They also have a strong social element with everything from afternoon teas to curry nights. To ensure that Ramblers members have real ownership of what we do locally, each group is run by a committee that is elected annually.
We divide the country into over 50 areas broadly coinciding with a county or regional boundary. Area volunteers help support and coordinate the work of the groups in delivering our mission. For example they help identify what funds groups need and encourage groups to try out new things. Many area volunteers are delegates from the constituent groups which helps to make sure that groups feel part of the wider organisation.
In England and Wales areas play a pivotal role in coordinating volunteers who work to protect paths and increase access to the countryside. For example, an area will have volunteers inspecting footpaths in each parish and will then liaise with the relevant highway authority to get problems solved.
Areas play a key role in communicating our work. They provide a first point of contact for the Ramblers with local government, other local charities and the local offices of national bodies such as Natural England. Areas elect delegates to attend our annual general council, which in turn elects the board of trustees who run the organisation on behalf of members. General council also holds the trustees to account, approves the annual report and accounts and provides guidance.
It is also the ultimate authority for changes to our constitution. There are also numerous other paths open to the public.
These include towpaths along canals, off-road multi-user paths created as part of cycle networks, and permissive paths, where the owner has given permission to the public to use the path.
In addition to rights of way, where you only have a right to walk along the path itself, there are over 1. This land is mainly open country: mountain over m , moor, heath, down and common land. The exact areas covered are shown on official maps, and may be signed on the ground with a special access symbol.
Access land can sometimes be closed for short periods. Many other areas of land are open by permission or policy of the owner, or because of other agreements and arrangements, including parks, country parks and nature reserves managed for public access and recreation, woodlands managed by the Forestry Commission the state forestry agency and much land managed by conservation charities such as the National Trust, Woodland Trust, John Muir Trust, Wildlife Trusts and RSPB.
For example you should avoid walking across growing crops when there is a route around the field or across sports pitches when they are in use, and obey advisory signs asking you to avoid certain areas at certain times for land management, safety or conservation reasons. Responsible behaviour is defined in the Scottish Outdoor Access Code. Access rights apply not only to walkers but to other non-motorised users on land and water, such as cyclists, horse riders and canoeists.
Rights of way exist in Scotland, and you also have a right to walk on other paths and tracks. ScotWays the Scottish Rights of Way and Access Society keeps a catalogue of rights of way, signs many of them and maps and describes the major rural routes in its publication Scottish Hill Tracks.
There are now many hundreds of recognised trails, which have largely been created out of the existing network of rights of way and access areas.
However many different agencies are responsible for creating, maintaining and promoting them, with no central coordination, so standards vary and information is sometimes difficult to obtain. National Trails, the best maintained and publicised trails in England and Wales, have special legal status and receive funding from central government agencies. They are signed with an acorn logo. In Scotland, Ramblers campaigning contributed to the establishment of the Countryside Commission for Scotland in We also campaigned to secure public access to the coast in Wales and England.
Wales announced official plans for a coastal path in and Ramblers Cymru celebrated the opening of the Wales Coastal path in May with the Big Welsh Coastal Walk. Our One Coast For All campaign contributed to the passage of the Marine and Coastal Access Act in , which called on government to create a path around the entire coast of England.
The first section of the England Coastal path opened in Weymouth in June The work, however, is far from finished. The campaign persuaded government to rethink their plans and continues to advocate for increased access to woodlands. The Campaign for National Trails is currently fighting to save National Trails in England from government plans that would threaten their quality. In addition, Ramblers volunteers, members and staff work together on a daily basis to fight smaller battles to protect and expand our footpath network.
Promoting walking has always been at the heart of our mission and since the beginning volunteers have led walks for fellow Ramblers members and the public. In the s however, it became clear to us that walking was becoming an increasingly specialised hobby, and that we needed to strive to ensure that everybody had an opportunity to enjoy walking.
In particular, we wanted to encourage walking as healthy exercise. Since then we - often in partnership with government, local authorities, and community groups - have reached out to non-walkers to help them take up walking. These programmes rely on a large contingent of volunteers who lead walks all over Britain.
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