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CHAIRMAN’S

CHAIRMAN’S SCRIBBLINGS Jill Brown

As we leave Winter behind and welcome the Spring and Summer months ahead in 2017, the Spring/Summer Walks Programme is here to be enjoyed with some interesting new walk itineraries, led by our walk leaders both during the daytime and some evenings.

Our Committee strive to make the Mid Sussex Ramblers (MSR) a group that encompasses and welcomes everyone. For me, being a member of MSR gives a feeling of being part of a community, increases my well-being, and adds structure to my life.

I am pleased to take my opportunity here to thank you and our Committee for providing us all with the benefits of the varied walks and social events throughout the coming months.

NEW COMMITTEE SECRETARY Alison Heath

We have included articles in this newsletter before asking for help on our committee, but this time some good news!

As you will have learnt at the AGM we now have a new Committee Secretary. We welcome Sue

Newsletter of the Mid Sussex Ramblers

Number 155,

April to July 2017

Mid-Sussex Rambler

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Blandford to our Committee in place of Yvonne O’Brien who has served us well for the past few years in this role. Yvonne will still be walking with us and leading some walks (we hope!). Thanks go to her and a welcome to Sue. Sue is a regular Tuesday walker but has also joined us on some of the more challenging walks on our Programme.

Please note that we still have a vacancy for a Minutes Secretary on the Committee and if anyone would simply like to attend a meeting to find out more about what we discuss (!) then please ask a committee member and we will be pleased to see you at a suitable meeting.

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT – presented at MSR AGM in November 2016 Jill Brown

A lot has happened with our Ramblers group since our 43rd AGM one year ago.

The number of walks that have been achieved by Mid Sussex Ramblers from November 2015 to November 2016 is 177, with an average attendance of 14 people. This compares with 161 walks and an average of 15 people during the previous twelve months.

So, while the number of people walking with us over the year shows an increase, our membership is slowly decreasing and we now have 459 members. In November 2015 the membership was 464.

As ever, we have remained in contact with organisations outside MSR such as the Monday Group which is a group of

people who are Rights of Way volunteers. They make gates and stiles

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and keep access available within areas of Mid Sussex: we often make use of their work. Our committee member Phil Casemore, is our representative on the Sussex Area Council and Richard Mercer, another committee member, is our representative for Access, attending a number of meetings held throughout the year at different locations across the area.

Some of our members were fortunate to sample or complete 48 miles of the South Downs Way, walked from Winchester to Amberley during 2016, some in the pouring rain I seem to remember! Our holiday weekend in April 2016 was to Norfolk and we even got the coach driver to walk with us! Flatter than we are used to in Sussex, but we did find a hill or two! Our holiday in April 2017 is to the Wye Valley and is again being organised by Ray and Alison Heath, helped by a sub-committee.

In the winter our Pub Social Evenings proved popular, as did our Winter Talks with guest speakers, and we have good programmes coming up for this Winter as well.

If you have any doubts about walks, please do read the back page of our Walks Programme where Ramblers gradings of walks are described. This is taken from The Ramblers Official Description of Walks Difficulty. Please do not hesitate to contact the walk leader in advance, to get specific details of a particular walk. Contact details are given in the Walks Programme.

I would like to convey my thanks to all members who support us and contribute to make the walks so pleasurable. Thanks to those of you who give us feedback on our walks. If there is anything that we can do to improve our services please keep us advised.

THE FUTURE OF RAMBLERS IN OUR AREA Ray Heath / Clive Grummett

You will all have received a letter with the Area AGM details, written by Clive Grummett, Area Chairman, but the message is important so is worth repeating. Perhaps the best way is simply to repeat the text of his letter:

Dear Sussex Member I’m writing to you on behalf of Ramblers Sussex Area Council to seek your help.

All the great things we achieve in Ramblers are only possible with the hard work, dedication, and enthusiasm of volunteers.

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Volunteers are central to delivering our mission and to tackle the challenges we face, such as the current reduction on footpath spending by East and West Sussex Councils.

As we approach our AGM in January we have a number of key vacancies without any replacement in sight:

West Sussex Area Footpath Secretary – interfaces with WSCC and Ramblers Central Office; leads a team of local parish footpath secretaries regarding footpath matters

South Downs Network Officer – a member of the South Downs Network who act as a ‘critical friend’ for the South Downs National Park Authority

Sussex Area Chairman – preparing leadership for the Area team

Sussex Area Publicity Officer –coordinating publicity work across the two counties

Area positions are rewarding ones and enable members to see the workings and successes of Ramblers at a different level.

Paraphrasing Edmund Burke ‘The only thing necessary for disaster to overtake us is for good men and women to do nothing.’ Now is the time to put up your hand and take one of these roles.

Please contact me and we can discuss where you can make a contribution. Be assured that the area team will support you as you take on the role, and Ramblers training can be provided.

On behalf of Ramblers, I would like to thank you and all volunteers for supporting Sussex Area.

Yours sincerely, Clive Grummett, Ramblers Sussex Area Chairman.

The message is clear – can you help? If not now, in the future? In the meantime, perhaps you might like to join our MSR Committee and get a broader understanding of the activities?

LONDON BLIND RAMBLERS Alison Heath

Our annual walk with London Blind Ramblers takes place on Sunday 04 June starting at 11am from Lewes Railway Station. The walk will be about 6 miles with no stiles, but there is an ascent onto the South Downs. The route goes through Lewes to the hospital, on to the Gallops, passing Lewes Racecourse and on to Black Cap on the South Downs, going via Offham for a drink at the Blacksmith’s Arms. A shorter walk option is to stop here and meet the rest of the party as they return to Lewes from further along the Downs. Please bring a picnic or snack.

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Leader Jill Brown. Please try to come and support this annual event as we need plenty of helpers to lead our partially sighted companions.

IN CASE OF EMERGENCY (ICE) Sue Berry

Walking in Sussex is inherently a very safe activity, particularly if you are part of an organised group. However, accidents can, and do, happen and walkers are occasionally taken ill while they are out in the countryside. In such circumstances, it is helpful if the emergency services and/or other members of your know how to get in touch with your close friends or family to let them know what has happened. One solution, which is widely recognised by the emergency services, is for you to store the word ICE in your mobile phone address book and against it enter the contact number of the person you would want to be contacted in the case of an emergency.

SUSSEX WALKS BY LES CAMPBELL Phil Casemore

As you will be aware, for those who have enjoyed the walks by Les Campbell published in Sussex Living magazine, and also with the aim of introducing them to a wider public, the walks published between 2005 and 2010 have been collated and re-published in the form of an A5 booklet by Mid Sussex Ramblers and Sussex Living, and sales are doing very well.

The walks have been checked and, where necessary, updated to take account of any changes in the countryside since their first publication.

The booklet contains details of 27 varied and picturesque walks over a wide area of the Sussex countryside with lengths from 3.6 to 7.1 miles. Each walk gives details, including a map, of how to follow the route, and also highlights points of particular interest along the way.

Available, at the price of £4, from Tony using email: publicity@midsussexramblers.co.uk

Copies are also available to buy at Burgess Hill Council Help Point.

COACH OUTING 2017 Alison Heath

At the present time we do not plan to arrange a “coach outing” in 2017. If anyone has an idea for one and would like to organise it, please put yourself forward and talk to a member of the MSR Committee.

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DON’T LOSE YOUR WAY John Cribb

This, as we all know, is the title of the Ramblers National Campaign to claim paths for public use before 2026, when legislation means that claims based on historical evidence will not be allowed beyond that year.

One such path may be in our patch, in Ardingly. Many of you will be familiar with the path that starts at a junction near ‘Withylands’, an isolated property in the valley to the east of the village. The path climbs steeply, crosses two awkward stiles, then goes across a field to the High Street. There was once an alternative which followed a sunken track to the north, was less steep with no stiles and which met the High Street near Hapstead House. Since the development of Hett Close there, in 2000, this track is blocked. It can still be walked but you now have to turn south behind the garages of ‘Withyland View’ to find the exit.

It is a very long shot, but I would love to hear from anyone who has memories of walking this northern route, and especially if you did so 20 years or more before the year 2000. You can get in touch with me either directly or via a member of the MSR Committee. Thank you.

MARKING THE SPOT Alison and Ray Heath

On 15 December 2016, a few hardy Mid Sussex Ramblers emerged from their cosy homes and met near Balcombe Viaduct. Their mission was to affix plaques, suitably annotated with “Donated by Sussex Ramblers”, near four new metal kissing gates installed

to make the Sussex Ouse Valley Way more accessible. The kissing gates had been fitted under the Gates For Stiles Initiative and were financed through Ramblers Sussex Area Council. The plaques and accompanying brass screws were also provided by Sussex Area Council. All that was needed was somebody to fix them to a

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suitable wooden surface, as close as possible to the new metal gates that they were promoting!

The photos show Phil, Ray, Alison and William carrying out the necessary fixing and filing of the brass screws to secure the plaques to suitable surfaces. While the wooden posts we had to use were of variable quality, we hope they will last a long time! We trust that walkers will recognise the efforts made by Sussex Ramblers to improve access for walkers to our local countryside.

THE WEY AND ARUN TRAIL Paul Jenkins

As you will have read elsewhere in this newsletter, nine of our group walked a 70-mile section of the Greenwich Meridian Trail during the late Summer and Autumn of 2016. Having received such positive feedback, I was encouraged to add more trails to our Walks Programme and the observant of you will have noticed the four dates in March to complete the Sussex Ouse Valley Way.

These trail walks are designed to sit alongside our Tuesday, Wednesday evening and weekend walks, thereby adding more options for walkers rather than reducing numbers on our other popular walks.

If you were wondering how these trail walks work, it is quite simple. We do everything ourselves i.e. there is no minibus involved. We all drive to the finish point of the section we are walking that day and park half of the cars. We then pile into the other cars and drive to the start of that day’s walk. On completion of the walk we all get into the waiting cars and drive again to the start to reunite everyone with their cars. This works best with a planned average of 2 people per car when we first meet up. As you can appreciate it takes a bit of planning to ensure that we can match the numbers of cars, drivers and passengers which is why, on the Programme, it asks for those wishing to take part to contact me first.

So, now to the purpose of this article, we are planning the next trail which will be from Weybridge to Littlehampton following a combination of paths alongside the River Wey, Wey Canal and River Arun. The dates are on alternate Wednesdays, and the programme is as follows:

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17 May Weybridge to Burpham, Surrey, 12.7 miles 31 May Burpham to Rowly, 11.2 miles 14 June Rowly to Loxwood, 10.2 miles 28 June Loxwood to Thorn Common, 11.6 miles 12 July Thorn Common to Burpham, Sussex, 10.9 miles 26 July Burpham to Littlehampton. 9 miles

Whether by luck or design, there is a convenient pub situated on the route at approximately lunchtime!

If this appeals to you, or you fancy walking the Sussex Ouse Valley Way in March, just ring me to express your interest. My telephone number is 01444 441530.

THE SUSSEX BORDER PATH 2017 Paul Jenkins

Are your boots wondering where to take you this coming Summer?

Do they fancy trying something promising from the far east (of Sussex)?

Why not let them loose on our annual Mid Sussex Ramblers minibus outings!

This year we are walking the eastern most section of the Sussex Border Path from Rye to Ashurst on the Kent/East Sussex border. (As voted for at the 2015 AGM)

The sections we will be undertaking are as follows: Sat. 13 May Rye Station to Beckley, 9.8 miles Sat. 10 June Beckley to The Moor, 9.4 miles Sat. 08 July The Moor to Bewl Water, 8.3 miles Sat. 12 August Bewl Water to Frant, 10.5 miles Sat. 09 September Frant to Ashurst, 9.4 miles

These rambles will use the CTLA minibus and have the same pick-up points as in previous years:

9:00am Hassocks (bus layby NORTH of Stone Pound) 9:05am Burgess Hill (opposite petrol station on London Road

SOUTH of Royal George Road traffic lights) 9:15am Haywards Heath (bus layby outside Beech Hurst Gardens)

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You will no doubt appreciate that these walks are further away than minibus rambles of recent years and this is reflected in the price at £20 per person per ramble.

Still interested? Then please complete the booking form and send your cheque to me by Tuesday 21 March 2017. If cash flow is a problem, particularly with having to book other events (Ramblers holiday etc.) please post-date your cheques to the end of April. However, do please note that payments will be non-refundable so, if you have booked and later find that you are unable to come and cannot find a person to take your place, you will lose your payment.

MID SUSSEX RAMBLERS AND PUBLICITY Tony Osmand, derived from an article published by Sussex Living

I have been the Publicity Officer for the Mid Sussex Ramblers Group for more than eight years and have seen quite a few changes in the role in response to the changing and developing way in which technology has played an increasing part in all our lives.

To begin with, it was very much a case of promotional activities such as writing to newspapers, putting up posters about our meetings and generally communicating with our membership through a simple A4 newsletter and the walks programme which were both posted out three times a year.

With the gaining in popularity of computers and emails, and with the greater use of web sites, I evolved different ways of getting in touch with, not only our own membership, but the wider world. A website was set up, the newsletter was reformatted to be also available in an A5 booklet design and, to complement this, the walks programme was similarly changed, to produce a more easily handled and useful ‘coffee table‘ size communication.

The website has been a really useful way of showing ourselves to the wider world, and our page of walks records in pictures, set out in monthly sections, is our most popular page.

As the role developed, I also managed to promote our group by attending local shows and fairs, often supported by other members, and we purchased a tent and equipment to give us a base from which to operate. This has been a good focus for our outside practical publicity.

It is an interesting and worthwhile part of belonging to Ramblers. I feel now is the time to hand over to someone else who can carry this work forward and enhance further the way in which walking and social aspects of Mid Sussex Ramblers continue to be promoted in the area. If you feel

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that you would like to be part of this absorbing and rewarding side to walking, do get in touch – you will not be disappointed.

Tel: 01444 483053, E-mail: publicity@midsussexramblers.co.uk

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GREENWICH MERIDIAN TRAIL Elizabeth Berry

On 03 August 2016, nine Ramblers and a dog (Badger) met at the Meridian Monument in Peacehaven with the same aim in mind - to walk nearly 70 miles of the Meridian Trail from Peacehaven to the Greenwich

Royal Observatory. Fast Forward to 28 October 2016 and we ended the walk on a gloriously bright sunny day, rewarded by a fabulous view across the Thames as we dropped down from Blackheath into Greenwich Park.

Split into 7 stages over 2½ months we enjoyed the change in surroundings as we crossed the South

Downs leaving the sea behind and made our way via beautiful Sussex villages across the Ashdown Forest and on to the North Downs (very steep). Slowly, but surely, the rural settings changed and became more urban as we crossed Kent and moved into London Boroughs, although the trail took us through green fields and

parkland wherever possible.

Highlights included a sausage stop at a Farm Shop, a couple of pub lunches, and an attempt to climb inside the Crowhurst Yew! East Grinstead Town Council even issued a certificate to prove that we had stood where East meets West.

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I didn’t realise when I set out just how rewarding these long distance walks can be. Conversations started on one walk are continued over several stages, firm friends are made, and there is a genuine sense of achievement on finishing each section. Thank you to everyone involved in the planning, especially Paul Jenkins and Sue Berry. When can we do it again?