TThhee DDiissaabblleedd RRaammbblleerrThe Newsletter of the Disabled Ramblers November 2008

A charitable company: Registered Charity No. 1103508

Imber expedition successTHE IDEA for the Imber expedi-tion was Julie Andrews’s. Shewants to raise funds for us by anevent which people could sponsorand 30 miles around the Imber Fir-ing Range on Salisbury Plainsounded ideal. There is one big problem: a seri-

ous lack of accessible accommoda-tion in the area. The solution is tocamp. So we approach the MoDand in April I am driven in a 4x4over enough of the route to know itwas possible. It will take 3 daysand 3 nights, moving the campthree times but ending up back atthe start. Time to get serious! Our first de-

cision is that everyone would be onTramper scooters. They haveenough capability and endurance,and one make should simplifyrecharging each night. Next we select a balance of 4

male and 4 female members, in-cluding Julie and myself. We nowrealise we need an experiencedcrew to erect the tents and to dothe catering. Julie comes up trumpsby persuading Ashcombe Scoutand Guide Group to lend us all theequipment, plus a group of scoutleaders and friends to run thecamp.

What a relief! Now we need 8beds high enough to get up from,yet which fold for transport andwithin our limited budget. We endup adapting US Army style campbeds with special timber supports. Next toilets, given two of us use

wheelchairs. We have an accessi-ble toilet in the Mobile SupportUnit but it has a ramp and we wantit to carry our luggage. So enterthe mini-mobile toilet! Take a Por-tapotti, a base with foldinghandrails and a 6ft square tent, plusa small trailer to be pulled by aTramper. Beamer, who make theTramper, come to our rescue, mak-ing and donating everything. Andit works exactly as planned, bothfor our lunch stops and in camp

each night. Then the paperwork. To camp

we need a licence and to produce arisk assessment, all 5 pages. Wehave to list everyone, even next ofkin, as well as all vehicles. ButLandmark, who manage access forthe MoD, could have not have bemore helpful and we get our li-cence.So at noon on Tuesday, 19th Au-

gust, we all meet inside KnookArmy Camp, where our cars are

left. Richard Brooks, Head of Ac-cess and Recreation for the De-fence Estates, has very generouslyoffered to guide us for all 30 miles. The eight Trampers set off on the

six miles to our first campsite atTilshead. Having Richard with usis fantastic, as he has detailed mapsand is an expert map reader.Though the Imber Perimeter Trailis quite well signposted, SalisburyPlain is vast, and several times wedetour round natural obstacles.Whilst all of us have driven

scooters, this was the first time ona Tramper for Audrey, so it is asteep learning curve tackling theruts left by military vehicles, oftenconcealed by long grass. But weall settled down to enjoy the views.

� Continued on back page

�� Plenty of warning signs.

�� Negotiating overgrown ruts.

�� Julie surrenders to Chieftain tank!

What a year that was!

disabledramblers

COPY DATEfor next issue:Monday, 5th January,2009NOTE: email address still: chairman@disabledramblers.co.uk

EDITORIAL

Editor: Dr Mike Bruton MBEEmail: chairman@disabledramblers.co.ukTelephone:01628 21414Address:14 Belmont Park Road,MAIDENHEAD SL6 6HT

Published by:The Disabled RamblersA Charitable Company, limited byguarantee.Registered office as aboveCompany number: 05030316Registered Charity number:1103508

Web site:www.disabledramblers.co.uk

© the Disabled RamblersThe views expressed in TheDisabled Rambler are notnecessarily the views of theDisabled Ramblers

Layout: Bob RoxburghPrinting: Printique, Maidenhead

TThhee DDiissaabblleedd RRaammbblleerr Page 2

PUTTING THE clocks back isfinal confirmation that this year’srambling season is over. But whata year it has been – our largest pro-gramme ever with 31 days of ram-bling. And despite unseasonableweather, it has been great year.Many new locations and more ofyou on every ramble, so hopefullywe are providing what you want.

When planning the season, weaim for a mix of rambles, withabout half suitable for ordinaryscooters or powerchairs and halfwhich are best on a heavy-dutyscooter, i.e. category 3 or 4. Butbetween settling the diary this yearand holding the event next year,much can happen to upset ourplans. The most dire is heavy rain,as erosion can ruin a pathovernight. We have to confess to some

over-optimism about a few routes,which have turned out on the dayto be more difficult than expected.We do apologise for this and willbe trying harder to avoid repeatshappening next year. On the plus side, scooters have

been getting more reliable. Break-downs on rambles have been get-ting fewer over recent years but dostill happen, so we will continue toprovide recovery. Happily wehave also had a season free of in-jury, even though there have beenthe occasional upset. The work has started on plan-

ning 2009. Mike Bruton has vol-unteered to be our EventsCo-ordinator yet again, which willbe his 14th year in this role. Weare truly grateful to Mike and forthe wealth of experience he bringsto finding suitable routes. Mikehas put us on notice that he willcontinue as long as he can, but wedo need to think ahead. As a first step we would like to

appoint deputies to back up Mike,who would shadow him whilstthey learnt what is involved. Thisis working between Events Co-or-dinator and the Ramble Managerto make sure the route is fully re-searched and we have planned forcontingencies, and gathering thisinformation together for the EventCo-ordinator’s final approval.Most of the work is before therambling season. To lessen theload and minimise any travelling,we would like two deputies, onefor the north and one for the south.We have a volunteer for the south.If you are interested in the north,please do phone me. I would like to take this opportu-

nity to thank everyone who spon-sored our Imber Expedition. It wasour first attempt at combiningrambling and camping and thanksto the marvellous support teamfrom Weston-super-Mare and toRichard Brooks at the Defence Es-tates, it was a great success. Par-ticularly being all together eachevening. Camping really is possi-ble, though it does take a lot of or-ganising and may not foreveryone. But it may be the onlypractical way to see some places.Christmas and the New Year will

shortly be with us and I wish youall the best.

�� Brownsey Moor, Swaledale.

Chairman of the Disabled Ramblers

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Howard died this month after ashort illness. He was a remark-able man who became disabledafter a climbing accident inSnowdonia, resulting in paraple-gia. Howard accepted his dis-ability, was one of the first usersof a Tramper scooter and astaunch campaigner for betteraccess around his home in SouthSomerset. He led rambles for uson the Quantock Hills, whileworking on a project to climbSnowdon by scooter. With care-ful planning and support fromthe Beamer Company, he madethe climb up the long track fromLlanberis to the 3560 feet sum-mit, pausing to change batteriesusing spares kindly carried up tothe Halfway Station by theSnowdon railway company. Thiswas an epic trip, requiring fre-

quent use of ramps up many ir-regular steps along the path!Later on he was one of threemembers of the Disabled ram-blers who reached the top of Peny Fan, at 2906 feet the highestmountain in South Wales.We shall miss him – alwayscheerful and very adventurous!

Obituaries

Karoline O’Neill

Howard BruntonPeterKingdon

We are very sorry to report the death ofKaroline O’Neill who passed away early inOctober this year. Karoline was our longeststanding member who took part in very manyrambles down the years. Despite her consider-able muscular disability, and subsequent kid-ney failure requiring three times weeklydialysis sessions, Karoline would come alongdriving her converted Transit van, accompa-nied by her Welsh Collie dogs. She even cameon rambles that required her to stay awayfrom home overnight!In 1992 she came on the very first challengeramble I organised, covering 40 miles in twodays along the Ridgeway Trail. She was ridingan early robust scooter, the Sportster, and washelped by staff from David Wenman’s com-pany, who were Sportster agents. I remembera very wet second day when mud virtuallyjammed the driving wheels requiring muchpushing up a long wet hill!Karoline was a lovely, positive, person who

thoroughly enjoyed our rambles. She was ajoy to be with!

We are sorry to reportthe death of Peter King-don. Using a mediumweight scooter, Petercame with us on severaldifficult rambles. He felloff on one occasion butwas in no way put off bythis experience. Each time, he camealone and unloaded hisscooter unaided down aramp at the rear of hiscar. He was always deter-minedly independent andclearly enjoyed his ram-bles with us.

Mike Bruton

�� Karolinerambling inWindsorGreat Park.

�� Howard on the summit of Pen y Fan.

� ‘Outdoors for All’Action Plan� Full Access toEngland’s CoastOver many years the DisabledRamblers has been involved in

consultation on, or active monitor-ing of, Government initiatives de-signed to improve access to theCountryside. Recently, we were

consulted on two major initiatives,the ‘Outdoors for All’ project andnow the looming action designedto facilitate access to the entire

coast line of England!A brief report on the last two proj-

ects follows below:

1. The Outdoors for AllProject and Action PlanThe overall Vision of thisproject is to ensure that Eng-land’s natural beauty, from itsrural countryside and variedcoastline to the urban greenspaces closer to home, canenjoyed by everyone – withspecial emphasis on disadvan-taged groups e.g disabled peo-ple.In the Rural White Paper 2000

the Government gave a commit-ment to draw up an action planaimed at increasing the number ofpeople from under-representedgroups who might wish to accessthe natural environment. Thesegroups were identified initially asdisabled people, black and minor-ity ethnic groups, the young andresidents of inner cities. The Disabled Ramblers wereconsulted during the variousstages leading up to the produc-tion of a report and an ActionPlan. This plan has now been published

Government commits

and can be viewed online andprinted copies requested fromDEFRA (online athttp://www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-countryside/issues/recreation/di-versityactionplan/index.htm or bypost from Defra Publications, Ad-mail 6000, London SW1A 2XX.Tel: 08459 556000).The action plan aims, over the

next ten years, to increase the num-ber of people from target groupswho wish to participate in outdoorrecreation and access the naturalenvironment

Why the plan is neededOutdoor activities are often asso-

ciated with white, middle aged,middle class and non-disabled peo-ple. The Government firmly be-lieves that all sectors of thecommunity should be given equalopportunity to appreciate andenjoy the natural environment.

Action AreasAction areas include:� Training and guidance – invest-ing in improving skills of recre-ation providers, resulting in betterdelivery;� Forums and Networks – shar-ing good practice on improving de-livery;

� Plans and strategies – influenc-ing a range of plans, including, forexample, Local Transport Plansand Rights of Way ImprovementPlans;� Information and Marketing –key to raising awareness and confi-dence;� Research – needed to test dif-ferent approaches;� Funding – to facilitate some ofthe above actions and, particularly,initial contact with what the naturalenvironment has to offer;� Service planning and perform-ance measures – to monitorprogress;� Championing, governance andregulation – creating a focus foraction;� Volunteering, employment andcareers – to create a more diversevolunteer base which will feed intothe workforce.The overall targets for theAction Plan are: to realise ameasurable increase in:

�Awareness by under-representedgroups of what the natural environ-ment has to offer and where to goto enjoy it;� The number, diversity and fre-quency of people in under-repre-sented groups enjoying the naturalenvironment.Editor’s Comment: I have been in-volved with this project since its in-ception and attended an event heldin Kent to launch the Action Planheld at the end of last Winter.While welcoming the intentionsand the principles in the plan, Ihave the following reservations

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countryside access

�... awareness byunder-representedgroups of what the

natural environmenthas to offer �

and concerns:1.the plan is very widely cast andinevitably diffuse in nature. It aimsto cover the needs of all disadvan-taged groups, not just disabledpeople and there are many differ-ences to be covered and reconciledacross these groups. 2.effective management and pro-gression of the plan require excep-tionally strong, able andcommitted staff and other budget-ary resources, to be drawn from‘Natural England’. Since the proj-ect launch, six months have passedand it looks as if no real progressof any kind has been made. Thekey question concerns NaturalEngland’s ability in times of re-source and budget cuts, properly toassign the necessary staff to man-age and progress the Action Plan.We wait with interest to see whathappens next!

2. Full Access to England’sCoastThe Government has decided tolegislate to improve access to theEnglish Coast with emphasis onimproving open air recreation onfoot to the entire Coastal belt. (Note: Scotland, Wales andNorthern Ireland are excludedas they come under devolvedGovernment control)

The legislation will provide peo-ple with the right to walk aroundthe whole of the English coast(subject to some exceptions) andwith access to wider spreadingroom such as beaches, headlandsand cliffs. Currently, 30 per cent ofthe coast is off limits to the public

TThhee DDiissaabblleedd RRaammbblleerr Page 5

to aid

and access is often poor in the re-maining 70 percent. It is desiredthat families can have access towalk, paddle and play along ourentire coastline. The legislation to bring this

about will be included as Part 9 ofa draft Marine Bill to be presentedto parliament during this Autumnsession, with a view of becomingpart of the law of the land by sum-mer 2009The draft Bill, which incorpo-

rates a policy document, explana-tory notes and an impactassessment, has been published onthe Defra website at the followingaddress: www.defra.gov.uk/corpo-rate/consult/marinebillThe Bill provides for the Secre-

tary of State and Natural Englandto be given a new duty to provideimproved public access. The legis-lation will be implemented by Nat-ural England which will propose aseries of long-distance routesaround the coast of England.They will work in consultation

with local people, and make a re-port to the Secretary of State. Thelong-distance route will include allland two metres either side of theline of the route, all land to the sea-ward of the route and any of theclassic coastal land types (includ-ing dunes and cliffs) to the land-ward side. Some additional land to the land-

ward of the route may be included,to take the access land up to a suit-able boundary (such as a fence) orother physical feature. Some land types will be excepted

� the legislation onlygives a right of

access for open-airrecreationon foot �

and, in addition, the right of accessmay, in certain places, be subjectto restrictions or exclusions, eg. fornature conservation or land man-agement purposes. This could bepermanently or seasonally. Anydogs will be required to be keptunder close control, and in placesmight be required to be kept on alead. The establishment of the route

will take time – hopefully mostwork will be complete after 10years.The legislation only gives a right

of access for open-air recreation onfoot. But Natural England will beable to respond to additional loc -ally identified opportunities, forexample, involving improved pro-vision for horse riding, cycling,circular walks, or new routes toreach the coast from inland. Or itmight involve the creation of aneasy access trail suitable for allusers.Editor’s Comment: I attended ameeting involving interested usergroups with DEFRA when thisproject was first presented. I raisedthe issue of disabled access andwas assured that provision wouldbe made under the requirements ofthe Disability Discrimination leg-islation. This implies access wouldbe given where it was reasonablypossible to do so. In practice muchcoastal access involves very steepslopes, and walking routes crossdifficult terrain often near danger-ous cliff edges. Nevertheless provi-sion can be made in many places. Ifeel we disabled ramblers must be-come heavily involved locally andnationally in the planning of newroutes and in improving existingroutes where reasonably possible. Iwould like to see mention of dis-abled access incorporated intothe bill, to remind legislators thatreasonable provision should bemade for us!

�� A potentially accessible new path.

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Two years ago I enjoyed a walk-ing holiday in Jersey where theTourist Board organises a walkround the en tire coastal path andI decided that Jersey was wellworth revisiting with my hus-band, John, who is a wheelchairuser but rides a Shoprider scooteron rambles. Making use of “Jer-sey Cycles”, a book by ArthurLamy which is available fromthe Tourist Board, we had anenjoyable week there in May thisyear.Jersey has many miles of

“Green Lanes”. These are small,little used, country roads with aspeed limit of 15 mph and the lit-tle traffic that came along usuallykept to it. Arthur’s book givescycle rides of roughly 11 miles,each one round one of Jersey’stwelve parishes and using mostlythe green lanes. We doctoredsome of the routes so that thepoor walker (me!) didn’t alwayshave to walk 11 miles. (This waseasy to do using a local OS map) We started easily by just going

along the promenade from St. He-lier to St. Aubin and back – beau-t iful views out to sea, yachty St.Aubin, and lots of cafes and dis-abled loos all the way. We thengot more adventurous and did awonderful ramble from the bookfrom St. Aubin to the fantasticheadland and lighthouse at Cor-biere and back via St. Brelades.It’s steep in places and the bit ofthe coastal path we covered wasrough but if John can do it on a

Shoprider, anyone can. We did five rambles overall –

all very different even on such asmall island: quite wild in thenorth, more suburban in thesouth, never far from the sea andeverywhere beautiful houses andviews to see. We also visited Jer-sey Zoo (set up by Gerald Dur-rell), the Jersey Tunnels (themost interesting museum we haveseen for a long time), the Laliqueglass church and many other

places. We found drivers on theroad very courteous and we feltsafe in a way we never would onour own country roads.Lots of good places to eat and

the weather was excellent – whocan claim that this summer! Westayed at Samares Manor, near St.Helier, in their self-catering ac-commodation in the stable block.The gardens in the manor areworld famous and it is a lovelyplace to stay but not ideal forwheelchair users. We intend re-turning to Jersey to do some moreof the rambles and repeating thebest ones from this year but weshall be looking for more suitableaccommodation (if you know ofany please tell us).Why not give Jersey a try your-

self?

Judy Smythson

Rambles in Jersey

�... a wonderfulramble from St. Aubin

to the fantasticheadland and

lighthouse at Corbiereand back viaSt.Brelades �

�� Photo courtesy of Jersey Tourist Authority.

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August 2007 Part 2Day two – Tyneham Village,‘Arish Mell’ gap andWorbarrow Bay.READERSmay recall that in theApril newsletter I described the funI had with The Disabled Ramblerson the cliffs above KimmeridgeBay known as Ballards Down.The second day started at Tyne-

ham Village car park where onceagain we all assembled and alongwith able bodied helpers, husbands,wives and friends and lovers wemade our way up the steep, bumpytrack onto the ridgeway where wehad wonderful views over Worbar-row Bay with Isle of Portland in thedistance and the Devon coast be-yond it. Truly outstanding viewshelped a lot by the truly gloriousweather - the brilliant sunshine wasenjoyed by all with just a few cu-mulus clouds.We travelled quite a way, up and

down along the ridgeway as far asArish Mell gap which was to be ourlunch stop and there once again wasthe Disabled Rambler’s mobile loo!Quite a ‘relief’ to some people!Lunch was a very relaxed affairwith everyone enjoying their pic-nics and admiring the views.After lunch we retraced our

steps back along the ridgeway anddown into what is left of the vil-lage of Tyneham. We had a lookaround the village – it’s the onethat was requisitioned by WinstonChurchill’s war cabinet so that thenearby Lulworth gunnery schoolcould teach the Americans how toshoot tanks! The poor village resi-dents were booted out just sixdays before Christmas in 1943and despite promises they were

Rising to the DorsetCoast challenge

never to return.Time has taken its toll on the fab-

ric of the village and it is now a col-lection of ruins but nonetheless wellworth a visit even if you don’t walkup onto the ridgeway.Having ‘nosed’ round the village

for a while we pottered down thehalf mile track to the beach at Wor-barrow Bay. Right under Worbar-row Tout. (Good Dorset wordsthese!)An Idyllic scene awaited us -

there were people swimming andsunning themselves on the beachand a couple of yachts anchoredjust off the beach. Truly a halcyonscene.We spent some time there soaking

up the early evening sun and relax-ing ourselves. Lots of chit-chat andbanter. We had some exciting mo-ments there too.If you know the area you will be

aware that the last twenty-five me-ters or so down to the beach is anexceptionally steep rock strewntrack! Yours truly and a couple of other

adventurous souls got down therewithout incident but we needed abit of help to turn on the deepgravel at the bottom of the slope be-fore the run back up to the maintrack! A bit hairy but no great dan-

ger and tremendous fun! After a while we slowly bimbled

our way back to the car park andsat around chatting for ages beforeI handed back my hired Tramper (abargain at £10 a day!) and every-one headed for home. Several people had travelled

quite a distance to be there that day– quite a few down from the Lon-don area and beyond.Very many thanks to The Dis-

abled Ramblers and Robin Helbyin particular who did the safetybriefings, brought the hire Tram-pers, the mobile loo and organisedthe hiring out of them. He alsotowed a breakdown trailer just incase anyone had a problem withtheir buggy – the Disabled Ram-blers really are very well organisedand would appear to have all theangles covered. And final big thank you to the

day’s ‘ramble leader’ David Liver-more.If you fancy joining in on one of

the day’s outings then I canheartily commend them to you – Iwas given a very warm welcomeand I am confident you wouldenjoy the same...Happy rambling…Peter Robinson – a happyDisabled Rambler!

�� Members relax and enjoy the views over Mupe Bay.

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Imber expedition successIt was bliss to be here, except for ashort but sudden squall with heavydriving rain. We arrive at camp to find that

due to strong winds only the largemess tent is up, so supper is late,but still three ample courses! Fol-lowed by an early night for every-one.We wake to sunshine and a

cooked breakfast. But charging ofthe Trampers had not gone asplanned, as the generator isn’thappy near full load and drinkspetrol. But there is just enoughcharging for day two, fortunatelythe easiest day.Salisbury Plain is full of small

hills and hidden valleys, wherepeople have lived for millenia. It isdifficult to convey the beauty andthe sense of space, with the softsound of wind through grass. Andanother fine day to enjoy theviews. Our second campsite is on the

large open area above the WhiteHorse, courtesy of Wilts CC.Again the tents are delayed bystrong winds, but this eases to-wards 6pm. Another excellent sup-per and so much to talk about. Wewake to a superb sun-filled dawn.This time we only charge 6 Tram-pers at a time, which takes a littlelonger but all are fully charged forour most challenging day.First is steep descent into a val-

ley. We have only seen this from

the other side but it looks verysteep. I am volunteered to go first.All is fine till two-thirds of the waydown. Then, with wet long grassand ruts either side, I suddenly takeoff. Absolutely no grip and I amtowing the toilet trailer! Don’tbrake and steer straight, and after50 yards later I stop. Phew! It’s fartoo steep for the rest of the party,who have to make a 2 mile detour.We stop for lunch beside a tank,

a reminder of why we keep clearof the marked tank route. There islimited visibility through aperiscope and a Tramper would noteven make a bump.After lunch in bright sunshine we

face the challenge of the outerrampart round the iron-age fort atBattlesbury Hill. The path is nar-row and uneven with the addedhazard of large rabbit holes, andhalf of us have only one good arm.Very quickly there is a 15ft dropone side and 300ft on the other forthe next mile. Some get vertigo.They should have our respect forcarrying on, despite every instinctto go back.We are rewarded by more great

Our thanks to RichardBrooks and Bob Burgess, toNigel our photographer, toYvonne and Graham for walk-ing with us, to Mike Longbot-tom for moving the MobileSupport unit, to Pat, Tony, Roband Emily for their superbcatering, to Tom, Doug andFrazer for work with the tentsand to the Ashcombe Scoutand Guide Group for loaningthe camping equipment.

� From front page views and by a carpet of wildflowers in grass that has only beengrazed for 2,000 years. And by theimpromptu creation of an accessi-ble gap in place of a pointless stileby the two representatives of WiltsCC highways dept who were walk-ing with us.After a mile we reach the end, to

be faced with a descent so steepthe Trampers could ski down. Thesolution is to attach a rope to therear of each Tramper in turn, withRichard at the end as the counter-weight. We all get safely down.There are just the few miles

along the valley floor to the camp-site, a disused farm kept for troopsto bivouac in. The mess andkitchen are set in one barn. An-other excellent meal for our lastsupper, celebrating the successfulcompletion of 30 miles and forsome, conquering their fears alongthe ramparts.As an expedition, it has been a

great success. And the campinghas worked out better than feared.We have learnt a lot and change afew things another time. But wedid discover that the old scout pa-trol tent is the best for us, with apole at each end and no zips. Andfor some, with an additional cen-tral pole to hold on to.It is an experience we would all

like to repeat, if we can find some-where challenging and where wecan camp each night. Suggestionswelcomed!

�� Peter and a ‘small’ puddle!

�� The new mini-mobile toilet.