Monthly Archives: April 2015

The spine of our movement

Posted on 27/04/2015 by campaignerkate

The Pennine Way, which runs along the spine of England, is the spine of the ramblers’ movement. Yesterday I launched a new gate at the start of the Pennine Way in Edale, to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the route. … Continue reading →

Posted in Access, National parks, National trail, Natural England, Peak District, Ramblers, Ramblers' president, walking | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Solvitur ambulando*

Posted on 25/04/2015 by campaignerkate

This is the article which has just been published in the annual magazine produced by my school for its old girls (‘seniors), The Benenden Senior. ‘The content is good but you need to be more conversational.’  That was the verdict of … Continue reading →

Posted in Access, campaigns, Dartmoor, National parks, Open Spaces Society, Public paths, Ramblers | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Fifty-year milestones

Posted on 24/04/2015 by campaignerkate

Today, 24 April 2015, marks two fiftieth anniversaries.  On 24 April 1965, while the Pennine Way was being opened on Malham Moor, attended by Fred Willey, Minister of Land and Natural Resources, I (oblivious of this event) was heading to Hillbridge Farm … Continue reading →

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Tried and tested in Wales

Posted on 23/04/2015 by campaignerkate

Ramblers Cymru is part of the Ramblers’ family.  Its Welsh Council  consists of volunteers from all levels of the organisation in Wales and meets annually, electing officers and an executive committee, overseeing the work of Ramblers Cymru and passing motions. … Continue reading →

Posted in Access, campaigns, National parks, Natural Resources Wales, Ramblers, Wales | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Hawl i grwydro (freedom to roam)

Posted on 21/04/2015 by campaignerkate

I was in Oriel College, Oxford, last week and passed this portrait of college fellow James Bryce, by George Reid, on the stairs.  When he was MP for South Aberdeen, James Bryce promoted his Access to Mountains Bill (1884). Unfortunately, although … Continue reading →

Posted in Access, campaigns, Public paths, Wales | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Encounter with a drone

Posted on 20/04/2015 by campaignerkate

I rarely have cause to go to Cambridgeshire, perhaps because the effect of the inclosures means it has few commons.  So it was fortunate that when BBC Look East wanted to interview me at Wimpole Hall, near Cambridge, I could combine … Continue reading →

Posted in Access, common land, Open Spaces Society, Public paths, Ramblers | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Hilary Green, 27 September 1918—16 April 2015

Posted on 19/04/2015 by campaignerkate

I am glad that, finally, I visited Hilary Green in her lovely Wealden home last May. For now she has died (peacefully and compos mentis to the end) at the age of 96, and I should have been so sad never … Continue reading →

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What an earth is a ‘well-mannered dwelling’?

Posted on 14/04/2015 by campaignerkate

There is yet another application to convert Valentine Farm in the Skirmett valley into something inappropriate.  We have seen proposals for a stud farm, the horrible hippopolis of my earlier blog, rejected in 2012.  Now we have an application for a five-bedroomed, two-storey house.  It’s … Continue reading →

Posted in AONB, Bucks, Chilterns, Open Spaces Society, planning | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Cameron’s oxymoron

Posted on 11/04/2015 by campaignerkate

David Cameron’s latest election wheeze, to require employers of more than 250 staff to give employees three days’ ‘volunteering’ a year, is misleadingly described. In my world, if people are being paid they are not ‘volunteering’.  The point of volunteering … Continue reading →

Posted in Public paths, Ramblers | Tagged , , | 11 Comments

Free spirit

Posted on 09/04/2015 by campaignerkate

At about this time of year I start clearing out the flower-beds to make way for spring.  And what I find is a host of green shoots which I never planted.  They remind me of my dear friend Rozel Lawlor, … Continue reading →

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