[q] Campaigns
We're a walking group, but we're also part of the Ramblers Association, Britain's biggest walking charity. The Ramblers have been working for over 70 years to promote walking and to improve conditions for everyone walking in England, Scotland and Wales.
In the campaigns section of this site you will be kept informed of events relevant to the walking world, learn more about current issues affecting the environment and get the opportunity to become involved in hands on activities relating to footpath and countryside management in the West Riding of Yorkshire.
Please note: any opinions expressed intentionally or otherwise in articles appearing in this section are purely those of the contributor, and do not represent those of either the Ramblers Association or Take a Hike.
Campaigns News:
A chance to give something back
As many of you know, a vast amount of countryside in England and Wales opened up last year under government right to roam legislation.
I received an email from Ramblers HQ asking if we can become involved in adopting areas of moorland, reporting back on issues like if there are enough access points, whether there are problems within the territories, whether there are misleading notices and so on. Looks like a good idea to me.
There's plenty of open access moorland, stretching from Black Hill to the Nidderdale AONB to help out with. It's all about making sure that legislation the Ramblers worked so hard to get through actually works "on the ground".
And in return, you'll be doing your bit to ensure the continued enjoyment of the countryside for future generations. Kinda makes you feel a bit warm and fuzzy inside doesn't it?
I'll be playing my part, but it's a big project with loads of scope for members to get involved. With Summer coming up it could be just the thing for an evening stroll every few weeks. Unlike other adoption schemes, your piece of moorland won't write you every six months. No plaque on the fence. Just a feeling of satisfacation knowing you're contributing to this beautiful part of the world we live in.
If you're interested (and I really hope you are) then please get in touch with campaigns via the contact section.
YHA - Time to Change?
In summer 2005 the Youth Hostel Association announced plans to close up to a quarter of its current network. These plans have now been confirmed, a move that has saddened many long serving YHA members.
So why are they doing this? Quite simply, it’s about financial realities. With debts of £34 million and a backlog of maintenance work to be done, the YHA had to take a long hard look at both its financial obligations and it’s objectives in the future.
So what are its future objectives? Bright new hostels are certainly high on the agenda. It can’t have escaped anyone’s notice that “youth” is a term that can only very loosely be applied to most people frequenting English rural hostels. Most young people would seemingly rather spend there time in the new wave of urban hostels that have appeared in recent years, such as the one in central Oxford that opens 24 hours and contains a café, TV lounge, games room and internet facilities as well as 40 bedrooms. With both this and the family market in mind the YHA has invested heavily in new or upgraded facilities that are more in line with modern expectations.
However, rural hostels are far from off the agenda – new ones have been opened recently in the likes of Kielder in Northumberland and Lizard Point in Cornwall. Quite simply, the YHA’s argument is that only by being realistic about projected earnings from individual hostels can the organisation survive in to the future.
The closure plans are currently as follows:
12 hostels have already closed since August - Badby, Lincoln, Crowcombe, Aysgarth, Ystradfellte, Kemsing, Malvern, Bradenham, Broadstairs, Winchester, Corris, Hampstead
6 more closures were announced over Xmas - Portsmouth, Baldersdale, Blaencaron, Chester, Dentdale, Llanbedr
32 more have been announced in February 2006. YHA are intending to close these later this year.
The following will be closed with no replacement.
1. Ivinghoe in the Chilterns and on the Ridgeway
National Trail;
2. Blackboys in the Sussex Weald on the Weald Way
path.
3. Castle Hedingham in Essex.
4. Steps Bridge in the Teign Gorge near Exeter and
Dartmoor.
5. Dartington near Totnes on the River Dart near
Dartmoor and the South Devon Coastpath.
6. Quantock Hills near Holford in Somerset.
7. Elmscott near Hartland and Clovelly on the North
Devon Coastpath.
8. Capel-y-Ffin in the Brecon Beacons on Offas Dyke
and the Cambrian Way.
9. Trefin on the Pembrokeshire Coastpath.
10. Dolgoch in the remote Welsh Tywi Valley.
11. Tyncornel in the remote Welsh Elenydd.
12. Llangollen in the Clwydian Hills & Dee Valley
13. Meerbrook in the Peak District near the Roaches
rocks and Staffordshire Moorlands.
14. Langsett near Sheffield on the newly-opened
Trans-Pennine Trail.
15. Earby between the Yorkshire Dales and Forest of
Bowland on the Pennine Way and Pendle Way.
16. Stainforth in the Yorkshire Dales on the Pennine
Way and Three Peaks Challenge Walk.
17. Keld in Swaledale at the junction of the Pennine
Way with the Coast-to-Coast Path and Herriot Way.
18. Kirkby Stephen in the Eden Valley on the
Coast-to-Coast Path.
19. Alston in the North Pennines and South Tyne Valley
on the Pennine Way and Coast-to-Coast Cycle Route.
20. Greenhead on Hadrians Wall and the Pennine Way.
21. Acomb near Hexham on Hadrians Wall between
Northumberland and the North Pennines.
22. Bellingham near Kielder Water in Northumberland on
the Pennine Way.
23. Wooler in the Cheviot Hills on St Cuthberts Way
and the Ravenber Path.
The following will be closed but YHA will see if it's possible to open another hostel in the area after they've closed:
24. Dover in Kent on the North Downs Way.
25. Hastings (Guestling) on the Sussex Coast.
26. Brighton (Patcham) on the South Downs Way.
27. Sandown on the Isle of Wight.
28. Lynton in Exmoor on the North Devon Coastpath and
Two Moors Way.
29. Matlock in the Peak District.
30. Bakewell in the Peak District.
The following will be closed if YHA can open another hostel in the area:
31. Liverpool, only opened a few years ago.
32. Rotherhithe, opened a few years ago as a flagship
hostel.
Money will be re-invested in other YHA hostels. Sofar it has been re-invested in Keswick, Penzance andBoscastle (after the flood). Whitby is being moved to a new site. YHA is looking for more convenient sites to replace Burley in the New Forest, Cambridge, Cardiff and Newcastle in the same way that they moved the hostel in Oxford next to the station. YHA has
opened some accommodation at Aberglaslyn in Snowdonia and the Lakeside YMCA on Windermere.
For more information, go along to the YHA meeting:
- YHA York - Saturday 4th March from 2-4pm.
Welcome to the new campaigns section!
The vast majority of us in Take a Hike did not join the Ramblers Association out of a burning desire to be part of a seventy year old environmental campaigning lobby. Even if it's one that has enjoyed huge success opening up the countryside that we all take for granted. Or because it's one of the few organisations that has support across all political parties. Or because without it the UK could be a very different place. No, virtually everyone in Take a Hike joined to go walking. And the vast majority of our members will continue being members for this reason only. And that's cool. But it must cross most people’s minds at some point or other that the areas we walk in are as beautiful as they are for a reason, and that access to and management of the countryside and its paths can't be taken for granted. For those of you that want to learn more and maybe give something back here's the opportunity. It's a chance to learn more about issues that are relevant to us as walkers. To learn about how we can do more to involve others in walking. To gain hands on involvement in countryside management. To make you think about how changes in the world around us affect the countryside we go out in. To find out what's going on behind the scenes to ensure that the countryside is as beautiful in a hundred years time as it is today. That's what we're aiming to do on the campaigns side of Take a Hike, and we're hoping that our members will support us.
