Footpath
Matters
We have vacancies for two Area (Ward) Footpath Wardens,
one for Cray Valley (East and West) and the other for Chelsfield and Pratts
Bottom. The posts entail walking all the footpaths in the Area once each
year and notifying me of their condition and any problems. Please contact me
if you are able to take on one of these roles or would like to know more
about what is involved.
If you come across a problem with a footpath in Kent,
Surrey, East or West Sussex you can report the problem on the County
Council’s web sites. If you can note the OS grid reference and take a photo
that can be useful. Here are the links to their websites:
http://www.kent.gov.uk/leisure_and_culture/countryside_and_coast/report_a_problem.aspx
http://surreymaps.surreycc.gov.uk/gisapps/rowdefect1.asp
http://www.eastsussex.gov.uk/leisureandtourism/countryside/rightsofway/default.htm
http://www.westsussex.gov.uk/leisure/getting_around_west_sussex/footpaths_and_bridleways/public_rights_of_way_feedback.aspx
If you find a problem on a footpath within the Bromley
Borough you can phone or email Andrew King, Rights of Way Officer on
Andrew.King@bromley.gov.uk 020 8464 3333 (main switchboard)
Please also let me know so I can keep an eye on the
matter.
Philip Wall
Kent Area
Neville Machin, Chairman of Kent Area, has
asked for the following to be drawn to the attention of as many members of
Bromley Ramblers as possible.
Supporting the work of Kent Area
In order to the meet the coming challenges facing the Kent Area we are
looking for help to fill two posts supporting the Area Secretary, both post
report to the Area Secretary for the provision of the following services.
Area Administration officer
Arranging Area Council (AC) meetings- these meetings take place four times
per year, planned a year ahead and usually at the same place friends Meeting
House Union Street, Maidstone. Preparing and distributing agendas and
accompanying papers for the meetings to an agreed time table, most of this
is done electronically. Taking and drafting the of the AC minutes for
finalisation by the Area Management Team.
Events Coordinator
Identifying and planning publicity events around the Area, where we would
like to have a presence. Liaising with Area and Group officers, about these
events, to ensure that they are supported and manned by volunteers from the
relevant Group and Area officers. Ensuring display equipment is in good
order, available for the various activities and arrange for delivery and
collection.
If you are interested and wish to discuss the opportunity further, please
contact Neville Machin, Area Chairman on 01322 864277 or at
nmachin@msn.com
Message
from the Kent Area Chairman
Save Our Footpaths
Kent County Council is conducting a survey about the services they provide
and what residents of Kent value, this will be used to help them to decide
where the coming spending cuts are to be made. This will appear in the
forthcoming edition of Around Kent and on its website. This is an
opportunity for Ramblers to have our say as to why money should be continue
to be spent on maintaining our footpaths.
The link is
http://www.kent.gov.uk/static/surveys/yourvoiceyourservices/yourvoiceyourservices.htm
There are three questions: two of which you may like to answer along the
following lines.
Q1 Which services do you value most and why?
The footpaths and countryside access.
Because it is a recreation facility which is widely available across the
County, free at point of use, it improves the health of the community and
makes a positive contribution to tourist income.
Q2 How could we be more effective?
By the better use of more volunteers
It is very important that as many people as possible respond to the survey
by the closing date of 1 November, so get your friends and neighbours to
include footpaths in their response.
Mid-week walks
A big thank you to Barbara
Phelps who has kindly volunteered to co-ordinate mid-week walks on days
other than a Wednesday. As a result, you will see from the walks programme
that we have about a dozen walks (mainly on Tuesdays) of varying lengths and
times of day to enjoy this summer.
Dogs & ground
nesting birds
There
has recently been comment in the media about dogs and the problems they may
cause to ground nesting birds during the breeding season. The advice from
the Ramblers is that dogs can be prohibited from areas where birds are
ground nesting, and that walk leaders should explain this in advance in the
walks programme by stating that a particular walk is “Not suitable for dogs”
or “Dogs on leads please”. In fact, the Ramblers recommends that dogs are
kept under close control at all times, and kept on a lead on roads, near
livestock or sensitive wildlife, where the terrain requires careful footwork
and wherever the law or other official regulations require it. If walk
leaders discover that ground nesting birds may be an issue after the
programme has been printed, please ensure that dog owners are aware at the
start of the walk and that they take the necessary action. And, please clean
up after your dog.
Help with the
London Loop
Dear walkers,
Having walked some of the Strategic Walk Network for London, either on
your own or as part of one of our guided walking weekends, you may just be
interested in adopting a section to walk more often (three times a year)
and keep us informed of any issues along the way. With 350 miles and 7
routes to look after our route managers have a lot to do and benefit
enormously from eyes and ears on the ground to keep them abreast of issues
that have arisen since their last survey. We are currently recruiting for
keen people to adopt one of the 24 sections on the LOOP, having a successful
scheme in place for the Capital Ring already.
To see what's involved, please visit the Walk London website
(http://www.walklondon.org.uk/latest_news_detail.asp?News=140)
to read the Role Description and Application Form. If you want more
details then please email or ring the project director, Alexandra Rook
on
Alexandra.rook@walklondon.org.uk
or T 07811 465880.
We look forward to hearing from at least 24 of you!
Alexandra Rook
Project Director
07811 465880
Walking
holidays & Ramblers Insurance
As mentioned
in the last programme, the Ramblers has now made it a requirement that
for any walking holiday (or any walk involving an overnight stay) to be
covered by its civil liability insurance policy it has to be considered an official Ramblers walk, and therefore
• be approved by Group Committee (or Area if being
organised by the Area);
• have an overall organiser who ideally is confident in the ability of Walk
Leaders to lead each walk and who will vary the programme of walks if
circumstances (e.g. weather) demand;
• have a designated Walk Leader for each walk, and ideally a backmarker who
are both members; and
• be publicised in advance.
t would therefore be helpful if anyone
considering such an activity could contact Mike Bruce (our Walks Secretary)
at an early stage of the planning at (preferably)
enquiries., and
he will ensure the committee deals with the request as quickly as possible.
See
http://www.ramblers.org.uk/volunteer/insurance for details of The
Ramblers Insurance.
Social
Secretary
We still have a vacancy for a Social
Secretary to help plan & coordinate our social events and activities. We are
not looking for a person to organise everything themselves, but someone who
can get a group of people together to help arrange a quiz night or Group
dinner, etc. Interested? Please contact Lawrie Smith
smith.l@ntlworld.com or 0208 777
8206 for further information.
Freedom Passes
Those of us who are over 60 will be pleased to hear
that Freedom Passes can be used on all "Transport for London" services
twenty four hours a day with effect from 2nd January. Before you get too
elated it appears that National Rail services are not included. Those of us
in South London will not be able to travel to London early in the morning.
Those in other parts of London will be able to use the underground to get to
London twenty four hours a day.
Details are to be found
here
Happy Birthday Bromley Ramblers
We have recently celebrated our 20th birthday and if you would like to
know more about the origins of Bromley Ramblers Annie has researched it and
produced a short history
history
Walker friendly pubs
