I + R Guidance
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.
Note: Highway Code Revisions
The RA is still advising walking groups to keep to the right side of the road so that they are walking towards approaching traffic, crossing over when you are about to approach the inside of a bend. The Highway Code is referring to organised marches or sponsored walks, with numbers much higher than those participating in RA led walks when suggesting walking on the left with one’s back to the traffic.
Accidents or incidents during a walk should be reported to the leader at the time when they happen.
3. Dogs. Dogs are allowed on walks unless stated otherwise. However please remember:
• It is the owner's responsibility to ensure dogs are under control at all times; this will often require having the dog on a lead which will apply when on roads, where the dog may scare livestock or disturb sensitive wildlife, where the terrain requires careful footwork, where you cannot rely on your dog’s obedience, wherever the law requires it and when asked to do so by the walk leader. However, if your dog is chased by an animal it is safer to let your dog off the lead.
• That the dog owner is solely responsible for the dog's actions (and any resulting consequences) and that the Ramblers' insurance policy does not cover incidents caused by dogs.
• A walk leader may require your dog to be on a lead throughout the walk. This is indicated by the text “Dogs on leads please” in the walk detail or, “Dogs on short leads please”.
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 all cases the text at the beginning of the walk entry, under the bold heading, is the start place of the walk, even if the walk is linear and there is a different, earlier meeting place, typically the end place of the walk. Thus the prefix and figures after the times are the grid reference of that start place of the walk. If there is an earlier meeting place mentioned, that should quote its own time and ideally, its own grid reference. However, the text would usually use the word “Meet”. “Meet” might also be used if, for some reason, one has to park and then “meet” a short distance away, maybe for reasons of safety. If in doubt, check with the walk leader. In the case of linear walks where you turn up at the start place, rather than the meeting place, there is no guarantee that you will get a lift back from the end of the walk where the leader met other walkers. The leader is not expected, say, to lay on an extra car. However, the leader will tell you whether there is likely to be a spare seat, depending on the number of cars needed to ferry the other walkers to the start and hence the number of cars needed to take the drivers of those cars back to the start place at the end of the walk.
6. Inclement weather. It is the responsibility of walkers to contact the leader if they feel there is a doubt that the walk will take place. Typically, this would be in the event of very bad weather conditions. For example, heavy rain should not prevent a rendezvous, whereas ice, snow, flood or, the other extreme, scorching heat, would do so. Flooding might prevent access both to the start point and the route! Leaders are not expected to take risks getting to the start point in such weather.
7. 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.
8. Schemes. 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.
9. 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.
10. Bus friendly? Some walks will be annotated “Bus friendly”. This is just a broad indication that there are buses which pass within a few hundred metres of the start place. The leader is not expected to give bus times , which may change anyway, or to time the start of the walk depending on the bus timetable. It will be up to you to check if the bus timetable is convenient. Just because a walk is not annotated “Bus friendly”, does not mean that it is not, only that the leader has not checked into public transport for the walk.
11. 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.
12. Leaders. However familiar you may be with the route of your walk, please carry a map and compass in any case, particularly for emergency purposes.
HG home
Spring and Summer Walks for everyone!
We’ve got some great walks, trips and social events for you to enjoy coming up this spring and summer! There are 65 walks led by 26 different leaders in our Summer Programme. The walks range from 3.3 to 12.3 miles and there is a walk on every day of the week except Mondays.
Swyncombe Church: a popular place to visit on a walk in Spring
The last six stages of the Seven Shires Way (a long distance walk around the county boundaries of Oxfordshire) will be walked as a series of day walks starting in April and ending in August. You can opt in or opt out for any of the stages. A new Short Walks on Saturdays programme will run in May and June with easy four miles walks starting from Henley Town hall. These will be open to non members with aim of encouraging them to join, but we hope that our members will come on the walks so that potential new members get a flavour of what we have to offer. Trips have been organised to Exmoor, the Scottish Highlands, Kent, the Cotswolds and Croatia. Social events are not forgotten and are being organised by our new Events team. There will be a Walk leaders’ meeting followed by supper at a local restaurant; the Area summer picnic, and the summer BBQ are popular events repeated this year.
Enjoying the sunshine on a walk near the Thames in summer
For the first time in a number of years we are taking a pitch at the Henley Show. We hope some of you will come to say hello or even volunteer to be on the stand to talk to people about our activities. Let’s hope for lots of sunshine to enjoy our lovely countryside and the trips farther afield!
We are a friendly group and with the Chilterns and the Thames in our area we attract and welcome walkers from all over Oxfordshire and other counties. With over 30 walk leaders we can deliver on our policy of providing walks to suit a wide range of tastes and abilities. We produce our own lively newsletters both print and e-mail versions, which keep members in touch with what we’ve been up to and what we are planning for the future.
Get Involved!
We know that members appreciate the work involved in organising walks, trips and social events and that many are willing to help in different ways. However, even with this generous help, running a programme like ours still leaves a big workload for committee members. We are pleased to welcome two new committee members, Alie as Walks Co-ordinator and Glen who is doing some of the Publicity role and to the ladies who have volunteered for the Events Team to organise our social programme. However, we need more people to offer to take over some of the jobs that current committee members have been doing so well for several years. We also need people to take over as long standing committee members stand down. We appreciate that taking on a full committee role may seem daunting or too great a commitment so we are looking at different ways of doing things, for example dividing up jobs so that a volunteer can take up one or more aspects of a role or work alongside a person with a view to taking over their role at the next AGM.
Can you help?
Contact:
CAR SHARING
We try to share transport whenever possible. We have set up e-mail based car sharing clusters based in Henley, Caversham and Emmer Green. If you want to go on the list, want a lift to the start of a walk, or can offer a lift in your car, please contact the people listed below.
Henley: Joan Clark at
Caversham and Emmer Green: Alan Reeves at
Henley and Goring Group and the Walking Partnership
Henley & Goring Ramblers has joined The Walking Partnership. This partnership, supported by Ramblers Worldwide Holidays, provides direct financial contributions to local walking groups to help with organising group walks, encouraging people to get out walking, helping to clear and improve footpaths and providing equipment to help walkers etc. Over the past 65 years, Ramblers Worldwide Holidays has given many millions of pounds to assist walking charities and conservation projects in Britain and the countries they visit on their worldwide holidays. Now our group benefits directly. Remember when you book to quote the name of our group, and we will then receive a contribution of £10 per person on UK holidays, £20 per person on short haul holidays, and £30 per person on long haul holidays. This extra funding could really make a difference to us! You can take a look at the website on www.ramblersholidays.co.uk or call on 01707 33113 for more details or to order a brochure. For more details, visit The Walking Partnership website at www.thewalkingpartnership.org.uk
HG trips
Coming up in 2014
Exmoor: Friday 11 to Tuesday 15 April
A return visit to the Simonsbath Country House hotel in the beautiful Barle Valley with two walk options each day on Exmoor and the coastal path.
Kingussie and the Cairngorms: Tuesday 3 to Sunday 8 June
We’ll be based in Kingussie in the upper Spey Valley. There‘ll be opportunities for fine low level walking surrounded by mountains as well as more challenging walks in the Cairngorms.
North Downs and Canterbury: Friday 11 to Monday 14 July
We’ll be staying in a 600 years old inn in Chilham 6 miles from Canterbury. We’re planning a city walk, a linear walk to the coast and walks along the North Downs Way
Dalmatian Coast, Croatia: Saturday 4 to Saturday 11 October
This is an HF holiday, staying right on the beach at Baska Voda. We’ll have HF leaders and choice of walks each day. A highlight is a boat trip to the beautiful island of Brac.
Cotswolds: Sunday 26 to Monday 27 October
Bruce Brown is again organising a one night trip to the Cotswolds, this time staying at the attractive Swan Inn by the river Coln in Bibury. Choice of walks each day. Numbers limited.
Full details of all trips are available from Peter Stone
On the Cotswold Way on the 2013 trip 
Procedure for reserving a place
If you are interested in finding out more or going on one or more of these trips, please send an sae to Peter Stone at Foxglove Cottage, Hall Farm, Highmoor, Henley-on-Thames, RG9 5DH or contact him by e-mail:
Walking on the coastal path on the 2012 Exmoor trip