PLEASE READ THESE IMPORTANT INSTRUCTIONS
1. It is your responsibility as a group member to follow the leader’s instructions for the benefit of the safety of the group as a whole. If you should leave the walk early, please notify the leader.
2. Keep in single file on all roads. Accidents or incidents during a walk should be reported to the leader at the time when they happen.
3. Dogs. Unless stated otherwise, dogs are allowed on a walk. You will be expected to keep the dog under control at all times. They must be placed on a lead if advised by the leader and in any event when walking through farmyards, or where stock is grazing.
4. Pub stops. Unless stated otherwise, there will not be a pub stop.
IF THERE IS, PLEASE DO NOT EXPECT TO EAT YOUR OWN FOOD IN THE LANDLORD’S PREMISES! 5. Getting to the start of walks. In general the figures after the times are the grid reference to the starting place of the walk. If there is an earlier meeting place, check whether the grid reference is to that meeting place instead. If in doubt, check with the walk leader.
6. Drivers. THINK GREEN, USE THE CAR-SHARE SCHEME. Anyone wanting a lift to the start of a walk, is expected to pay 5p per mile towards the driver’s expenses.
7. Set out below are schemes offered by Oxford, Cherwell and Vale Groups.
Oxford: If you want a lift, please contact the walk leader. Meeting places at park-and-ride car parks are shown as follows: RB = Redbridge PT= Pear Tree TH = Thornhill SC= Seacourt
Banbury & North Oxfordshire:
CHF = Cinema Horse Fair, Banbury, for car-sharing. This also applies to Wednesday walks arranged by this group. If CHF is not shown, contact the walk leader.
Vale:
PC = Phone (for Car-sharing) to offer or request a lift. If PC is stated but no number given, phone the walk leader.
UYP = The USE YOUR PATHS CHALLENGE was the RA’s initiative for walking all public rights of way in the 21 months from Spring 2006. Some groups took on this Challenge by asking leaders to walk all the paths in their area using Parishes as their defining unit. Any walks in the programme marked UYP were part of this initiative and may not have been recce’d; they may have involved a certain amount of back tracking or repetition and the mileage would have been approximate. This was an exciting initiative, which is is hoped will be repeated every few years, a real chance to see that all public paths are accessible.
8. Public Transport. Where bus and train times are given, it is essential to check these with the most up-to-date timetables before coming on the walk.
9. Grading.
• Easy Access: Walks for everyone, including people with conventional wheelchairs and pushchairs, using easy access paths. Comfortable shoes or trainers can be worn. Assistance may be needed to push wheelchairs on some sections: please enquire.
• Easy: Walks for anyone who does not have a mobility difficulty or a specific health problem or is seriously unfit. Suitable for pushchairs if they can be lifted over occasional obstructions. Comfortable shoes or trainers can be worn.
• Leisurely: Walks for reasonably fit people with at least a little country walking experience. May include un-surfaced rural paths. Walking boots and warm, waterproof clothing are recommended.
• Moderate: Walks for people with country walking experience and a good level of fitness. May include some steep paths and open country. Walking boots and warm, waterproof clothing are essential.
• Strenuous: Walks for experienced country walkers with an above average fitness level. May include hills and rough country. Walking boots and warm, waterproof clothing are essential. People in doubt about their fitness are advised to contact the organiser or leader in advance.
• Technical: Walks for experienced and very fit walkers with additional technical skills. May require scrambling and use of ropes, ice axes and crampons. You must contact the organiser or leader in advance for further details.
Important: Grades are provided as a general guide only: if you have any doubt about your fitness for a particular walk please contact the organiser or leader in advance.
You should also bear in mind the distance of the walk, regional differences in terrain and the possibility of bad weather, which can make a walk more difficult than planned. If you're unsure of your fitness level, try a short and easy walk first: it's much better to find a walk a little too slow and easy than to make yourself miserable and exhausted. Leaders may refuse to accept participants who in their opinion are inadequately equipped or unfit.