News
Ramblers in London get up to lots of activities. Check out the individual groups' sites to see what they are up to.
You can see some of what we're up to on Twitter on the side of this page and the articles, below give a bit more detail about what's been going on or is planned in Inner London Area.
This follows the renovation of the cemetery, as a result of which the previous waymarkers were removed. Our section volunteers and coordinator worked with the park manager, to whom thanks are due, to have the new posts installed.
The posts were funded by a combination of Inner London Ramblers, South Bank Ramblers and the LDWA London Group to whom we are extremely grateful. In addition to the Capital Ring discs we are adding plaques to acknowledge the funders.
A huge thank you to everyone involved in this work to make the Capital Ring in London easier to follow and more enjoyable to walk.
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We're delighted to announce that waymarking improvements to Section 2 of the London Loop (Old Bexley to Petts Wood) have recently been completed.
These include adding new posts and discs to make the route through Petts Wood easier to follow - but also amending the route uphill a little onto slightly higher ground to avoid the worst of the mud (and to take in a couple of interesting monuments).
The project was led by volunteer coordinator Keith Rodwell to whom huge thanks are due. Posts and discs were funded by South Bank Ramblers, Inner London Ramblers and the LDWA London Group to whom we’re extremely grateful - who are thanked on plaques included on the posts. The posts were installed by the National Trust, St Paul’s Cray Common and Scadbury Rangers (who also provided a post).
Maps and route guidance are being updated - London Loop section 2 of 24: Old Bexley to Petts Wood - but the route is now very straightforward to follow on the ground.
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With other environmental charities in London, The Ramblers are calling for the next Mayor of London to add six new green walks to the London footpath network - Counter's Creek, Five Boroughs Link, Forgotten Rivers Walk, Great Eastern Parks, Romford Greenway, and Southern Rivers Link.
London already has seven strategic routes, with particular pride of place going to the orbital Capital Ring and London Loop. The proposed routes add to this network. often linking existing routes radially.
Click here for a printable version of the map (pdf). To find out more about how to support this campaign contact:
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The Ramblers are collecting evidence of use of a currently blocked path on the Green Chain Walks through Woodlands Farm (Shooters' Hill, South East London).
Find out more here Woodlands Farm, particularly if you used the path through the farm between 1972 and 1992.
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London Ramblers Weekly newspaper launched (Dec 2012)
A weekly update on the Ramblers in London and articles on walking from around the country
London Rambling website launched (Dec 2012)
See what the Ramblers are campaigning on in London.
Inner London Area’s AGM Date Announced: Saturday 9th February 2013 - 2pm (05/11/12)
Inner London Area’s AGM will take place on Saturday 9th February 2013 at 2pm at Pirate Castle, Oval Road, London NW1 7EA. Pirate Castle is on the canal at Camden Lock. http://www.thepiratecastle.org/?q=node/15
The AGM has five main functions: to report the activities of the past year; to approve the Accounts; to elect the new Area Council for the upcoming year; to elect the Area's delegates to General Council; and to agree any motions and put one forward to General Council if it chooses. All members of Ramblers in Inner London are invited to attend, and can vote at the AGM. The AGM will also include a guest speaker Naseem Akhtar (a Ramblers Trustee), and is expected to finish around 4pm.
There are two walks to the AGM this year:
Walk 1 (3 miles) - Baker Street Tube Station (main entrance) at 11am. The walk will go through Regent's Park and along Regent's Canal before an ascent of Primrose Hill. The walk ends close to the AGM venue at Camden Town where there will be plenty of time and opportunities for a refreshment break before the start of the AGM at 2.00pm.(Leader: Mike Biggs).
Walk 2 – (6 miles) : St James’ Park Tube Station (main entrance) at 10am. The walk will go through St James Park, Green Park, Hyde Park, Regents Park and Primrose Hill (if time permits), to arrive at Camden Lock around 1pm, leaving time for refreshments before the AGM. (Leader: Clare Wadd)
Lambeth Council's lack of progress in implementing definitive map resolution (10/12)
See update on Putting London on the Map
London's Green Chain Way Blocked (09/12)
See update on the Green chain way blockage update
Vacancies for roles on Inner London Area Council (09/12)
Would you like to become more involved in the Ramblers organisation, at an Area level?
Well now's your chance...
The roles of IT officer, Social media officer, Volunteer development offiicer and Area Vice-Chair are currently vacant.
If you would like to put your name forward for one of these roles, or would like to contact a member of the current Inner London Area Council to discuss in more detail then please drop us a line, by email, to
Inner London Area AGM: 11th February 2012
Our 2012 AGM took place on a cold Saturday afternoon, 11th February, in the comfort of the Pirate Castle at Camden Lock, London.
The AGM has five main functions: to report the activities of the past year; to approve the Accounts; to elect the new Area Council for the following year; to elect the Area's delegates to General Council; and to agree any motions and put one forward to General Council if it chooses.
Alex Mannings (Chair) led the report of the year, followed by the other Area Officers. The key message was the disappointment that the Area had failed in its aim to grow membership over the year, and that we must do better this coming year. However, the Area and its Groups have been taking positive steps and, in particular, the Capital Walkers and London Strollers Groups have seen excellent growth.
Mike Biggs (Treasurer) presented the Accounts for the year, and these were approved. There was debate over the level of surplus we should be keeping and this will be further discussed at a future Area Council meeting.
Four council officers stepped down this year: Clare Wadd (Vice Chair), Dominic Pinto (Secretary), John Pestle (Campaigns Officer), Paul Theobald (Webmaster). We would to thank them for all their hard work over the years. In turn we would like to welcome our new volunteers for office: Des Garrahan (Campaigns Officer) and Shane Dillon (Webmaster). This leaves the positions of Vice Chair and Secretary unfilled.
Also, Clare Wadd led thanks to Derek Purcell, a long-standing Area Council member who served as Area Secretary for 14 years, then individual member representative and co-opted Minutes Secretary for a further 6 years. Derek has decided to stand down from official duties and will be sorely missed at Area Council meetings.
You can find a full list of the newly elected Area Council members, and the name of your Group representative on the Area Council page of this website.
The AGM elected Inner London Area's two delegates to General Council for 2012: Phil Marson and Clare Wadd. No motions were received for General Council.
We were delighted to welcome John Cryne, Regional Director of CAMRA, to our AGM to speak on the particularly relevant topic of how to grow a membership organisation.
CAMRA has been incredibly successful over recent years, and is currently growing its membership at an incredible rate of 10% a year. That's about 10,000 additional members every year for the last 10 years. John described some of the reasons why he thought CAMRA had been so successful. These included: CAMRA's ability to refresh itself every few years to stay relevant both to new and existing members; attractive membership benefits including substantial offers and discounts with other organisation; and great publicity in the form of regular beer festivals and free magazines distributed to local pubs.
There is much we can learn from organisations like CAMRA. Hopefully those present at the AGM will take some of the ideas back to their Groups to help us emulate CAMRA's success.
Thank you to all the members, and speakers, who gave up their time to come to the AGM, and to the Pirate Castle for a super venue.
Support the Coastal Access Project
The Ramblers is increasingly concerned that the Coastal Access project may be sinking without a trace.
Following a sustained campaign by the Ramblers and its members, government passed the Marine and Coastal Access Act last year. This piece of legislation placed a duty on government to create an all-English coastal path, which will bring wonderful walking opportunities and recoup huge benefits for the rural economy. However, the Government has so far made no commitment to the future of the programme.
Take action to keep the pressure on the government to follow through with the Coastal Access Project.
Fund Raising and Donations
The Ramblers has recently launched a new low cost, tax efficient way of raising money for, or donating to, the Ramblers through the Virgin Money Giving website.
If you would like to raise money for the Ramblers, for example by getting sponsorship for an event, or would like to donate money to support the Ramblers then you can now do so easily at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/charities/ramblers.
Putting London on the Map
In September the Ramblers launched its Putting London on the Map campaign, which aims to get the same legal protection for paths in the capital as already exists for footpaths elsewhere in England and Wales. Currently, legislation allows the London boroughs to choose to produce definitive maps if they wish, but none do so.
The Inner London Area Council has been working with Ramblers Central Office staff to try to persuade each of the inner London boroughs on the desirability of producing definitive maps of rights of way.
We now have our first success — Lambeth Council has passed a resolution to work towards creating a definitive map for their borough!
See Update on Putting London on the Map.
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Subcategories
South East Walker Article Count: 2
South East Walker newspaper is produced three times a year by a small team of volunteers. It's distributed to Ramblers members across the South East with the glossy Walk magazine and contains more local news and updates about what volunteers and groups are doing across the region. The latest issues are displayed here and are available for download.