rambler the tameside letter oct 2017.pdf · 2018-02-05 · the tameside rambler issue 14 - october...

rambler Tameside Ramblers Newsletter | Issue 14 | October 2017

The Tameside

Chair Talk It was on one of our ‘social’ ou2ngs that two or threememberstoldmethattheythoughtsomepeoplewereputoffourwalksbecausetheyweretoohard,toolongandattoofastapace.SoduringAugustandSeptemberweputonanumberofGradeDEasywalksofmodestlengthandovereasyterrain.It remainstobeseen justhowsuccessfulorotherwisethesehave been in aErac2ng addi2onal numbers to our walks, orwalkerswhowouldnototherwisehaveturnedup.

Ourmembership con2nues to increaseandat the last countstoodat216,whichwaspartlyboostedbynewmembershipsasadirect resultof theGreaterManchesterWalkingFes2valinMay–moreaboutthatlaterinthenewsleEer.

Despitetheincreasedmembership,wes2llrequiremorewalkleaders: we have already benefiEed from several newwalkleaders but a few more will make life easier all round. IfanyonewouldliketohaveagothenpleasegetintouchwithChris2ne Harrison or Lynda Chandler, ourWalks ProgrammeCoordinators.

IntheAutumn2017edi2onoftheWalkmagazine,youmighthave seen an ar2cle en2tled Ramble through redesignedcancer unit. It concerns the Tameside Macmillan Unit atTameside Hospital, which opened earlier this year, and mycontribu2on to its integrated artwork. It is a wonderfulfacility, and if onedoes require cancer treatment it is a verypeacefulandupliZingenvironmentinwhichtoreceiveit.IhadbeeninvitedtojointheTrust’sProjectBoardandoveratwo-year period was involved with several aspects of the unit’sdesign and in par2cular, as the ar2cle stated, in taking thear2stChristopherTipping-who’sphotoappearsinthear2cle– on a 12-milewalk fromGodley, overWild Bank and up toUpper Swineshaw Reservoir and back. It was that walk onwhich Chris based his artwork which incorporates the routetakendepictedinredontheimagescoveringthewholeofthemaincorridor. Iwassurprisedtoseethear2cle,whichmusthave been submiEed by the hospital’s press agency, andequally surprised to see the quota2ons aEributed to me;although they were not my words they are certainlysen2mentswithwhichIagree.

WenowembarkonourwinterwalksprogrammeandwhilstIdo like towalk in snowy condi2onsoccasionally, let us hopethatthewinterweatherisnottoosevereanddisrup2vetoourwalks

Stewart Ramsden Chair

** REMINDER **

Tameside RamblersANNUAL GENERAL

MEETING 2017The fifth AGM of Tameside

Ramblers will be held at 1.30pm on Saturday 28th

October 2017 at the New Stalybridge Labour ClubAcres Lane, Stalybridge

SK152JR Opposite Stalybridge Tesco

The meeting will commence at 2.00pm and will end no later than 3.30pm. Tea and biscuits from 1.30pm (bring

your own sandwiches).

The main agenda items will be:

- Delivery of Annual Report- Election of Committee- Opportunity for questions

There will be an optional short walk commencing at

the Labour Club at 10.30am.

The Labour Club has its own car park and there is a bus

stop right outside: services: 236; 237; 340; 343; 348; 387

It is also within easy walking distance of Stalybridge Bus Terminus and Stalybridge

Railway Station

The Tameside Rambler Issue 14 - October 2017 �2

Walking with members of parliamentIn July, Ramblers contactedMP’s invi2ng themtoexpressaninterestingoingonawalkintheircons2tuencieswith their localRamblersgroup.Angela Rayner, MP for Ashton-under-Lyne,responded that she would like to do this andthenecessaryarrangementsweremadeviahercons2tuency office. As the details had onlybeenfinalisedthepreviousweek,wecouldonlyinform members by email – apologies to thefewmemberswithoutemail.

Thewalk,whichwasledbyPeteSummers,washeld on Friday 25th August. It was a lovely,warmdayandour four-milewalkbeganat theOldBallInnonBroadoakRoadandwithinjustafewminuteswewereinthecountryside.

Not many members turned up, not surprisingconsidering theshortno2ceandbeingbang inthe middle of the holiday season, but Angelawasaccompaniedbysomeofhercons2tuencyofficestaff.

The conversa2on included stories of life atWestminsterwhilstwecoveredsuchsubjectsasbuilding on the green belt, the benefits ofwalking to health and the local economy, andthe opportuni2es of a post-Brexit revisedagriculturalpolicytoofferwalkersbeEeraccessacrossfarmland.

ThewalkwasenjoyedbyallandAngelaandherstaffexpressedawishtocomeonanotherwalkinthenearfuture.AZerthewalk,wepresentedAngela with a Ramblers pen and a bright redRamblers pin badge which we hope she willwearinParliament.

Want to feature in the next edition of The Tameside Rambler? E-mail your Rambler stories and photos to the Editor.

The Tameside Rambler Issue 14 - October 2017 �3

The Greater Manchester Walking Festival May 2017Thisyear’sfes2valwasthethirdone,andbyfarthebiggest,asillustratedinthefollowingtable.

TamesideRamblerswasnotinvolvedinthe2015fes2valbutfor2016and2017weincludedallofourMaywalks.Althoughweledonemorewalkthanlastyear,(includinganeveningwalk)thenumberofpar2cipantsandthenumberofwalkersnewtothegroupwentdown.However,ofthosewalkersnewtothegroup,sixjoinedTamesideRamblerseitherduringthefes2valorimmediatelyaZerwards.

Severalofourmemberswentonwalksorganisedbyothergroups(notjustRamblers)withperhapsthemostunusualofthosebeingaRochdaleGhostWalk.

ItishopedthattherewillbeanotherGMWalkingFes2valin2018.

GreaterManchester 2015 2016 2017

Numberofgroupsinvolved 17 34 47

Numberofledwalksdelivered 132 209 348

Numberofpar2cipants 1,290 2,700 4,764

TamesideRamblers 2016 2017

Numberofledwalksdelivered 8 9

Numberofpar2cipants 157 152

Numbernewtothegroup(includedabove) 44 35

Newmembersimmediatelyfollowingthefes2val 1 6

The Tameside Rambler Issue 14 - October 2017 �4

The Tameside Rambler Issue 14 - October 2017 �5

On The Social Side Our last report was compiled too late for theMay newsleEer, but we did an update in Julythat appears on Tameside Ramblers’ website.Thatreportcoversthesocialeventswhichtookplaceinthefirst6monthsof2017.

OnSaturday8thJuly,aZerapleasantwalkintheChessenden Valley on the Bury/Rochdaleboundary, a number of us had a meal at thePack Horse in Birtle. The food and drinkappearedtogodownwellwiththe7ofuswhochose to partake. Hopefully, we can arrangesimilar events aZer other Saturday walks,providing they finish near decent pubs! By the2me members receive this newsleEer, we willhave eaten and had a couple of drinks at theRose of Lancaster in Chadderton following awalkuptoTandleHillon16thSeptember(ifanymembers have any sugges2ons aZer otherwalks,pleaseletusknow)

On 19th August, Karen arranged a blue plaquewalkinManchester;thiswasfollowedbyamealinTopsrestaurantonPortlandStreet.Thewalktook in the University and Castlefield, and 23plaques were located (not all blue), includingAlanTuringandMarieStopes.SomeofuswenttoBriton’sProtec2onneartheBridgewaterHallaZerthewalkforadrink.16ofusthenenjoyedanexcellentbuffetmealatTops.

On the weekend of 21st October, 17 of us arebooked into Har2ngton Youth Hostel. 2 walks,ledby JohnBewick on the Saturday and LyndaChandler and Pete on the Sunday, have beenarranged (details have been e-mailed tomembersaEendingtheweekend).Thereshould

be excellent food and accommoda2on plusdraughtbeerfromthelocalbreweryonoffer,asthere was in February 2014 for our firstweekendawayatthesameYouthHostel.Moreaccommoda2on may s2ll be available if othermemberswishtoaEend;contactPeteifanyoneis interested.The weekend includes an eveningmealontheSaturdayandSundaybreakfast.

Also by the 2me you read this, we will knowmoreabouttheproposedwalkingtripinChina,whichwill take place in November 2018. AZeran ini2al mee2ng in September, Karen and Jowill arrange a follow upmee2ng in Novemberfor those members expressing an interest ingoing, explaining details of flights, visas,accommoda2on, etc. An e-mail will becirculated round tomemberswhen a date andvenuehavebeenconfirmed.Note,thisisnotanofficialTamesideRamblers’trip.

Inthecurrentwalksprogrammecirculatedwiththis newsleEer, there are details of ourChristmas social events. These will include anevening at Wetherspoon in Glossop on 14thDecember and a Tapas evening at theSportsmaninHydeonSunday14thJanuary.

On24thand25thMarch2018,wearearranginganotherweekend at a YouthHostel. Aswe arewri2ng this report before anything has beenbooked,wearehopefulofgoingtothehostelinSlaidburn in the Forest of Bowland on theLancashire/Yorkshire border. By the 2me youreceive this newsleEer, we should have moredetails, which will have been circulated tomemberstowardstheendofSeptember

PeteandRuthSummersSocialSecretaries

The Tameside Rambler Issue 14 - October 2017 �6

WhyWeDo It! I recently receivedawelcomegiZ frommy friendPam (herhusbandwashavingathrow out!). It was an anthology for ramblers, 2tled “I’llWalkWhere IWill”, containing prose and poetryrelatedtowalkinginthecountryside.NowI’mnogreatdevoteeofpoetry,infactIwasoZenreferredtoasaliteraryPhilis2nebycolleaguesatwork,howeverIfoundmuchofthecontentofthebookveryrelevanttoourac2vi2es. I would therefore like to share with you some of the more per2nent pieces. The 2tle of theanthologycomesfromthefamous‘ManchesterRambler’byEwanMacCollandseemstosumupourraisond’etre:SoI’llwalkwhereIwillovermountainandhillAndI’llliewherethebrackenisdeep,Ibelongtothemountains,theclearrunningfountainsWherethegreyrocksriseruggedandsteep.Ihaveseenthewhitehareinthegulleys,Andthecurlewsflyhighoverhead,AndsoonerthanpartfromthemountainsIthinkIwouldratherbedead.

WithTamesidebeingsoclosetothePeakDistrictwespendagreatdeal of our2mewalking inDerbyshire, and I thoughtthis poem by Jack Jordan of Sheffield Clarion Ramblers(1958-59)illustratestheappealofthearea.

TheYorkshiredalesmaycallyou,AndtheScoCshhillsmayshout,ButyourmindwillbeonBleaklow,AndyourheartonKinderScout.YoumaygotoWalesandDonegal,ToDevonandCornwalltoo,Butbackyou’llcometoDerbyshire,That’salmosthometoyou.There’sroseandgoldinDerbyshire,There’sroseandgoldandblue,Alovelinessyou’llnotforgetWhateverelseyoudo.

So next 2me you’re in Hayfield with Lynda or climbingRingingRogerwith Stewart remember these s2rringwords!Wehavehadmanydayswithglorioussunshine,butperhapsmanymorewithplentyof thewet stuff! I think thispoemtaken from the Grimsby Telegraph in 1924 sums up theweatheronthehillsreallywell.

DirtydayshathSeptember.,April,JuneandNovember, AlltheresthavethirtyoneWithoutasinglegleamofsun!ExcepMngFebruary’stwentyeight,WhenitrainsthroughoutfrommornMlllate.AndifamonthhadthirtytwoThey’dbeaswetanddirtytoo!

Socomerainorshineyou’llseeusonthehillsenjoyingthewideopenspaceswhichourpredecessorsfoughtsohardtokeepopenforus all. Sonext2meyou’rehalfwayupa ‘gently steep’ climbrememberthewordsofthatgreatramblerandphilosopherHarryStoElewhowrotemanyyearsago:-“Towalkupanddownislesswearyingthanwalkingontheflat.”

JohnBewick(Philis2neandRambler)

The Committee Chairman

Stewart Ramsden - 07714445118 chairman@tamesideramblers.org.ukGroup & Membership Secretary

Prue Ramsden - 01613661740 secretary@tamesideramblers.org.uk 

Treasurer John Bewick - 01457832226

treasurer@tamesideramblers.org.ukFootpath Officer

Steve Slater - 01457832226 footpath.officer@tamesideramblers.org.uk

Walks Coordinators Christine Harrison - 07906641207 Lynda Chandler - 07974275668 walks@tamesideramblers.org.uk

Newsletter Editor Richard Crawford

editor.tsramblers@icloud.comWeb Master Alan James

webmaster@tamesideramblers.org.ukSocial Secretaries

Ruth & Pete Summers social@tamesideramblers.org.uk

Committee Members John Harrison

Alan Lowe

The Ramblers’ Association is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales. Company registration number: 4458492. Registered Charity in England and Wales number: 1093577. Registered office: 2nd floor, Camelford House, 87-90 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TW.

www.tamesideramblers.org.uk

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