Taunton Deane Ramblers
WINTER
NEWSLETTER 29
1st December 2012 – 31st March 2013
www.tauntonramblers.org.uk
www.tauntonramblers.org.uk
Chairman’s Chat
Oh, what hopes we all had for a good summer when I last wrote in this newsletter ! Soggy Sunday was followed
by wet Wednesday, and even a flooded Friday !
On a Dorset walk when it actually remained dry all day, one of our veteran walkers (apologies Ken!) actually got
stuck in the mud, and needed help to be released !
Inclement weather has meant that numbers on walks have suffered, and for some walk leaders this may be a
discouragement to volunteer to lead in future.
Please don’t be put off. Let me clearly say a big thank you to all those who Neil, Peter, Davina and Mike have
persuaded to join our “ranks” as walk leaders.
A led walk is never quite the same as a walk recced, as, apart from concentrating on the route, you have the
needs of the other walkers to consider. Not everyone can or wants to walk at a brisk pace especially when the
walk throws up unexpected interests, and some do need longer than others to recover after the exertions of a
long hill climb. The keynote is maximum enjoyment, even if it does take longer than you as leader expected !
At the end of a good walk there’s nothing like the gratitude of the walkers to act as a spur to lead another !
Returning to numbers, I had just one walker on my first midweek walk for the group back in 1993; a few years
later 47 turned up !
Looking ahead, June 2013 sees the twentieth anniversary of Taunton Deane Ramblers ,and it would go amiss
not to celebrate this milestone. I’ve mentioned this anniversary on a couple of walks, and most agree the
occasion should be marked, but how ? Please put on your thinking caps and let me or a committee member
know what you would like to see on a special day, or special days, in June 2013.
Happy Walking,
John Ollerenshaw
The August-November Programme is delivered with this newsletter in its usual “A5 folded booklet format”. It is also
available in A4 format as an email attachment. To get a copy please contact, by email, the Programme Secretary on
neil.parker30@gmail.com who will be happy to send you one. We would appreciate your comments regarding the
two different formats now available.
NP
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Friday 30th November 2012 at 7.30 p.m
at the Meeting Room, Taunton Library,
Paul St. There will be a free draw for
three prizes for those attending.
Followed by a Quiz and Refreshments.
CHRISTMAS DINNER
Friday 14th December 2012 at 7.00 for
7.30 p.m. at the Merry Monk, Monkton
Heathfield. £14.95 per head for two
courses (main and dessert). Followed
by coffee or tea and Mike’s Prize Quiz.
Numbers are limited, so please contact
Mike Whitmore early.
POST CHRISTMAS LUNCH
Sunday 6th January 2013 at 14:00
at the Hyde Park Restaurant, Taunton Rugby Club, Hyde Lane,
Bathpool £11.50 per head for 2 courses (carvery and dessert) plus
coffee/tea. Book early by completing the enclosed proforma.
There will also be a Walk of approx 7 miles before the meal see the programme for details.
If you would like a new venue for 2014, Anne would appreciate your ideas; the venue needs to hold 70+ people.
QUIZ NIGHT
Friday 15th March 2013 at 19:00 at the Nags Head Tavern,
Thornfalcon. Dave Patten and Anne Derbe will be quiz masters.
There will be a buffet for the cost of £6. Teams of four people.
Please join us for a night of fun with a difference.
For further details contact Anne Derbe.
Book early by completing the enclosed proforma.
TAUNTON DEANE RAMBLERS --- SECRETARY --- URGENTLY NEEDED
Can you spend roughly one hour a week on Rambler business ?
Are you computer literate and have internet access ?
Do you want to help your group ?
Then please contact the chairman or speak to a committee member –now !
Please note that under Rambler constitution the group must have a secretary in order to operate
Our Twentieth Anniversary !
June 2013 marks our twentieth birthday as a rambling group, and we really would like your ideas how to
celebrate this occasion.
One suggestion already has been for a coach trip to a beauty spot, walk, tea, and maybe a stop for fish and
chips on the return journey. Another is to lay on a week of walks, the highlight of which would be bring-andshare picnic lunches; I do see a great opportunity to get rid of those out-of-date bags of crisps here !! Another
idea would be a walk with a BBQ venue; here we might need a kind volunteer.
Whatever the idea, we would to hear your views, so please contact the chairman or speak to a committee
member over the next few weeks. It will need to go in the next programme, so we must have it sorted by the
end of February.
Training Day
Many thanks to those members who did return their slips for this proposed event. Unfortunately, as too few
people responded to this free offer of a free lunch and tuition ,it was not practicable to hire a hall and proceed.
Should a few of you decide that this would be worthwhile in the future then do let us know as soon as
possible, as I would be delighted to organise such a useful, practical event, and are looking at the evening of
Friday 1st February as a possible date
JO
A DATE FOR YOUR DIARY
RAMBLING IN SOMERSET
Somerset Area Holiday 2013
If you haven’t bought a copy yet they can be
obtained from John Ollerenshaw, Olive
Cottage, Langley Marsh, Wiveliscombe, TA4
2UJ. Just send a cheque made out to Taunton
Deane Ramblers for £7 which includes the cost
of post and packing. Alternatively, many walk
leaders will have a copy for sale at the cover
price of £6.50 if you ask them.
Following the great success of
the 2012 event at Symonds
Yat, the next Area holiday is
6th to 9th September 2013,
again at Symonds Yat.
Please contact Roger Conway
(rogertherambler@gmail.com
and 01823 270754) for more
details.
Sales have now passed 1100 - a cause for
celebration.
The Exmoor walk on 5th October where
an unexpectedly flooded stream proved
a bit of a problem.
I’ve just bought a Flanders & Swann CD;
this song seems appropriate for 2012:
A Song of the Weather
January brings the snow,
Makes your feet and fingers glow.
February's ice and sleet
Freeze the toes right off your feet.
Welcome March with wintry wind
Would thou wert not so unkind!
April brings the sweet spring showers,
On and on for hours and hours.
Farmers fear unkindly May
Frost by night and hail by day.
June just rains and never stops
Thirty days and spoils the crops.
In July the sun is hot.
Is it shining? No, it's not.
August, cold and dank and wet,
Brings more rain than any yet.
Bleak September's mist and mud
Is enough to chill the blood.
Then October adds a gale,
Wind and slush and rain and hail.
Dark November brings the fog
Should not do it to a dog.
Freezing wet December, then
Bloody January again!
NP
“Go for Gold” with Gillian and Sandy
on Wednesday 5th December.
WALK LEADERS NEEDED
When your committee met in mid-October to finalize the programme there were still two blank Wednesdays and
two blank Sunday long walks. The gaps have been filled by members of the committee, not an ideal situation.
It was thought that should a similar situation obtain when putting the April-July programme together then the
blanks would be filled simply with “no walk arranged”. Consideration was also given to the possibility of some
walks being scheduled on a fortnightly basis. In essence: No walk leaders = No walks.
So do please come forward when we start to assemble the next programme. Most particularly we would very
much welcome brand new walk leaders (it is not at all difficult). Please contact the appropriate walk leader,
whose email addresses and telephone numbers are to be found on the front of the programme.
Neil Parker
✄ ==============================================================================
Please send separate cheques for each of these two events
Please make cheques payable to: Taunton Deane Ramblers
✄ ==============================================================================
Post
Christmas
Lunch
Sunday 6th January 2013
at 13:40 for 14:00 at the Hyde Park Restaurant, Taunton Rugby Club, Hyde Lane, Bathpool
There will also be a Walk of approx 7 miles before the meal - see the programme for details
£11.50 per head for 2 courses (carvery and dessert) plus coffee/tea.
Please send this form with your cheque (by 10th December) to
Anne Derbe at 35 Laurel Close, Taunton TA1 2QH.
I/We would like to book seats for the post-Christmas Lunch at £11.50 per head
I enclose a cheque for £ . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Name(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Telephone No. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
✄ ==============================================================================
Quiz
Night
Friday 15th March 2013 at 19:00
at the Nags Head Tavern, Thornfalcon. There will be a buffet for the cost of £6.00 per head.
Dave Patten and Anne Derbe will be quiz masters.
Teams of four people. Please join us for a night of fun with a difference.
Please send this form with your cheque (by 1st March) to
Anne Derbe at 35 Laurel Close, Taunton TA1 2QH.
I/we would like to book seats for the Quiz Night at £6.00 per head
I enclose a cheque for £ . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Name(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Telephone No. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Please delete where inapplicable:
 I/we have organized a team of four in conjunction with . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
 I/we would appreciate it if you could arrange that I/we link with others to form a team of four.