talkingwalking

Oxfordshire RamblersIssue 45, July 2020

The Ramblers’ purpose is to create a Britain where everyone has the

freedom to enjoy the outdoors on foot and benefits from the

experience

To learn more about what our Oxfordshire groups have to offer you, go to our websitewww.ramblers-oxon.org.ukand click on the group links on the right. There you will also find links to their Facebook sites.

Editor Dave Cavanaghdavecavanagh1000@gmail.comUnless otherwise stated, items were written by the editor

Back issues www.ramblers-oxon.org.uk under the ‘magazine’ tab

Chair of Oxfordshire Ramblers Jim Parke jmh.parke@btinternet.com

Website www.ramblers-oxon.org.uk

Facebook @OxfordshireRamblers

talking walking

Oxfordshire Ramblers

The moorIt took twenty minutes to gain the high ground; to

feel that the moor had been reached. It was not the

‘view’ that held my attention. To look upon moor is

a lateral experience: neither down nor up but

across. So too, the objective is not a summit, a

pinnacle (there is none), but the place where incline

gives way to flat land, and where the flat land is

everywhere around you –omphalos, désert absolu.

The gritstone outcrop called Edale Rocks was a pale

black; a shadow on the horizon. Beyond, the surface

of the moor began to change. The exposed peat

dominated, and soon I was walking between blocks

of peat – ‘hags’ – whose flat tops alone bore a cap

of crowberry and heather, sometimes mere

mohicans of vegetation. It was as if these tables of

peat had been excavated and dumped up here on

the moor-top, fly-tipped. Moorland was at once

surface and interior – it exposed itself all over. It

was not hard to see what it was made of.

The Moor (a journey into the English wilderness) by

William Atkins (2014), Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0-

571-29005-5

From ‘Bored Panda’ website

If you are concerned that this issue of talking walking might be dominated by COVID-19 don’t worry: only 12 of the 22 pages refer to it. Damn! Make that 13.

A most peculiar spring timeFor the first three weeks or so in March our walks were normal, with lots of happy smiling faces. Then

came lockdown: all group walks were cancelled, solo walking was the order of the day. Fortunately spring

was wonderful, breaking several meteorological records. Towards the end we were permitted to walk

with one person not of our household, followed shortly afterwards by up to five well-spaced companions.

Carolyn Blackmore,

Wendy Thomas, John

Gordon, Judith Wardle,

Pamela Cartledge, Helen

O’Neill, Peter Skuse, and

Sarah Howes.

With thanks to the following for their photos, posted on Facebook:

Southmoor10:30

Ridgeway, E. Hendred09:30

Abingdon 10:30

Great Shefford 09:30

Uffington10:00

Wantage 10:30

Ducklington10:30

Abingdon 10:30

Newbury 09:30

Kingston Lisle 10:00

Bampton 10:30

Vale Group walks

July?

Eight out of the ten groups in Oxfordshirecontribute walks to the Oxfordshire RamblersWalks Programme booklet. Due to the Covid-19lockdown we have missed the first three months ofwalks in the current programme but from 1 July2020 there is the option for Groups to start ‘small’led walks, subject to following the latestgovernment guidelines.

There are still significant restrictions in place,which mean that we must be flexible and take extrasteps to ensure that walks are safe and responsible.This includes introducing a booking process to limitgroup size (up to a maximum of 6 walkers includingthe leader) and adding information aboutthe latest government guidelines to all walk listings.

Some leaders will be in the ‘shielded’ group, andsome in the vulnerable group. All of our leadersand walkers will want to be reassured that walkscan be carried out safely, effectively and enjoyablyunder the new conditions. In addition, some walksmay not be ideally suited to minimising the spreadof the virus. For example, some routes may havenarrow paths and stiles. The leader will have toassess whether the walk can go ahead as planned,be modified, or whether it needs to be cancelled. Itis probable that a significant number of the walkslisted in the walk programme booklet will have tobe cancelled. It is therefore essential that you checkthe status of the walk on-line (www.ramblers-oxon.org.uk), and arrange to book a place. Detailsof how to book a place will be given in each walkdescription.

Remember:• Check the walk status on-line at

www.ramblers-oxon.org.uk• Book a place on the walk following the

instructions given in the walk detail• Do not share lifts to the start place• Avoid touching stiles or gates – take hand

sanitiser with you in case• Practice social distancing when on the walk

The situation can change with little notice and so we are currently developing the next 6-monthOxfordshire Walks Programme covering the period 1 October 2020 to 31 March 2021. This will mean thatwe have a walk programme available as soon as restrictions on led walks are completely lifted. Memberswould normally expect to receive the next walks programme booklet at the beginning of September.However, if the ‘normal’ led walks have not started again by then we will delay the printing of the bookletso that we do not waste money. Members should continue to check for walk details on-line.

Hopefully we will all be back walking together in the not too distant future. Keep an eye on the latestposition on the Ramblers website.

Richard BirchOxfordshire Ramblers Area Walks Co-ordinator

At the moment Groups are assessing whether they can provide some of these ‘small’ led walks.

Photo: John Gordon

Oxfordshire Ramblers Walks Programme over the next few months

Oxon 20s&30s Walkers

Our Oxon 20s&30s Walkers group has re-branded to Hike Oxfordshire

Hike Oxfordshire committee meeting

Photo: Dave Cavanagh

With nobody to talk to on solo walks we have been more observant, pointing our phones and cameras above and below our eyeline. I’ve reproduced some of the resulting photos in this issue, taken from our groups’ Facebook pages. I’ve published compilations of many more excellent photos, which you can find on the Oxfordshire Ramblers Facebook page.

SoloThe summer issue of Walk magazine highlights Vale group’s Vale Path Volunteers last path clearance. None of our path maintenance groups have been active as such since ‘lockdown’ became an everyday word.

There’s never been a better time to carry secateurs with you, as many more people than usual are using our rural paths for exercise, recreation and mental relaxation. As well as benefitting those that follow in your footsteps, clipping thorny things from around stiles etc. gives extra purpose to a walk.

Andy Glenday, parish path warden for two parishes, opened-up this path and replaced a bleached waymark.

A pruning saw as well as secateurs came in useful on this woodland path.

Photos: Dave Cavanagh

Photos: Mary Gough

Photo: Peter Skuse

Many of us have seen many more people than usual, including families, using our rural footpaths during lockdown. No doubt some have been walking in their rural surroundings for the first time. Let’s hope that they don’t forget, when something like normality returns, the pleasure that they had and continue to go out for a walk together.

This is one of many paths that are much more obvious on the ground than usual, thanks to the increased footfall.

Lower photos: Dave Cavanagh

Lockdown Britain, the countryside silence broken only by birdsong. Travelling back in time more than a century.

Photos: Dave Cavanagh

Photo: Pamela Cartledge

Words of 2020 Vol. 1 (March to June)We’ll all have images from this four-month period that may never

leave us, ranging from the faces of the desperately ill to Boris

Johnson’s imitation of a cleaned-up Wurzle Gummidge. Uncommon

words became everyday ones – literally – whilst common words

took on a new significance. Even in this short period some of the

words below blossomed then faded.

AnxietyBarnard CastleBillionsBleachBy the end of … (insert your own fanciful date, week, month)Care home workersChief/Deputy Medical Officer/Scientific AdvisorClosedCoronavirusCOVID-19DepressionDexamethasoneDomestic violenceEssentialEssential workersEssential rubbishExpertsFacemasksFace coverings Following the advice of the scientists

Haircut

Hairdressers Health care workersHeroesHydroxychloroquineIsolationKey workersLockdown

Only if absolutely necessaryOxygenPPEProtect the NHSPulsometers QuarantineRriskSARS-CoV-2Save livesSave the NHSScientistsSelf-isolateSocial care workersSocial distancingStay alertStay at home (if you can)Stay safeTestsTrillionsTwo metresUnprecedentedVentilatorsWhatever it takesWork from homeWuhanZoom

Is anybody there?

I can hear you but I can’t see you.

I can see you but I can’t hear you.

Your mic is off. YOUR MIC IS OFF!

Put your mic on. Try bottom left.

You’ve gone again.

Mike, are you still there? Mike? Is Mike still with us?

I don’t understand: it worked yesterday.

Inside the tunnel under the railway line, Longcot parish.Photo: Dave Cavanagh

A poem for lockdown, when time slowed

What is this life if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs

And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,

Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,

Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,

And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can

Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare.

William Henry Davies (1911)

Photo above: Dave Cavanagh Photo below: Rosemary Williams

Rest stop

“When asked how he’d sculpted his bust of Ernest

Bevin, Jacob Epstein said he’d taken a block of

marble, and chipped away anything that didn’t look

like Bevin.” – Danny Finklestein.

Chip-off the old block

Especially when in lockdownPrinted words on the birthday card given to me by

our daughter in May: you know you’re old when

the bins go out more than you do.

A metaphor for lockdown? Photo: Mary Gough

Six Finally Lose It above Bishopstone. Photo: John Gordon

Economists, at the expense ofWith the economy in the biggest mess for 300 years

(±5%) have a laugh at the expense of economists.

Jokes (or are they?) assembled by David Smith in

The Sunday Times.

A mathematician, an accountant and an economist

apply for a job, and the killer question is: what do

two and two equal? The mathematician says four,

the accountant says give or take 10%, on average

four. The economist gets the job by saying “what do

you want it to equal?”

A candidate in an economics exams points out that

the questions are the same as in the previous year.

“Yes,” says the examiner, “but the answers have

changed.”

A chemist, a physicist and an economist are

stranded on a desert island with only a can of beans

for survival. The chemist says that he can devise an

explosion to get it open, the physicist a mechanism

involving a stone and a stick. The economist says

“Let’s assume a tin opener.”

There are three types of economist. Those who can

count and those who can’t.

What’s the definition of an economist? Someone

who found accountancy too exciting.

Three people are in a hot air balloon and totally lost

on a foggy day. They shout to a passer-by on the

ground. “Where are we?” The passer-by shouts

back “In a balloon.” ”Ah,” say the balloon travellers,

“you must be an economist, because what you said

is precisely accurate but totally unhelpful.”

Not forgetting the economic statistician who was

broken down by age and sex.

New website for

National Trails

The company that used

to host a website for all

of our National Trails is

no longer doing so.

Instead you will find

pictures, information

and suggestions on a

new National Trails

website hosted by

Natural England

https://www.nationaltr

ail.co.uk/

There are now 16

National Trails in

England and Wales,

including the England

Coast path, parts of

which are officially

open.

Days of Future PassedI was never sure what this album title meant.

Nevertheless, it seems appropriate for this

lockdowned world.

Congratulations to the volunteers, some of whom are members of Ramblers, who were awarded The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service 2020. Without their efforts the public would derive less pleasure from the two National Trails in our county.

Photo: Wendy Thomas

FollyAll is not what it seems on the top of Folly Hill,

Faringdon. Apart from being observed by this

‘person’ there are many other man-made things to

spot in the trees, which is fun to do. Incidentally,

Folly Hill is not named after the Folly that was built

by Lord Berners in 1935. Faringdon gets its name

from the Saxon faern dune – fern-covered hill. One

possible origin of the name Folly Hill, after the

Norman Conquest, is from the French feuille (leafy)

that got corrupted to folly. Alternative explanations

derive from the Norse word fall or the Old English

fiæli, both of which mean autumn.

Photo: John Gordon

Photo above: Wim Klaucke

Photo below: Wendy Thomas

Sign of the times, in a pub window. Photo: Dave Cavanagh

Feet up

Stretching a point: safe distancing on flight COV 11ooooooooo9

Oh no he isn’tLots of newspapers reported that ‘panto couldn’t live with social distancing’, to which reader Nick West and others wrote in: “Look! He’s two metres behind you!”

Missing hyphen reveals allSunday Times reader Paul Callaghan wrote in with this church misprint. “The ladies of the church have cast off clothing of every kind. They may be seen in the basement.”

Plus “Low self-esteem support group will meet Thursday at 7pm. Please use the back door.”

Last words from Tommy CooperI said: “How long will my spaghetti be?” The waiter

said: “I don’t know. We never measure it.”

My dog used to chase people on a bike a lot. It got

so bad, finally I had to take his bike away.

I went for a job interview today and the manager

said, “We’re looking for someone who is

responsible.” “Well, I’m your man.” I replied, “In

my last job, whenever anything went wrong, they

said I was responsible.”

Police arrested two kids yesterday. One was

drinking battery acid, the other was eating

fireworks. They charged one and let the other one

off.

In The Lamb Inn, Wantage