Oxfordshire Area Ramblers

Oxfordshire Area Committee

As an area we organise many events throughout the year for the benefit of our members. We also compile a twice yearly walks booklet which contains all the walks from the groups with the exception of the 20/30’s group and the Weekend Walkers group, the walks of which are on their website. This booklet is posted out to all our members and contains information about the training, social events and meetings organised by this committee.

On an annual basis we organise, a free first aid course, a walk leader training day and we are just about to embark on training guidance for path wardens.

Socially we organise a summer picnic walk and to promote the organisation we set up a stalls at Agricultural Shows. We have an active Area Footpath Subcommittee which has representatives from each of the groups. Our countryside and access issues are carefully monitored by our Countryside Secretary.

To help communicate with our members we have started a regular e-newsletter which has group information added to it. Our AGM meeting is held in January at which we elect delegates for Ramblers General Council, this meeting is organised on an alphabetical rota of our group’s names. We usually have a walk in the morning followed by lunch, a talk from an invited speaker, our meeting and then tea.

Annual Reports
2012 Annual Report
2011 Annual Report
2010 Annual Report

Area Officers

Susan Maguire	Chair	01491 575682
Rosemary Williams	Secretary	This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Peter Stone	Treasurer
Richard Birch	Walks Co-ordinator
John Case	Access Officer
David Godfrey	Footpath Secretary
Peter Offord	Membership	This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Jim Parke	Publicity
Martin Powell	Website Officer	This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Brian Maunder	SE Walker Editor
John Case	Countryside Officer

Email address for all officers (please state intended recipient): This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Latest:
A Path Warden Training Day has been organised on Thursday 16th May - see detailshere.
New Parish Path Warden Guidelines have been issued (as at 30th April 2013). 

---

Parish Path Wardens needed!
We would like to have volunteers allocated to monitor the footpaths in each parish in the county. Many members have already volunteered for this task. Links to each Group's parishes are given below. Please consider volunteering to be a Path Warden for any of the vacant parishes, and this also applies to the 20s & 30s Group and Weekend Walkers.

Banbury & North Oxfordshire
Bicester & Kidlington
Didcot & Wallingford
Henley & Goring
Oxford
Thame & Wheatley
Vale of White Horse
West Oxfordshire


The Role of the Parish Path Warden
As a parish path warden you would need to walk all the paths in your chosen parish at least once a year. Whilst you are out walking it is suggested that you carry some means of noting the problems you find. We suggest a report form, and there is an examplehere, and a camera, to take close up shots. If you have a GPS this will immediately give you the grid reference of the position of the problem. It is also helpful to have secateurs to carry out light trimming of any vegetation that is in your way. If the problem is urgent, like a fallen tree, or a dangerous stile, then we advise that to be reported immediately to OCC, otherwise your report form can be completed over the year and then sent to your parish council, OCC, and suitable contacts for your local group. This might be the working party group or the footpath officer.

It is suggested that Path Wardens communicate with the parish council because they can some-times get a problem dealt with quicker than OCC.
There are general guidelines here to help you.

To see the paths in your parish with their official numbers, you need to look at the definitive map on the OCC web site with its accompanying statement. Don’t worry if all this sounds technical as some-one from your group committee can explain it to you. There will be training sessions run by OCC during the year. The dates for these will be announced soon.
If walking the paths in your area appeals to you, and we hope it does, please look at your group’s web page with the vacancies for path wardens and the contact name for your group.
Whatever help you can give will help to keep our paths accessible to walkers.

Thanking you in advance,
‘I like being a path warden because you can choose your days and times, you don’t have to liaise with anyone, you’ve got the specific task of making sure the paths are clear and passable for everyone........what better on a sunny day than to wander down the country paths pruning here and there, and noting deteriorated stiles or fallen trees to report on later......all the while seeing and hearing the peace of the English countryside around you.
You have to be able to follow a map – to know where the rights of way are and which are ‘yours’ -and you have to feed back occasional reports on your ‘patch’ so that this can be collated and sent on to Countryside Services of the County Council who have the statutory responsibility. You might take your responsibilities further and liaise with landowners and councils.............
But most of the time you’re on your own, or in my case, with my dog, going at your own pace and enjoying the beauty of nature while doing something essential for all users of paths.’ 

John Case, path warden for Nuffield Parish in South Oxfordshire
Please see your group’s page for vacant parishes and whom to contact.