News archive 2005
Walk off that Santa belly
Does your man's big belly make him a Santa lookalike? Then it's time to get him
walking according to the Ramblers' Association....Read
more
Walk off the
Christmas pud with winter walking festival
If the thought of being stuck
indoors this Christmas is driving you crazy, why not escape with the Ramblers’
Association’s Festival of Winter Walks (December 26 to
January 3)...Read more
Play your part in the first ever
footpath challenge
The Ramblers' Association is challenging the public to walk every single
footpath in England and Wales, a staggering 140,000 miles, during the first ever
Use Your Paths Challenge which beings on 20 March 2006..Read
more
Walkers warned to be prepared for big freeze
As freezing weather sweeps the country, the Ramblers' Association is warning
walkers and anyone venturing into the great outdoors to be prepared for extreme
conditions...Read more
Walkers' bible hits shops
walk BRITAIN - the trusted guide that no walker leaves home without - has been
newly revised and improved....Read more
Health, fitness and fresh air all wrapped up for
Christmas
WANT the perfect present to help walk off the Christmas pudding and kick-start a
New Year’s resolution to get fit? A year’s membership of the Ramblers’
Association (RA) could be the perfect solution.....Read
more
Walk off the winter blues with a lunch-time
stroll
A lunch-time stroll could be the perfect way to combat the winter blues
according to the Ramblers' Association.....Read
more
History in the making as all access land will
finally open
Much of England's and Wales's finest landscapes will soon be open to the public,
thanks to the Ramblers' Association's right to roam campaign launched in
1935.....Read more
Banish boredom with half term walks
Are you stuck for ideas on how to keep the children amused during the half term
holidays? The Ramblers’ Association (RA) is encouraging families to explore the
countryside this autumn...Read more
Minister Makes Right Move Over Green
Lanes
Many of England's quiet country lanes will be protected from further damage by
fuel guzzling 4X4s once new legislation is introduced.......Read
more
Walking festival is first step to healthier life
A walk in the country could be the best prescription for health according to the
Ramblers’ Association’s (RA) National Walking Survey, which is being unveiled to
mark Welcome to Walking Week (17-25 September 2005)...
Read more
Walkers hunt for Britain's hidden elms
WALKERS will be helping to map Britain’s surviving elm trees during the
Ramblers’ Association’s Welcome to Walking Week (17th to 25th September 2005)...Read
more
Right to roam in south west now just days away
Walkers in the south west can look forward to exploring some of Britain's most
spectacular countryside from Sunday onwards....Read more
7 out of 10 Britain's walk to relieve the stress of
modern living
Only 13% of those questioned by the Ramblers' Association in a GB-wide survey
were advised by a doctor to exercise more, even though more than half of the
British population are overweight or obese....Read more
Forestry Commission opens up thousands of
acres of woodland
A staggering 315,000 hectares of freehold forestry land in England and Wales
will be opened to the public on August 16......Read
more
Footpath victory in Dartmoor
The Ramblers' Association has won a battle to save a public bridleway on
Dartmoor.....Read more
Britain's Cinderella national park forever
waiting in the wings
Some of Britain's finest and most exceptional landscapes will be celebrated
during National Parks Week (22-29 July) but the Ramblers' Association fears that
people in the South East will be short changed if a national park is created at
the South Downs that does not reflect the rich diversity of its natural
habitats.....Read more
Ramblers call for windfarm funding to
be slashed
Nick Barrett, Chief Executive of the Ramblers' Association, today called for the
government to massively reduce the financial support given to large scale
onshore windfarm developments......Read
more
Footpaths are Britain's most visited gym
72% surveyed by national walking charity say they prefer to exercise outdoors
rather than use a gym.......Read more
Campaigners unite to save green lanes
A wide range of countryside organisations, from landowners to walkers, have to
stop damage to green lanes from unsuitable use by off-road vehicles......Read
more
BBC newsreader to open new long distance trail
BBC television presenter Michael Buerk will officially open a 154-mile circular
walk in Herefordshire on Monday, 6 June.....Read
more
Fay Godwin formers president of the Ramblers'
Association had died
Fay Godwin, former president of the Ramblers' Association and one of Britain's
most talented landscape photographer has died....Read
more
Access the countryside this bank holiday
weekend
The May bank holiday weekend heralds the arrival of the right to roam in the
North East, North West and England....Read
more
Rhys Ifans backs Right to Roam in Wales
The Welsh film actor Rhys Ifans will be one of millions enjoying unprecedented
access to some of Wales’ most rugged countryside when the right to roam
commences there on May 28.
Public shock at high court decision to
overturn environment crime
The Ramblers' Association is alarmed by a high court decision to overturn a
Devon landowner's conviction for breaking environmental laws on land
surrounding Vixen Tor, one of Britain's most breathtaking natural
features......Read
more
Shropshire landowner opens
bluebell wood to public [6 May 2005]
On May 19th The Ramblers' Association will celebrate the dedication by one of
their members of 150 hectares of woodland for public access in Shropshire....Read
more
An ill wind blows on Westminster [01 May 2005]
Industrial scale 'wind farms' are not the answer to climate change, so says
the Ramblers' Association (RA), as it launches a campaign to encourage voters
to lobby their parliamentary candidates on the pressing issue of renewable
energy and the protection of our finest landscapes...Read
more
Open Week in Britain's healthiest gym [27
April 2005]
In the year that one of Britain’s favourite footpaths, the Pennine Way,
celebrates its 40th birthday, the public will be out in force exploring the
wonders of the British countryside during the Ramblers’ Association’s Use Your
Paths Week.....Read more
Politicians count steps as well as votes [20 April 2005]
Britain's politicians are being challenged to take a healthy living message
with them on the campaign trail when they are canvassing in their
constituencies...Read more
Pennine Way of the 1960s fondly
remembered [19 April 2005]
As the Pennine Way approaches its 40th birthday this weekend, Ramblers'
Association members share their fascinating memories of Britain's first
National Trail around the time of its opening...Read
more
Walking in Cumbria back on track [31 March 2005]
70% of public rights of way in Cumbria, closed on safety grounds following the
January storms that brought down half a million trees in just ten minutes,
have now been reopened...Read more
Walk the Pennine Way in a day on 40th anniversary [23 March 2005]
To mark the 40th anniversary of the opening of the Pennine Way, the
Countryside Agency has announced a 'Walk the Way in a Day' celebration to be
held on 24 April......Read more
South West England to gain new access rights [23 March 2005]
An historic new right for walkers to enjoy thousands of acres of open land in
the South West of England will be celebrated on 28 August, rural affairs
minister Alun Michael announced today...Read
more
Ramblers' Association warns that recreation must
be a key issue for new Government Agency [23 March 2005]
The Ramblers' Association gave a cautious welcome to the new name for the
Government agency taking on the function of English Nature, parts of the
Countryside Agency and the Rural Development Service....Read
more
Government threatens to make criminals of
walkers because of ‘mischief makers’ [10 March 2005]
The Government’s desire to look tough on crime prior to a General Election is
threatening to turn innocent walkers into criminal trespassers on designated
sites across vast areas of England and Wales, the Ramblers' Association warned
today...Read more
Meet the authors and discover new
'right to roam' walking opportunities [09 March 2005]
Get a sneak preview of new guides to some of the most dramatic new land opened
to walkers by the 'right to roam', and meet the people who've already been
there...Read more
Ramblers cash in on footpath repair
in the Lake District [09 March 2005]
A cash windfall from the Ramblers’ Association has helped save two well-known
and popular Lake District footpaths, which had become badly eroded...Read
more
25 years on: Time for World Heritage
Status in the cairngorms? [09 March 2005]
The Ramblers' Association Scotland is calling for action by the Scottish
Executive to ensure designation of the Cairngorms as a World Heritage Site...Read
more
'Right to Roam' in Wales comes a step
closer [25 February 2005]
Welsh Assembly Minister Carwyn Jones will be joined by walkers from across
Wales on St David’s Day to celebrate the final stage of the Countryside
and Rights of Way Act passing through the Assembly...Read
more
"Shock and anger" at the result of the Vixen
Tor public inquiry [24 February 2005]
Vixen Tor, one of Britain’s most breathtaking natural features, remains out of
bounds even though a public inquiry found it to be predominantly moorland, the
only qualification necessary for land to be mapped as open country under the
Countryside and Rights of Way Act...Read more
ITV launch search for 'Local Heroes' [17
February 2005]
The Ramblers' Association, as a partner in ITV's Britain on the Move, is
calling on members to nominate RA volunteers as 'Local Heroes', those who
undertake valuable work within their communities...Read
more
Council has
“failed to learn the lesson of foot and mouth” claim [01 February 2005]
The Ramblers’ Association today warned that rural tourism in Northumberland
was under threat because the County Council has failed to learn the lessons of
the foot and mouth epidemic, and was preparing to cut investment in its rights
of way network by a massive 27%...Read
more
Walking on the wild side with a real boar
[26
January 2005]
If you happen to go down in the woods today there’s an increasing likelihood
that you may see something even more surprising than teddy bears picnicking...Read
more
Victory in Parliament, but the 'Battle of
Whitstable Beach' goes on
[26 January 2005]
Public access to one of Britain’s most popular beaches has been secured for
the time being thanks to a campaign by a group of Whitstable residents,
supported by the Ramblers’ Association...Read
more
Minister puts brakes on 4x4 driving
on ancient footpaths [20 January 2005]
The Ramblers’ Association today cautiously welcomes the announcement by Alun
Michael, Rural Affairs Minister, that inappropriate use of public rights of
way by mechanically propelled vehicles will be curtailed by legislation...Read
more
Controversial Right to Roam Inquiry Opens in
Dartmoor [18 January 2005]
One of Dartmoor’s most popular natural features is to become the scene of an
important public access battles under the new ‘right to roam’ legislation...Read
more
Ramblers celebrate as ‘van Hoogstraten legal
loophole’ closes
[14 January 2005]
A legal loophole at the centre of Britain’s most famous illegally blocked
footpath, Framfield 9, the ‘van Hoogstraten footpath’, has been closed by the
Highways (Obstruction by Body Corporate) Act 2004 which comes into effect
today...Read more
Public warned that devastating storms force path closures
[14 January 2005]
The devastating storms that swept across Northern England and Scotland
bringing death and destruction in their wake have also wrought severe damage
to thousands of acres of forest and woodland...Read
more
Lake District access
controversy, a review [13 January 2005]
We present a balanced look at the way one of the most important issues of
countryside access, how to make the countryside, especially our National
Parks, accessible to all regardless of class, ethnicity and economic status,
has been reported...Read
more
It's
safer to walk the Gingerbread Way [07 January 2005]
Walkers tackling the 25-mile Gingerbread Way, a circular route around the town
of Grantham in Lincolnshire, will soon benefit from a safer alternative
crossing point on the A1...Read
more
Walk your way to fitness and
health in 2005 [04 January 2005]
Millions of New Year’s resolutions have been made this year, many will already
have been broken, but if you resolved to get fitter, healthier and loose
weight and are struggling to find the right exercise for you there is no
better way of doing it than walking...Read
more
Off-roading in the
Yorkshire Dales: 3,700 say 'No Thanks'
[02 January 2005]
The damage and nuisance caused by recreational off-road vehicles in the Dales
has provoked a strong response from local residents and visitors to the area
alike, with thousands signing a petition calling for an end to the damage to
the landscape and environment...Read
more