Ramblers Association Doncaster Group
Minutes of committee meeting held on 20th July 2015 at Wheatley Hotel
Committee Members Present; Wendy Atkinson, Tony Marsh, Dennis Neal, Catherine Palmer, Jim Elvidge, Bob Carlisle, Dave Binnington, Peter Gravestock, Owen Evans, Kerry Foreman, Tony Liversidge. Also attended ... Norman Lewis, Kathrina Fairgrieve( Gordon's wife), Cynthia Elvidge.
1. Apologies
Apologies received from David Gadd, Martin Wyman, David Horne.
2. Minutes of previous meeting 18/05/2015
Minutes confirmed as accurate Dennis Neal/ Jim Elvidge.
3. Matters arising from those minutes
- Ref. Item 5 - Finance. Payment has been received from Area for the 'roundels'.
- Ref. Item 6 - RoW. Meeting between WA/TM & Julie Guest(DMBC RoW) postponed until later this year.
- Ref. Item 8 - Walks Programme. Distributor still needed for Balby area; TM will ask Dianne Scolari to
assist with Rossington.
- Dennis Neal & Joe Stott kindly agreed to cover the two gaps in the programme.
- Dave Binnington has requested that walks in the Peak District for the next programme be in school
holidays if at all possible. These have been clearly identified on the walks pro- forma.
- Ref. Item 9 - Membership & Publicity. Awaiting posters/literature from Central Office.
- Ref. Item 10 - Website. Work done on new website by MW & DG very favourably received. Many new
features noted and welcomed.
- Ref. Item 12 - AOB. No developments to date regarding a replacement for the Membership Secretary.
4. Correspondence
None, except for information on The Big Path Watch.
5. Finance
Cheque received from Area for our 'Quarterly' amount. Bank balance healthy.
6. Rights of Way Report
Footpath monitoring is well underway with 169 paths checked and reports submitted.
Maintenance work has continued with the following undertaken since the last committee meeting :-
May 21st -replacement and maintenance work on stiles, cutting back carried out and waymark posts
erected at Owston ; June 24th - kissing gate replaced at Campsall ; July 29th - two further kissing gates to
be erected at Moss to replace old stiles.
7. Social Report
Coach Trip - Extensive discussion about the cancelled coach trip to Settle with no conclusion other than
the need to publicise this event well in advance. Location was thought to be important although no one
place met with universal approval. Everyone appeared to have their own particular preference. Some
thought Saturday was not a good day since it clashed with our normal walks programme. Dennis Neal to
ask members to indicate their preference for either a Saturday or a Sunday outing in early June, 2016.
Some believed it had outlived its usefulness.
Christmas walks/lunches. DN anxious to begin making arrangements/bookings. If possible, we should
try to keep the two lunches as far apart as possible. Tuesday's Christmas Lunch to be on December 8th -
DN to arrange with Keith Staines but final venue still to be agreed; Saturday's Christmas Lunch to be on
December 12th - Tony Marsh and Trevor Jenkins to arrange - venue will be local.
DN to lead a walk around Great Longstone on the 19th February 2016, possibly with a 'Burns Night'
flavour. More details later.
8. Walks Programme
Walk Leaders - There are still a few 'unfilled' dates for both Tuesdays and Saturdays.
Please contact Dave Binnington or Trevor Jenkins respectively if you are able to help with any of the
following :-
Tuesdays .... Nov 3rd, Dec 22nd, Jan 12th, Feb 23rd.
Saturdays ....Feb 20th, Mar 5th and 12th, April 2nd and 9th.
Deadlines. There were no amendments to Owen Evans' deadlines listed below.
17th August - Trevor Jenkins, Dave Binnington, Bob Carlisle and Beryl Clarke send OE the final
version of all the winter walks submitted by the walk leaders
17th August - Committee send OE details of any social events, meetings, notices etc that need to be
included in the Winter Walks programme
24th August - OE sends the draft walks programme to the Committee for checking and approval
31st August - OE sends the approved walks programme to the printer
31st August - David Gadd & Tony Marsh send the newsletter to the printer
14th September - Printer sends 300 copies of walks programme and 200 copies of Newsletter to Hilda
Levine/Peter Gravestock for distribution to the members
21st September - Members receive their copy of the Winter Walks Programme by post or by hand
Owen asked if we should continue with our present advertisers - agreed. He will check with them that
they wish to continue.
The black and white Holiday Fellowship advert in the Walks Programme will be discontinued.
Agreed to print 300 copies of the Walks Programme and 200 copies of the Newsletter.
Hilda to be asked if she will continue to receive finished copies from the printer.
9. 'Racing' Ramblers
Generally felt that our perceived image as a group of 'speedy' walkers is not an accurate one and that
walks on the present programme are taken at a pace suitable for the majority of the group. However, it
was agreed that on some walks in the past this perception was probably true, but the issue is now much
less of a problem.
More detailed information means that most members now know what to expect and leaders are
more aware of the need to consider everyone on the walk.
With regard to getting our message across to those who believe we are still a 'speedy' group, word of
mouth was thought to be the best way forward, although walk descriptions and articles in the local press
will also help.
Some members queried where these comments originated.
It was also pointed out that some of our group do prefer faster, longer and more strenuous walks - so we
must watch the balance. Walk descriptions need to accurately reflect the nature of the walk.
Walks which are noticeably longer than stated in the programme can create problems.
10. The Big Path Watch
The overall feeling was that the BPW was more appropriate for the general public rather than for
rambling groups. Aspects of the survey appeared similar to what our local 'Square Walkers' already
cover - resulting in unnecessary duplication.
The questions asked in the BPW survey attempted to cover too many aspects, some of which were
thought to be of limited use.
The difference in the size of the area covered was seen as a problem. Our squares in DMBC are 5km x
5km, much smaller in the BPW scheme at 1km x 1km.
Is it possible for the information obtained from our own checking system in DMBC to be transferred to
Ramblers Central Office to be included in the BPW survey? Can a recording and transfer system be
devised to do this or is it impracticable? Is it what the BPW scheme intends?
There was little or no enthusiasm for the BPW scheme in its present format.
11. Area Questionaire
Discussed at some length. Further time needed to respond to all the questions.
12. AOB
Details of a possible wind farm at Clayton have been received by DMBC. As yet, it has not reached the
planning application stage. WA will monitor.
. The meeting closed at 20.50pm