chorley ramblers out and about and about october 2017... · 2017-12-03 · here's a picture...
TRANSCRIPT
Chorley Ramblers
Out and About
Issue 46 October 2017
Page 1
Chorley Ramblers starting the
Dales High Way in Saltaire in August Coach Rambles are always on the 2
nd Saturday of the month.
Contact Denny Robinson on 01257 262122 to book.
**********************
MILES WITHOUT STILES
Anglezarke Reservoir and Healey Nab Circular Could this be our first Miles Without Stiles circular walk?
See Pages 2 & 3 for more about Miles without Stiles
Chorley Ramblers Rise to
the Barbara Williams Challenge
Pat H successfully led a group of eight hardy souls around an
18 mile moorland and lakes hike visiting Darwen Tower,
Wayoh and Jumbles Reservoirs, Turton Tower as well as a
pub, a cafe and an ice cream parlour. Well, we needed plenty
of refreshments, didn't we?
Two other Ramblers walked with us for part of the way,
which was lovely.
Barbara would have been very proud of us all.
Chorley Ramblers continue to support the
Remembrance Day Service at Lead Mines Clough
Last year Mike Wisdom took up the challenge of
providing the technology to link the Lead Mines Clough
service with the Cenotaph and liaising with other local
organisations such as Bolton Mountain Rescue to ensure
the Service is successful. Mike will again be leading the
Remembrance walk and supporting the Service.
Thank you Mike.
Here's a picture from last year's walk.
Page 2
Chorley RA Committee Members
Chairman Mike Wisdom
Footpaths Officer Marian Owen
Secretary Paula Armstrong
Planning Vacant
Closures, Diversions Vacant
Treasurer Walter McDermott
Membership Eileen Entwisle
Programme Alan Blundell
Facebook Publicity Amanda French
Web Site Mike Wisdom
Membership from Eileen Entwisle
We would like to welcome the following new
members to Chorley Ramblers who have joined our
group since May.
Mr Kelvin Pinder, Mr Steve Harrison, Mrs Melanie
Oliver, Mrs Ruth Jepson, Mr P Gillespie, Mrs Angela
Bishop, Mr Statter, Mr Chris Harman, Mr Andrew
Mears, Mr Dave Butterfield, Miss Angie Cross, Mr
Nassar Hussain, Mr Michael Graham, Mrs Mavis
Hitchen and Mrs Eileen Parkinson.
We hope they all enjoy walking with our group.
Membership stands at 289 as of 31st August 2017.
Out and About
News, stories and photographs for the February
2018 Edition of Out and About to Marian Owen
by 1 January.
Email: [email protected]
Lead a Walk on Our Next
Programme
Bag your place on the next Walks Programme
which will run from 1 March to 30 June 2018.
Email: [email protected]
If you haven’t led a walk before but are willing
to give it a go, just get in touch, we’re happy to
help.
Our Walk Programme is co-ordinated by:
Alan Blundell - Sunday walks
MarinaBaker - Tuesday walks
Linda Southworth - Saturday walks
Alan Blundell
To receive Out and About by email
Just email [email protected]
What should we do with Terry’s Legacy?
We still have £9000 left. It’s time we got moving on
spending this money. Here are two suggestions which both
meet the requirements of the Ramblers charitable
objectives.
MILES WITHOUT STILES
Should we spend some of Terry Lewis's legacy on
installing Kissing Gates and Pedestrian Gates on
some well used routes in Chorley Borough?
When we consulted with you on how we should use
Terry's legacy, one popular idea was that we should
install one or more Kissing Gates. The idea of Miles
without Stiles was the dream. Kissing Gates would
be fun and very much in keeping with our fun loving
friend, as well as stile free walks being greatly
appreciated by ourselves and the walking public.
More about Miles without Stiles on Page 3
Another idea we are considering is:
PURCHASING A GOOD QUALITY
GPS WITH MAPPING SOFTWARE
We could use this for a multitude of purposes
including:
Mapping Chorley Ramblers walks which would
be made available for other Chorley Ramblers
Walk Leaders to use.
Mapping Chorley Ramblers Miles without Stiles
walks and make them available on the Chorley
Ramblers web site. Good publicity for us and
help the general public to access our beautiful
Miles without Stiles walks in the Chorley area.
Loaning the GPS to walk leaders to help them
develop and reccy walks.
Mapping Footpath Checking walks which we
could ask members to walk and report back on
any footpath obstructions found.
Further Consultation
Come to the Chorley RA AGM on 5 December
and talk to members of the Committee about our
plans on making the best use of Terry’s Legacy.
Email your comments to:
Join us on one of the Miles without Stiles walks this
Autumn.
Page 3
Four Ideas for Stile Free Routes
I emailed our Footpath Checkers asking for ideas for
stile free routes. Here they are:
Anglezarke Reservoir Circular
Phil Atherton has suggested this easy 5 mile circular
walk (see map of the Circular on Page 1). Part of
the walk is on roads and bridle paths, with one easy
climb, and involves converting 2 stiles to gates. In
addition we would need to put some hardcore down
around one of the proposed stiles. Marian and Phil
checked out this route in August and it looked
favourable. We thought it would benefit from
adding an optional extension of a stile free route to
the top of Healey Nab, which would require an
additional 2 gates.
Rivington Circular
Marian Owen has suggested developing a stile free
circular walk from Lower House Car Park
Rivington, that’s the car park below the Pigeon
Tower. By converting the one awkward stile at
Sweetloves on the very popular footpath, which
takes you down from Lower House car park to
Rivinton Barn, there are options for many fine stile
free walks. We used this stile on the Barbara
Williams Memorial Walk in June and commented
that it would be great to see a Kissing Gate installed.
Clayton le Woods to Cuerden Valley
John McKenzie suggested that a popular route from
Clayton le Woods to access the south side of
Cuerden Valley Park would benefit from converting
one stile to a gate. John and Marian will check this
route out in October.
Stile Free Access to the Chorley Circular
Although the Chorley Circular Walk is stile free,
some of the footpaths which lead to the Circular are
not. Jack Sugden has identified one or more stiles in
the Duxbury area and there are stiles on the route in
from Euxton. More research needs to be done on
improving stile free access to the Chorley Circular.
Do you know of a potentially popular route
which would benefit from being made stile free?
If so, please contact Marian Owen with details.
What does Lancashire County Council (LCC)
think of our idea of Miles without Stiles?
David Goode, the Public Rights of Way Manager
at LCC thinks this is a great idea. David says that
if done properly the legacy is permanent, it lasts
longer than the lifespan of the particular gate
installed, because when eventually replaced it
has to be with a gate and not revert to a stile.
LCC would support us in: supplying Kissing
Gates and/or Pedestrian Gates at cost; checking
whether a stile is lawful or not; checking whether
a kissing gate or pedestrian gate is the permitted
structure, undertaking utility checks prior to
installation (to reduce the chance of hitting a pipe
or cable); help to provide Landowner details;
check that the route is not subject to foreseeable
change and is correctly aligned.
How much would it cost?
If we go ahead with the idea, replacing stiles may
not always be with a Kissing Gate. Kissing Gates
at £450 to £500 are more expensive than
Pedestrian Gates which cost about £350. We
should also note that wooden structures are more
expensive than metal. So you can see that we get
more for our money with Pedestrian gates.
However, the location of a gate and whether
there are farm animals will also impact on which
kind of gate is appropriate.
How much work will it mean?
Miles without Stiles will involve work for
Chorley Ramblers. We would need to properly
research our routes, liaise with Lancashire
County Council, consult with the Land Owners
and appoint and work with a contractor to
undertake the work. There might also be the need
for a working party to help out.
Would you be prepared to get involved?
Please contact Marian Owen and let her know.
Publicity for Miles without Stiles
Chorley Ramblers should be able to generate
good publicity for the Miles without Stiles
initiative and the Stile Free Routes.
We would promote Chorley Ramblers at each
gate location too. A plaque on each gate would
say that the gate was sponsored by Chorley
Ramblers using the Terry Lewis Legacy.
MILES WITHOUT STILES
continued from Page 2
Page 4
A fabulous view over Grasmere on Mike
Wisdom's Helm Crag walk on 26 August
Photo by Nicola
At the end of Marian's Downham walk on 22 July we walked
into a Morris dancing display at the Ashetton Arms with no
other than our own John Warner in the line up.
Photograph by Marian Owen
Great views towards the Mormon Temple on
Jack's walk up Great Hill on 16 July
Chorley Ramblers & Scramblers clearing one of the lesser
known paths in Rivington on our Barbara Williams Celebration
Walk on 11 June. Barbara would have been delighted to see us
keeping up the good work.
Enjoying the great views and wonderful
evening sunshine at Denham Hill on Phil's
walk on 25 July. One of our very popular
Tuesday summer evening walks.
Photograph by Phil Atherton
A selfie of a very wet but smiling David and
Gemma on what must have been our wettest walk
of the year, our June Coach Ramble on the
Wainwright's Way from Langdale to Borrowdale