2017 Winter Newsletter

WINTER/SPRING NEWSLETTER 2017

Future Activities

15th January Sunday B and C New Year lunch walk from The Crown, Girton. There will be 2 walks, one for each group followed by lunch. As we go to print menu choices/prices are to be finalised and will be circulated ASAP. Please contact Miranda or John for a menu. Cheques with menu choices must be received by John by 21st December.

Friday 31st March to Sunday 2nd April Hotel & Coach Weekend, Pickering, Yorkshire. . This trip is now full with a waiting list for single rooms. Don’t forget that balances need to be with Alex by 27th January 2017. Details of the balance due were included in the email all those booked should have received at the end of September. Cheques are payable to Cambridge Rambling Club, please. If you want to pay by BACs, contact Alex for details. Car parking details will be circulated by the end of the year in time for the fee to be included in the balance should you need this.

London Walk, Saturday 22nd April:  David will again be leading a London walk in 2017 and, as previously, members will take the train from Cambridge to King’s Cross where David will meet them for onward travel to the start of the walk. On this occasion it will be a 6.5 mile walk from Belsize Park via Primrose Hill, Regent’s Park, Little Venice, Paddington, Kensington Gardens finishing at Holland Park where a visit to the Design Centre is proposed. Please telephone David on 01763 242677 and full details will be sent or emailed to you.

Club Summer Coach Outing to Sheringham, north Norfolk coast, Sunday 18th June: Please support our annual coach trip, with A, B and C walks on offer in and around Sheringham. With good support in 2016 we have been able to keep the cost to £15.00 per person for 2017. The pick-up will be from Milton P&R at 8.45, returning around 19.00. Please send cheques, payable to Cambridge Rambling Club, to organiser Caroline (address on Programme Card), including details of a contact in case of an accident. Offers of leaders for B and C walks welcome – please call Caroline.

Lake District week Saturday 9th to 16th September, Windermere: Our new base will be Windermere Town, which has a railway station, good bus & ferry links & a wide range of shops. The area offers excellent opportunities for all levels of walks & a range of sightseeing possibilities. Members book their own accommodation in cottages or flats. There is also a Youth Hostel. Short meetings are held each evening to discuss options for the next day. Please contact Jenny for further information or to add your name to the list.

Friday 13th to Sunday 15th October 2017 Autumn Hotel and Coach Weekend – Forest of Dean and Wye Valley: Bookings are now open for the Club’s trip to the Royal Forest of Dean, a fabulous place to visit in the Autumn. We will be staying at the historic Speech House Hotel near Coleford, Gloucestershire,
www.thespeechhouse.co.uk. Walking opportunities include Symonds Yat Rock, with views across the River Wye to the forest beyond. We will organise 2 walks on Friday afternoon and 3 walks for all abilities on Saturday and Sunday. Offers of leaders to Meg please.
We have booked 44 places in a mix of single, double and twin en-suite rooms. The total cost for 2 nights dinner, B&B, packed lunches, coach travel and gratuities will be £225 per head for a shared room and £240 for a single room. To reserve a place, please send a non-refundable deposit of £75 per person to Meg Ketch (see walks programme for address), with cheques payable to Cambridge Rambling Club, (final payment will be due by 31st July 2017). Please include your address, email and telephone details, emergency contact and any dietary requirements. Note that this is the last trip Meg will be organising – see ‘News’ below.

Map reading for beginners or improvers! Norman has offered to organise another map-reading course sometime in the spring of 2017; if you are interested, please contact him. The group will be limited to around 6 people.

Hostel & budget trips: These trips are informal affairs and, if a long way from Cambridge, are often for 3 nights or more. ‘A’ walks are guaranteed; ‘B’ walks depend on a volunteer leader – please do offer! Travel is normally in cars and we try to arrange car sharing. All bookings are handled by Jill Tuffnell, with cheques payable to ‘E G Tuffnell’. Please book with deposit or payment well in advance as the full balance must be paid at least 8 weeks before the trip. Offers to drive or requests for a lift to Jill please. You are very welcome to book your own accommodation and join us on walks.

*Brancaster Activity Centre, north Norfolk, Friday 3rd to Sunday 5th February (2 nights): There are just a few places available in shared bunk rooms at this newly-refurbished National Trust-owned property on the north Norfolk Coast at Brancaster Staithe. With excellent self-catering facilities, alongside spacious lounges, dining areas and a nearby pub, this is a new venue for the Club. The cost is £36 per person for the weekend. ‘A’ and ‘B’ walks available.

*Lyndhurst (Stoney Cross) New Forest Travelodge weekend, Friday 10th to Sunday 12th March (2 nights). All rooms booked by the Club and advertised on our website have been snapped up – but you are very welcome to join us on this trip to the wonderful New Forest. Please book your accommodation and let Jill know. There are A and B walks available.

*Brecon Beacons: Danywenallt Youth Hostel, Friday April 28th to Tuesday May 2nd (4 nights – half board). This trip to a remote youth hostel in the wonderful Brecon Beacons is now full – please contact Jill if you would like to be on a reserve list. For those already booked, the balance of £100 is due by February 25th. If you book a B&B nearby you are welcome to join us for an evening meal. A & B walks.

*Somerset & Devon South West Coast Path: Lynton, Friday 2nd to Friday 9th June (7 nights). We have booked sole occupancy of ‘Lynhurst’, a 10-bedroom self-catering house in Lynton, Devon for the week. All places are now taken. The balance on the full cost of £140 is due mid-March. You can also book a B&B in Lynton or Lynmouth and join us for walks. We plan to arrange private coach transport for our linear walks, which could add up to £75 to the overall cost. If you would like to be on a reserve list please contact Jill.

*Middleham, Wensleydale, Friday 11th to Friday 18th August (7 nights). We have booked a week’s stay in the well-equipped self-catering School House in the historic village of Middleham in Wensleydale, Yorkshire. Several places have been booked already, but there is still one shared room for four available, (no bunks!). The cost per person for the week is just £150, with a deposit of £40 payable on booking. The balance is due early June 2017.

*Glossop Travelodge, Friday 29th September to Sunday 1st October 2017. All 12 rooms booked by the Club at the centrally-located Travelodge in Glossop have been taken, so please arrange your own accommodation and let Jill know. Glossop is situated on the western edge of the Peak District, close to Buxton and not far from Castleton. There is an excellent choice of local walks – both on the moors and through quieter, more pastoral countryside. The Travelodge has no restaurant, but there are plenty of places to eat nearby and a ‘breakfast box’ can be purchased. Overnight parking nearby is free.

*Truleigh Hill Youth Hostel, Friday 10th to Sunday 12th November 2017, (2 nights). The Club has booked exclusive use of the well-appointed Truleigh Hill YH in early November on a self-catering basis. Located in Sussex between Shoreham and Brighton, high up on the South Downs Way, there are fantastic views and great walks straight from the door. There are a fewl small rooms as well as 6-bed dorms; with over 50 beds available we can spread out! The cost for the weekend is £45 per person.

News and Notices

AGM 2016: The Club’s AGM on Saturday 19th November was very well attended. Thanks were given to all Committee members – especially Norman, Paul and Christine, who have retired. Welcome to Rita and Susanne for a 3-year term. An entertaining talk was given by Dr Brian Cox on ‘Cambridge University, Past, Present & Future’.

Summer 2018 – CRC’s 90th Anniversary! Formation of the CRC was first discussed back in 1927 – but we now think it more appropriate to celebrate the 90th Anniversary to reflect the year the first meeting and walk took place, 1928. This gives us time to arrange suitable activities – including a range of walks and a social get together in summer 2018. A small working group is needed to put a programme together – so please contact Jenny if you would like to help. The Club would also like to compile a photo album covering our activities during the last decade. If you have any suitable photos of members on Club trips – with a guide as to ‘Who’s who’ – please contact Jenny.

Network Rail’s plans to close level crossings: Over the summer the Club has responded to two rounds of consultation on Network Rail’s plans to close 32 level crossings in Cambridgeshire. We support schemes which significantly improve safety but are concerned about proposals which involve long unpleasant diversions and create new safety issues, such as having to walk next to and over busy roads, many without a footpath. Some plans involve a long diversion to another level crossing! We have objected to proposals which are very inconvenient and increase dangers for walkers, rather than reduce them. In many cases it appears that Network Rail’s main aim is to reduce their maintenance costs, putting new responsibilities onto the hard-pressed County Council, as the Highways Authority.

Autumn Coach/Hotel Trip organisers – please help!
Many thanks to Cynthia and Graham for organising the walks on recent autumn coach weekends. In the absence of a volunteer(s) we urgently need one or two folk to take over responsibility for bookings etc for 2018! Please contact Jenny if you can help.

Sunday C walks: Please note that Sunday C walks now start at 10.00am.

Club discounts. Cotswold Outdoor has informed us that any Club member wanting to buy goods on-line must provide a code in order to benefit from a 15% discount on ‘full price’ goods. Please contact Jill at jill@cambridgeramblingclub.com to be emailed the code. If you are buying in-store, your Club Membership card will suffice. This benefit runs to 31st August 2017. Stores offering Club members a 10% discount include Open Air, Mountain Warehouse (where the discount appears to be available on all purchases, including sale items and promotions), Hobbs in Sidney Street and Trespass in the Grafton Centre. If you are a Ramblers member you can get a 10% discount at Rohan stores on full price goods.

Borrow a map: Cambridge Central library has full sets of both 1:25,000 and 1:50,000 maps available to borrow – all with waterproof lamination.

Support our ‘Walking Partnership’ funds. Between 2012 and 2016 the Club has received £2,190 from Ramblers Worldwide Holidays under the ‘Walking Partnership’ scheme – the second highest funding for any walking group! We have used this money to promote and support walking locally. The latest project, recently approved by the Club’s Committee, is a new metal kissing gate on the Coton Countryside Reserve (run by Cambridge Past, Present & Future), enabling ‘mobility’ access. Seven of the 15-year old wooden gates on the Reserve are rotten, requiring repair or replacement. Please keep nominating the CRC to receive ‘Walking Partnership’ funds when you book on a Ramblers’ Holiday! We receive £30 for a longhaul trip, £20 for holidays in Europe and £10 for each UK holiday.

Please switch from paper & post to email for your Programme & Newsletter: Just let Anne Turpin know if you are happy to switch. It will save the Club £££s.

Next Committee Meeting: Tuesday March 14th in the Octagon Room, ground floor, at the Wesley Church, King Street, Cambridge at 7.30pm.

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