AUTUMN NEWSLETTER 2019
Future Activities
Lakes’ week, Saturday 14th to 21st September 2019. Keswick is the base for our annual week’s walking in the Lakes. Susan has taken over from Jenny as the co-ordinator. Please let her know if you can offer a walk – A+, A, B or C (07776 417499). We plan to offer a wide range of walks, splitting the ‘A’s into two on a few days when numbers are high. Also please contact Susan if you want or can offer a lift to Keswick.
Friday 11th to Sunday 13th October 2019 Hotel & Coach Weekend to Great Malvern (2 nights)
The club has booked The Abbey Hotel, Great Malvern, for the Autumn Hotel weekend 2019. There are 45 places in a mix of single, double and twin en-suite rooms, with one twin room still available. See abbey@sarova.com We are situated next to the Abbey, near the Malvern Hills. The cost for 2 nights’ dinner, B&B, packed lunch, coach travel and gratuities is £215 per person for a shared room and £250 for a single room. There will be a walk on the Friday afternoon and three walks on both Saturday and Sunday.
Club AGM 14.30 on Saturday 23rd November at St James Church, Wulfstan Way, Cambridge. As well as the usual business meeting the Committee will be proposing some minor changes to the Club’s Constitution. Currently the Committee is restricted to 18 in total, but with new walking groups and trip organisers in recent years we need to increase numbers. Following the formal meeting we will have a speaker – details to be announced on the website.
12th January 2020 Sunday B and C New Year lunch walk: This will be from the Bourn Golf & Leisure Club at Bourn. There will be 2 walks; 6.5 miles for the B group and 4.5 miles for the C group, followed by lunch. Menus will be available from walk secretaries by email or, for those without access to email, on walks during November and December. If you are not on the Sunday B or C Walk Secretaries’ email lists please contact them by email or phone Miranda/Penny to be sent a menu.
Hotel & Coach weekend based at Brecon, Friday 27th to Sunday 29th March 2020 (2 nights): The Club has booked the Castle Hotel, Brecon, for our 2020 Spring coach/hotel weekend. There are 45 places in a mix of single, double and twin en-suite rooms. Brecon is a lovely town in the middle of the National Park, with its own cathedral, museum, canal and other attractions. See :http://www.breconcastle.co.uk/
We plan to arrive in time for a walk on the Friday afternoon; maybe some of you would like to explore the town. As usual we will offer 3 different walks on Saturday and Sunday – please let Barry know if you would be willing to lead a walk. The total cost for 2 nights, dinner, B&B, packed lunches on Saturday and Sunday, coach travel and gratuities is £215 per head for a shared room and £250 for a single room. To reserve your place now, please send a non-refundable deposit of £75 per person to Barry (address on the current programme), with cheques payable to Cambridge Rambling Club, the balance to be paid by 1st February 2020. Car parking details will be given later. Please include your address, email and telephone details with your deposit and any dietary requirements.
BUDGET TRIPS. These trips, using a mixture of budget hotels, hostels and large self-catering properties, 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 leader – please do offer! Or come along to do your own thing. 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. 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 – but do let Jill know!
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*Cheltenham Cotswold weekend, Friday 1st to Sunday 3rd November 2019 (2 nights): The Club has arranged a walking weekend in the Cotswolds – based at the Cheltenham Central (West/A40) Premier Inn. Please book your own accommodation and let Jill know if you are coming. There is very beautiful countryside close by. ‘B’ walks leader wanted.
*Southwold, Suffolk, Friday 7th to Monday 10th February 2020 (3 nights): The Club has booked two self-catering properties in Southwold for a long weekend in early February 2020, (Marram House, with 6 bedrooms and the Old Rope House, with 4 bedrooms). There are limited places still available in shared rooms. Please contact Jill before booking – cost £80 per head, with a deposit of £25 payable now and the balance of £55 due by 1st December. ‘A’ walks guaranteed – ‘B’ walks need a leader!
*Stratford upon Avon, Friday 6th to Sunday 8th March 2020, (2 nights): Several people have already booked into the Premier Inn Central in Stratford – or reserved rooms at other budget hotels nearby. We plan a linear walk along the Avon Way on Saturday, using a local bus service. For theatre buffs, Shakespeare’s King John is on at the Swan Theatre on the Saturday night – please book seats if you are interested. On Sunday we will walk a circular route from the National Trust’s nearby Hidcote Manor.
*Conwy, north Wales coast, Friday 1st to Monday 4th May 2020 (3 nights): Originally this trip was planned over the first Spring Bank Holiday of 2020 – but recently the Government changed the Bank Holiday date from Monday May 4th to Friday 8th May (to commemorate the D Day landings)! As the Club had already booked 4 self-catering properties in the Conwy area it has proved impossible to change the dates. So – apologies to working folk who may have to take an extra day’s holiday. The cost for 3 nights’ accommodation is £90, with a deposit of £30 payable now and the balance of £60 due by the end of February. ‘B’ walks leader wanted.
*Ceredigion coast path walk, Friday 5th to Friday 12th June 2020 (7 nights): The Welsh Ceredigion coast path walk takes 5 days and runs from Cardigan in the south to Borth in the north. We are based in Aberystwyth and the Club has booked 3 self-catering properties, with 13 rooms in total. A sharing place costs £140 for the week, with a deposit of £45 to secure a bed and the balance due by the end of March. There are a limited number of rooms with sole occupancy – please contact Jill for prices. We will book a coach to enable us to walk linear stretches of the path. Please let Jill know if you have booked your own accommodation and want a place on the coach, There will be one day to walk and explore the countryside inland from Aberystwyth – probably the first day. ‘B’ walks leader wanted. It is possible to travel to Aberystwyth from Cambridge by train, via Birmingham.
News and Notices
Contact/next of kin details: Club members are requested to carry details of a contact or next of kin with them when taking part in all Club activities, in case of an emergency. These can be kept in a purse, wallet or rucksack pocket. Please do not send this information to Club trip organisers, as this is no longer allowed under the General Data Protection Regulation.
Guidance on recording accidents/incidents for walks’ leaders. The Club’s President maintains a register to record details of any major incidents or accidents occurring on Club walks or trips. It is the responsibility of walks’ and trips’ leaders/organisers to make sure that these details are passed on to Jenny. We have reviewed our guidance on just what constitutes both an accident and an incident and this has been posted on the Club’s website – in the Members’ Section, under ‘So you want to lead a walk’.
Temporary closure of cycle/footpath under railway bridge announced.. A brand new cycle/foot bridge is being built over the River Cam over the next two years, linking Ditton Meadows to East Chesterton. The cycle/footpath jetty under the railway bridge will be closed from autumn 2019 to summer 2020. Walkers will have to use the footbridge over the railway line instead or take the towpath along the north bank. Just note that Ditton Meadows can be very boggy in winter! The new bridge is part of the Chisholm Trail, a mainly off-road cycle route linking the two railway stations.
Update on access to the Wimpole estate. The National Trust (NT) has announced that when its new car park opens in 2020, it plans to charge non-members a full entry fee if they enter the estate from the car park, even if they only want to walk in the parkland or on public rights of way. The Cambridge Group of the Ramblers considers that it is fair to pay a parking fee – but not to use a public footpath. The NT says that there is no intention to prevent free access to walkers entering the estate on foot – so the new policy could significantly increase parking in nearby villages such as Arrington, Orwell and Great Eversden, as well as along narrow lanes. Negotiations continue – see the CRC website for any updates.
Update on public access to Cambridge City’s Castle Mound: The County Council is moving its HQ to Alconbury near Huntingdon and has put its Shire Hall site in Cambridge up for sale on a long lease, failing to protect the Castle Mound as public open space. The City Council is considering claiming the Castle Mound as a ‘town green’, to maintain access for the public. The Cambridge Group of the Ramblers is claiming that a right of way up the Mound exists – requiring a ‘Definitive Map Modification Order’ (DMMO). This legal process involves providing evidence that members of the public have been able to walk up the Mound, without any hindrance, for at least 20 years. Please see the CRC website for a link to the ‘evidence’ form – and do fill it in if you have used this path. The Mound is an important part of our heritage, not to be sold off for profit.
Club representation on the Cambridge Group of the Ramblers. Please contact Jill if you would like to be involved.
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. Please contact Jill Tuffnell at jill@cambridgeramblingclub.com to be emailed the code, which currently runs to 31st August 2019. We are seeking to renew. If you are buying in-store, your Club Membership card will suffice. Please note that Open Air’s 10% discount is now calculated on the RRP (recommended retail price), NOT the price Open Air actually charges. If you are a Ramblers or Cambridge U3A member you can get a 10% discount at Rohan stores on full price goods – or 15% for HF members.
Support our ‘Walking Partnership’ funds. This year we have received £180 from Ramblers Walking Holidays under the ‘Walking Partnership’ scheme; we will use this fund to promote and support walking locally. Please nominate the CRC 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.
Spending Walking Partnership funds: We are funding two projects at Wimpole this year. The first replaces a stile with a kissing gate – on the public footpath which crosses the A603 and continues north along the Avenue. The second provides a new seat, made from locally-sourced timber, near the reservoir on the Mare Way – a great place to pause after walking up from Great Eversden or from Cobbs Wood Farm.
Payment for Club coach hotel & day trips: If you are paying for Club coach trips by bank transfer please reference the destination to help our Treasurer. You don’t need to give your name in the ‘reference’ field as this is provided automatically by your bank. If you want to pay by bank transfer, rather than cheque, please contact our Treasurer Jim for the Club’s details.
Please switch from paper & post to email for your Programme & Newsletter. Let Anne Turpin know if you are happy to switch to email. It saves the Club ££s. Just Email: secretary@cambridgeramblingclub.com
Club subscriptions. If you currently pay by cheque or bank transfer, please switch to a Standing Order to take effect on 1st November 2019 and thereafter on 1st November each year. Please contact Jim for the Club’s bank details. Almost 90% now pay this easy way!
Next Committee Meeting. Monday November 11th at 19.30 at the Wesley Church, King Street, Cambridge.
