Monthly Archives: January 2016

My favourite hill? White Tor

Posted on 29/01/2016 by campaignerkate

This the walk on my favourite hill which I described in Countryfile Magazine: White Tor on Dartmoor Continue reading →

Posted in Access, Dartmoor, National parks, walking, wild country | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Dee’s centenary

Posted on 28/01/2016 by campaignerkate

My friend Dee Ivey would have been 100 today, 28 January 2016, and so I am thinking of her especially, and the huge influence she had on me and numerous other pony-loving children. She introduced me to Dartmoor and to its … Continue reading →

Posted in Dartmoor, Dartmoor livestock, Memories, Obituary, People, riding, wild country | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Paths at our heart

Posted on 27/01/2016 by campaignerkate

Yesterday representatives of path-user groups in Buckinghamshire met the county council’s portfolio holder for transportation, Mark Shaw.  In common with many others the council faces huge cuts, but we had a sympathetic hearing from Mark. He made clear his commitment to rights … Continue reading →

Posted in Access, British Horse Society, Bucks, campaigns, Open Spaces Society, Public paths, Ramblers, riding, Uncategorized, walking | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Stile-free walks for Turville

Posted on 23/01/2016 by campaignerkate

Turville Parish Council sensibly used £1,000 surplus budget to pay for the replacement of four stiles with gates on public footpaths. Continue reading →

Posted in Access, Chilterns, Public paths, Turville, Turville, walking | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

So no more

Posted on 22/01/2016 by campaignerkate

I was pleased that Private Eye has poked fund at that annoying habit of starting a sentence with ‘So’. Continue reading →

Posted in grammar, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

The open common

Posted on 17/01/2016 by campaignerkate

I am keen to manage my land at Common Wood on western Dartmoor so as to attract Fritillary butterflies, but it is quite complicated and requires cooperation from various interests. Continue reading →

Posted in butterflies, common land, Common Wood, Dartmoor | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Ted of the tors

Posted on 14/01/2016 by campaignerkate

Ted Birkett Dixon, a man with immense and long knowledge of Dartmoor and its ancient monuments, has died aged 92.  He lived in Elburton, Plymouth.  He was a vice-president of the Dartmoor Preservation Association (DPA) and knew Dartmoor and its … Continue reading →

Posted in Dartmoor, Obituary | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Murmuration of Sturnus

Posted on 10/01/2016 by campaignerkate

Finding that towards sundown on 8 January I was still at Otmoor, I stayed to watch the starlings come in to roost.  I had seen them before from a distance, wheeling and turning as a great cloud in the sky, … Continue reading →

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Tragedy of errors

Posted on 09/01/2016 by campaignerkate

I have signed up for email alerts from parliament when the words ‘common land’ are mentioned in Hansard.  And so I learnt of a reference to common land which was buried deep in a costive debate in the House of Lords on … Continue reading →

Posted in common land, commons, Elinor Ostrom | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

England’s coastal access STILL underplayed

Posted on 03/01/2016 by campaignerkate

They don’t learn.  Seventeen months ago (August 2014) and again seven months ago (May 2015) I criticised the government, and the Guardian through its letters page, for underplaying England’s coastal access by calling it a coastal path.  I have had to … Continue reading →

Posted in Access, campaigns, Coastal access, National trail, Open Spaces Society, walking | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment