Monthly Archives: November 2015

Parallel and tandem are different

Posted on 30/11/2015 by campaignerkate

Last week I wrote to The Observer‘s Readers’ Editor: ‘I was concerned to see that in The Observer leader ‘Questions the PM must answer before we act’ (22 November, page 44) you have twice used ‘in tandem’ when you mean … Continue reading →

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Military charade

Posted on 25/11/2015 by campaignerkate

These anniversaries make me feel old!  Forty years ago today, 25 November 1975, the Sharp Inquiry into military training on Dartmoor opened in Exeter. I was still at university and skipped some lectures to take part—because what better training could I … Continue reading →

Posted in Access, Dartmoor, National parks, wild country | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

‘To venge the common right’

Posted on 23/11/2015 by campaignerkate

On the night of 6 March 1866, 120 navvies marched from Tring Station to Berkhamsted Common in Hertfordshire to fell the unlawful fencing erected by the landowner Lord Brownlow.  To celebrate the 150th anniversary of this event the National Trust … Continue reading →

Posted in Access, campaigns, common land, common rights, commons, National Trust, Open Spaces Society | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Cambrian Mountains: unfinished business

Posted on 16/11/2015 by campaignerkate

With the government’s welcome announcement last month that the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales National Parks are to be extended, another chapter in the long history of our protected landscapes closes.  But the vision of Arthur Hobhouse in 1947 has still … Continue reading →

Posted in AONB, campaigns, Natural Resources Wales, Wales | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Pathwatch at Chillaton

Posted on 15/11/2015 by campaignerkate

Last August my friend Hil Marshall suggested a walk from Chillaton in west Devon.  I had never walked from there so was pleased to join her. Chillaton is to the west of Dartmoor (about seven miles north-west of Tavistock), with deep river … Continue reading →

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Holne from Holne

Posted on 11/11/2015 by campaignerkate

When voting for myself (as one does) for the Great Outdoors magazine’s Outdoor Personality of the Year Award, I saw that the Holne community shop and tearoom on south-east Dartmoor had been nominated for the Walkers’ Café of the Year … Continue reading →

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Walkers Are Welcome towns—our time has come

Posted on 09/11/2015 by campaignerkate

Last Sunday the Walkers Are Welcome Towns Network held its AGM in Whitchurch, Shropshire.  Whitchurch Walkers Are Welcome (WAW) did us proud, it is a fine town with plenty of excellent walking opportunities.  It was a shame we did not … Continue reading →

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Memories of Michael Meacher, friend of the access movement

Posted on 05/11/2015 by campaignerkate

Yesterday, 4 November, Michael Meacher would have been 76.  He was a true friend of the access movement.  When Labour won the election in 1997, Meacher became Minister of State for the Environment.  Despite being a very un-Blairite left-winger, he retained … Continue reading →

Posted in Access, campaigns, Obituary, Open country, parliament, Ramblers, walking | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments