Doncaster Ramblers

Ramblers Association Doncaster Group

Minutes of Committee meeting held on 19th November 2018 at The Three Horse Shoes

Committee Members Present: David Horne, Sue Robertson, Steve Robertson, Tony Marsh, Tony Liversidge, Dennis Neal, Bob Carlisle, Peter Gravestock and Martin Wyman.

 

  1. Apologies.

Apologies received from: David Gadd , Stephen Saddington, Peter Rowsell, Marion Thompson, , Dave Binnington, Jim Elvidge and Norman Lewis.

  1. Minutes of previous meeting 17th September.

Minutes confirmed as accurate; TM/DN .

  1. Matters arising from those minutes.

Item9. TM referred to the DG comment concerning the work at Bradfield. Jez Kenyon had emailed Tony asking if our Volunteers could be involved. Whilst Tony admitted that our dry stone wall skills were limited he replied that Doncaster Ramblers would help if we could. Jez has contacted Tony again to say things are going well and we should expect a call with a view to beginning work in the Spring of 2019..

Item11. TM asked MW about the improved security for the website, MW confirmed this had been implemented.

  1. 2018 AGM

- Minutes for agreement (provisional). SR/DN.

- Matters arising. None.

- Review of AGM and thoughts for 2019.

The venues was considered reasonable, though parking was not straightforward and it was noisy (there was a party of young people in the building – it was half term, which was perhaps the reason). The attendance was disappointing.

DN would look at alternative venues for 2019, perhaps avoiding half term and with an easier location and parking. ‘Low key’ was thought to be fine, though perhaps a plate of sandwiches could be provided.

  1. Financial Report.

DH presented the Financial report. 

Cheques had been issued since the figures were prepared and there was only £312 in the kitty, though a payment from area was due. There was concern about the drop in funds, was this due to the Carers outings? DH replied that we had a small surplus from the outings; Steve R asked if DH could provided a breakdown of income/expenditure for the Carers outing alone, DH will send to MW for distribution.

  1. Publicity Officer.

PR not present, but had emailed to say that we had not had our article printed in the FP the previous week though this had been promised.

  1. Walks Programme .

BC said DB had sent out an email saying he was taking bookings for the Summer programme, and eight 8 walks were already in. We need a Thursday walks organiser and BC asked if he should begin asking walkers on Tuesday if they were interested, and this was agreed.

The reminder to send in walks had not been included in the Walks Programme, should we email members? Steve R said it was proving difficult to set up an address list as members were required to opt in to the use of their email addresses. TM thought that talking to people on walks and well timed reminders on the website would do the job. PG added that SYNED emailed copies of their newsletter so must have an address list that might help.

DH said that there was no advert for Nur in the Programme though they had paid for one. DH will discuss with DG how to address this. The committee were of the opinion that contact should be made with Nur to explain this

oversight.

BC said that Go Outdoors had offered briefings to Ramblers, could this be combined with a Thursday walk? BC to discuss with DB.

  1. Rights of Way Report.

MW

There have been 434 paths walked so far this year.

I know it’s hard to get involved in a project with such long timescales, but there is a consultation taking place at the moment on the route of HS2 through the Doncaster area. This closes on 21st December and maps of the rights of way affected can be viewed at Doncaster library.

There is also a ‘Masterplan’ being finalised for the development of Doncaster Sheffield Airport which includes a new station and connection to the East Coast mainline. The latter will only require 7 miles of new track and it is estimated it could be delivered at a cost £170m. Doncaster might become the best connected urban area in the north of England.

I will be attending the PROW Forum on 29th November which could be a very interesting session.

TM

Since the last Committee Meeting in September we have had only one Volunteers session. The October date had to be rearranged since Stuart Horrocks from the Rights of Way Department was unavailable due to illness.When we did finally get together on November 7th our location was in the Bentley/Adwick area where new posts and additional way-marking was long overdue. The long paths stretching from the outskirts of Bentley to Adwick may have been easy to follow by the locals, but were something of a challenge for those walking them for the first time.

Our team of 6 volunteers, together with Stuart's help, erected 6 posts along Bentley FP No. 1 and Adwick FP No. 8, which should make it much easier to follow the line of both paths.

This occasion was the first time we have needed 3 wheelbarrows to get materials to these difficult locations. As I struggled to keep up with the 'front runners' as they disappeared into the distance my mind turned to the Morecambe & Wise sketch where Eric had spent all day on a building site wheeling heavy loads which resulted in his arms touching the ground! Once we got there, doing the job was relatively easy. However, despite the difficult location, the day was successful with 6 posts installed, of which 5 were vertical!

Our next gathering of the Volunteers will be on Wednesday 28th November, in and around Norton, Moss and Fenwick.

Owen Evans had called to say he would be unable to complete his Square, but DB/BC had kindly agreed to do this. Also Ian McQuade had given up 50NE because of the lack of a constructive response to his reports from Julie Guest. BC to start discussions on Tuesday to see if there are people prepared to take over a Square in 2019.

  1. Social Report.

DN said the Christmas meals were booked.

Steve R said as new members they were not aware of the booking process, perhaps this could be communicated better. DN said that he was the first point of contact and his details were in the Programme.

  1. Membership Report.

Sue R said membership was now 235.

     11. Meeting dates 2019.

The following dates were agreed and booked with the Three Horse Shoes.

- Already in Programme: 21st January, 18th March

- Proposed: 20th May, 15th July, 16th September, 18th November

- AGM October tba

  1. AOB.

BC asked what the situation with DMBC was with regard to the Get Doncaster Walking Programme, who to contact. GDW had tailed off and details moved to the Get Doncaster Moving website. People on walks had complained of a lack of communication.

TM replied that Emma Wilson had phoned him after he had made several attempts to make contact. She agreed that advertising had been poor and a new person had been employed to handle this area. TM had requested that at least some hardcopy leaflets be produced. Hopefully progress will be made and we can continue to support DMBC.

Meeting closed 20:36