Derbyshire Area News - Derby and South Derbyshire Ramblers

Derbyshire Area NewsWinter 2012/13&Annual Report2011/2012Welcome to Derbyshire Area NewsIn this issue:Annual Report,Further Adventures in Access LandAnother Pilgrims ProgressDetective work in South DerbyshireEast Window remains, Dale AbbeyErewashPicture: Keith ShiersVisit our website at www.derbyshireramblers.org.uk

Derbyshire Area News—Winter 2012/132

Derbyshire Area News—Winter 2011/12 2012/13AREA AGMSATURDAY JANUARY 19 th 2013at 2:00 pmWEST HALLAM VILLAGE HALL,THE VILLAGE, WEST HALLAM, ILKESTON,DERBYSHIRE, DE7 6GRSPEAKER: BENEDICT SOUTHWORTHThere will be a short walk in the morning starting from theVillage Hall at 10:00 amRoom will be open at 12 noon and tea and coffee will beavailable at lunchtime.Benedict Southworth took over as the Ramblers Chief Executive earlier inthe year. In joining the Ramblers he brings a wealth of experience in thecharity sector having held senior positions and consultancy to a number ofhigh profile and environment charities. He recently produced his 100 DayReview, an interesting and thought provoking analysis of the Ramblers organisationtoday. If you want to be part of the vision for the future then pleaseCome along and hear himGetting thereWest Hallam Village Hall is a Grade II listed building located in the heart ofthe village. It can be approached from the north from High Lane West (theA609 Ilkeston road) via either Station Road or St. Wilfred’s Road or from thesouth from Ladywood Road (the A6096) Ilkeston to Spondon road via Catand Fiddle Lane and Station Road.There is a large car park at the shopping centre opposite the hall.The Black Cat bus service from Derby and Ilkeston stops close by.3

Derbyshire Area News—Winter 2012/13Contents:pageANNUAL REPORT 5–12Treasurer’s Report & Accounts 13-14Area Secretary 15-16Area Access Officer 16-17News Roundup 18Arthur Osborne & Keith Walkerdine’sMemorial Walk 19-20Family Rambles 21Further Adventures in Access Land 22-24Another Pilgrim’s Progress 24-25Detective Work in South Derbyshire 25-27Viewpoint 27Dealing with Dangerous Dogs 28-29A Map Reading Lesson 29Thanks and reminders 30Contacts 31Note from the EditorIt is AGM season again and so don’t forget —Saturday 19th January 2013—the Area AGM.Benedict Southworth has been kind enough toagree to attend and we must thank him for histime in visiting us.The annual reports make for interesting readingand it amazes me about the amount ofunsung work undertaken by our officers. Manyare becoming overburdened, so if you feel thatyou can help out in some way then please usethe contacts listed or better still, join your committee.This issue I have been able to include at leastone article from most of our Groups which isvery pleasing. But, do not relax as I shall expectmore for the next issue; in the meantimeenjoy this one and good walking.Keith ShiersViews expressed are those of the individual and notnecessarily that of Ramblers.Copyright for this publication, unless otherwise stated,is held by the Ramblers’, Derbyshire Area.Cover Picture WalkThe remains of the great East Window of St. Mary’s Abbey is a forlorn reminder of a great abbeythat once stood here and owned 24,000 acres of land until its dissolution in 1538.This walk is one from an excellent series of 20 leaflet walks published by Erewash BoroughCouncil and all available from local libraries or download from their web site. A number of thewalks in the series pass by this feature but the one chosen - Number 1, The Hermits Walk -though short at 3.5 miles, takes in some of the rich heritage of the area which is criss-crossed bymany public footpaths. The terrain is undulating countryside with a variety of surfaces that canbe muddy in places; there is one stretch of quiet country road and short length of urban walking.The walk starts at Pioneer Meadows, Kirk Hallam, a public open space comprising wildflowermeadows, woodland and a fish pond. There is a car park, alternatively there is a bus route nearbyif one can use public transport. The route passes through the meadows and after crossingSow Brook, heads across open fields towards a tip crossing the track bed of a former mineralrailway. This once linked the Stanton Ironworks with the two collieries at Dale, local clay pits anda sand quarry at Arbour Hill, The route continues across fields to a track that leads to FurnacePond. The pond probably takes its name from 18th century blast furnaces on the site and wouldhave been dug to power water driven bellows, it is now the preserve of fishermen. The tracksoon joins Dale Road which is followed towards its namesake before crossing Potato Pit Lane tojoin a bridleway. This passes through Hermits Wood, an ancient woodland and site of Hermit’sCave, home of a Derby baker (c1130) who was led to the area by a vision of the Virgin Mary.The bridleway continues through the yard of Church Farm, passing All Saints church, a rareexample of church and house (and pub at one time). and into Dale Abbey. Walk through thevillage, past The Carpenter’s Arms (one of a number of walker friendly pubs in the area) beforecrossing fields up hill to attain the outskirts of Kirk Hallam and short urban walk to start point.For more information about the series of leaflet walks visit www.erewash.gov.uk4

Derbyshire Area News—Winter 2012/13DERBYSHIRE AREAANNUAL REPORTFor the year ending 30th September 2012AGM to be held at West Hallam Village Hall, Ilkeston,Saturday January 19th 2013 at 2:00 pmSECRETARY’S REPORTMartin PapeDuring year October 2011 to September 2012 we held three Area Council meetings.Our Area AGM was in January 2012 in Matlock, organised by Derbyshire DalesGroup, chaired by Nick Stephens, and preceded by a pleasant walk led by JanetKeyne taking in High Tor and Willersley Castle grounds. Tributes were paid to KeithWalkerdine and Judy Grundy. Our President, John Beadle, expressed his concernsabout cuts to funding for National Parks, changes to the management of the PeakPark, and proposed changes to planning regulations. Colin Barker stood down asCountryside Secretary. Gerry White offered to continue his chairing of Area Councilmeetings. There were no proposals of motions for the 2012 Ramblers GeneralCouncil. Ramblers' President-elect Kate Ashbrook was our guest speaker and hertalk covered a wide range of issues including the 80th anniversary of the Kindermass trespass, slow progress on coastal access, the saving the forests campaign,membership issues and the Ramblers' bid for taking on co-ordination of Walking forHealth. She suggested that the appointment of a new Ramblers Chief Executive,Benedict Southworth, may in time lead to changes to the structure of the Association.Apart from the AGM, our other significant Area events were:- the Area-Get-Together in October 2011 which was at Calton Lees / Baslow, organisedby Amber Valley Group, and with a good turn-out of around 60 members;- publication of a leaflet describing The Arthur Osborne and Keith Walkerdine MemorialWalk which runs from Derby Cathedral through Markeaton and Allestree Parks toDuffield; and- the launch event in August 2012 for the Memorial Walk, organised by Derby &South Derbyshire Group, led by Petra Hedges, and with around 50 attendees includingKate Ashbrook, John Beadle and family members of Arthur and Keith.5

Derbyshire Area News—Winter 2012/13Two members attended Rambler's 2012 General Council in Leicester.The greatest achievement of the Ramblers in Derbyshire remains our Groups' excellentwalks programmes; thanks are again due to those many volunteers who organiseand lead the walks. We are also grateful for the efforts of our Footpath Secretaries,Membership Secretaries and Treasurers. However, we still have vacancies on ourArea Council and Group Committees. The more that tasks can be shared betweenCouncil and Group officers, the more we can achieve and the less risk there is of incumbentsfinding their roles too demanding. At Area Council we have been lacking aChair, Countryside Secretary and Publicity Secretary. The absence of an Area PublicityOfficer means that we do not have a point of contact for the local media and thatwe are not generating as much publicity as we should to encourage people to join theRamblers and take up recreational walking. If you may be able to consider taking onany of these roles (or my role as Secretary which could enable me to move on to anotherrole), please let me know.MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY’S REPORTChris VaughanMembership currently stands at 1420 compared to 1463 this time last year. Newmember reports are now being sent directly to Group membership Secretaries. Thefull monthly reports still only come to the Area Membership Secretary.WEBMASTERCurrently snowed under by requests from other Groups for web site hosting;ramblers-webs.org.uk currently hosts 49 domains.Would still welcome someone to take over editing the derbyshireramblers.org.uk site.FOOTPATHS SECRETARY’S REPORTOff-RoadingGeof ColeThe use of motorized recreational motor vehicles (rmvs) on unsurfaced public rights ofway (PRoW) continues to cause concern amongst residents and other users alike.On behalf of the Ramblers, I have commented on the new off-roading managementplans for both the Peak District National Park Authority (PDNPA) and DerbyshireCounty Council (DCC), arguing that both organisations should be more active in managingoff-roading. In addition, I have supported Traffic Regulation Orders to stop offroadersfrom using the most sensitive routes in the Peak District. Members can helpby commenting on the PDNPA consultation on traffic restrictions on Long Causeway(Stanage) and The Roych (near Chapel) via the PDNPA website.6

The Chesterfield and North-East Derbyshire Ramblers’ Group has approached CentralOffice to ask for a national campaign on off-roading. Central Office seem to thinkthere is little appetite for such a national campaign but have offered to help a localone. We expect a meeting to look at what could be done later this year, which is likelyto include members from all local Ramblers’ Groups.DCC Rights of Way Improvement PlanDCC are revising the Rights of Way Improvement Plan, which was first issued 5 yearsago. I am on the working group looking at how it can be improved. It is not an excitingread, but is an important document as it defines the Council’s priorities on rights ofway for the next 5 years. Anything missing is unlikely to be given funding and our aimis to correct errors and omission from the first edition.Public Rights of Way SurveyGroups continue to help DCC with their 6 monthly survey of public rights of way. TheCouncil survey 5% of its PRoWs each year. In the May survey this year, the pass rateof 71% across Derbyshire compared with the Council target of 72.5%.Open Access Land SurveyI’ve agreed to join a team from the D&DLAF who will look at the open access land inDerbyshire, outside of the Peak District. The intention is to see what could be done toimprove access, marking and public awareness. I’ll keep Sue Weatherley (our accessofficer) advised of progress - if any.DCCA recent Ramblers Central Office investigation has shown that we are fortunate inDerbyshire in that the local government funding cuts have had little impact on rights ofway so far. However, we need to keep lobbying on the benefits of walking and accessto green spaces to both individual and community health to maintain this position.DCC has appointed a Volunteer Co-ordinator – Steve Cresswell – to help volunteersto tackle work on public rights of way. He has already met with some of our GroupFootpath Secretaries and will be speaking at our next Derbyshire Public Rights of WayCommittee.And FinallyDerbyshire Area News—Winter 2012/13Keith Shiers has obtained some interesting path maintenance statistics from DCC. Acomparison of the outstanding reported problems with the length of the path networkin each District shows that the Derbyshire Dales has the lowest number of reportedproblems per kilometre whilst South Derbyshire has the highest. In the Dales you canexpect to come across a known problem every 15 km compared with 1.5 km in SouthDerbyshire. For completion Amber Valley comes out at 10.5km and Erewash at7

Derbyshire Area News—Winter 2012/132.8km. I suspect that some of the variation is due to the different types of terrain andfarming across the districts; but the Dales also benefits from the work of the PeakPark Rangers on a lot of its paths.ACCESS OFFICER’S REPORTSue WeatherleyI have attended all the meetings of the Peak District Local Access Forum this yearand also meetings of the two sub-groups dealing with Access and Green Lanes. Offroadingin the National Park has been a permanent agenda item and has been thesubject of much discussion. Management plans for the third batch of high priorityroutes are being preparedLast year the Peak District National Park reviewed its policy on off-roading. This resultedin funding for extra staffing to tackle the issue over the next two years. Consultationsabout the introduction of Traffic Regulation Orders on 4 routes have been instigated.The routes involved are Long Causeway, The Roych, Chertpit Lane and theBrushfield/Upperdale Track.The Access Sub Group of the LAF has met to discuss various matters including possiblenew access points, the review of any restrictions to CROW Access Land andalso we have commented on the changes to the management of the Peak DistrictEstates. In the spring a meeting of this group agreed a ‘wish list’ of ideas for enhancedaccess to Access Land. It is progress that these ideas are recorded but thereality of the present financial situation means that we can expect little progress in thenear future; however having these recorded allows any opportunity that arises to beutilised.During the year it has been agreed that The Staffordshire Wildlife Trust will take overfuture management of the Roaches Estate.I continue to act as a LAF observer on the committee of the Peak District GreenLanes Alliance. Full details of this organisation can be found on: www.pdgla.org.ukGROUP REPORTS**********************************************AMBER VALLEYGroup Committee:President and Footpath SecretaryVice PresidentChairmanVice Chairman and Membership SecretarySecretaryTreasurerAssistant Footpath Secretary8John MorrisseyDick HallGerry WhiteKeith HowkinsChristine LevasseurMike HuftonMichael Poyser

Derbyshire Area News—Winter 2012/13WebmasterAway Weekends OrganiserWalks Co-ordinatorProgramme PublisherSocial SecretaryCommittee MemberDavid DavidsonSue GlitheroJohn ToplissMartin PhillipsPeter SwannKen LaneDuring the year slight changes occurred to these responsibilities and thesewill be formalised in the forthcoming year.The committee met on 3 occasions in 2011/12 and were represented at Area Meetingson the Group’s behalf. Mike Hufton is now the Area Treasurer but retains hisposition with Amber Valley and Gerry White has agreed to chair Area meetings until asubstantive appointment is made to that post.We were again involved with the Amber Valley and Erewash Autumn Footprints programme(organised by Groundwork Derby and Derbyshire) with Gerry White andDavid Davison meetings to help mount the festival. This year was its 10th runningand we increased our involvement by leading 4 well attended walks. If anyone wantsto lead walks next year, assuming the programme goes ahead again, please let usknow. Attendance at meetings is not required.Our own walks programmes have been issued as customary, twice in the year. Aperceptible change in attendance has occurred. Whilst we have averaged about 15people per walk on Sundays, the shorter Wednesday walks (4 hours duration) regularlyexceeds this, whilst the Friday outings—of about 4 miles—have been a real success.Interestingly these midweek walks are advertised only via the website and wordof mouth because of their informality, not on the printed programme. We thank allthose who have led walks throughout the year and would love to see others comingforward as leaders of walks of any length.Martin Phillips has stepped in to handle the production of the programme and liaisonwith the printer for which we are very grateful as the walking programme is our staplediet throughout the year.The popularity of the Amber Valley website increases and seems more interestingnow that it is being used by members for articles and the passing of information andannouncements. It is there for utilisation by any member, please contact David Davidsonif you wish to make use of it.We enjoyed 5 Friday winter evening presentations at the Strutts Community Centreand encourage anyone who wants to share their walking or holiday experiences withus to come forward. Peter Swann has now taken over arranging these and can becontacted for more information.Our Annual Dinner was held this year at Alison House, Cromford (arranged by DickHall), but the traditional Midsummer Buffet had to be cancelled because of lack ofinterest. We are currently reviewing whether to go ahead with a similar event in 2013.Away weekends continue as a key feature in our activities and we have had im-9

Derbyshire Area News—Winter 2012/13mensely enjoyable visits to Mallamdale, Lorton Vale, Cumbria and Whitby this year,the latter saturated with autumn sunshine. Thanks to Sue Glithero for her energy inorganising these which were enhanced by good food and interesting walking routes ofvarious lengths.Extra curricular trekking activities have included the Offas Dyke, the French Auvergneand the Swiss Alps. More details of these are on the Amber Valley website under“recent articles”.Gerry White, ChairmanDERBY & SOUTH DERBYSHIREWALKING: Attendance for all our programme walks continues to hold up. In particularour new short walks on alternate Sunday mornings in and around South Derbyshirehave been a tremendous success, with numbers ranging from around 9 to 31. Thewalks are attracting a mix of new walkers plus some old faces who have ‘down-sized’and what’s particularly nice – there’s often a mix of ages. Also, they have a later startof 11.00 am to fit in with using public transport. So many thanks to the organisers,leaders and four legged friends (you know who you are!).We were pleased to see RA President Kate Ashbrook and so many members andfriends turn out for the memorial walk for Keith Walkerdine and Arthur Osborne in August.FOOTPATHS UPDATEOur Practical Footpath workers continue to clip, strim and report problems.BVPI,'Ease of Use' Survey for DCC May 2012 -9 of FP Wardens surveyed 28 paths in S.Derbys. 20 passed. Because the paths areselected randomly the results between one survey and another are rather erratic.Hartshorne FP24 – Proposed Diversion of Path currently goes through what usedto be a farmyard but is now an abattoir. I have accepted the diversion, as proposed.Foston & Scropton Diversion proposal -This appears to be a retrospective diversion.Isuggested a variation on the proposal to avoid a very muddy area where a stilecoincides with the entry/exit for cattle from the farmyard.Dalbury Lees FP26 – It looks as if this long running controversial Proposed Diversionis being finally sorted out. The latest Proposal is for the path to go along the northernside of the Village Hall car park. The rest of this path to remain as it is.Proposed Stopping up of Marston Lane (part), Hatton – Nestle have submitted aPlanning Application (9/2012/0630) to expand their factory at Hatton.David Varley, Footpath SecretaryFinally, a slightly negative observation is that membership is falling slightly so we aremaking more effort to raise our profile and encourage people to join.Kate Lee, Chair10

Derbyshire Area News—Winter 2012/13DERBYSHIRE DALESThe main items of concern are the fact that Geof Cole is resigning as our FootpathsSecretary and John Riddall (at age 86) feels he ought to give up as our CountrysideSecretary. Whilst John has done a superb job and has hassled the local council formany years, Geof’s job (extremely well done by Geof) definitely needs someone tocarry on the good work. At present we do not have any replacements so maybe aplea in the Area News might raise some interest. Our AGM is on Friday 16th Novemberat the Imperial Rooms, Matlock. Membership is steady at 600+ and we are averaging8-9 walks per week. The summer walks/meals were reinstated—one on a verysunny evening, the other a very wet night! Friday night social evenings continuethanks to the hard work of my good wife, Pat.NOTE, the good news is that Geof is prepared to continue as Area Footpath Secretary,but we are still desperate for replacements for both Group positions.Nick Stephens, ChairmanEREWASHOur annual report was presented at our AGM on 17 th October 2012. There have beenchanges to the committee with the retirement of long serving members Beryl Whartonand Joyce Mold, our Social Secretary of 20 years plus and our thanks to them bothfor their distinguished service to the Group. Joyce will remain on the committee whilstMargaret Chapman has taken on Social Secretary and Reg Murray has joined thecommittee. Brian Bennett joined the committee earlier in the year and taken on thetask of Countryside Secretary for the Group. He has diligently vetted all matters relatingto planning applications which has helped reduce the workload of the FootpathSecretary. Hilda Wright continues to control our finances admirably.Walks Programme: Our normal programme has been maintained offering walks onalternate Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays. Attendance has been rather variable. Inthe first half of the year we were seeing up to fifty people on Monday and Thursdaywalks but have decreased to an average of 25 whilst Sunday walks have an averageof about 15. The Short Walks programme has had mixed fortunes with some slackeningof interest. At the AGM, the Group agreed to continue a short walks programmeover the winter at reduced frequency. There were a number of evening walks thatproved popular but a trial afternoon walk was not. We included walks in the “Festivalof Winter Walks”, led walks at the “Area Get Together” and provided three led walksfor the Amber Valley and Erewash Autumn Footprints walking festival.Membership: Although membership is down by 9 on this time last year at 231 wehave, in fact, recruited 33 new members during this period. Thanks to Dorothy Dentfor her enthusiasm in chasing up membership.11

Derbyshire Area News—Winter 2012/13Publicity: We have had good press coverage this year thanks to Sandie Joneswhich has included reports on the work of the volunteers and the success of theshort walk programme. We also attended a number of festivals with our display standand participated in local Xmas Tree and Scarecrow festivals. Thanks too to our Webmaster,Tony Beardsley, who keeps the outside world informed of our ventures.Footpaths: We have received 8 statutory notices and reported13 footpath problemsthis year and have supported the Ilkeston Local Historical Society in pursuit of reopeningan ancient path. Assisting with DCC “Ease of Use” surveys, a total of 49paths were surveyed of which 2 failed. Two Erewash leaflet walks were also surveyedas part of our partnership with the Erewash Footpaths and Bridleways Initiative(FBI) local user group forum. Thanks also to member volunteers who have taken“ownership” of the Erewash section of The Centenary Way survey and to our 6 FootpathWardens who monitor local footpaths.Social: Our Social programme continues to be successful and it is pleasing that somany members continue to support and enjoy them. We have enjoyed a variety ofthemes this year; thanks to our tireless Social Secretary, Joyce Mold and helpers forthe smooth running and to Tony Beardsley for doing the bookings.We enjoyed our usual two weekends away this year and have recently returned fromour latest, walking the Mendips. The weather was balmy, the walks were excellentand views superb. Together with good company, food and wine what more could onewish for.Our day trip in June returned to the old favourite spot of Holmfirth though the weathermade for two challenging walks.Volunteers: The Volunteers have been very active this year. They have been involvedin a variety of tasks from undergrowth clearing and sapling planting to erectingway mark posts and wicket gates. The work has been done in association withthe Ranger Service.Our members have again been honoured by visits from the Erewash Mayor; JaneMarshall during her usual Tea and Cake charity fund raising event that coincides withone of the Autumn Footprints Walking Festival walks and Tony Beardsley had a similarcall following his involvement and effort in route planning the Mayor’s Marathonthat is part of the Mayor’s charity fund raising events.Keith Shiers, Chairman12

AREA SECRETARYArea eventsI hope you have enjoyed some good walks during this past summer. The main Areaevents have been the launch event in August for the Arthur Osborne and Keith WalkerdineMemorial Walk (see separate article) and the Area Get Together at the end ofOctober - this article was written before the latter had taken place. We have startedour planning for the Area AGM in January (see notice elsewhere) and we are verypleased that our guest speaker will be the Ramblers Chief Executive - BenedictSouthworth.General CouncilOur delegates to the 2012 Ramblers' General Council were Geof Cole and MikeHufton. Motions passed at the Council included:- support for Area and Group involvement in maintaining ROWs;- opposition to the Ramblers' partnership with BUPA;- continuing concern about the Ramblers choice of partnership with HF Holidays ratherthan Ramblers Holidays;- working with the Canal and River Trust to maintain and improve towpaths and accessto towpaths; and- making increased efforts to recruit to the Ramblers walkers who support the Ramblers'aims but who prefer to walk independently.I have been pushing for the last of these for some years as there must be many suchwalkers, and those that are members make a valuable contribution to the Ramblersboth through paying their subscriptions and, in some cases, working hard on Ramblers'campaigning activities.Other national newsDerbyshire Area News—Winter 2012/13- Ramblers are concerned about Natural England's National Trails Review, whichproposes management of trails by partnerships. This could lead to varying and deterioratingstandards, including loss of National Trail Officer posts. A petition expressingconcerns about the proposals can be found via the Ramblers' website.- Benedict Southworth has written a report giving his views on the organisation of theRamblers which could lead to some beneficial changes.- Ramblers has made a detailed response to DEFRA's consultation on ROWs.15

- Ramblers has published statistics on cuts to Council's ROW funding, showing that70% of Councils have cut their ROW budgets over the past 3 years, with 11% cuttingby more than 50%.- Ramblers' walking festivals dates: Festival of Winter Walks 22/12/12 - 6/1/13, andGet Walking Week 4/5/13 - 11/5/13.- Ramblers has produced a new booklet "The Heart of Walking" for use in promotingthe Association.I hope these news items give you confidence that the Ramblers remains active incampaigning on matters of importance to walkers.Work partiesErewash Group already has a team that are carrying out path maintenance tasks, andAmber Valley Group are setting up a similar team. The County Council is keen toencourage and support volunteers for maintenance work and they have appointed aVolunteers' Co-ordinator, Steve Cresswell. If you may be able take part in pathmaintenance work, even if only for a day or two per year, would you please contactKeith Shiers if you are in Erewash Group, John Morrissey if you are in Amber ValleyGroup, Chris Vaughan if you are in Derby & South Derbyshire Group or myself if youare in Derbyshire Dales Group. It would be useful to know whether you would beavailable for weekday work parties as well as at weekends.Officer vacanciesBy the time you read this newsletter, most of our Group AGMs will have taken place.I make my usual plea for members to consider whether they might be able to fill vacancieson Area Council or Group Committees. The more that tasks can be sharedbetween Council members and between Committee members, the more we canachieve and the less risk there is of incumbents finding their roles too demanding. AtArea Council we have been lacking a Chair, Countryside Secretary and Publicity Secretary.If you may be able to consider taking on any of these roles (or my role as Secretarywhich could enable me to move on to another role), please let me know.Thank you again for your continuing support of the Ramblers.Martin PapeArea Access OfficerAdventures in Access LandDerbyshire Area News—Winter 2012/13I have been doing some walking in the Wetton Mill area recently and exploring theaccess land round there. Ecton Hill and Wetton Hill are the obvious targets and the16

Derbyshire Area News—Winter 2012/13summits of both these hills can easily be reached from the footpaths that skirt theslopes.The summit of Ecton Hill is a complex area with an interesting history of mining andthere are traces of this seen all over the hill summit and slopes. There is good accessto the summit from all directions and additional access maps at GR 103575 and100582. Also there is a concession path up from Ecton which takes a better line thanthe zigzag route up the steep hillside. This path starts at GR 097584 and takes a gentleascending line round the hill side to join other paths by some of the old mine workingsat GR 099585.The best route over the access land south of Ecton Hill and on the east side of theManifold valley is to start at GR 096576 and follow the edge of the access land alongto GR 095565 where the track into the valley between Dale Farm and Sugarloaf canbe followed down to join the footpath at GR 097566.From this point you can see Sugarloaf ahead. Follow the valley up towards this andthen go right to the corner of a fence. There is a stile here, at GR 098567, which isquite well hidden by bushes. Once over the stile you can follow round the base ofSugarloaf and then climb up the hillside to the south east. The ridge at the top of theslope gives good views of the Manifold Valley and lovely flowers in the summer andyou can follow it along towards Wetton Mill. You can join the footpath from ManorHouse by descending south eastwards, it is a lovely little ridge but if you go too fardown there are some thick bushes to get round.Wetton Hill has two summits, the highest tops out at 371m and can easily be reachedby the paths that surround the hill. The other summit reaches 358m and there is anaccess point at GR107563, once reached there are lovely views if you descend to thetop of the steep slopes above the Manifold valley. To drop back down to Wetton Mill itis best to skirt the steepest slopes and join the path down from Manor House. If youlook carefully at the map you will see there is a steep valley which drops down to theroad at GR 099556. You can reach the bottom of this from the path which joins theroad a 100m or so to the west at GR 098556. It is a steep climb up through the valleyand might almost be described as a scramble, you will need to use hands as well asfeet at least once, however for the intrepid explorer it gives an interesting ascent,good views from the top and in the summer some lovely limestone flowers.Sue Weatherley Area Access Officer17

KEITH WALKERDINE, Derbyshire 1937 Area -2011 News—Winter 2012/13NEWS ROUNDUPTony Beardsley unveiling the MemorialPlaque to Mike JoblingErewash memorial PlaqueErewash Ramblers unveiled a MemorialPlaque to Mike Jobling, one of their foundermembers who died earlier in the year. TonyBeardsley, another founder member, performedthe honour. The plaque is fixed to agate with the kind permission of Mr Peacock,landowner, in an area of Erewash wellloved and walked by Mike.Tony has had a busy year because not onlyis he the Group’s Secretary, ProgrammeSecretary and Webmaster but he also deviseda route for the Erewash Mayor’s MarathonWalk that she has used as part of herCharity fund raising year. The walk tookplace on Saturday 6th October and membersof the Group joined in at various stagesof the walk.Ramblers Routes DatabaseAmber Valley’s David Davidson was “volunteered” to become a ‘checker’ for the nationalRamblers Routes database. They have contributed to the first walk given tothem which has now been published.Area Get TogetherWell the weather stayed fine, most of the day anyway, for an amazing gathering of 72members to enjoy a selection of 5, 7, 9.5 or 13 mile walks from Calke Abbey. Thearea is a treasure trove of walks and no one was disappointed in the choices providedby D&SD Group. The colours in the trees were magnificent and I, for one, admit toreverting to childish behaviour in running through the leaves; I shall not mention negotiatingthrough the mud though! There was local history and adventure in walkingthrough the tunnels, more so if one had forgotten a torch, and some stunning viewseven in this most southerly point of the county. It all came together at lunch when allthe walking groups met together at Ticknall Village Hall to reacquaint with old friends,meet new ones and enjoy the tea and home baking with a superb backdrop of a slideshow of D&SD pictures.Another lovely day, good company and a huge thank you to Derby & South DerbyshireGroup for organising it; the helpers for baking, tea making and clearing up andthe walk leaders. See everyone next year—don’t miss it.18

Derbyshire Area News—Winter 2012/13Launch event for The Arthur Osborne and Keith Walkerdine Memorial WalkYou should all have received a copy of the leaflet that we have produced that describesa walk in memory of two stalwarts of our Ramblers Area - Arthur Osborne andKeith Walkerdine. The walk runs for 6 miles from Derby Cathedral to MarkeatonPark, Allestree Park and Duffield. The launch event for the walk was on 5th Augustand was well attended by about 50 members and visitors. We were very pleased thatour national President of the Ramblers, Kate Ashbrook, our Area President, JohnBeadle, our Area Vice Presidents Joy Osborne and Tony Beardsley, and severalmembers of both Arthur's and Keith's families were able to be with us.The event started with a couple of brief speeches by Kate and John who both paidtribute to the huge contributions made by Arthur and Keith to the development of theRamblers Association in Derbyshire. Most of us then walked the route, ably guidedby Petra Hedges, enjoying good company and the variety of scenery that the walkfeatures, from city centre to suburbs and parkland and, eventually, attractive countryside.19

Derbyshire Area News—Winter 2012/13Thanks to Kate Lee's efforts, and withcontributions from Sandie Jones, SheilaDavis and myself, there was an almostfull page article in the Derby Telegraphon the Friday before the launch eventwhich gave good publicity to the Ramblerslocally and to the Memorial Walk.The theme that the Telegraph's reporterwas determined to develop was that theRamblers are not only about hikes onwindswept hillsides but we are alsohoping to encourage new walkers byorganising walks in urban areas and on the urban fringe.There was one very muddy patch on the walk, on the approach to a small bridge overa ditch near Burleywood Farm between Bunker Hill and Duffield. I have spoken to theCounty Council's Rights of Way Officer about this and he assured me that work toimprove the drainage in this area should be completed later this year.Thanks again to Petra for leading the walk, to Kate Lee for arranging the publicity, toKate Ashbrook for travelling up to Derbyshire and showing that Ramblers at nationallevel want to keep in touch with what is happening at area and group levels, and to allthose who came to the launch event.Martin PapeADVERTISING RATESThe ‘Derbyshire Area News’ is published twice yearly and circulated at the end of May andNovember to its 1500 members and other associated organisations within the area. If you wouldlike to advertise our rates are very competitive:Colour Advertisements - back page, inside outer cover only.Full page (18.5cm high x 12.3cm wide) £60Half page (12.3cm wide x 8.5cm high) £35Black and White AdvertisementsFull page (18.5cm high x 12.3cm wide) £45Half page (12.3cm wide x 8.5cm high) £25Quarter page ((6.15cm high x 12.3cm wide) £15Please contact Keith Shiers on 01332 665902 for further information or email your own materialto kashiers@tiscali.co.uk.20

Derbyshire Area News—Winter 2012/13Family RamblesDot Morson (D&SD Group)A Family opportunity—Permissive paths on Calke Abbey Estate.Two new permissive paths have been completed on the estate over recent weeks. Ihave offered two short walks which gives the opportunity to use them. The first is suitablefor all-terrain buggies or pushchairs and maybe wheelchairs or mobility scootersif they are sturdy with good wheels. A torch would be useful when walking through thetunnels. The second has 3 gap stiles that could be awkward for pushchairs.Route 1; Easy access to the Limeyards.Allow an hour.Park in Ticknall village and take High Street (B5006) south towards Ashby. The surfacedpath is reached beyond the village past some metal railings. Turn left to reachthe Ticknall Tramway by a field gate. Turn left and follow it through two tunnels intothe limeyards. You can view a limekiln from the second metal bridge. Retrace theroute, to avoid stiles, having explored the area. The path can be muddy after rain.Route 2; A circular walk via Dimminsdale Nature Reserve.Allow an hour. Note: there is a car park entry charge for non-members.Park at the mansion. Walk along the exit road to pass the church; over the cattle gridand on to the junction. Turn right, then left at the next junction (signposted Melbourne).* Continue downhill to the entrance to Dimminsdale Nature Reserve on theright. Follow the path down two sets of steps by overgrown limekilns. Turn right ontothe old Tramway. Turn right at a gap stile at the foot of more steps. (To visit theswathes of snowdrops in spring continue ahead over the brook and up steps. Retraceroute to gap stile). Use the gravel track that leads to the road through another gap.Cross over to meet another surfaced path through the gap stile. Turn right for 20 metresthen bear left. Walk along the path veering right along a hedgerow, uphill throughtwo gates and into the park at a third gate in the stone wall. Take the grassy trackstraight ahead; under power cables and on to the shallow valley with the deer shelterin the woodland up on the right. Soon you will see the mansion house turn left on theroad back to the car park.This walk can be accessed from the car park at the southern end of Staunton HaroldReservoir. Walk downhill to cross the end of the reservoir then turn left into Dimminsdaleand follow the route from *. Remember to turn right when facing the mansion tofollow the route back to the car park at the southern end of Staunton Harold Reservoir.21

Derbyshire Area News—Winter 2012/13John King - Derbyshire Dales GroupFollowing on from the informative article by Sue Weatherley in the Summer AreaNews which reminded readers of the delightful hills in the Upper Dove valley it is evidentthat very few ramblers are exploring the tracts of land that have become accessiblesince implementation of the CROW Act. This is probably due to the fact that althoughdefined by perimeter boundaries on Explorer maps the access points and bestroutes are not commonly known. In this connection I have devised the following twocircular walks in order to encourage greater usage of eight of these hills, all of whichprovide superb views over the surrounding countryside. The narratives give detailedreference points and route directions for the uncharted areas to supplement the publicfootpath information shown on the White Peak map.Hartington – Longnor CircularFurther Adventures in Access LandThis walk of about 11 miles enhances the popular Manifold and Dove valley round byproviding an alternative high level return leg with far reaching views throughout. FromHartington village duck pond proceed via public footpaths past the former cheese factoryand over the westerly ridge to Sheen. Cross the road and take the most directpath to Brund to pick up the Manifold riverside path directly to Longnor. From Longnormarket place walk up Queen Street and continue straight ahead to the walled trackwhich climbs initially to a field before descending steeply past the sewage works toBeggars Bridge. Go straight on up Green Lane (ignoring the path to the right which isthe start of the low level Dove valley route back to Hartington). At the junction ofGreen Lane and the Crowdicote-Earl Sterndale road turn left for a short distance tothe access point to High Wheeldon on the right at GR09746611. The access waymarkon the stile points directly ahead up the steep slope which is a lung bursting route tothe summit. The easier way is to climb obliquely to the left initially towards Aldery Cliffto meet the lower slopes before turning right on to the gently ascending grassy ridgeto the Trig. Point. At 422 metres this gives a superb 360 degree panoramic view includingthe next section of access land in a south easterly direction which provides ahigh level continuous stretch all stiled for over two miles. From the Trig. Point descendSE to the stile at GR10086598 and continue just below the wall to the next stile atGR10256571. The path then crosses a small dip before heading slightly downhill towardsa small wood on the right. Proceed on a level course about 40 yards above thewood and when the houses at Crowdicote come into view head downhill slightly to theexit gate at GR10346516 which is on the upper curve of the sharp S bend on theCrowdicote-High Needham road. Walk up the road about 50 yards to the access gateon the right to begin the next section.Head SE just below the wall initially before following two waymark posts across a dipand broken down wall to a ladder stile at GR10906485. Follow the direction arrowstraight on SE and below the ridge on a faint path through rough grassland. At thesmall rocky outcrop in front take the path up to the left to the upper wall boundary andcontinue ahead ESE initially to follow a more distinct path line going up the forwardbank and beyond. When high above Pilsbury Castle climb up more steeply towards22

Derbyshire Area News—Winter 2012/13the upper boundary fence to a ladder stile at GR11716411. This is easily missed if youare too far down the slope. Over this stile the views to the east open up for a shortdistance prior to continuing below the ridge through a broken down wall; after whichthe path becomes more pronounced with waymark posts leading to the roadside exitgate alongside a concrete dew pond at GR12406367. Cross the metalled road (on thebend below Pilsbury Lodge) and take the signed public footpath S to Carder Low andonwards to return to Hartington. If desired, the walk can be shortened by confiningthe outward leg to Harris Close and the Dove valley via Pilsbury hamlet, Crowdicoteand the footpath to the Green Lane junction mentioned previously.Hollinsclough Northern CircularThis relatively short walk of 8½ miles is nevertheless fairly strenuous as the summitsof six separate tracts of high level access land are visited. The preferred direction isanti-clockwise in order to tackle the steepest climbs first although it could be reversedif preferred.From Hollinsclough village take one of the paths leading to the southern slopes ofParkhouse Hill. Contour round the lower slopes and where the path bifurcates take theleft fork direct to Glutton Grange, ignoring the signs on the way pointing upwards toaccess land. Walk between the buildings at Glutton Grange to a track where straightahead there is a marked entry point to access land at GR08386712 leading to theunnamed hill with a tumulus as marked on the map. Although of modest height it is asteepish climb so swing to the right initially before ascending the ridge to the tumuluscircle of stones. Head SSE down to the access point on the col leading to ParkhouseHill which is ascended by going straight ahead up the grassy slope to a slight dip onthe ridge. Turn right and follow the ridge path to the highest rocky outcrop to admirethe view. With Chrome Hill ahead descend on the ridge path which initially is on theleft of the ridge before switching to the right hand side. Take extra care on this path –a walking pole is particularly helpful. On approaching the final pinnacle and just beforethe path swings back to the left side of the ridge it is better to drop down the grassynorthern bank to the field below instead of following the path line which falls quitesteeply on the other side. Walk to the metalled road and turn right for the access pointto ascend the grassy slopes of Chrome Hill and the summit at 425 metres. ContinueNW on the ridge and descend to a concessionary path which climbs past Tor Rock toa boundary wall above Stoop farm.At the 3 way fingerpost above Stoop farm turn right over the cattle grid then immediatelyleft on the metalled road in the direction of High Edge for about 500 yards to acattle grid where there is a signed stile at GR06176870. The access land of HighEdge is encircled by a superfluity of barbed wire fencing and hence access andegress is only possible at the stiles for the two public footpaths that cross the site.Looking ahead from the aforementioned stile High Edge has two separate summitseach having a distinctive concrete structure on top. These are well preserved WorldWar 2 pillboxes which were built in 1940 to counter enemy air attacks. Peak baggersmay wish to visit the southern pillbox first as this sits on a rocky promontory which at462 metres is the highest point of the walk. In this case walk from the stile alongsidethe adjacent wall and barbed wire fence to a small rocky outcrop directly ahead whichrises to the top of the wall. There is just enough room to manoeuvre round the end of23

Derbyshire Area News—Winter 2012/13the barbed wire to explore the pillbox and mound. Next proceed to the northern pillboxwhich sits on the site of a former cairn (yet still marked on the map) to obtain agrandstand view of High Edge Raceway and to Buxton and beyond. Head down theslope NW to the stile at GR05936925 to the right of the racetrack. Turn left on themetalled road and walk in front of the Raceway enclosure past the entrance gates anda cattle grid where there is a signed footpath at GR05556902.This path to the next hill runs SW initially alongside an untidy lime heap and fieldboundary wall over rough grassland before turning 45 degrees right at a marker postto reach a dip on the near horizon where there is a farm gate and ladder stile. Overthe stile this unnamed access land which is south of and contiguous with ThirkelowRocks has a small rocky peak with a marked spot height of 426 metres. The shortclimb to the summit gives another impressive all round view. Retrace your steps tothe ladder stile and drop down the fairly steep hillside SE to join the footpath fromThirkelow and head to Booth farm. Walk past the farm entrance and take the waymarkedbridleway towards Fough for about 50 yards to a marker post at GR05836798which is the start of the climb up left to the tumulus on Hollins Hill. Follow the waymarkedridge path on Hollins Hill which descends gradually before dropping down tore-join the footpath from Fough at GR06166703 to return to Hollinsclough.Another Pilgrim’s ProgressBarry Chapman (Erewash Group)Ten years ago, my friend Tony had walked the Camino de Santiago de Compostela –the pilgrimage across Northern Spain. This year he decided to do the walk again andasked me and another friend, Robin, to join him. Could I, aged 74, walk 800Km andbe away from home for 6 weeks. This would be quite a challenge – and what a challengeit proved to be.Being a member of Erewash Ramblers for many years and also walking with Tony, Ihave walked in many areas of the UK and climbed the odd hill or two on the Isle ofMull but this would be my first long distance walk.We flew from Stansted Airport along with many other pilgrims, carrying rucksacks onthe flight. On arrival at Biarritz, we then caught the train that took us to the prettyFrench border town of St. Jean Pied de Port, the start of our chosen route which wasthe Camino Frances. There are various routes to Santiago from different startingpoints. One could start in Canterbury or Paris or many other cities in Europe as manypilgrims do.We rested in St. Jean for two days before embarking on our journey which in the firstthree days took us over the Pyrenees and its magnificent scenery and down to Pamplona.Tony had warned me this would be the hardest part of the journey and so itproved to be. My rucksack felt like a ton weight instead of its actual 11 kilos. With myfeet and leg muscles in agony, I wondered what I had let myself in for. But I had givenmyself this challenge. There was no going back.24

Derbyshire Area News—Winter 2012/13Each night we slept in Municiple Albergues (hostels). These consisted of bunk beds,showers and drying facilities. You are only allowed to stay in these hostels if you arewalking, cycling or on a donkey. We would start walking at about 6 a.m. before it becametoo hot, with the temperature on some days reaching up to 38 degrees.We met many nationalities along the way, all doing the pilgrimage for many differentreasons. Martin, from Germany, was doing the walk for his son who had leukaemia.Kelly was leading a group of young people from a theological college in the U.S.A. Allthe people we met had their own challenges, even the old man on the donkey and theblind man cycling on the tandem; so many interesting people along the way. We wouldmeet up in village bars for breakfast and then after checking in at the next albergue wewould have the Perigrino Menu del Dia in a nearby restaurant and share each other’sstories.Day after day the scenery was changing; from the mountains and the flat lands offarms and vineyards interspersed with the cities of Logrono, Burgos and Leon withtheir amazing architecture. So, after 41 days, we arrived in Santiago and there receivedthe certificate to say we were officially Pilgrims of St. James. We went to thecathedral service for the blessing and to see the casket where the bones of St. Jamesare encased then on to celebrate with a pint or two in the square with the other pilgrims.We treated ourselves to a hotel for 3 nights and enjoyed this medieval city beforeflying home.We arrived back at Stansted with many blisters and aching limbs but overwhelmed bywhat we all had achieved. Such an experience. Such memories and stories to share.How many people can say they have had their feet bathed by a nun? I can.Detective Work in South DerbyshireBarry Thomas (D&SD Group)For the past two years I have been researching routes for a book of guided walks inSouth Derbyshire. The area south east of Burton on Trent is pleasant walking countryespecially around Walton on Trent and south of it all the way down to the Warwickshireborder. There are very few published routes in this area so I spent a lot of timestaring at the National Forest Explorer map trying to put routes together which lookedworthwhile by linking pretty villages and other places of interest.After looking at the map and investigating the area on the ground I realised that therewere practically no footpaths in the small rural parish of Catton which should be splendidwalking country. Catton is south of Walton-on-Trent and dominated today by CattonHall, a grand 18 th century country house (though on a much older site). Poringover 19th century OS map I found that there were several paths in the parish includingone from Catton to Walton along the Trent. However, by the mid 20th century they hadgone; a trip to the Derbyshire Records Office at Matlock was therefore in order.Tracking down the information required was difficult especially since a mass of paperworkhad been transferred from the Rights of Way department at Derbyshire County25

Derbyshire Area News—Winter 2011/12 2012/13Council to the archives and has not been catalogued yet. I was looking for the recordsassociated with the 1949 National Parks and Access to Countryside Act. TheMatlock office has a folder for each Derbyshire parish containing correspondence andnotes about footpaths from the early 1950s until the 1980s. There are also copies ofthe maps used by parish councils in 1950 to map their paths and the survey forms foreach footpath. The only information I have not been able to find are the records of theappeals meetings in which landowners, ramblers and others involved could raise objectionsto the routes added to the draft Definitive Map.The details in the Catton folder were sparse but I was not surprised to see that the1949 survey paperwork had been filled in by the owner of Catton Hall, George HenryAnson, who was chairman of the parish meeting. This element was a weakness ofthe 1949 Act as the returns for local paths was usually carried out by the parish councilwhich in the post war period continued to be dominated by local landowners whowere usually not keen to see footpaths going across their land. And so this was thecase in Catton where three tiny footpaths were added (one more was added later bythe local surveyor) on the margin of the parish and none of them went anywhere nearthe attractive areas of the estate and house.I have found that owners of landed estates often describe footpaths close to theirproperties as “workmen’s routes” which had never been walked by any members ofthe public. I have come across this in other areas of the East Midlands including IsleyWaklton and Buckminster in Leicestershire where the lords of the manor had tried toremove as many paths as they could from the map with a host of other excuses includingcalling them “hunting roads”. Further problems were caused when the parishcouncils sent their returns in the early 1950s to the County Councils which were dominatedor heavily influenced by the landed gentry. In Derbyshire these included theDuke of Devonshire (Chatsworth) and in Leicestershire, the Duke of Rutland; bothhostile at the time to walkers.In the Catton folder of correspondence there were two intriguing letters (written in1966) involving a footpath that ran south of Catton to the Warwickshire border andbeyond. The footpath was named after a 17th century poet who frequently stayed inthe area; it was known as Dryden’s Walk. The author of the letters wanted the Walkto be added to the Definitive Map and pointed out that the route was on a series ofOrdnance Survey maps even up until the 1950s.The author of the letters requested that contact be made with the County Archivist,whether this happened or not I cannot establish but a note on one of the lettersstates, “not on definitive, not claimed by parish, no reps (?)”. There is a further note inthe correspondence stating that the matter be left “for a rainy day” as they had other,more pressing things to deal with. The County Council surveyors department obviouslydid some work on the issue as there are further notes about the OS mapswhere this route was recorded. However, nothing came of the request and Dryden’sWalk was never added to the Definitive Map. Parts of it still seem to exist today andmention is made of it in several history books but certainly at the Catton end all signsof it have gone.Who was the writer of the letters to the County Council? Initially I was stumped asthey were sent from a location (perhaps a school) in Birmingham which no longer26

Derbyshire Area News—Winter 2012/13exists. The surname was unusual so I resorted to Google and found that the authorwas still active over footpath matters in the mid 2000s in, forty years later, the Coventryarea as a member of the Local Area Forum.You can imagine my surprise to discover that the author was OSS Local CorrespondentM. (Lionel) Menzler who is still active, I believe.Who knows, we might one day get part of Dryden’s Walk on the map!Trial Bikes and 4 x 4’s— an experience in Reporting IncidentsIf you think that Trial Bikers and ‘4 x 4’ problems are the preserve of the Peak Districtthen think again! Recently, whilst out pre-walking one of Dot Morson’s walks for theArea Get Together around Stanton Woods, Ticknall, we were buzzed by a couple ofTrial Bikes that clearly had no regards to the safety or well being of other users. Aftera couple of passes I stood my ground and managed to halt one of the joy riders. Nowit is very difficult to hold a reasonable conversation with an individual who’s head appearsto be as thick as the helmet it is wearing and who persists in revving the motorbikewith some gusto. However, I finally managed to get the message across that Ithought that motorised vehicles were not allowed on the path and could it please drivewith some consideration on it’s return. There was some sort of garbled comment thatalluded to it being OK to ride the path and it sped off causing spray that made muckspreading seem tame.After a few days, when I was able to get round to doing ‘the office’ bits, out of courtesyI let Dot know that the route was OK but we had come across the ‘things’ on motorbikes in an area I thought they should not be. Dot immediately sent my report to DCCwho quickly responded that, no the motor bikes should not be on the path and thebest thing to do would be report it to the Police and obtain an Incident Number.I rang 101 to be told, not unreasonably, that it should have been reported at the timeof the incident—fine. However, they would record it but would not now be able to investigateit—understandable. I was then asked details of the incident. I related thestory and offered a grid reference to which came the reply that they needed a ROAD.I advised that, in South Derbyshire terms, we were in the middle of a forest in the middleof nowhere. After a bit of friendly banter we agreed on a ‘road‘ish’ location and Iwas rewarded with an incident number.Now, I have no problem with the reporting of the incident, the operator was polite anduseful in our exchanges, indeed she perhaps thought what an idiot I was but refrainedfrom reminding me. BUT. How does one relate their position in the middle of nowhereand why aren’t grid references universally accepted yet by all agency service call centres?Any comments will be most welcome.VIEWPOINT27

Derbyshire Area News—Winter 2012/13DEALING WITH DANGEROUS DOGSKate Lee-D&SD Chair - has sent in this useful information for if you are ever confrontedby a less than friendly dog. One hopes that it will never happen but being aware ofhow to react is helpful—after all, unless you are comfortable with dogs, would youknow how to react?A few weeks ago I was contacted by a walker who had been attacked by a farmer’sdog (an Alsatian) on a local footpath. His companion had the presence of mind to puthis map holder in the dog’s mouth as it came to bite, which it dutifully did. With theproliferation of aggressive-type dogs as pets and dog attacks on the increase, it setme thinking about the best way to behave if ever faced with an aggressive dog.Here’s advice I’ve sourced from veterinary surgeons and the RSPCA.If a dog runs towards you but is not barking or growling, it may just be checkingyou out and after a quick sniff to determine you are no threat may leave you alone.Stand still and let it sniff. Do not try to touch it, or make sudden movements, butspeak reassuringly. Keep standing still and it will lose interest and leave.If it is barking or growling, it considers you a threat and will be unlikely to leave.Study a dog's reaction to you. If it stiffens up, holds it tail high, snarls and stares atyou then be on your guard. If it shows its teeth it may be safest to go no further.Stop walking towards the dog. Stay calm (slow and deepen your breathing).Make no sudden movements: Stand still and put your hands in pockets becausethey like to get hold of something,Never run because the dog will always overtake you. Move away slowly anddon't make any sudden movements. Do not turn your back, stand sidewayslooking slightly away watching the dog out of the corner of your eye.Avoid eye contact because it is confrontational. Don't approach the dog.Speak in a friendly, confident manner re-assuring the dog you mean no harm,to lessen the dog’s fear. Do not yell or scream or try to shoo the dog away.Stay on your feet and do not corner yourself.If the dog attacks fend off rather than fight back, put something between youand the dog i.e. a coat, walking stick, rucksack, map holder!If a dog does bite you, do not pull away because that will tear the flesh, butshout for help. If you or someone else can, slide something strong betweenthe jaws. (A walking stick seems ideal).28

Derbyshire Area News—Winter 2012/13Warning: Monitor any children as they can accidentally provoke a dog.Never ever try to separate dogs having a fight because of the risk of accidental andserious injury.Finally, dog attacks are still quite rare.A MAP READING LESSONWhilst members of the family have been the butt of my past comments onthis subject I have to admit to being well and truly caught out myself recently—and deservedly so. Following publication of the last edition I received anemail from a good colleague, John Straw (YJ), who claimed the prize forspotting the deliberate mistake. Now YJ enjoys nothing better than to banter,especially with Bill, an old friend of his who holds the dubious privilege ofawarding prizes to winners of our Group’s various contests, normally an ancientKit-Kat that is long past its sell-by-date. Taken aback, I responded that,sadly, there was no prize involved to which came the reply that I should thencheck through the publication. Now, having spent some considerable time inputting the edition together and innumerable proof reads, I was in no mood togo over it all again and so ignored the comment. Silly me! Along came anotherresponse that questioned my geographical awareness of the replacement‘Longhorse Bridge’ that was featured in the edition.AH! Red faced me. The text said it establishes a link along the Midshires Wayover the River Derwent which, to any self respecting member of the ErewashGroup knows full well should have read TRENT.So there, I admit my failings and apologise but YJ still wont get a prize. However,one thought remains—can SATNAV’s proof read? Apple ipad4 also takenote.29

Derbyshire Area News—Winter 2012/13Many thanks to everyone who contributed to this edition of AreaNews and Annual Report. If you have a favourite walk, havecomment on any particular walking issues or snippets of newsyou wish to share then I would be pleased to hear from you. Articlescan be enhanced by photographs so please send those inas well.Which just leaves us now to wish all our members a HappyChristmas and Good Walking in the New YearOh!and don’t forget the AGMFinallyItems for the next Area News should reach me bySunday 21st April 2013 please.email: kashiers@tiscali.co.ukThe Ramblers’ Association is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales.Company Reg. No. 4458492. Registered Charity in England and Wales No. 1093577. Registeredoffice: 2nd Floor, Camelford House, 87-90 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TW30

AREA OFFICERSElected at 2011 AGMPresident : John Beadle CBEVie-Presidents: Joy Osborne andTony BeardsleyChairman and Publicity Secretary:VacantDerbyshire Area News—Winter 2012/13Secretary:Martin PapeStable Grange, Derby Road,Cromford, Matlock DE4 3RP Tel. 01629 820265email: sec@derbyshireramblers.org.ukMembership Secretary:Chris Vaughan (see under Derby and South Derbyshire)Treasurer:Mike Huftonemail: general@ambervalleyramblers.org.ukContactsGROUP CONTACTSAmber ValleySecretary:Christine Levasseur,4 Lathkill Lane, Merebrook Park, Whatstandwell,DE4 5NPEmail: groupsec@ambervalleyramblers.org.ukFootpaths Secretary:John Morrisey, 2 The Avenue, Belper DE56 1WB.Tel. 01773 825939Derby and South DerbyshireSecretary:Chris Vaughan, 3 Waterside Close, Darley Abbey,Derby DE22 1JTTel. 01332 558552email: sec@derbyramblers.org.ukFootpaths Secretary:David Varley, 27 Amber Road, Allestree, DerbyDE22 2QBTel. 01332 551552email: footpaths@derbyramblers.org.ukFootpaths Secretary:Geof Cole(see under Derbyshire Dales opposite)Countryside Secretary:VacantAccess Officer:Sue Weatherley, Leahurst, Grove Place, YoulgreaveDE45 1UUemail: iweatherley@tiscali.co.ukMinutes Secretary:Carol Shiers, 10 Hazel Drive, Spondon,Derby DE21 7DSTel. 01332 665902email: kashiers@tiscali.co.ukArea News Editor:Keith Shiers, 10 Hazel Drive, Spondon, DerbyDE21 7DSTel. 01332 665902email: kashiers@tiscali.co.ukDerbyshire DalesSecretary:Janet Keyne, 74 The Green Road, AshbourneDE6 1EETel. 01335 300340email: janetkeyne@googlemail.comFootpaths Secretary:Geof Cole,6 Buscot Drive, Ashbourne DE6 1JYTel. 01335 348336email: geof9241@yahoo.co.ukErewashSecretary:Tony Beardsley,14 York Avenue, Sandiacre, Nottingham NG10 5HBTel. 0115 917 0082email: aebbooks@ntlworld.comFootpaths Secretary:Keith Shiers, 10 Hazel Drive, Spondon, DerbyDE21 7DSTel. 01332 665902email: kashiers@tiscali.co.ukFamily GroupGreg Lunnemail: walk@derbyshirefamilyrambling.org.uk31