We had a good turn out for the New Year’s lunch at Aggies in Hurst Green in January – seems a long time ago now. Lindsay & her team did us proud with the food as usual & I think everyone had a good time. It was nice to be able to socialise with people again after the Covid layoff.
Meteorological spring has arrived – 1st March, for anyone who doesn’t know - & Astronomical spring is just around the corner (20th March) with the clocks going forward on the 26th. What I know is that the snowdrops are out & coming to an end, crocuses & daffodils are appearing all over the place, there’s cherry plum blossom along the roadsides (at least, I think that’s what it is) & it’s noticeably lighter in the mornings & evenings.
So, what’s been happening in ESW? I believe that we are starting to get a few more people on walks, which is fabulous news. Probably helped by the dry (if cold) weather that we’ve been having.
You will probably have seen in an NB that we are trialling a sort of joining up with Reigate Ramblers. As a member of the Ramblers, you are of course free to walk with any other Ramblers group anywhere in the country. The idea of this is for us to promote some of their walks & for them to do the same for some of ours. Principally on the days when the other group doesn’t have a walk in their programme. It’s early days, but it will be interesting to see how well this works. Please do take the opportunity to walk with Reigate (or another group) & welcome any Reigate (or other) Ramblers who come to walk with us. Not that I need to ask you to do this as making people feel welcome is something that, in my opinion, ESW is very good at.
Ken’s Krew
For those of you who are on Facebook (please follow the ESW page https://www.facebook.com/eastsurreywalkers & like/share with friends etc.) you will have seen that Ken’s Krew have replaced 3 stiles for kissing gates in the path that runs from next to Gays Cottages on Tandridge Lane across towards Stocks Farm. The first stile, by the road was OK, just a bit awkward. The second was a bit wobbly, the third hasn’t had a step for years, you had to get between the two horizontal poles & the fourth wasn’t marvellous either. Barbara & her team ran out of time to do the fourth one, but are due to be back to complete the job later in the month. They need a bit of assistance from the landowner/SCC as a new concrete sleeper (or two) need to be put in place too & that really needs a machine to lift/place the sleeper(s). Keep an eye on Facebook for updates.
Reporting problems with stiles/gates/overgrowth/fallen trees etc. For those that don’t know, there is an interactive map on the Surrey CC web site that enables you to make reports of path problems/defects - https://rightsofway.surreycc.gov.uk/StandardMap.aspx. Please do use this to report defects as SCC then know about them immediately. Feel free to also report to your local footpath secretary (there’s a list on the Surrey Area website members’ area) &/or to Barbara. You could also report to me or another member of the committee. If SCC ROW don’t know there’s a problem, they can’t arrange for it to be fixed!
The SCC ROW team have been sending out letters to landowners reminding them of their duty to maintain/repair stiles on their land. This would seem to have had an effect already as a stile that I had seen was broken on Tilburstow Hill Road was repaired over the weekend. We assume by the landowner/farmer, possibly as a result of the letter from the ROW team. This can only be a good thing, but it’s important we, the users, let the people responsible know of problems.
Walks Festival – ESW 40th anniversary
2023 sees ESW reaching the ripe old age of 40. We have a walks festival planned for the week 22nd to 29th April, with two/three walks each day, except for Thursday 27th, when we have a lunch booked at Bletchingley Golf Course – Please contact Helen McD if you would like to go to the lunch & haven’t yet booked (note to self – book lunch!) Nigel & Helen McD have worked hard at getting walk leaders to put on walks for this festival week & getting that part of the planner closed early. Thanks go to them & all the leaders that have volunteered to lead walks. Please do what you can to support them by turning up & walking! The last walk of the week is our annual walk with the London Blind Ramblers. As always on this walk, we are looking for people to help guide these visitors – also donations of cakes please.
Facebook
As mentioned earlier in this newsletter, please do follow/like the ESW Facebook page. Nikki is doing a great job posting things & getting the posts shared on other sites. We do need people to engage with it though, to generate more interest etc. – I see that one recent post has 46 shares! I’m sure Nikki will be pleased to see that. If you take some photos on a walk &/or have a story to tell about the walk – perhaps there was something a bit out of the ordinary that you saw, a bit of history that you learnt that you could share, please pass to Nikki – via the committee if you like. To quote Tesco, “Every little helps”!
Our next social event is the Walking Wounded Coffee Morning, 11am Thursday 23rd March at the Godstone Club & Institute, organised, as usual, by Sue Halsey. As reported in an NB last week, this is a new venue for the meet up, cakes & light lunches can be bought here. Sue will be delighted to hear from you so please email her at
On a personal note, I am a year post op this Friday & although not out walking with ESW I am now able to walk a bit further. Every week sees some improvement, although I am still a bit “two steps forward, one step back” with the progress. Just when I think I’ve got it licked, I discover that I’ve overdone it & have to have a rest day or two, but I’m getting there.
Happy walking. Hope to see you at the anniversary lunch
Kind regards
Deb Skinner Chairman East Surrey Walkers