DORSET FOOTNOTES Newsletter of the Dorset Area of the Ramblers Association ISSUE NO. 77 Summer 2017 Why walk alone when you can walk with the Dorset Ramblers? hy people walk is a hard question that looks easy to answer. WOver time, though, the things we do for a purpose become the things we do for pleasure, particularly when we no longer have to do them. As we move to doing things for the pleasure they can become a personal philosophy. We might walk to enjoy a purity of solitude; Kant argued that when walking, the body “stops being in the landscape: it becomes the landscape.” Most of us will recognise that feeling. As Dorset Ramblers, we choose to enjoy regular, or occasional walking in groups. BUT there is a joy in walking alone and there are also many prosaic and pragmatic reasons for walking alone: 1. Pace: It’s difficult to really go at your own pace when walking with somebody else. 2. Getting together: It can be hard to find a partner who is ready to walk when you are. 3. Early, late, or never: You make a date to walk with a partner and ‘the other’ shows up late or doesn’t show up. 4. The need for speed: You want to build up walking speed, but your walking partners don’t want to race-walk. 5. Tough enough (or Not): You want to do some hills but your walking partner whines the whole way up or down, dreads the next hill, sprains an ankle – Home time! 6. Going the distance: You want to build up the distance to prepare for a long event, but your partners never want to do more than 5 or 6 miles. 7. Chatter: Maybe you don’t feel like talking, or like listening. 8. Misery: doesn’t always love company. 9. Eat, drink, and the journey home: deciding when and where to drink, eat a snack or stop for a meal on the way home becomes a matter of negotiation AND 10. As a Dorset Walking Groupie, you have your regular walking group ‘fix’ and we all know that nothing can compare with their company, conversation or candour. Doug Pigg What’s in a name? On a group walk recently one of our members questioned what the “toller” meant in the various place names that have that prefix (Toller Whelm, Toller Porcorum, Toller Fratrum). Years ago, when researching the history of Abbotsbury, I learned that back around 1000AD King Canute handed over a vast tract of land to one of his henchmen – a house-carl called Orc. It was he who built the Abbotsbury Abbey in 1042 and when he died all his land passed to his wife Tola. Around 1060 she gave all the land to the Abbey and Tolpuddle, which was part of it, means “Tola’s river Piddle farm”. I had assumed therefore that all the other “Tollers” came from the same root. I was wrong. It seems that the river Hooke, which has its source at Toller Whelm and merges with the river Frome at Maiden Newton, was originally called the river Toller. So places along the way were named after the river - Porcorum meaning “of the pigs” (it was well known for its herd of pigs) and Fratrum meaning “of the brothers” since it was held by the knights Hospitaller. I cannot find a meaning for Toller Whelm but since the word “whelm” means to engulf or submerge maybe the source of the river Toller was prone to flooding. Does anybody have any other ideas? Peter Evans, Sec SDG Dorset Area - Inter-Group Walks Sunday 16th July 2017 Choose a walk (or make your own way to the venue) and meet for a picnic between 12.30pm and 1 pm at Eggardon Hill GR – SY 543 945 (Map Explorer 117) Meeting Place: Roman Road, Car Park GR SY 577 936 Start time: 10 am prompt. Distance: 9 miles. Moderate - hilly Eggardon Farms and West Compton Only 2 stiles but surface uneven in places. Please car share - limited space. Leader – Jan 01963 362162 mob: 07713 328723 North Dorset Group Meeting Place: Toller Porcorum. Park in Village Hall Car Park, School Lane, DT2 ODT. GR SY 561 979 £1 donation per car. Start time: 10 am. Distance: 8 miles. Moderate - hilly Ferndown Farm and West Compton. Leaders – Margaret and Morven 01202 522467 mob: 07889 246685 (day of walk only) East Dorset Group Meeting Place: Beaminster, Yarn Barton Car Park. GR ST 481 014 Start time: 9 am. Distance: 19 miles. Strenuous (good agility and balance required) North Poorton, Powerstock, Hincknowle and Netherbury Essential to bring ample food and drink. Please note the early start time. Leader – Jason. 07954 590120 East Dorset Group Meeting Place: Litton Cheney Village Hall Car Park. East of school, School Lane. GR SY 550 901 £1 donation per car. Start time: 10 am. Distance: 11 miles. Moderate - hilly. West Compton, Askerswell and Chilcombe Leader – Kate 01305 772126 mob: 07733 171499 South Dorset Group Meeting Place: Powerstock Common, Car Park. GR SY 546 974 Start time: 10.30 am. Distance: 8 miles. Moderate Powerstock and Nettlecombe Possible lift available from Frampton Leader - Cynthia Whyte 01300 320346 mob: 07498 604486 (day of walk only) West Dorset Group Meeting Place: Loders, Smishops Lane (near the school) DT6 3SB. GR 495 942 Start time: 10.30 am. Distance: 11 miles. Moderate Old railway line, Askerswell and Knowle Hill Share cars if possible. Leader – David mob: 07765 497887 Dorset Young Walkers Meeting Place: Askerswell Village Hall Car Park, DT2 9EW. GR 531 929 Start time: 10.30 am. Distance: 12 miles. Moderate Nettlecombe and areas close to Toller Porcorum and Wynford Eagle Leader – Andy mob: 07786 377101 Dorset 4050s Don’t forget to bring a packed lunch and plenty of drink if the weather is hot. No dogs unless otherwise stated. Kate Gocher 2 Ramblers General Council 1-2 April 2017 Southampton University, Highfield Campus eneral Council’s venue this year made it an easy journey for the two Dorset Area Council delegates G- Steve Ryder, Chairman of the South Dorset Group, and Jan Wardell, Area Footpath Secretary. All first-time attendees were given yellow voting cards (Steve), whereas the ‘old-timers’ had red voting cards (Jan) – giving rise to various football analogies over the week-end. Highfield Campus and the Halls of Residence were set in very pleasant green areas of Southampton, and after an initial period of finding our bearings, we soon became used to scurrying back and forth between the main council ‘chamber’ and the dining area. The accommodation was basic but comfortable: dining arrangements were somewhat haphazard, but the food was reasonable. Des Garrahan, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, opened General Council and chaired it adeptly throughout. After a brief introduction and welcome from David Nichols (Hampshire Area Chair) there was a presentation from Des, and our new Chief Executive Officer, Vanessa (Van) Griffiths, which included highlights from 2016 and future strategic direction. Des encouraged people to participate in parallel, virtual conferences on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram - a temptation resisted by the Dorset delegates! There were also brief introductions from Simon Bartlett, Director of Delivery and Development, Brendan Paddy, interim Director, Ramblers Scotland, Angela Charlton, Director Ramblers Cymru, and a new ‘sounding board’ team of Kate Ashbrook, Teri Moore and Christine Grant. The highlight of this session was the presentation by Van, who outlined her previous posts, the most recent being that of Assistant Director, National Trust Wales. As Chief Executive, she sees her priorities for the future of the Ramblers being a shift in focus from the introspection of recent years to working together in the wider context, which included the impact of Brexit. She also explained the Tapestry Project to improve communications across the organisation. This would be facilitated by improvements in the IT infrastructure, which had been the subject of a recent consultation with members. Governance was not mentioned and indeed had a low profile throughout General Council. After a tea break came the First session of General Council, which commenced with a Standing Silence, whilst names of prominent volunteers who had died in the past year were displayed on a rolling screen. There followed apologies for absence, approval of 2016 General Council minutes, bulk elections of vice-presidents, and the election of President. Stuart Maconie was the only nomination and was elected enthusiastically and unanimously (For a profile of Stuart Maconie please see page 8). After appointing tellers and scrutineers, and receiving the Agenda Committee report, the main business of the session was under way – that of the ‘Candidate Hustings’ for the election to fill seven vacancies on the Board of Trustees. Although fifteen candidates had been nominated, one subsequently withdrew, and one was absent. Paddy Tipping (vice-president) guided the thirteen candidates through the process, prior to the first round of elections on Sunday morning. After dinner, Steve took the opportunity to attend a demonstration of the new Ramblers Forum, which is ‘for volunteers to communicate, discuss, and share best practice amongst themselves’. However, this is currently restricted to Trustees, Area Chairs and Secretaries, and General Council members (which as delegates, is a post we hold until General Council 2018.) This restriction was considered, not unreasonably, likely to generate resentment and ill-feeling. However, these are early days. The Second session opened bright and early on Sunday with the financial review – which shows Ramblers finances to be in a better position than they have been for some years. But with falling membership, our future will depend on maintaining current and future collaboration with partners.