DORCHESTER STROLLERS
WALKS PROGRAMME FOR June, July, August and September 2014
On regular walking days, we aim to have at least 2 groups walking at different rates – the faster group for about an hour and the slower group for half to three-quarters of an hour. The longer walks and special walks will sometimes include grass/muddy paths so please wear stout shoes – also don’t forget a raincoat! After the walk we all get together for a cup of tea/coffee – though it’s not compulsory. It is very helpful if you can arrive 5 – 10 minutes before the walk start time to enable the register to be completed.
Please check the starting places for the Monday walks.
Date / Day of Week / Time / Venue and NotesJune
2 / Monday / 10.30am / Tesco, by the fountains
3 / Tuesday / 2.15pm / North Square, by Corn Exchange
9 / Monday / 10.30am / Café Central, bottom of South and Trinity Streets
10 / Tuesday / 2.15pm / North Square, by Corn Exchange
11 / Wednesday / 6.15pm /
World War 1 walk, meet at The Keep, Military Museum, Bridport Road
12 / Thursday / 10.00 am /Bring & Buy/Coffee Morning/Raffle see notes
16 / Monday / 10.30am /Poundbury, meet at Brownsword Hall
17 / Tuesday / 2.15pm /North Square, by Corn Exchange
23 / Monday / 10.30am / Tesco, by the fountains24 / Tuesday / 2.15pm / North Square, by Corn Exchange
26 / Thursday / 6.15pm / Stinsford walk, meet at Trumpet Major
30 / Monday / 10.30am / Diabetes Centre, Bridport Road
July
1 / Tuesday / 2.15pm / North Square, by Corn Exchange
7 / Monday / 10.30am / Café Central, bottom of Sourth and Trinity Streets
8 / Tuesday / 2.15pm / North Square, by Corn Exchange
14 / Monday / 10.30am / Poundbury, meet at Brownsword Hall
15 / Tuesday / 2.15pm / North Square, by Corn Exchange
20 / Sunday / 2.00pm / Portesham walk, meet opposite pub
21 / Monday / 10.30am / Café Central, bottom of South and Trinity Streets
22 / Tuesday / 2.15pm / North Square, by Corn Exchange
28 / Monday / 10.30am / Poundbury, meet at Brownsword Hall
29 / Tuesday / 2.15pm / North Square, by Corn Exchange
MORE NOTES AND AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER DATES OVERLEAF
Long special walks are usually between 60 and 90 minutes
11 June World War 1 History Walk with Brian Bates. We have enjoyed two previous history walks with Brian, but he always has more to tell us.
12 June Coffee Morning/Bring & Buy/Raffle. At the AGM it was agreed that we would not take part in the Carnival this year. In its place, by kind invitation of John and Mary Foskett we will be having a coffee morning, with bring and buy and a raffle. On two previous occasions this has proved to be an enjoyable social event as well as a fundraiser. So do please come along. The entrance to 8 Cornwall Road is from Victoria Road.
26 June No short walk.
20 July Portesham walk – park in village, not in Kings Arms Car Park. No short walk
WALKS PROGRAMME
August and September 2014
Date / Day of Week / Time / Venue and NotesAugust
4 / Monday / 10.30am / Café Central, bottom of South and Trinity Streets
5 / Tuesday / 2.15pm / North Square, by Corn Exchange
10 / Sunday / 2.00pm / Frampton walk, meet at village hall car park
11 / Monday / 10.30am / Poundbury, meet at Brownsword Hall
12 / Tuesday / 2.15pm / North Square, by Corn Exchange
18 / Monday / 10.30am /
Café Central, bottom of South and Trinity Streets
19 / Tuesday / 2.15pm /North Square, by Corn Exchange
25 / Monday / 10.30 am / Meet at seat in front of Max Gate, Dorchester26 / Tuesday / 2.15pm / North Square, by Corn Exchange
September
1 / Monday / 10.30am / Poundbury, meet at Brownsword Hall
2 / Tuesday / 2.15pm / North Square, by Corn Exchange
8 / Monday / 10.30am / Tesco, by the fountains
9 / Tuesday / 2.15pm / North Square, by Corn Exchange
15 / Monday / 10.30am / Café Central. Bottom of South and Trinity Streets
16 / Tuesday / 2.15pm / North Square, by Corn Exchange
21 / Sunday / 2.00pm / Cerne Abbas walk, meet at Kettle Bridge car park, opposite Village Hall
22 / Monday / 10.30am / Poundbury, by Brownsword Hall
23 / Tuesday / 2.15pm / North Square, by Corn Exchange
29 / Monday / 10.30am / Diabetes Centre, Bridport Road
30 / Tuesday / 2.15pm / North Square, by Corn Exchange
NOTES
The long special walks are usually between 60 – 90 minutes.
10 August – Frampton walk, there will be no short walk. Please park in the far corner of the car park away from the road. This will leave room for others to come and go.
25 August. For the first time last year we held a walk on Bank Holiday Monday. Part of its success was due to the fine weather. This walk will be a combination of field paths, roads and tracks, with two hills and three stiles, two of which can be manipulated easily. There will be no short walk.
21 September -Cerne Abbas walk, there will be a long and a short walk.
14th October AGM Please put a note in your diary for the AGM. As usual it will be held in the Corn Exchange after the Tuesday walks
Please read the notes on the next pages you might find something of interest.
Contact Susan Blake, - 01305 263759
OTHER INFORMATION
We are sorry to tell you of the unexpected death of John Merrett on 21 April. John, together with his wife Trish had been very regular walkers with the Strollers for over five years and on many occasions had been the winners of the prize for walkers undertaking the most slow walks in the year. We will miss John’s lovely sense of humour. We send our condolences to Trish and look forward to welcoming her back.
Aim of the Group is to encourage walking on a regular basis in a very sociable atmosphere. We aim for the pace of the walk to be what ever suits you best. There will be a leader at the front setting the pace and a leader at the back going at the pace of the slowest walker. If, during the walk, you find that the pace is too fast or you do not think you can manage the full time of the walk, then tell the backmarker. The route and any hazards will be discussed at the beginning and during the walk. The leaders will have First Aid packs and water for emergencies. We hope walkers will be able to stop for refreshments at the end of the walk. It is, of course, optional but having a chat is a great way to get to know people.
Accredition You will notice from the logo in the middle at the top of the front page of the programme that we are an accredited group under the national Walking for Health Scheme (WfH). We do not have this automatically. When the Ramblers and Macmillan took over the running of WfH from Natural England two years ago the whole scheme was reviewed – and continues to be reviewed. For example there will be tweaks to the questionnaire all new walkers complete. Your Committee feel that we should stay under the umbrella of WfH and before December this year we will need to reapply for accreditation – it is now compulsory.
To do this we have to: -
(a) have one short walk of not more than 30 minutes each month and all other walks not longer than 90 minutes: (b) use the standard questionnaire for new walkers: (c) have up to date risk assessments of the walks in place and reviewed every six months: (d) use the WfH database and keep it up to date: (e) use the WfH brand correctly: (f) complete an annual audit and (g) adopt a volunteering policy. We are busy working towards our submission. Accredited groups receive free insurance.
Insurance In line with other walking organisations it is only the leaders who are covered, not individual walkers. It is pointed out that all sporting and leisure activities have inherent hazards associated with them and walking is no exception. In spite of the safety of members being of paramount concern accidents will occasionally occur. It is important, therefore, that when entering into the activity, each member appreciates that they have a responsibility to identify the hazards and take all reasonable steps to eliminate or minimise the potential for an accident to arise.
Delivery of Programmes If you have the internet and are willing to have your programme by email, please send an e-mail to the Secretary so she has the correct address. If you no longer wish to receive the programme either hard copy or by email, please also let the Secretary know.
Photographs Quite often photographs are taken of walkers, especially on the special walks.. These are used in many ways - on our display boards: sent to Walking for Health for its Facebook page, sent to local newspapers and in our Newsletters. If anyone does not wish to have their image used in the above ways, please can you tell the photographer.
The Strollers was formed in July 2003 arising from the Action Plan of the Dorchester Area Partnership upon which one of our leaders now sits. The Strollers has a constitution and Committee. We do not charge for the walks and funding in kind and by grants comes from Dorchester Town Council and other organisations, as well as our own fund raising activities, including raffles.. We have a set of display boards to publicise the Group and to support talks and events. You can find information on the Strollers and the programme on the Walking for Health website - www.walkingforhealth.org.uk and many of our photographs on the WfH Facebook – if you click on photographs.
The Walking Partnership. We are members of the Walking Partnership which is run by Ramblers Worldwide Holidays. Despite its name it is not part of the Ramblers. This means that if a Dorchester Stroller member books a holiday and mentions “Dorchester Strollers” when booking, we receive a bonus of £10 per person for UK holidays, £20 for overseas short haul and £30 for long haul holidays. You can obtain a holiday brochure via the internet or from the Secretary. Websites are www.thewalkingpartnership.org.uk (01707 331133) or www.ramblersholidays.co.uk (01707 333276).
Your Committee is always interested to hear your views and comments and try to act on them. The next Committee meeting will take place on 10 September 2014.
YOU MIGHT ALSO BE INTERESTED IN
Thursday, 19 June Communi-Tea. An afternoon tea event for community groups and local people orgaqnised by the Dorchester Area Community Partnership. The theme of the event will be Health and Wellbeing and the Strollers will be there with our display boards. Watch publicity for the venue, but it likely to be in the Corn Exchange probably starting at 2.30 pm.
Friday, 8 August. There will be a Great War Commemorative day in the Corn Exchange. As part of it the Dorset Youth Association are launching their project “Walking in Their Footsteps.” This consists of a walk around the town based on geocashing. On the day the young people will be taking groups around the Trail.
Tuesday, 23 September. Coffee Morning/Bring & Buy 10 am at Christchurch Court Community Hall organised by Kevin & Katrina Parry in aid of Macmillan.
Keeping Fit As a Stroller you are obviously interested in exercise. Would you be interested in joining a weekly Keep Fit class, especially designed for those of mature age? Whether you are over 50 years of age, or 60 or 70 or 80?
This message is just to test if there is any call for a weekly Keep Fit session. Such a class would be tutored by a qualified trainer but each participant would do the exercises at their own pace. This class would be like the “old-fashioned” PE classes you may remember from school days and not Olympic-style aerobic expectations. Such a class would not be under the umbrella of the Strollers. It would be a private class with an acceptable reasonable weekly fee.
If you would be interested in joining such a class please send your name, address and telephone number of Ron Kirby, 5 Mellstock Avenue, Dorchester DT1 2BE. (Strollers Treasurer)
Try This Many of the Strollers participated in this last year. It offered free taster sessions for such things as bicycle maintenance, cooking, local history, crochet, knitting, help with income tax to name just a few! All the tutors gave their time free of charge and what was offered depended on recruiting tutors. The next Try This dates are Saturday 27 September – Saturday 4 October. Nearer the time look out for publicity.
Nordic Walking for Health Improvement It’s more than just walking with poles! Laura Spencer, a qualified Nordic Walking UK Instructor who lives in Dorchester offers Nordic Walking Sessions – Learn to Nordic Walk programme and Nordic Walk – Wellness Walk. She offers introductory taster sessions at which the poles are provided. A taster session costs £6.50. You may have seen Laura at work in the grassy “arena” at Poundbury not too far from the Leisure Centre. To contact Laura ring 07779943430 or
Other Walking Groups If you feel that you want to undertake more challenging walks than those offered by the Strollers, then you might like to try :-
(a) The Casterbridge Ramblers Secretary 01308 459815 for details. Also see www.casterbridgeramblers.com
(b) South Dorset Group of the Ramblers –Membership Secretary – 01305 269381 or www.southdorsetramblers.org.uk
(c) Poundbury Pathfinders –contact 01305 257660 or ask Stan, one of our leaders.