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Issue 68

F O O T N O T E S

Issue No. 68 Winter 2011

Inside this issue:

Social Report 2

The YHA at Kirkby Stephen

3

Memories of ―Little Bill‖ & Peter Groves

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News from Ramblers City of Birmingham Group

Editor David Sutton

Contact: 194 Station Road

Kings Heath Birmingham

B14 7TE

0121 444 6188

Email: David.sutton986@

btinternet.com

S adly, two very highly regarded Birmingham

Ramblers members passed away recently. Read tributes to ―Little‖ Bill Hughes and Peter Groves from page 4.

By the time you read this, another Birmingham Ramblers‘ year will have nearly begun. As Footnotes went to press, our new

six-monthly programme was also issued and provides a wide range of walking and social activities, as you will see in this mailing. Those of us on the committee tend to be very active, and some of us take part in a large percentage of our walks and social events. We therefore meet up with the core of ‗active‘ Birmingham members, which number somewhere between 150 and 200 individuals. But this means that we do not see or hear from more than two thirds of our membership. So if any of our ‗silent majority‘ out there is thinking about coming along to one of our

(Continued on page 6)

Muddy Meanderings From David Sutton

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Footnotes

I finished my piece in the Autumn Footnotes saying I hoped we would have an Indian Summer. Boy,

was my hope fulfilled or not! Would you like me to hope for a White Christmas? Or shall I just dream about it. Our second Walk Day Out of the year saw us heading north to Buxton in our slightly executive coach. We had a walk through the town, passing such notable buildings as the Pump Room and the

fine Crescent, modelled on the famous Royal Crescent in Bath. We also passed by the soon-to-be-listed KFC establishment which we sadly did not have time to visit. Coffee was taken at the splendid Pavilion Gardens Cafe before we embarked on a rigorous walk through the handsome Pavilion Gardens, up past the golf course, round the woods and down the Manchester Road back into town. We all took lunch together at a well known pub after which we indulged in a little retail therapy before boarding the coach for Poole‘s Cavern. Magnificent – with stalactites and stalag-mites all over the shop. A good day out I think, to a delightful town. Perhaps our major social event, The Group Annual Dinner, will take place on Friday 2nd March 2012. We will again be visiting The Eaton Hotel on the Hagley Road where we were so well looked after this year. I have a very interesting entertainment lined up for after dinner. Put this date in your diary.

Yours Socially, Derek Garfield.

Social Scene 2011 From our Social Secretary, Derek Garfield

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Issue 68

YHA Weekend at Kirkby Stephen

By Maddy Bennett

O n 26th August after travelling through not very promising bank holiday weather, Kate, Honor and myself arrived in Kirkby Stephen. The hos-

tel was easy to spot as it was a converted Methodist Chapel with a stee-ple and stained glass windows, situated right in the middle of the town. There was a lot going on in the town that weekend, a quadrathlon which involved a run, swim, bike ride and kayaking. Some of the partici-pants stayed at the hostel impressing us with their fitness levels. Fourteen mountain bikers from Harrogate checked in, they were cycling the coast to coast route There was a Flower Festival in the church, a Beer Festival in a nearby village and also a railway exhibition. On our first day of walking, Andy led us from the hostel on a 12.5 mile walk to Smardale. It rained quite a bit in the morning but we man-aged to dry out in the afternoon. We were all impressed with the view of Smardale Gill Viaduct which was built with locally quarried limestone. The landscape of green, purple and brown highlighted by shafts of sunlight made for a stunning view. Sunday saw us setting off on the Keld walk led by Kate. The sun was out but if I remember rightly it was quite windy. It was a super walk made even better by a visit to a tea shop in Gunnerside where I had an enormous piece of Parsnip cake with cream (I wasn't the only one, so I didn't feel too guilty). I had to walk quite sharpish to work it off in the afternoon though. Monday saw another walk from the hostel let by Andy to Nine Standard Rigg which is on the

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Footnotes

line of the coast walk between Kirkby Stephen and Keld. It was a bit of a climb and a boggy underfoot. When we eventually got to the top it was so very cold and windy and I was glad of my extra layers. It was hard to be-lieve that this was August weather. What I liked most about the weekend was the diversity of the land-scape, it really lifted the spirits. This was made possible by the capable leaders who give their time and expertise to make these weekends so enjoyable. I would also like to thank my room mates for being such good company.

Memories of “Little” Bill

By Libby Hunt

“L ittle‖ Bill Hughes was a keen member of the CHA, taking part in their Sunday

rambles and holidays. When the CHA stopped having their coaches on Sundays many members swelled the ranks of the City of Birmingham Group and so I got to know Bill. Although he walked with us regularly, he always remained loyal to CHA and attended their events.

Bill was a real gentleman, loved by all. His happy smiling face and twinkling eyes lit up one‘s day. You could not be glum in Bill‘s company as his optimism was infectious.

On the way to Wednesday walks, Bill regaled us with tales of his youth. He told us that as he was so short, he had difficulty keeping up with his friends, so he took up cycling which was a great leveler. He talked of his education at George Dixon Grammar School, his jobs, wartime experiences and walking exploits with his good friend Frank Twist. Bill was passionate about the countryside and was delighted to introduce his precious granddaughter Joanne to his favourite places, where she accompanied him on walks.

Bill loved to show us photos and tell news of his family of whom he was especially proud. His daughter Audrey invited the ramblers to Bill‘s 90th birthday party where he introduced his adored great grand children.

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Issue 68

Memories of Peter Groves By Phil Barnes

P eter‘s membership pre-dated the Group. After earlier involvement in the founding of Offa‘s Dyke long distance footpath, Peter (and his

wife Jean—fondly remembered by many of us) began walking with the Midland Area of the Ramblers‘ Association back in the late seventies. Peter‘s height and fitness made him a formidable participant (and some-time leader) in Group rambles. He was always well up with the pace on ‗A‘ walks, never more than two or three places behind the leader, but never out in front because he always observed the correct walking etiquette. Out on most rambles, he usually caught up with his reading on the coach.

Peter was a Lecturer in Chemistry at Aston University, but on retire-ment concentrated on his publishing business in which he was an early

And with additional contributions from Michael Bird

At 90 years old Bill still came out with us on Sundays and Wednesdays, so we celebrated his birthday with two special walks in his favourite areas. Bill chose the Waseley and Lickey Hills and Hergest Ridge on Offa‘s Dyke. During a cream tea in Kington, Bill was presented with a ‗free pass‘ for our Sunday coaches.

Bill enjoyed his food, particularly steak and ale pie and always cleared his plate. Despite very deep snow last Christmas, Bill managed to join the Group for dinner in Ombersley and was the first to book his place for this coming Christmas. He had a great appetite and loved company.

At times deafness made conversation difficult but he remained philosophical, maintaining that he could always hear my voice!

Even when Bill could no longer walk with our Group, he went out every day finding new local routes. He continued to get up at an unearthly hour fetching his newspaper as soon as the shop opened.

Bill was kind, thoughtful and considerate. He appreciated everything done for him and was never heard to utter a bad word about anyone. He enjoyed life to the full, which made him such good company. Bill was everything I would wish to be myself, certainly the person to emulate. I am so glad to have known him and proud to have been a friend.

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Footnotes

exponent of desktop publishing, writing many of the necessary com-puter programmes himself. His busi-ness, Meridian Books, concentrated

particularly on walking books with a Midlands flavour, for Peter had a voluminous knowledge of footpaths and walks in a very wide radius around Birmingham. He was a firm believer in the merits of public transport and never owned a car and so used buses and trains to get to the start and finish of the scores of walks which he devised and published. He also involved many Group members in his Waterside Walks in the Midlands series and several members helped by checking the accuracy of his own walks destined for publication. His publication of the Elan Valley Way

by David Milton enabled the Group to complete this walk as one of our long distance path projects, and those who walked all or most of the stages recall it as one of the very best we have ever experienced.

Peter had a wide range of interests, and was always a stimulating companion on walks, ready to advance his views on many topics but with courtesy even when, as was frequently the case with me (Phil), our views were many miles apart. He contributed much to the Group over many years and should always be remembered for that.

group walks or social events, please do! We‘d be happy to see you. If you need more information about anything we do, please get in touch. My email address and phone number are shown on the front page. As an example of how enjoyable group events are, just read Maddy Bennett‘s piece on the youth hostel weekend last August to Kirkby Stephen. We all had a great time, half the walkers staying at the hostel and half at B&B‘s in the town. There were three grades of walk each day, so every ability was catered for.

(Continued from page 1)

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Please Note: Any discounts shown in this publication are wholly at the discretion of the retailer and are not an entitlement to Ramblers members.

The Ramblers‘ Association is a registered charity (England & Wales no 1093577, Scotland no SC039799) and a company limited by guarantee, registered in England & Wales (no 4458492). Registered office: 2nd floor, Camelford House, 87-90 Albert Em-bankment, London SE1 7TW

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CONTRIBUTE TO

FOOTNOTES!

Your articles, letters, photographs and

anecdotes are welcome. Write to the editor, David Sutton at 194 Station

Road, Kings Heath, Birmingham, B14 7TE. (Email: david.sutton986@btinternet.com.

Phone 0121 444 6188)