Monthly Archives: September 2015

Faces and places behind the cases

Posted on 30/09/2015 by campaignerkate

I suspect that lawyers sometimes forget that there are people and places behind the legal cases they cite so enthusiastically. I was invited to speak at a seminar organised by Francis Taylor Building (FTB) Chambers a few weeks ago.  The seminar was … Continue reading →

Posted in campaigns, green spaces, Open Spaces Society, People, Public paths, town and village greens | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Golden Vanguards

Posted on 28/09/2015 by campaignerkate

This year is the fiftieth anniversary of the Vanguards, a distinguished group of walkers who invented the 66-mile Vanguard Way between Croydon and Newhaven, and thence to France.  To celebrate their anniversary they organised a walk of the way in seven … Continue reading →

Posted in Access, Coastal access, Ramblers, walking | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Wyche Way? This way!

Posted on 20/09/2015 by campaignerkate

Last Friday I cut the ribbon to launch the Wyche Way long-distance path during Kington’s four-day walking festival, and walked the first few miles. The 80-mile way runs between Kington, a Walkers Are Welcome town in Herefordshire, and Broadway Tower in Worcestershire; it can be … Continue reading →

Posted in Ramblers, Ramblers' president, Walkers Are Welcome Towns, walking | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Red-letter day on Wight

Posted on 17/09/2015 by campaignerkate

In August 2014 I stood with fellow campaigners by the notice which pronounced the closure of the Totland Bay to Colwell Bay coast path on the western side of the Isle of Wight.  We went through and scrambled up onto the … Continue reading →

Posted in Access, campaigns, Coastal access, Ramblers, Ramblers' president, walking | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Double standards at the BBC?

Posted on 15/09/2015 by campaignerkate

While I am happy that the BBC has defended the strong words of wildlife presenter Chris Packham in its BBC Wildlife Magazine, it seems that it has double standards. Chris Packham wrote in his regular column that conservation groups were ‘hamstrung … Continue reading →

Posted in campaigns, green spaces, Open Spaces Society | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Day five at Common Wood

Posted on 11/09/2015 by campaignerkate

Common Wood: part 6 Today the Dartmoor Preservation Association volunteers returned to my land at Common Wood on western Dartmoor for the fifth day of gorse and bramble bashing to create a habitat for butterflies. This was the first time the … Continue reading →

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Go for it Gillingham!

Posted on 08/09/2015 by campaignerkate

Last Saturday I had the delightful double duty of launching Gillingham as a Walkers Are Welcome Town—the first in Dorset—and opening its week-long walking festival. Gillingham achieved Walkers Are Welcome (WAW) status on 10 August.  This means that it has … Continue reading →

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Handing over

Posted on 04/09/2015 by campaignerkate

In July I stopped at the National School, Wincanton in Somerset, the old workplace of the late Rodney Legg.  Rodney was a writer and historian, expert in Dorset matters and former chairman of the Open Spaces Society.  His partner and executrix Di Hooley had been … Continue reading →

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Restful Otmoor

Posted on 02/09/2015 by campaignerkate

‘Thinking about your visit here today, what did you enjoy the most?’ asked the RSPB questionnaire in the Otmoor hide in Oxfordshire.  I could have said the bright kingfisher flying from its lakeside branch over the water and back to … Continue reading →

Posted in Birds, Natural history, RSPB | Tagged , , | 2 Comments