Don’t forget that this Saturday is our AGM at Frampton Mansell Village hall (GL6 8JA) starting at 1pm. I will be leading a 4.4 mile walk from there at 10am. There is a nasty descent so, if you usually use poles, it might be a good idea to bring them. We aim to be back…

If you are a walk leader, you might have received a survey from Ramblers head office. It is very quick to fill in and hopefully, if enough people fill it in, it will make them realise that we do not want/need to be forced to do all sorts of training. I’m not sure if it…

Thanks to all the walk leaders who have reserved their dates but we still have 2 midweeks and 2 Saturdays to fill in January and February. One of the Saturdays is 25th Jan where there is a Longer/Faster walk and a Shorter walk, neither of which are filled. Well done to Monday walkers who have…

You can find them on the Walk Planning Progress page on the Leaders menu or HERE.  Get in early and get the most convenient dates. Please reserve your dates by 18 November. It makes it easier for us if you can do so by this date. Many thanks. Sally

You should have received a copy of this by email from either Ros or Janet but I have now added it to the website. You can find it under Walks, Walks Programme. Don’t forget to check our message board for last minute changes/problems. We can alter the information on the Ramblers main website but it…

I have been contacted by the Community Support Officer at Cotswold District Council to ask if any of our members would be interested in leading Well Being walks of 10 – 60 minutes . Please contact me on the contact email address on the website if you feel this is something you may be interested…

Several people have shown interest in getting their Emergency Contact cards (for South Cots members to carry in their rucksacks in case of an Emergency) laminated on the laminator that Keith bought from a charity shop for a fiver. As we need to do 4 at a time, we reckon the easiest way to coordinate…

If any walk leaders are thinking about leading a walk from barrow Wake the car park is closed for 30 weeks, the access road is still available for parking. It’s something to do with the road works.

You can set up an emergency contact number on your phone for someone to call (friend, family member) on your behalf without the need to know your password or screen lock. It doesn’t call 999, just the person you have nominated. HERE are the instructions. Ask if you need any help. Sally

Ramblers members can get this discount by going to ramblers.org.uk/offers-and-promotions then click on the OS link and enter code RAMOSM at the checkout.  There are details about this on p.10 of the latest Walk magazine. Sally

We now have Janet helping Ros in her job as Membership Secretary. There is quite a lot of work involved (mainly caused by Ramblers Head Office’s unfriendly bureaucracy) so it is good to have someone else to share the load. The 99% of you who receive communication by email should have received the next walks…

If you are a leader who doesn’t have a pre-organised backmarker who knows your route but rely on a volunteer in the car park beforehand, it would be very helpful if you could give them a copy of the map of your route so they know where you are going. Another option for people who…

Pathwatch, the mobile phone app supported by Ramblers that enabled us to take a photo of a problem on a footpath and send it directly to Ramblers head office and to the Public Rights of Way officer giving the co-ordinates of the location, has now gone. There is a link on our website under Footpaths,…

We have introduced the option for leaders to designate their walk as a Faster Pace walk when they complete their Submit a walk form, as well as the Leisurely (for Monday walks) and Moderate for the majority of our walks. We anticipate that this will be used quite sparingly (probably by only a handful of…

Ramblers are proposing to update their 10 year strategy and charitable aims, you can read about it on the link. Click here

There has been 2 major improvements after the disastrous introduction of their new website. Firstly, on our South Cotswold page, you can now see the Date and Distance of the walk, instead of just the title (you still have to scroll through all their stuff about joining Ramblers and donating) but this is a significant…

Ramblers have a page on their website listing all the errors they know about (quite a long page!!). If you want to look at it you can find it at https://www.ramblers.org.uk/walks-manager-website-status  

If you use the app to access walks, you need to select Walking, My group (if you want just us) or My area (if you want all group walks in Gloucestershire). The information you get for each walk doesn’t show the name of the walk leader or contact details, but if you click on the…

The much delayed new Ramblers head office website came on line on 31 May. To find OUR walks, the easiest way is to start from our www.southcotswoldramblers.org.uk website, click on All our planned walks below the main picture, which will take you to our page on the Ramblers main website. Scroll down to Upcoming walks…

This car park has suddenly become very busy and finding a space there is difficult. Additionally a lot of the adjacent roads have double yellow lines on, so this area should be avoided as a starting place. You can always park at St. Cyr’s church (next to Stonehouse Court Hotel) if you want to lead…

The Glos. area committee is hoping to put together a list of people who would be willing to help with footpath clearance in areas not necessarily covered by the Cotswold Wardens. This would be cutting back with secateurs etc not power tools. If anyone is interested could you please contact me initially via the website…

We receive a sum of money for Group Funds from Ramblers Holidays where members taking a holiday with them have nominated South Cotswold Group. If you ever forget to tell them when booking, there is still time if you contact them before you go. If you do so, they will donate £10, £20 or even…

Here is a link to a guide on how to find walks on our website. Click on Read more and you will be able to access it https://www.southcotswoldramblers.org.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/guide-to-finding-walks-on-our-website.pdf  

Leaders do need to complete the simple Risk Assessment form that Ramblers head office has issued. This can be found on the Leaders menu  on our website. There is a PDF version and a Word version. Sally

We are still in need of a footpath officer to represent the group. You do not necessarily  need to be a regular walker, if anyone is interested please ring me on 07931114439 to discuss further.

Parkruns in Stratford Park and Tetbury Goods Yard are taking place and it is almost impossible to park as all spaces are taken by runners on a Saturday.  Leaders might want to avoid these as a starting place on Saturdays, though they are still fine for other days. Sally

Walk leaders if you need to cancel a walk at the last minute for whatever reason e.g. weather conditions, illness etc. rather than using the contact page on the website which may not be picked up straight away you can ring either Ann  on 07931114439, Sally on 07818425088 . We can then put a message…

Lawrence has been to Miserden recently and noted that the sign at the entrance to the CP by the school has been recently changed to “School Car Park – No Parking Mon – Fri”. This means that the car park should not be used for mid-week walks, at least in term time. (Jill and Sue…

Our Group was set up in the 1970’s as a Footpath Group and walks started years later. However the work of volunteers is still very much needed in keeping an eye on our wonderful path network. We need more help, having only 5 volunteers on the committee! If you don’t fancy meetings (just 4 a…