les but many who walk our Midland paths do so because of the unstinting efforts of this modest man who worked so passionately for the public benefit. He has no permanent memorial but our fine network of paths and his great store of research are his fitting legacy.

APPEAL: HELP SAVE COVENTRYS ANCIENT PATHS

Between 2006 – 2008 Warwickshire Area put in 109 claims to add paths to the Coventry definitive map. The Council made no progress due to lack of resources. There is a cut-off date for claims based on historic documentary evidence at 1st January 2026. Claims should be dealt with by the Council by then or the paths will be lost. However, it is probable that as long as the claims are logged by the Council by the cut-off date, they will be ‗saved‘ and can be dealt with later. Coventry Council has rejected our 109 claims on a technicality. They now require copies of the documents relied on as historic evidence. The research has been done and the documents listed and referenced. We now need volunteers to go to the Record Offices at Coventry and Warwick to photograph the documents and pass them to John Hall who is project managing the task.

There are 286 documents of which 60% are in Coventry and 40% in Warwick. Your assistance is urgently needed. We are 52% through the time given to local authorities to complete their definitive maps. It is not difficult work. In fact it is very rewarding. Training and help will be given. Anyone who is interested should contact John Hall to discuss the matter further. Don‘t let these public rights of way be lost forever!

John Hall details are: Tel: 02476 600689. Email: [email protected]

Presentation to Steven Walsgrove for 40 years’ Service Steven Wallsgrove is probably the longest serving Footpath Secretary in the Ramblers Association having served on the Mid-Warwickshire Committee for forty years and having also filled the post of Area Footpath Secretary for 25 years during that period. He has finally decided to retire from the role and will be difficult to replace. We wish him well and extend our sincere thanks for his endless support. The Mid-Warwickshire Group Committee, presented Steven with a 40 years‘ service Certificate issued by Central Office and a picture gift at the Group‘s AGM on Friday 28th November 2014

Area Chairman’s Report

Once again, Coventry City Council has taken up a disproportionate amount of Area‘s time this year. The council continues to provide a poor rights of way service with poor value for money to hard pressed local ratepayers. After we pressed them on the 109 path claims we submitted to them between 2006 and 2008, which they subsequently ignored, they hired an expensive consultant to find an opportunity to weasel out of doing them. Sadly, she found a way and we will now have to resubmit all the claims using new forms. The council could easily have processed the claims if they wanted to, saving ratepayers‘ money and reaping the benefits by now. Instead, they will just have the resubmitted claims to deal with again next year. We are not going away and will continue campaigning positively to ensure the people of Coventry get the service they are entitled to and deserve. Our use of technology has continued to develop throughout the year. I send out regular tweets from the @WarwicksRambler account. Followers get informed immediately when a new local walk is uploaded to Ramblers Routes, or if there are any other items of interest. Twitter is also allowing us to improve our visibility and communications with other Warwickshire environmental and tourism organisations that follow us, and who we follow as well. Ramblers Routes has grown throughout the year and we now have a pretty good selection of walks around the Midlands which is still growing. It is now far better value for money than any walking book you can buy. Take another look if you have not been on for a while, you will be impressed! Thank you to everyone who has contributed. One more traditional piece of technology that worked well for us this year was television! BBC Breakfast wanted to do an article on footpath issues and we were asked to help. I spent one morning stood in a muddy field in Rowington with our Chief exec Benedict Southworth and a film crew. The end result was shown 5 times on national television one morning and

6 remained on the iPlayer afterwards. Great publicity for us and our work, and the beautiful Warwickshire countryside looked fantastic on the TV!

Andy Page - Warwickshire Area Chairman

Area Secretary’s report

This has been another great year for Warwickshire Ramblers. Last year I took over from Ian Wilkinson who had done a great job as secretary for the previous five years and has moved on to other voluntary works. I have been on a steep learning exercise this past year. I have attended six group‘s quarterly meetings to meet my fellow ramblers and committee members. I was surprised at the number of younger members attending some of the meetings and impressed with the scope and variety of the many social functions organised by the groups. I was also pleased to discover that most groups had volunteer working parties that did footpath maintenance and repairs. I picked a few good ideas from my visits. I hope to attend meetings of the final five groups prior to next year‘s report. I would like to thank all the members who have patiently helped me in my first year as your secretary.

Bill Burton - Area Secretary

Area Treasurer’s Report Ongoing savings from electronic communication have contributed to Warwickshire having required some £3k less funding this financial year, while some Groups have had sufficient budget for spending on walk leader training and navigational aids. Administratively we are progressing with use of electronic payments which save volunteers‘ time and effort. Thanks to Group Treasurers for timely completion of routine tasks, efficiently.

THE RAMBLERS ASSOCIATION - WARWICKSHIRE AREA REGISTERED CHARITY 1093577, COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE 4458492

Balance as at 30th September 2014

CURRENT ASSETS 2014 2013 £ £ Debtors 0 0 Investments 0 0 Cash at bank 9139 7827 9139 7827

REPRESENTED BY

Opening balance 7827 6136 Surplus/deficit for the year 1312 1691 9139 7827

Income & expenditure account for year ended 30th September 2014

INCOME 2014 2013 £ £ Area entitlement from national funds 12378 15785 Bank interest 8 8 Miscellaneous 0 0 12386 15793

EXPENDITURE

Financing Groups 7979 10920 Newsletter + website 0 145 Annual Report 651 977 Room hire 108 105 Subscriptions 36 34 Travel inc GC attendance + postage 775 486 Miscellaneous (mostly GC expenses 2013) 0 196 AGM 1105 820 Accountancy fees 420 420 11074 14102 EXCESS OF INCOME OVER EXPENDITURE 1312 1691

Subject to independent examination

John Phillips, Area Treasurer

Area Footpath Secretary’s Report During the past year I logged some 100 separate cases involving footpaths, and there was no way I could possibly get around the County to visit all of these sites myself. Google Earth and Streetview are a great help, as is the Area‘s set of 6 inch to the mile definitive footpath maps; but basically I am indebted to our ten Local Group Footpath Secretaries for carrying out the legwork for me in their own group territories. Despite the 100 cases, it has been a reasonably quiet year on the footpath front; our four local authorities have between them made 31 Path Orders, 13 of which were confirmed, unopposed by us. The Area has only objected to two Footpath Orders, one of which we withdrew after the developers produced acceptable plans for keeping affected paths open during construction work on a new marina in Stratford. The other objection concerned the unsuitable diversion of a footpath in Solihull, for which Solihull MBC have now withdrawn the Order anyway! Probably the most interesting case to which the Area objected during the year was a planning application for a golf course at Packington that failed to take account of a newly dedicated footpath (2010) that has yet to appear on OS maps. Now that the existence of this

8 path has been brought to their attention, the developers have eventually offered a suitable diversion around the golf course. The most worrying development during the year was undoubtedly Coventry City Council‘s rejection of our 109 claims for public rights of way to be recorded on the Coventry Definitive Map. This has resulted in the Area agreeing with our Coventry Local Group to resubmit all of our claims in an enhanced format that should overcome Coventry City Council‘s objections to our former claims. This has not however been a problem that we have encountered with any of the other three local authorities in the Area to whom we have submitted 276 similarly researched claims!

Michael Bird - Area Footpath Secretary Area Countryside Secretary's Report If it was a quiet year on the footpath front, it was anything but on the planning scene. Due to the requirement to prioritise development set out in the Government's National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), the planning system has gone mad. Developers are competing to fit speculative housing estates into every Warwickshire village they can lay hands on, changing the face of the County for the worst in the process, and there seems to be no stopping them! Fortunately wind turbine applications have taken somewhat of a back seat this year, with the application for the four-turbine Starbold Wind Farm near Bishops Itchington being called in by the Secretary of State after going to appeal, and the eight-turbine monstrosity proposed at Stoneton Farm near Wormleighton having to go right back to the beginning of the planning process again after its access route was cut off by the line of HS2. The Composite Bill for the construction of HS2 has been laid before Parliament and the only way left to us to alter the conditions of the Bill now is by petition to Parliament. Consequently Ramblers Central Office have petitioned against certain of the footpath provisions in the Bill, including four in North Warwickshire that Warwickshire Area is not satisfied with; and we are currently waiting to appear before the Parliamentary Select Committee scrutinising the Bill. Although HS2 will cause untold havoc across the Area during construction, its effects will at least be confined to a linear route. But by far the most serious menace threatening to change the appearance of rural Warwickshire is the current vogue for reaping subsidies by converting agricultural land into so called Solar Parks. Fortunately the proposal to site 45,000 ground mounted solar panels on farm land at Deppers Bridge was thrown out by Stratford DC in March, but other applications continue to pour in. In August the Area objected to a planning proposal for a large solar park situated on farmland to the north of Burton Green, a village already marked down to have HS2 built to the south of it – so, a double whammy for the inhabitants! While the Ramblers support reasonable measures for switching to renewable sources of energy, we believe that there are certain sites where such large and intrusive installations would not be appropriate, and this particular site, lying as it does in the green belt (and not just any green belt, but the critically important and much assailed Meriden Gap between Coventry and Birmingham) certainly falls into that category. Michael Bird - Area Countryside Secretary

Area Membership Report – October 2013 Last year, I reported that our membership stood at 3179 compared with the year previously when it stood at 3358. This clearly was a continuing downward trend, a trend that has continued for a number of years. This year I am able to report that our Area membership stands at 3188, a small increase. It might only be a small increase, but hopefully an indication that numbers have bottomed out and the decline has been arrested I have always argued that membership figures aren‘t necessarily a reflection of what is actually happening in terms of people physically involved within Groups. Groups are organizing interesting walks, social events, including weekends away, footpath maintenance working parties. Perhaps about a third of our members are active in the sense of joining our walks etc. so it is possibly with the large non-active majority where we have lost members.

Nick Hillier Area Membership Secretary

Reports from Groups Castle Bromwich Membership numbers are always liable to fluctuation. The past year suggests we are going through a bit of a dip with the latest numbers being 79 against 87 this time last year. Part of this has been due to longstanding members not renewing, and sadly one dying. Walks About half our membership took part in Group walks over the course of the year and about a third walk on average at least once a month. Over the year we walked in 12 different counties. We held 44Sunday walks,varying in lengthfrom5 to10 miles, but usually between 7 and 8 ½ miles. We followed the principle of having 1 short walk (up to 6 miles) in each of the months where there are no evening walks, to meet the needs of some of our members Attendance on Sunday walks remained in line with previous years, ranging from 5 to 21, with an average of 14. In response to members‘ suggestions, we resurrected the idea of combining a coach trip with a walk to a place of interest – in this case Bourton-on-the-Water. This attracted 23 people. We now intend to include one such walk in each of our future 6 month programmes. 13 evening walks were held. Attendance on these was between 3 and 20 with an average of 11, down somewhat on previous years. During August we held 3 short morning Community Walks in partnership with Solihull Council‘s ―Solihull Active‖ programme. We hope to continue with one such walk per month in the New Year. These may bring in new members, but certainly would connect us with one of the Ramblers‘ Aims of promoting walking in the community at large. One of the highlights of the year are our short Walking Holidays. As in previous years we held two of these in 2014.

Over the May Day Bank Holiday weekend 23 members went to North Wales , staying at the Oakeley Arms near Maentwrog, from where we used bus and steam train to get us to starts of walks along the coast and down from the mountains respectively. In September 19 members travelled to North Devon, where we stayed in Ilfracombe and experienced walks in a variety of environments - the Coastal Path, the Valley of the Rocks, Lorna Doone country and Braunton Marshes. Once again we are indebted to the large number of Members who volunteer to lead walks – 26 in all, a third of our membership. 6 of these led walks for us for the first time. Leaders go to some trouble to enhance their walks by finding special places to visit, including a variety of features on the walks, provide specialist information (History and Science lessons often feature) or ensuring there are good places to partake of refreshment. Unfortunately there are occasions when, for various reasons, Leaders are unable to fulfil their commitment to lead on the original date, or at all, in some cases. However, we are fortunate to have Leaders who are flexible and will rearrange dates or step in if a vacancy occurs. This reflects the mutually supportive nature of our Group. Communication In addition to placing copies of posters and walks programmes in local libraries and other community facilities, this year we decided to produce and publish a general publicity leaflet. We have also provided copy to the local Press about our activities, although this has not always resulted in items being published. The website continues to receive complimentary comments and has proved to be a useful recruiting tool. However, it may be due for a bit of a revamp. We continue to maintain regular communication with our members. We do this through:- Publishing our quarterly newsletter Issuing monthly emails advising of forthcoming walks General emails/ texts about changes to walks We began to investigate opening a Twitter account, but have not yet made a decision whether or not to proceed. Social events Social events are a useful means of making the Group more cohesive. We held the following events during the year:- The annual Christmas Walk and Lunch held at the Cottage Inn in Fillongley. A Quiz Night at Arden Hall, in February. The Buffet Walk followed by a Barn Dance, in June. An evening at Buzzards Valley Vineyard in October In addition to these specific events, the Walking Holidays, and the common practice of stopping for a drink after walks, contribute to the social life of the Group, as does the now traditional optional meal after the first walk of the year in January. Footpaths Since the Area confirmed our territory last year our Footpaths Secretary has been progressively carrying out monthly checks on the condition, accessibility and marking of paths in our territory. To date, of our 12 parishes, checks in 3 have been completed and a further 2 have been started. It is intended to discuss with the Local Authorities how we may help them resolve some of the issues that have been identified.

Self-Evaluation We are a small, but I believe vibrant Group and whilst the past year has seen many positive features, we are aware of the need to never be complacent to be constantly looking to sustain or improve what we do. To this end at the AGM last year we carried out a Group Self- Evaluation. Based on this the Committee has been developing an Action Plan, a good deal of which has been already been implemented. The Plan should be completed in December.

Chairperson – David Threlkeld City of Birmingham This year has been a very busy one for the City of Birmingham Ramblers. The Sunday coach rambles have been offered most weeks except over the Easter and Christmas holidays, with our usual A, B and C grade walks. We have managed to hold our coach fares at the same level again this year, although these walks have been less well attended, averaging weekly about 33 walkers. On Sundays we completed two long distance routes, The Rutland Round and The Centenary Way. We include two long distance trails in our programme each year, walking a section of each once a month. Members joining our Wednesday walks every second week average around 20-25 walkers, with basically the same members returning each time. The Saturday walks for the public, once a month, continue to bring in new members to the group and numbers attending are always high, with existing members making up the majority of walkers. In May we introduced monthly short 4-mile summer evening walks, and had four during the lighter evenings. They proved to be very popular. The monthly Ridges and Tops walks have also been successful, with more challenging walks in mountainous areas. Many thanks to all our leaders who perform a great service for the group. Membership has remained fairly static over the year, but with no significant increase in numbers. This trend has been continuing for some time and we are seeing fewer members turning out long-term and more ―occasional‖ attenders. The Group‘s E-newsletter, website, and journal, Footnotes have kept the membership up to date on group activities. Our walks and events printed programme is duplicated on the website and all walks are entered on the Ramblers‘ national website Walks Finder. Our Rights of Way volunteer team has completed several projects during the year involving the installation of kissing gates, replacement of stiles and footbridge work. On the social scene we have two Christmas walks and lunch in December, one for Wednesday and one for Sunday walkers. In March we had a Walk Day Out to Coombe Country Park, followed by a visit to Coventry‘s Transport Museum. In the same month the group held their Annual Dinner, with after dinner entertainment, ―The Singing Vicar‖. In September members could enjoy a backstage tour of the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, followed by a matinee performance of Rudy’s Rare Records. We‘ve had four walking holidays this year. Our biennial holiday in May was to Grazalema, Andalucia with HF Holidays and was a great success. The Group held two Youth Hostel weekends, one on the Isle of Wight at Easter and the other at Elan Valley Lodge in September, and both were very enjoyable. Finally our annual visit to the Lake District this year was to the HF house at Monk Coniston in October. In conclusion, I would like to thank all our volunteers who have helped in various ways to

12 keep the Group running smoothly during 2014.

Stephen Brittain - Chairperson Coventry Membership of the Coventry Group has remained steady throughout the year with minor ups and downs. We started the year at 1 November 2013 with 325 members and at 1 October 2014 the figure was again 325. We have again had a wide variety of walks this year.Two walks have been organised every Sunday, a longer walk of between 9 and 12 miles, usually attracting a dozen or so members, and a medium-length walk of between 6 and 8 miles, attended by anything up to 20+ members. We meet in the centre of Coventry with a view to sharing cars, and have a recommended voluntary contribution to drivers, which varies according to the distance to travel to the start of the walk. In addition to the Sunday walks, each month we have had a public transport walk on a Tuesday, leaving from Coventry railway station or the bus station. These are shorter walks of 4 to 5.5 miles, followed by a pub lunch. These walks attract 15 or so members. This year we have again had a programme of monthly Saturday day excursions by train and bus, taking advantage of Senior Rail Cards, for those who possess them, and group tickets to obtain the best fares. This year our destinations have included Kew Gardens, Gobowen, the Wirral and the National Memorial Arboretum. Once a month a longer Saturday walk has been organised somewhat further away from Coventry. These walks have attracted up to 10 members. We have had a full programme of 14 Thursday evening walks of 4 to 5 miles, from 15 May to 21 August, starting at 7pm (6pm in August), usually from a pub, where we like to take refreshment after the walks. These walks have been better supported than last year, averaging 9 participants per walk as against only 6 last year. We were privileged to welcome Mark Pawsey, MP for Rugby, to our evening walk on 26 June. Three holidays have been organised this year, the first to the Isle of Wight in April, then to the Elan Valley in June and finally a long weekend in September based in Cardiff. Our footpath maintenance team has continued to be active. In July they received a letter of thanks from Baddesley Clinton Parish Council for their 'excellent work' in restoring an overgrown and flooded footpath. A number of committee members, who have each held positions on the committee for several years, have decided to stand down at our AGM in November. We do, however, have five new younger candidate committee members, who will no doubt give new impetus to the Coventry Group, not least among these is our new Webmaster, Wendy Moroney, who has recently developed a completely new and updated website for us. Do look us up at www.coventryramblers.org.uk.

Paul Smith – Chairperson Mid Warwickshire

Although our overall membership has decreased in the last year, this has not been

13 apparent in the numbers joining our Sunday walks. We have welcomed new people and enjoyed their company as they have become regular walkers. There are two things that have the potential to reduce the numbers walking: some regular walkers join the monthly Midland Hillwalking, and some of our members are not comfortable walking where we have allowed well behaved dogs on the walk. We try to accommodate the varied demands of our members and so endeavour to spread the pattern of dog walks and hill walking days as far as possible. We maintain a varied programme as members are prepared to travel greater distances which certainly widens the appeal of the programme. The social programme has also been well attended. Christmas lunch at Warwick Castle was enjoyed by all and proved to be particularly good value since it included access to the Castle. Each of our six monthly programmes includes a theatre visit; an evening walk and supper at a suitable hostelry, and an outing to a place of interest. Our latest was to Cromford Mill where we had an excellent guide to take us round the mill and the village before walking from the Sherwood Forresters Memorial at Crich. Those enjoying longer and more challenging walks spent time walking the coastal paths around Cornwall. Steven Wallsgrove is probably the longest serving Footpath Secretary in the Ramblers Association having served on the Mid-Warwickshire Committee for forty years. He has finally decided to retire from the role and will be difficult to replace. We wish him well and extend our sincere thanks for his endless support.

Dr Sherril Kennedy - Chairperson

Rugby

Our Programme Organisers and Walk Leaders had another busy year, providing a programme of led walks on 2 or 3 days each week. Wednesday evening walks in the Summer had an average of 28 walkers, whilst Sunday morning ―C‖ and ―C+‖ walks attracted an average of 23 walkers and all day Sunday walks averaged 21, (split between ―A‖ and ―B‖ parties). Saturday and other mid-week walks averaged 10 to 18 walkers. Our Publicity Secretary and our Webmaster both worked hard to publicise activities, by feeding the local press and free magazines with articles and programme notes, and maintaining a good website, which now has a section specifically for mobile device users. A stall was also arranged in Rugby Shopping Centre, with information and a video presentation. Over the year, we achieved a new member intake of 24, although this was offset by a similar number of departures, so at the end of September, our membership figure of 300 was similar to last year at that time. Although many are signed in to our email group, it is still a minority of members, so we continue to distribute ―hard copies‖ of programmes and newsletters to all members, but thanks to our ―hand deliverers‖, only 10% are sent by Royal Mail. Attendance at our AGM in November was 53, an increase on last year. There were no committee changes and afterwards members enjoyed a video, excellently filmed and presented by a member showing some of China‘s less known tourist attractions normally only visited by internal tourists. Social events – Quiz Night, Annual Lunch, Soups, Puddings and Pictures Night and Darts and Skittles Evening all ran as usual. The two Coach Trips in this reporting period were to Bath in October 2013, via the Cotswold Way, and in April to the Malvern Hills, via the Worcestershire Way. Both were ―sold out‖ and enjoyed excellent weather. Good weather was also the order of the day for our two 3- 14 night Group Weekends, at Eastbourne in March and Llandudno in June, both in excellent walking country. These weekends, based in modestly priced Sheerings Group hotels, proved very popular and enjoyable, with 51 and 54 participants respectively. One event that has featured in our programme for 17 years did not take place this year. This was a two-night Weekend with ―B‖ walks, based at Whitby, where accommodation and walks had been arranged by Rugby Group members living in North Yorkshire. This event began when Group Weekends mostly offered ―A‖ walks only. Changes to the pattern of other Weekends probably contributed to the decline in numbers for the Whitby Weekend, making it non-viable. Members of our Footpath Working Party kept up their regular monthly activities, working with WCC Ranger David Hughes. Over the year, 9 gates, 5 bridges and 11 waymark posts have been installed, along with about 30 man-hours of path clearance, all maintaining and improving the path network both for us and the general public. As always, the successful operation of Rugby Group depends on so many people giving their time and effort – walk leaders of course, but also all those ―behind the scenes‖ – delivering mail shots, putting programmes together, arranging Group Weekends, helping with social activities, as well as our Committee Members, all of whom I thank on behalf of the Group Members.

Graham Bevan - Group Chairperson

Solihull

Solihull group has had a very successful year and have been able to offer a very wide range of walks to meet a variety of different needs. We have been able to offer very short local walks (3 miles or so) to longer walks that take us further afield (up to about 15 miles). Walks are offered every Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday all through the year. In the summer Solihull also runs a programme of evening walks. In addition to our annual post-Christmas dinner one of the Solihull members has organised meals at a variety of different restaurants. Different in the sense that they reflect different countries cuisine as varied as Indian, Italian, Lebanese and Persian. Each year the group enjoy two weekends away walking, in the spring this year we went to Llandrindod Wells in Wales and during August we walked on the North Yorkshire Moors. Solihull has a group of volunteers – The Bramblers - who work on footpath maintenance in conjunction with Warwickshire County Council and Solihull MBC. On a couple of occasions the volunteers worked with colleagues from Coventry Group Ramblers. A major event for the group was hosting the Area Annual General Meeting. This was a major team effort with a number of our members taking on duties, including the catering. In this respect we were helped by the fact that one of our members works for Gourmet Foods in Knowle Group membership has increase by 5% over the twelve months, now standing at 378 compared with 360 a year ago. I would like to feel that this is vindication of our policy to offer walks as short as 3 miles and a variety of destinations and walks through to about 15 miles in length.

Nick Hillier - Chairperson

South Birmingham South Birmingham has enjoyed another excellent year during which over 200 walks have been completed amongst a lively group of members who continued to embrace each other‘s company as they made their way through the ever lovely British countryside both close to home and further afield. An abysmally wet winter, which featured prominently in the all time records for local rainfall totals, did little to dampen the spirits, and this was followed by a beautiful summer that reddened and gladdened the cheeks still, even as the russet leaves were fluttering gently to the ground in the middle of October. A regular programme of Wednesday and Sunday walks of 8-10 miles was supplemented by a mid-week walk on different days of around 5 miles. ‗Taster‘ walks, to which the public were also invited, were fortnightly over 2 miles. There was the occasional evening summer walk ending up at a pub and a few longer Saturday walks around 12 miles generally in more challenging terrain than that provided by the immediate locality. Older members, who choose not to keep up with the bustle of the regular programme, continue to meet informally on Fridays and go at a gentler pace followed by lunch at a suitable hostelry. It is gratifying that such members want to continue their contact with the Group and the Association and they are invariably well represented at the AGM and the New Year Annual Lunch. The spring and autumn weekends‘ away, on the Isle of Wight and Harrogate respectively, were blessed with blue skies and bright sunshine. With a combined attendance of well over one hundred people, and a full and varied programme of walks provided by our enthusiastic leaders, we were able to explore stunning new landscapes to the enjoyment and approval of all, as well as cementing closer friendships amongst Group members. The very successful annual overseas holiday was undertaken this year in the Greek Islands and provided another excellent opportunity to extend our walking programme and activities. Three coach trips were undertaken to the source of the River Thames, Cardiff Bay and the southern Cotswolds. Once again the buses were full, and in addition, people enjoyed the attractive cuisine that was provided at the end of a number of these walks. We have been well blessed with leaders, who continue to offer themselves forward, and provide a wide range of rambles in many attractive locations. A steady stream of new walks directors is forthcoming amongst these, and we have given financial support to some wishing to complete navigation courses offered by Derek Jones. Additional funding has been afforded to members who have attended a training session provided by the Red Cross, tailor made to cover incidents likely to arise in walking, with nine people benefiting from this scheme. This means that we have at least a smattering of First Aid knowledge available to hand on most of our walks to add to the basic kits our committee members invariably carry. I am pleased to report that so far these skills and supplies have not had to be called on other than in the most rudimentary fashion. Our social programme continues to be immensely popular and well supported with a function taking place on a monthly basis. The offerings have included the usual array of quizzes, barn dances, garden party, skittles and the ever popular mince pie walk providing the opening to the Festive season which also included a hearty Christmas meal at a local pub.

The Group has welcomed the opportunity to download our walks on to the Ramblers new website feature and our members have made a number of contributions to the Ramblers Routes programme. Our still, comparatively newly redesigned website, has now engendered more than 6,000 hits. Others amongst us enjoyed the day courses arranged in Birmingham by Central Office with those attending workshops on the Law, Walk Leading and Ramblers Routes reporting special approval ratings. All in all South Birmingham Ramblers is in a very good place and in very good heart. I would like to formally express my thanks to the committee and to everybody who has contributed to or participated in our programme in whatever way, whether large or small. Like all Ramblers Groups, it is a set up for members run by members and the participation and willingness of so many people is the overwhelming reason for its ongoing success. I am confident this will continue in the year ahead as we look forward to another year of fantastic walks and enduring social engagement.

Keith Payton – Chairperson Stratford upon Avon The number of members during the year has been slightly lower than last year, at about 350. Numbers on walks have been similar. We have led nearly 200 walks during the year, with one or two walks every Tuesday, an all day walk on a Wednesday, with an additional Wednesday Coach walk in the summer months and half or full day walks on Sundays. In a quarter programme of 50 walks, generally no more than 3 or 4 people lead more than one walk, which demonstrates the size of our pool of leaders. Many people from adjacent groups still join our walks, as we have good variety, particularly midweek. We also welcome occasional visitors; we‘ve had a couple from the USA and we‘ve even led a group of 29 Japanese visitors on an 8 mile walk. Our coach walks to places within about a 2 hour drive, have continued to be successful, with 82 different people taking part over 6 outings. Coaches have been full or very nearly full every trip and these walks have been far more inclusive than the long distance footpath coach walks that we used to do. About 60% of people walked the 10 milers, 30% walked 5 or 6 miles and 10% went sightseeing. We also did a steam railway walk for short and long distance walkers, when over 30 people took part. We‘ve sold over 400 copies of our Stratford Walks book during the year, we advertise our walks in the local papers and we list walks on our website. A particularly nice footpath is chosen each year to win our Annual Best Footpath Award and obtain publicity with the presentation of the award to the landowner. Our Footpaths Officer has been inundated with planning applications this year, causing more investigative time than the usual footpath complaints. The latter continue to receive little or no attention from the council.Our footpath maintenance group is in its third year, usually working twice a month. The warm, wet growing conditions of this summer has meant that the group has needed to clear the same stretches of paths three times, leaving no time for more major bridge and step construction jobs; those will now take place through the winter months, weather permitting.

Nine members attended a 4 hour practical map reading and leadership training session that we organised and one of our members attended a Ramblers‘ one day training course in Birmingham. Some social events have been held; Christmas carols buffet, annual lunch, skittles evening, all well attended. The bring and share lunch prior to our AGM was accompanied by a slide show of the year‘s walks. Our usual three night holiday was near Minehead this year. All in all, another successful year for a friendly Group.

Penny Stott – Chairperson

Sutton Coldfield As with other years our walks program has been successful, the Coach walks continue to attract a good following with many enjoyable walks. Our week-ends away have a good following (two year, is the norm) and very varied walks are arranged. We are continually trying to keep coast under control by using the email system and our web site for getting news and information to the membership. Our members on the committee have worked extremely hard this year in their various roles. The Stile Working Party set up by our Footpaths Secretary has achieved amazing results in the clearing of Footpaths replacement of Stiles and Fingerposts in our Groups area, we now have our own Markers supplied by Staffs County Council showing which displays our Groups name.

Michael Chaping - Chairperson

The Bear I must start by saying a big thank you to all my fellow committee members for all the work they‘ve done this year to keep the Group running; especially Paul and Sara for the walks and e-mails. I think it‘s easy for us all to forget when we turn up to a walk or a social not only has someone kindly volunteered to run an event or lead a walk but there is a team behind the scenes coordinating it all and putting the program together. I haven‘t made it to many walks and socials this year but I did make it to the Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge; all of us made it round in the 12 hours and it was great to see many new faces in the group who had become friends. We have been back at the Navy Association in Leamington Spa for our AGM this year which was well attended. I would like to welcome Victoria, Heather and Emma on to the Committee and say thank you to Andrew who is stepping down after so many years of service we‘ve lost count.We replaced our annual Malvern challenge with the Shropshire challenge of 25 miles but then teamed up with the Brunel walking group for a joint Malvern challenge of 14 miles. We still had plenty of local Warwickshire walks and our other weekend away in the Howgills.

We have all been getting cultural this year with trips to Oxford, Warwick and Coventry to visit the museums and sample drinks in the local bars. We‘ve had cycling trips and some brave bears went to a roller disco. Our membership numbers have gone back up from the drop a few years ago and our Facebook page has become more active with pictures of the regular Sunday walk being posted nearly every week. If you see an advert for the Ramblers appear on Facebook take another look as you may spot a member of the group. On one of our walks this summer we were joined by a photographer who took pictures to be used in Ramblers promotional work. So far we‘ve just been appearing on Facebook but you never know where we may appear next. We still have a weekend in the Chilterns coming up and next year‘s weekends away are already in the planning.

David Hamilton – Chairperson

Southam Our Group happily meet on alternate Wednesdays, when members enjoy their 5 mile walks at their own comfortable pace, taking in the scenery and discussing things around them, whilst, no doubt, putting their points of view on the world in general. These walks have been organised by Nigel Chapman, who has joined the Committee together with Kath; they are most welcome. Nigel took over the role at the 2013 AGM, following 6 years of the organising the walks by Richard Lillystone, to whom the Group were very grateful. The year did not start particularly kindly, weather-wise and, no doubt, like other groups, the proposed walks had to be quickly revamped because of the condition of the paths caused by the bad weather. Fortunately, the walks organisers always managed to come up trumps with a good alternative. The ―Thursday Strollers‖ walks, which are organised by Bill Pease to encourage the general public to walk our local paths, were again enjoyed, but, alas, the numbers appear to be falling, particularly from the ―40 Plus‖, who used to participate. John Maughan has had a busy and varied year, with enquiries ranging from wind turbines, solar panels, gun clubs (clay pigeon) to housing estates, plus the usual blocked paths and diversions. All of which he dealt with to the satisfaction of our Area Footpath Secretary. Our ―Soups and Puds‖ walk, again organised by Isobel Whittaker, is a little later this year, i.e. 29th. October (subsequently changed to 26th. November) and, at the time of writing my report, I believe that the maximum number of places (35) is rapidly being taken as it is usually fully booked, so good are the offerings prepared by Jackie. John Gymer is again arranging the ―Sherry Walk‖, (You know Christmas is fast approaching) which always attracts good numbers. Whether this is John's appeal or the sherry and mince pies, I'm not sure. Di Weaver, as always, gives a good reflection of our walks in the local Advertiser, which has had the desired effect of attracting the interest of new members to our walks. Hopefully, this will continue. Di has also to be thanked for organising the annual dinner, which was this year held at the ―King's Head‖ at Napton in February, when 25 members and friends sat down to an enjoyable meal and , as Richard would say, a good bit chat. Janet and Ann continue to look after the Group with their work as Membership Secretary and Treasurer, respectively. These ladies, together with the afore-mentioned, strive to give the 19

Group (currently 85 members) the support it needs to provide happy and enjoyable days out walking. I cannot finish my thanks without expressing my sincere appreciation to John Bushnell for his wonderful efforts to keep us all well informed and entertained with his musings and photos. This is not always easy, but John manages most admirably. When working with John and Annette on mailing days (I have missed Richard recently for his little quips), I find it strange to equate ―John the Scribe‖ to ―Basher‖ Bushnell, which is Di Weaver's nickname for him when clearing the way with his ―chopping‖ stick on his many pre-walks. Whichever hat John is wearing, where would any group be without the likes of him? During the year, two of our regular walking members, Angie Bull and Ray Prentice decided to hang up their boots and both stated how much they had such wonderful memories of their walks over a number of years and that they will miss the company. Regrettably, we have recently lost Margaret Ridley who died in Myton Hospice, just 3 years after Mike had passed away. Members showed their respect by attending Margaret's funeral at the Sunrising Natural Burial Ground (close to Mike) on a dry but very blustery mid-day on the 9th. October. As the years roll by, I can only hope you all continue to enjoy your walking and wish you a Happy Christmas and a Healthy New Year.

Colin Haywood - Chairperson West Midlands Walking Highlights for WMWG over the past 12 months have included several weekends away with a New Year trip to Penzance as well as weekends in Edale, Alston and Coniston and a trip further afield to Glencoe. One of the challenges WMWG continually faces is to encourage more people to lead day walks. To meet this challenge and to address the issue of using our reserve funds we have funded 10 places on navigation courses. Members have taken up places on both bronze and silver courses held in the Peak District. Feedback has been very good regarding the quality of the course and over the course of the year we have seen new walk leaders volunteering walks for the programme. Hopefully the opportunity to learn and improve navigation skills will encourage more people to lead walks in the future. In 2014 we have continued to promote WMWG through its online presence using social media such as twitter and Facebook and following the 40+ group we now have our own meet up group. We are trialling the promotion of several walks and socials through this in a bid to attract more members. Over the past year membership for the 20s and 30s group has decreased by 22 and we currently have 210 members compared with 232 members this time last year. In contrast, membership of the 40+ group has increased steadily and now has 128 members. Overall the total group membership is 338. Another way in which we have used our reserve funds over this year has been to produce a new member‘s leaflet. The leaflet is aimed at potential new members to provide more information about the group, what we do, who we are and how to join. It‘s hoped that this will provide more specific information to newcomers and encourage them to join the group.

Rachel Dimmick - WMWG Secretary (in lieu of Chairperson)