WINTER/SPRING NEWSLETTER 2018
Future Activities
14th January Sunday B and C New Year lunch walk from The Shed, Lode: Please note that the lunch is not at The Crown, Girton as this pub changed hands at the end of November. There will be 2 walks from Lode, one for each group followed by lunch. Please contact Miranda or send John a stamped addressed envelope for a menu. Cheques with menu choices must be received by John by 21st December.
Friday 6th to Sunday 8th April 2018: Hotel and coach weekend trip to Ilkley (2 nights). The Club has booked the Craiglands Hotel, Ilkley, Yorkshire (see
http://www.craiglands.co.uk/) for our Spring Hotel weekend. There is just one female share place available at the time of writing. Please check with Alex for late availability or to be on a reserve waiting list. We plan to arrive in time to have a walk on Friday afternoon. As usual, we hope to offer 3 different walks each day. The total cost for 2 nights, dinner, B&B, packed lunches on Saturday and Sunday, coach travel and gratuities is £192 per head for a shared room and £232 for a single room. The balance for those who have paid a £75 deposit is due by 28th February, with cheques payable to Cambridge Rambling Club, Car parking details will be given later.
London Walk Saturday April 21st: David will again be leading a London walk in 2018 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 7 mile walk from Woolwich Arsenal to Greenwich. Please email david.allard@ntlworld.com and full details will be sent to you.
Sunday 22nd April: The CRC’s 90th Anniversary celebrations! Based at the Townley Memorial Hall, at the Fulbourn Community Centre, the Club’s 90th Anniversary will be marked by a choice of walks, followed between 3.00 and 5.00pm by a celebratory tea. A great selection of photographs will be shown in widescreen format, spanning almost a century! Tickets for the tea are £5.00 and from mid-January will be available from all Programme Secretaries and General Secretary Jill Tuffnell, (cheques payable to Cambridge Rambling Club). We hope that as many members as possible can come along to meet up with friends.
Map-reading course: Norman is willing to run a map-reading course for up to 6 people one Saturday in May or June from 2.00 to 5.00pm at Therfield. Please contact him if you are interested in taking part: norman.njd@gmail.com.
Sunday 24th June Summer Coach Outing to Cromer, North Norfolk coast: We hope to explore the newly opened coast path east of Cromer and Overstrand, part of the ‘coastal access’ footpath. The coach will leave Milton P&R site at 8.30am, returning here around 7.00pm. We plan to offer A, B and C walks – or drop folk off to explore Cromer as an alternative. The cost is again £15. Please send a cheque to Caroline (see Programme Card for address), payable to Cambridge Rambling Club. Further details will be circulated by email where possible.
Lakes’ week Saturday 8th to 15th September. We are returning to Windermere for a second year, having now researched local hostelries and walking opportunities. We are looking for an organiser to take over from Jenny – who is ‘holding the fort’ for now, but would like to step back. If you value these trips please do think about helping the Club. If you book accommodation and have a room or two available for other Club members please let Jenny know.
Friday 12th to Sunday 14th October 2018, Hotel and Coach Weekend to Llandrindod Wells (2 nights). The club has booked The Metropole Hotel and Spa in the town of Llandrindod Wells in Mid Wales. There are 45 places in a mix of single, double and twin en-suite rooms. See www.metropole.co.uk. This is a spa town on the edge of the Elan Valley. The cost for 2 nights dinner, B&B, packed lunches, coach travel and gratuities will be £215 per head for a shared room and £245 for a single room. Sally will be taking bookings in February 2018. We plan to organise 2 walks on Friday afternoon and 3 on both Saturday and Sunday. Offers of leaders to Sally please. To reserve a place, please send a non-refundable deposit of £75 per person to Sally (for address see Programme Card) with cheques payable to Cambridge Rambling Club, (final payment will be due by 31st July 2018) please include your address, email and telephone details, emergency contact and any dietary requirements. If you prefer to pay by BACS please ask for details. Please let Sally know if you are happy to receive further details by email (if you have access!)
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. Offers to drive or requests for a lift to Jill please. All bookings are handled by Jill, with cheques payable to ‘E G Tuffnell’ or contact her for BACS details: jill@cambridgeramblingclub.com . Please note that the full balance must be paid at least 8 weeks before most trips. You are very welcome to book your own accommodation and join us on walks.
*Blaxhall Youth Hostel, Friday 2nd to Sunday 4th February 2018 (2 nights). The Club has exclusive use of Blaxhall YH in early February 2018. This comfortable hostel has been refurbished and is well situated for walks to Orwell and Snape as well as being close to Aldeburgh. The cost for 2 nights, self-catering, is £40.
*Wirksworth, Peak District – long weekend (3 nights) Friday 16th to Monday 19th March 2018. We have booked Sycamore Farm Barns luxurious self-catering accommodation in this wonderful area close to Matlock for 3 nights. No single rooms, but plenty of twins and doubles. The cost is £100 per head. A deposit of £35 is payable on booking, with the balance due by 15th January. A walks guaranteed: B walks leader wanted.
*Llangollen, Friday 4th to Monday 7th May 2018 (Bank Holiday weekend – 3 nights). The Club has booked sole occupancy of this well-equipped independent self-catering hostel in central Llangollen, close to excellent walking country. The cost is £75 per head, with a deposit of £20 payable on booking and the balance due 1st March. There are no single rooms, but a few rooms for two people. B leader wanted.
*A week’s walking on the Pembrokeshire Coast Path: Friday 18th to Friday 25th May 2018. All places booked by the Club in and near Newport have been taken, but you are welcome to arrange your own accommodation. The area offers some of the UK’s best coastal walking and the flowers in May are magnificent! The balance of £105 for those folk who have booked through Jill and paid a £45 deposit is due 10th March. We will hire a private coach for our linear walks, with A and B options available.
*Bishop’s Castle, Shropshire, Friday 6th to Friday 13th July 2018. Our week’s summer trip next year is to glorious Shropshire, staying in excellent self-catering accommodation in the Old Schoolhouse and adjacent Cottage. The single room has been snapped up, but there are double and twin rooms available. The total cost is £175 per person, with a deposit of £55 required to secure a booking. B leader wanted!
*Great Malvern, Friday 21st to Sunday 23rd September (2 nights). We have booked a few rooms at the new Premier Inn at Great Malvern, close to this iconic Spa town, the Malvern Hills and Ledbury, with a restaurant on site. This is great walking country close to Worcester. The rooms cost £100; there are twins or a double/single. Please check availability with Jill.
News and Notices
2017 AGM report. The recent AGM was well attended. Thanks were given to retiring Committee members Meg and Derek, who were both awarded Life Membership in recognition of their great service to the Club. After the formal meeting, we had a most enlightening talk from Sue Clements on First Aid.
Club representation on the Cambridge Group of the Ramblers. The Club would like to be represented by a member at the local Ramblers’ Committee, which meets once every two months. If you are interested in issues affecting rights of way, such as road schemes and new housing developments, please contact Jill.
Data protection and implications for Club members’ personal contact information. New regulations are coming into force in May 2018 regarding how organisations hold and safeguard personal contact information relating to their members. The Club is keen to ensure that we continue to adopt ‘best practice’. First of all, rest assured that we NEVER pass any personal contact details on to other organisations. All members who receive their programmes and newsletters by email have requested this. Members who walk with one of our regular groups have been asked if they are happy to receive information by email. Detailed information relating to trips or other Club events is often distributed by email, but only where members have indicated that they are happy to receive it in this format.
Network Rail’s proposals to close level crossings – update. We reported last spring that Network Rail had submitted proposals to close 29 level crossings involving footpaths, bridleways etc in Cambridgeshire. We now know that Cambridgeshire County Council and the Ramblers Association have objected to more than half of the proposed closures, citing additional costs of footpath maintenance which the County will have to pay for, long unpleasant diversions, increased flooding risks and no investment by Network Rail in improving safety on existing crossings. A public inquiry into the disputed closure plans is scheduled for all of December. Club Secretary Jill Tuffnell is appearing as a witness to object to the path diversion proposals for the Harston level crossing, which involve two flights of around 20 steps and the necessity to cross the London Road twice. She is also objecting to the closure of a crossing between Wicken and Soham on a lightly-used line. The diversion proposed by Network Rail uses a footpath that has been blocked for years and leads to another level crossing on a drove road used by HGVs.
Club discounts. Club members wanting to buy goods on-line from Cotswold Outdoor must provide a code in order to benefit from a 15% discount on ‘full price’ goods. 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 2018. Stores offering Club members a 10% discount include Open Air, Mountain Warehouse and Trespass in the Grafton Centre. If you are a Ramblers or HF member you can get a 10% discount at Rohan stores.
Sunday Cs are now walking every two weeks. Thanks!
Information on local pubs. Please check out the ‘pubs’ section on the Club’s website as there have been a number of changes recently, including the re-opening of several village hostelries. And if you know of other openings or closures, please let Jill know.
Support our ‘Walking Partnership’ funds. Between 2011 and late 2017 the Club received £2,580 from Ramblers Worldwide Holidays under the ‘Walking Partnership’ scheme. We have used this money to promote and support walking locally, most recently contributing to major gate repairs near Bourn windmill in Caxton parish. Please keep nominating the CRC to receive ‘Walking Partnership’ funds when you book on a Ramblers’ Holiday! We receive £30 for a long-haul trip, £20 for holidays in Europe and £10 for UK trips.
Please switch from paper & post to email for your Programme & Newsletter. Just let Anne know if you are happy to switch. It will save the Club £££s. Postage costs keep on increasing.
Club subscriptions. If you haven’t yet paid, £4.00 was due on 1st November! Please set up a Standing Order rather than pay by cheque; contact Jim for the Club’s bank details (see Programme Card).
Next Committee Meeting. Monday March 12th, at the Wesley Church, King Street, Cambridge at 7.30pm.
