Rambling
round-up
Latest news from the Ramblers and the world of walking
Revealed –
Britain’s favourite path
A Surrey boardwalk, restored by the local community following a devastating fire in 2020, has won the title of Britain’s Favourite Path
Thursley Common boardwalk
Thursley Common boardwalk
The path at Thursley Common near Godalming was nominated by Michelle Presley after the Ramblers asked the public to help find the nation’s favourite path this summer. Michelle described it as ‘a little hidden gem’, teeming with wildlife and considerately designed for wheelchairs and pushchairs. ‘I just loved the way the whole community came together after the fire to bring it back,’ she added.
As well as winning a £200 Cotswold Outdoor voucher, Michelle will see her winning path featured on a billboard next year, as the Ramblers celebrates 90 years of fighting for everyone’s right to access nature and get out walking.
FIND OUT MORE
Discover the Thursley Common boardwalk and the other Britain’s Favourite Path finalists
Connecting with communities
The Ramblers strives to help everyone enjoy the joys and health benefits of walking. One of our areas of focus is supporting people from Global Majority communities, who are currently under-represented in our membership and in countryside activities generally. Ramblers Scotland’s Community Outreach Project is an excellent example, breaking down barriers by leading inspiring walks with refugees, asylum seekers and people of colour, while giving participants a grounding in outdoor skills.
The project has worked with community groups including SCORE Scotland, a charity promoting racial equality, and The Welcoming, which supports refugees and migrants in Edinburgh. Together, we’ve walked local routes and shared navigation, route-planning and safety skills, to give participants the knowledge and confidence to plan their own adventures.
Min Leng came to Edinburgh from China three years ago and has enjoyed walks, made friends, and gained new skills through the project, leading to first aid and lowland leader qualifications. ‘I feel I’m empowered. I know how to walk outdoors and also how to navigate, how to plan,’ she said.
Scottish sport minister Maree Todd MSP was impressed when she joined Min and other participants on a walk in October, commenting: ‘It is just wonderful to hear these women talk about the benefits of walking together. It helps them to connect with each other, and with the community and with nature.’
FIND OUT MORE
Supporting people from Global Majority communities? Email scotland@ramblers.org.uk to find out about working with the Community Outreach Project.
Coast path progress
In 2004, John Dowding, then the Essex area footpath secretary, tabled a motion at our annual General Council meeting to campaign for a right of access to the entire coast of England. Twenty years on, John is sadly no longer with us, but his dream of a coast path around the whole of England is becoming a reality.
Wallasey, Birkenhead
Wallasey, Birkenhead
Since the previous edition of walk was published, the following new sections of the King Charles III England Coast Path have opened to the public:
- two lengths totalling almost 24km/15 miles between Birkenhead and the Welsh Border
- the first Suffolk stretch – a 43km/27-mile route between Shotley Gate and Felixstowe Ferry
- the 92km/57-mile Sutton Bridge to Skegness section in Lincolnshire, including parts that give people a legal right to access some of the county's coastline for the first time.
When complete, the path will be the nation’s newest national trail and the longest coastal trail in the world, at 4,345km/2,700 miles.
Visit the coast path website for section information, maps and the latest updates.
Could you be a trustee?
We’re looking for new trustees to help our charity grow and develop. Could you be one of them?
Who are we looking for?
We need four members to bring their skills and experience to the Board of Trustees. You’ll share your insights, bring your own perspectives, and help ensure the Ramblers is delivering its charitable objectives.
We welcome applications from all parts of the membership, and actively seek to diversify the views and lived experiences represented on the Board. This year, we are also on the lookout for members who have experience at a professional or executive level in fundraising and income generation, volunteer leadership and development, or safeguarding legislation and best practice.
What’s involved?
Our trustees have collective responsibility for governing the Ramblers and for directing how it is managed and run by our executive staff team. You won’t get involved in the day-to-day running of the charity, but your strategic oversight will shape our future and ensure we make best use of our resources in delivering our objectives. You’ll serve a two or three-year term from April 2025, attending five Board meetings a year, plus other meetings and events as needed.
What’s in it for me?
Being a trustee can be a rewarding experience. You’ll be giving your time and expertise to a cause you feel passionate about, learning new skills, and developing a deeper understanding of our work and its outcome for walkers. We offer training and ongoing support to all trustees.
How do I apply?
Complete the nomination form and use our trustee recruitment guide to lead you through the process. Members of the Ramblers’ General Council will vote to elect our new trustees on 5 April 2025.
FIND OUT MORE
View the role and apply by the deadline of 22 February 2025 here
NEWS IN BRIEF
Disability activist Bethany Handley
Disability activist Bethany Handley
Advocating for accessibility
Last year, a survey conducted for the Ramblers by YouGov found that more than half (56%) of people with physical and sensory disabilities are prevented from using public paths by barriers such as stiles, steps or gates. Bethany Handley, a writer, disability activist and ambassador for Ramblers Cymru, has made a beautiful, thought-provoking short video highlighting the issues she faces as a wheelchair user, and how your support of the Ramblers helps make paths more accessible.
Carmarthenshire's Pathways Partnership volunteers
Carmarthenshire's Pathways Partnership volunteers
Partnership pride
Ramblers Cymru’s Pathways Partnership project was set up this spring, working with Carmarthenshire local authority to record the state of the county’s path network. Thanks to support from the UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund, in just six months the project has trained 101 volunteers, who have surveyed 395km of footpaths. Their tremendous efforts were recognised with a celebratory event at the National Botanic Garden of Wales in Llanarthney in October.
Interested in helping us survey paths in Carmarthenshire? Send us an email
PPL supports the Ramblers
PPL supports the Ramblers
Thank you, PPL!
The People’s Postcode Lottery (PPL) has been a long-time supporter of the Ramblers, with generous funding to help us train volunteers, improve paths and get more people walking. And this autumn, the team has been seeing the impact of its support first-hand: PPL staff joined a Next Steps walk-leadership course delivered by our amazing volunteer trainers in Scotland, and a Ramblers Wellbeing Walk in Manchester, while their counterparts from the Netherlands learned all about the Ramblers on a walk in central London. People’s Postcode Lottery also made the Ramblers the focus of all its social-media communications on 6 September, as part of its Power of Postcodes campaign celebrating charity partners.
Tools of the trail
We're excited to be developing a new Getting Started Toolkit, thanks to generous support from Ramble Worldwide Outdoor Trust and Ramble Worldwide, to support people from communities that are under-represented in the outdoors to gain skills to lead safe and enjoyable group walks. The Ramblers will be working with community groups to co-design the toolkit and train 30 individuals in the local community to plan and lead walks, mentored by experienced local Ramblers walk leaders. Once complete, the toolkit will be available on the Ramblers website.
FIND OUT MORE about the toolkit here
NEW ROUTES
Clare Balding (third from right) on the GM Ringway
Clare Balding (third from right) on the GM Ringway
Ringway on the radio
In the previous issue of walk, we told you about the GM Ringway, a newly completed 322km/200-mile, 20-stage trail around Greater Manchester. In October, this trail was the subject of BBC Radio 4’s Ramblings, with presenter Clare Balding walking part of Stage 6 from Strines to Marple in the company of GM Ringway volunteers. Listen to the programme here and explore the GM Ringway here.
In costume on Saint Aelred’s Pilgrim Trail
In costume on Saint Aelred’s Pilgrim Trail
Ryedale trail
A new 66km/41-mile trail in the North York Moors connects the 12 rural churches in the Benefice of Helmsley and Upper Ryedale. Accessible to walkers, cyclists and horse riders, the Saint Aelred’s Pilgrim Trail is named after the Abbot of Rievaulx Abbey from 1147 to 1167 – famed for his love of walking, history, writing and friendship. Find out more about the nine stages and 12 churches on the trail website.
Lullingstone Castle, in the Darent Valley
Lullingstone Castle, in the Darent Valley
Appy adventures in Kent
Use your smartphone or tablet to explore the landscapes and heritage of the beautiful Kent Downs with the Darent Valley Trails app. One of only about 200 chalk-bed rivers in the world, the River Darent has a museum, Roman Villa, Norman castle ruins, lavender farm and welcoming pubs along its course. The app offers guides to the Darent Valley Path, Samuel Palmer Trail and other self-guided walks in the area, each giving an overview and showing the difficulty, distance, timings and stopping points. Download it here.
CASEWORK FOCUS
Cumberland path closure conundrum
The Ramblers will be in the High Court in February, hoping to overturn a decision taken by the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in a public inquiry about paths at Hayton in Cumberland. Locals claimed the paths as rights of way around 2010, on the basis of 20 years’ public use. But the 20-year period of qualifying use overlapped the four-month closure of most paths ordered by the UK government in 2001 to prevent the spread of foot and mouth disease. An inspector consequently decided there was insufficient continuous public use. The Ramblers is challenging this decision, as we believe the fact that people obeyed an emergency prohibition should not weigh against a claim for a public path. Many similar claims for rights of way could be affected by this adverse precedent, so we hope it will be reversed by the courts.
Have your say on Galloway
Ramblers Scotland is urging outdoor enthusiasts to take part in the consultation on the proposed new Galloway National Park. Natural heritage agency NatureScot has launched the 14-week online consultation to seek views about the new national park for Galloway (including parts of South and East Ayrshire), including about its boundary, powers and how it should be run.
If delivered well, the proposed park has the potential to improve walking opportunities, enrich nature, boost jobs and businesses, and promote active travel. National park status should also bring improved facilities for visitors, new funding opportunities, and support for wildlife habitats and local communities.
HAVE YOUR SAY
Contribute to the consultation and learn more about Britain’s national parks.
We are the Ramblers, Britain’s walking charity. We open the way for everyone to enjoy the simple pleasures of walking. And we step up to protect the places we all love to wander. Click to find out more
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