eBoot – August 2018 This month’s edition includes: • Coach trip to the Malverns • Social events • Committee meeting • The Strawberry Line ! • Little Quiz • Notices • Poems for walkers • Forthcoming walks • Commercial corner Join us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/bristolramblersgroup/ 2018 coach trip to the Malverns Places on the coach trip to the Malverns on 9th September are still available. Tickets are a bargain at £15: contact [email protected] to book. There will be A, B and shorter B walks. Using the coach makes it possible to do linear walks. The A walk will cover the full length of the Malverns ridge, from north to south, and the other walks will cover attractive sections offering the prospect of magnificent views. All of the walks will end in Ledbury. Social events There will be a skittles evening on Thursday 18th October at the Eastfield Inn, Henleaze from 7.30-11pm. Do join us for a fun evening, with buffet. Tickets will be available during September, either on a walk or by contacting Paula at [email protected]. They will be priced at £12, to include food and exclusive use of skittles alley. C the World and Ramblers Walking Holidays are hosting a social evening at Henbury Golf Club on Thursday, 6th September 6:30pm - 8:30 pm, with wine, soft drinks and nibbles. If you wish to attend, please contact [email protected] before the end of August. Note that this event is not limited to Ramblers members. C the World (independent travel agents) with Ramblers Walking Holidays are sponsoring this event to promote their Encounter holidays featuring Walking, Safaris, Yoga and Trekking holidays around the world. Ramblers Walking Holidays currently offer donations to the Group on every booking made, and C the World are happy to add an equivalent amount to that for all reservations made through their travel shops in Bristol, Bath and South Gloucestershire. !1 Committee meeting, 24th July The Group’s Committee met in July. Among the items discussed were: • a new Coordinator for the programme of Shorter B walks is still needed. If you could help, please contact [email protected]; • the outcome of the Council’s consultation on the extenstion of Sunday parking charges in central Bristol has not yet been announced, but the Committee discussed possible alternatives to Great George Street; • bookings for the Malverns coach trip are still below the number needed to break even. Please encourage others to consider the trip - a rare opportunity for a linear walk along the ridge; • 16 members of the Mid Berkshire Ramblers will be joining us for walks in and around Bath on 12th August; • the General Data Protection Regulation - we have complied with national Ramblers’ guidance issued so far; • a separate ‘Social Account’ has been set up with Unity Bank to handle payments and receipts for Group trips at home and abroad, and for social events. This should simplify the administration of such events; • we have supported an offer by the Avon Area to host the Ramblers national General Council meeting in 2020. The Strawberry Line Many of us will have walked on the Strawberry Line, currently open as a route for walkers and cyclists from Yatton to Cheddar. The Strawberry Line Society is campaigning for further stretches to be brought into use, so that the route would run from Clevedon to Shepton Mallet. If you would like to sign their petition or see more details, go to www.thestrawberryline.org.uk. Little quiz Visitors are often puzzled by the fact that the area known as ‘the Centre’ is so far from what are now the shopping and commercial centres. ‘The Centre’ was, of course, the Tramway Centre, at the heart of Bristol’s tramway network. But where is the geographical centre of Bristol City Council’s administrative area? Answers, not on a postcard, to [email protected]. Notices Walking Festivals About 4,200 people participated in Bristol Walk Fest walks and events: a great success. There are other walking festivals within striking distance, including: Mendip Ramblers Walking Festival (25-27 August): www.mendipramblers.co.uk. Bradford on Avon Walking Festival (31 August-2 September): www.walkbradfordonavon.org. Gloucestershire Welcomes Walkers (15 September): www.gloucestershireramblers.org.uk. The sun shines - shock, horror !2 In a move that seems certain to bring this outstanding summer to an end, the Ramblers have provided some helpful advice for those leading walks in hot weather: In the days before the walk: • Check weather forecasts and adjust the route, or cancel if you feel necessary • Give particular consideration to very lengthy and/or difficult walks, and whether some adjustments might be prudent • Think about shady spots to rest, extra stopping points, and encourage participants to bring extra fluids and appropriate sun protection At the start of the walk: • Hold a pre-walk briefing and explain any adjustments to the walk as a result of the weather • Ask if walkers have plenty of fluids, and invite anyone with concerns to speak to you in private before you set off During the walk: • Allow for regular re-grouping and head-counts • Build in extra resting points and steer towards the shade • Be alert to any problems with individuals who might be flagging in the heat At the end of the walk: • Check that everyone has returned and is feeling OK Moving the Nation The Ramblers have been working this year with the Bicycle Association, Cycling UK, British Cycling, Living Streets and Sustrans. Our organisations have a combined membership of more than 330,000 people and we share a common ambition to increase active travel. These organisations have launched ‘Moving the Nation’, a manifesto seeking new measures to prioritise walking and cycling in English towns and cities and setting out a vision of a future where walking and cycling are the natural choice for short journeys. This complements the Ramblers’ own Stepping Out campaign for urban walking: see the national Ramblers website for details. Bristol Walking Alliance Locally, we are working with Living Streets, Sustains and others. Two current topics are: 20mph scheme review. The previously announced review commenced on Wednesday 20th June and will run for ten weeks. The Council seems to acknowledge the benefits of the scheme, as evidenced by the review commissioned from UWE, and is looking for minor changes only. Any change in speed limit will need to be supported by evidence. See the Council’s consultation page here. !3 Air quality campaign. Bristol Clean Air Alliance (BCAA) is a growing alliance of local campaigning groups and is starting to gain momentum. The Council will decide next October on the preferred option for a Clean Air Plan. Prior to that, the Council is running an engagement programme to make different audiences aware of the issue and the options. This includes the website www.cleanairforbristol.org.uk. Now is the time to comment, if you want to influence the choice of which option to take forward. Ancient woods The Woodland Trust report on revised government planning policy: in a nutshell the new planning policy makes it clear that from now on, loss or damage to ancient habitats should only be considered in 'wholly exceptional' circumstances. The change puts these precious habitats on a par with our best built heritage. There will still be battles ahead – those ‘wholly exceptional’ reasons, which generally apply to schemes such as HS2 and major roads, will not go away. But today we can celebrate a brighter future for ancient woods and trees in England. Pensford village walks The Pensford Local History Group has published three local walks, to mark the 50th anniversary of the great flood of 1968. The walks are available at http://www.publow-with-pensford-pc.gov.uk/pc/parish-walks/, or in paper form from shops and pubs in Pensford, Poems for walkers Gary Snyder is of the American ‘beat’ generation. A Walk is an early poem, free in form, capturing the freedom of solo hiking as well as the harsh beauty of the Californian Sierras: ‘steep gorge glacier-slick rattlesnake country’, ‘rusty cookstove’. Buddhism and haikus came later, but throughout his career runs an interest in the relationship between man and nature. Sunday the only day we don't work: Mules farting around the meadow, Murphy fishing. The tent flaps in the warm Early sun: I've eaten breakfast and I'll take a walk To Benson Lake. Packed a lunch. Goodbye. Hopping on creekbed boulders Up the rock throat three miles Piute Creek - In steep gorge glacier-slick rattlesnake country Jump, land by a pool, trout skitter, The clear sky. Deer tracks. Bad place by a falls, boulders big as houses. Lunch tied to belt, I stemmed up a crack and almost fell But rolled out safe on a ledge and ambled on. Quail chicks freeze underfoot, color of stone Then run cheep! away, hen quail fussing. !4 Craggy west end of Benson Lake - after edging Past dark creek pools on a long white slope - Lookt down in the ice-black lake lined with cliff From far above: deep shimmering trout. A lone duck in a gunsightpass, steep side hill Through slide-aspen and talus, to the east end Down to grass, wading a wide smooth stream Into camp. At last, By the rusty three-year- Ago left-behind cookstove of the old trail crew, Stoppt and swam and ate my lunch. Some forthcoming walks Full details of the walks programme are in the published programme and on our website and also on the national Ramblers Walkfinder. If you would like to see walks in future programmes, you can see the spreadsheets on our website (walks>led walks>walks for future programme).