Monthly Archives: September 2012

Freely available for use by all

Posted on 30/09/2012 by campaignerkate

‘What do we do if a pub wants to use part of our common for its tables and chairs?’ This was a question from a parish council, posed at a training day which Nicola Hodgson, my colleague at the Open Spaces Society, … Continue reading →

Posted in Access, Bucks, common land, common rights, Open Spaces Society | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Bucks golf club can’t pass the buck

Posted on 29/09/2012 by campaignerkate

Buckinghamshire Golf Club at Denham appears to be surprisingly ignorant of the law of public rights of way. This is surprising because (a) it surely employs a good firm of lawyers, and (b) a number of public footpaths across the … Continue reading →

Posted in Access, Bucks, Public paths, walking | Tagged , , , | 16 Comments

Heathcliff’s rage

Posted on 17/09/2012 by campaignerkate

Fay Godwin’s brooding photo of Top Withens on the Brontë Moors in west Yorkshire arrested my attention on the underground. It was the poster for the exhibition Writing Britain at the British Library, and it reminded me of the 1980s and our … Continue reading →

Posted in Access, common land, National trail, Open country, Ramblers, Uncategorized, walking | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Commons Day at Moorend

Posted on 16/09/2012 by campaignerkate

The Chilterns Conservation Board Commons Project holds an annual Commons Day, a get-together for all the Chiltern communities with common land (there are 191 registered commons in the Chilterns).  This year it was held on Moorend Common at Frieth in Bucks. The … Continue reading →

Posted in AONB, Bucks, common land, Natural England, Uncategorized, Woods and forests | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Autumn robin

Posted on 13/09/2012 by campaignerkate

Last weekend I gardened to the accompaniment of the autumn song of the robin; he (or she, both sexes sing) was proclaiming from the rooftops and the tops of bushes.  It was the falling song which marks the falling of the year, punctuated … Continue reading →

Posted in Birds, Dartmoor, Turville | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Common ground not battleground

Posted on 11/09/2012 by campaignerkate

This ‘On the Agenda’ article appeared on Headline Environment‘s website on 11 September. Commons are unique and precious places to be treasured by all, says Kate Ashbrook of the Open Spaces Society as she welcomes the publication of a revised … Continue reading →

Posted in common land, common rights, Defra, Foundation for Common land, Natural England, Open Spaces Society, RSPB, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Walking with your MP

Posted on 07/09/2012 by campaignerkate

On 8 August I joined Iain Stewart, MP for Milton Keynes South, and the Milton Keynes Group of the Ramblers for an evening stroll through Charle Wood and along the Greensand Way, near Woburn.  The four-mile walk was in fact in Bedfordshire, … Continue reading →

Posted in Access, Coastal access, Milton Keynes, Public paths, Ramblers, Ramblers' president, walking, Woods and forests | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Man in a van overran

Posted on 06/09/2012 by campaignerkate

My walk to work through Henley-on-Thames takes me across Kings Road, quite a busy road at the back of the town. There is a useful pedestrian crossing. Today, as I was using the crossing I saw a white van approaching … Continue reading →

Posted in Ramblers, Uncategorized, walking | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments