Issue 16, February 2007
In this issue
Hello,
With only seven months of the Use Your Paths Challenge left to go, we've got some tips for you to check back on your walking in 2006. You never know, you might have been walking grid squares without even realising it!
Spring will soon be on its way once again and so too will the Ordnance Survey Outdoors Show, which returns to Birmingham's NEC in March. We've got a great discount on admission tickets for our members.
And finally, it's not too late to have your say to protect our greenbelts by whizzing off an email to the Chancellor.
Check your walking against the challenge
With just 7 months to go the Use Your Paths Challenge is hotting up – even though the weather has turned decidedly colder.
Do remember to check your planned route against the Use Your Paths interactive map before venturing out on walks. It may be that a few small alterations to your route will complete some grid squares, without any more effort on your part.
If you’re happier staying indoors while the winter winds blow, have a look back over your walking in 2006. It may be that you’ve completed some Challenge squares without realising it! Many long distance trails and promoted routes have sections where they are the only right of way crossing a grid square.
And don’t forget to check your own neighbourhood – it could be that you’ve been completing squares on a daily basis!
See www.useyourpaths.info for more.
Get Outdoors more, for less
The Outdoors Show will return to Birmingham’s NEC from 16 – 18 March, with fantastic discounts available to our members.
It’s a great day out for everyone, packed with all the information and inspiration you need for your holidays, your hobbies or simply just to enjoy the countryside even more.
Take part in workshops with world-trekking adventurers and outdoor types like Ray Mears and Bill Oddie, or watch gear demonstrations for the inside knowledge on all the latest kit. Drop by our stand to say hello and to hear about our coastal access campaign for walkers.
To secure your member discount – two tickets for £20 (an £8 saving on the door) :
enter the promotional code RAMBLERS when booking on www.theoutdoorsshow.co.uk
All tickets subject to this offer must be booked before 15 March 2007
Help protect our greenbelts and right to be heard
Momentum is growing behind our campaign to save the planning system – and with it our green belts and right to be heard in local decision making. More organisations including the Civic Trust and Transport 2000 have joined the coalition asking the government not to implement the most damaging recommendations in the recent Barker and Eddington reviews of planning and transport. If you didn’t take part last month, there’s still time to send a message to Chancellor Gordon Brown asking him to stop a planning disaster.
Visit www.planningportal.gov.uk for more information.
Wander into work
Expensive fares. Overcrowding. Signal failures. Leaves on the line. Does this sound like your commute to work? Then why not minimise your time spent on public transport and get fitter into the bargain by getting off your train, bus or tube a stop or two early?
The easiest way to walk more in your everyday life is to build walking into your journey to work. Give it a try and feel the difference!
Last word.....
Above all do not lose your desire to walk." Kierkegaard, philosopher
