Our newsletters...
The Bristol HF Rambling Club Newsletter is published 3 times a year,
to keep all members in touch with all club activities. 
FROM THE CHAIRMAN
Hi, everyone, It is good to see Club members walking together again after so many months, now that the Tuesday and Saturday walks have re-commenced. Many thanks to those members who have offered to lead. I have been on some of the walks and it was good to see members complying with the Club Covid-19 Guidelines. On 22nd August I went on the club’s first hill walk since January. It was led by Laurence and there were 5 of us. We started from Pengenffordd on the A479 not far from Crickhowell and we climbed to top of Y Grib, then walked along the tops of several peaks until we finally got to the top of Waun Fach and descended from there back to Pengenffordd. We were buffeted by very strong winds and there were some heavy showers but it was enjoyed by all. Many thanks to Laurence for leading it for us. It was unfortunate that we had to cancel the Club’s centenary events due to Covid-19 but they will take place next year. The Committee is proposing that instead of a Christmas lunch this year (which may not be possible due to Covid-19 restrictions) there will be a centenary dinner next summer. Also, the Covid-19 restrictions are likely to make the holding of our AGM in November extremely difficult and the Committee has agreed that it should be postponed until early next year. Keep walking everyone, and let us make 2021 the best year since the Club was formed. Best regards Peter Holmes FROM THE EDITOR Hello, everyone. I trust you are all well and managing to cope with the unprecedented circumstances in which we find ourselves. As I said in the April Newsletter, your Committee have been following the advice of the Ramblers Association, who have been conducting negotiations with the Government on restarting walking in the UK. We were therefore happy to advise in early August that, in England and Wales, walks of up to 30 people could take place, subject to Social Distancing rules. Detailed guidance for Leaders and Walkers were included in Sandra’s email of 6 July. Rather than producing a formal programme, the Programme Secretaries are continuing to manage walks on a week by week basis, So, if you are keen to offer a walk, just let the relevant Programme Secretary have the details and the preferred date and it will be advertised. The Committee decided initially that we should restrict our walks to 10 Members and that seems to have been sufficient to get us underway again, but we will keep this under review and at some stage will probably ask Leaders to apply their own judgment to the size of group that they would be comfortable being responsible for. Your feedback on this to the Programme Secretaries would be appreciated. The Committee met, socially distanced, on 17 August, between threatened showers, to reflect on the current situation and to make decisions about the rest of the year. Peter has mentioned the decision to postpone the AGM, to forego the traditional Christmas lunch in favour of a Centenary dinner and to carry forward the other planned events into next year. We also identified some other possible events, such as a further coach ramble and a Club holiday at an HF house. The Committee also decided to waive next year’s membership fee which would have been due this month - see Lesley’s note below. I have included below some reflections on the sad passing of Albert Ferris, so soon after his 100th Birthday. I know many of you would have wished to attend the funeral, had it been possible, but I hope that these reflections will trigger your own happy memories of Albert and provide some inspiration in these strange times. The Club made a small contribution on your behalf to his chosen charity – RNIB. Tom Logan FROM THE MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY It has been a very strange year due to the impact of the Coronavirus so there haven't been any Club walks since March, but the good news is that things are slowly returning to 'normal' and group walking is restarting as volunteers come forward to organise and lead a walk. It was disappointing to have to cancel the social events that had been planned, and the AGM has also been postponed. This is the time of year when I would normally be very busy dealing with Membership Renewals, but the club has decided not to charge a Membership Subscription this year. However, I would ask that any member who has moved house or changed their phone number or email address in the last twelve months, to please provide me with their updated details so that I can keep our records up to date. I hope to see many of you, either out on walks, or at one of the social events when they are re-arranged. Thank You Lesley Davis Affiliation to the Ramblers We are affiliated to the Ramblers Association, as a Group, in addition to many Members holding their own individual memberships. Our support is given in recognition of the work done by the Ramblers in maintaining and retaining footpaths, for us all to enjoy. The sorts of problems, which can be encountered on walks, are overgrown paths, broken stile, blockages from using access land and the like. It is therefore encouraging to know that Local highway authorities (County Councils or Unitary Authorities) are responsible for resolving path and access problems - the Ramblers works to ensure that authorities resolve any issues. We, as walkers, can help by:- 1. Reporting the problem to the County Council or Unitary Authority responsible for the area. 2. Completing the form supplied by the Ramblers (pdf file avaiable online) which would be sent onto a local Ramblers volunteer to investigate further - which may include reporting the problem to the correct council department. By giving your contact details, in completing the form, you will be kept up to date with the progress of your report. Editor Contributions for the Jnauary 2021 Newsletter must be with the Editor by the 1st December 2020 |
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