EAST KENT RAMBLING CLUB
NEWSLETTER
November 2015 to February 2016
President
Chairman
Vice Chairman
Treasurer and Membership Secretary
Secretary
Rambles Secretary
Committee Member
Committee Member
Committee Member
Committee Member
Committee Member
Club Website
Email Address
Gordon Sencicle
Derek Ames
Freda Bean
John Burton
Rosemary Burton
Jenny Hardy
Malcolm Attwood
Hazel Baldwin
Peter Basford
Chris Bilyard
Ken Reed
www.eastkentramblingclub.com
ekramblers@gmail.com
01304 366878
01303 265343
01843 863381
01227 765188
01227 765188
01843 221780
01304 364794
01304 823230
01843 604655
01227 766793
01227 451192
Presidents Report
The list of venues from Natural England for public exhibition for the next stage of the Coastal Route
from Whitstable to Iwade, are (2 had gone by the time of this publication) the remaining two are:Ship Inn, Conyer, Sittingbourne, ME9 9HP, 20th October, 5.00 pm - 7.00pm
Seasalter Sailing Club, Marine Terrace, Whitstable CT5 4BW, 4th November, 4.00pm - 6.00pm.
I have repeatedly reported to the KCC local ROW Manager, the state of the partial blockage of the
steps from Maderia Drive to Harbour Parade, Ramsgate. The last time visited was on the 15th of
September. He promised to visit the Café Rokka and speak to the owner, which he has now done.
He copied my reports to the Highway Manager at TDC, together with the photos.
I commented that in spite of encroaching on the path by the Café Rokka owner, his blinds on his
frontage, prevented anyone with a wheel chair, mobility scooter, or pram from using the pavement
in front of the café. They would have to cross over the road to the harbour.
On the last visit, I noticed this had been partially rectified as the blinds at the pinch point, had been
pulled back. I saw only a small mobility scooter get past, and remarkably, a lady emerged from the
steps with a child in a push chair, and was also able to use the pavement.
Unfortunately, although the tables are not encroaching on the path, the blind still is, the illegal
gates are still installed, and the vandalised footpath sign on the lamp post has not been replaced as
Andrew Hutchinson promised. He is saying that he has no authority over the pavement saying this
is a highway matter. I did point out that he has the authority to remove the gates on the steps, and
he agreed. So it is not completely resolved but improved at the moment, I will carry out further
checks.
I have objected to the Solar Farm at Langdon where a Wind Farm was refused in 2009. I wrote a
letter to the local paper, on the basis that these should be erected on retail parks and not on good
quality farm land, and pointing out that this path ER45, was a feeder path to the North Downs Way,
a National Trail, and walkers and visitors would not want to walk adjacent to these enormous areas
of glass. I also said there was contaminated land at the old Pfizer site and also Tilmanstone tip,
where these would not be seen by the public. A Solar Farm is being built along the Sandwich bypass where originally the site was earmarked for fracking.
I attended the Planning committee meeting at Dover District Council in September. The officers
recommended refusal and all eight councillors voted as the officers recommended. Various reasons
were given, some quotes from my objection, and it would have gone against government
guidelines stating that “Good quality agricultural land should not be used if there was an
alternative, and only used as a last resort if nothing else was available.
The solar panels would have been visible when walkers climbed up over Enifer Down towards East
Langdon, were adjacent to an AONB, adjacent to a National trail (the North Downs Way)
One councillor said “With the growing world population, there was no guarantee we would always
be one of the first in line for food”.
Officers stated that there were to be solar farms at the Tilmanstone tip, an application had been
received for some at the old Snowdown Colliery site, adjacent to Richborough and on low grade
land at Marshborough, and an application to put some on the roof of a car scrapping firm at
Sandwich.
Hopefully future applications will be well screened, and away from paths.
Gordon Sencicle.
Upcoming Events
Lionel's Winter Lunch: Wednesday November 25th
The walk starts at Stelling Minnis at 10.30am, arriving back at The Rose and Crown around
12.30pm for lunch at 1pm.
Non-walkers are welcome to join for lunch.
Price: £9.50 for 2 courses, including tea/coffee. Please contact Lesley Attwood on 01304 364794 to
give your menu choices, by November 10th (Limited to 40 people, on a first come first served basis)
Main Course
Steak and Kidney Pie, new potatoes and veg.
Scampi, chips and salad
Chicken Chasseur, new potatoes and veg.
Sausage and Mash, onion gravy and veg.
Vegetable Quiche
Dessert
Apple Crumble
Lemon Meringue Pie
Caramel and Apple Flan
Baileys Cheesecake
New Year Annual Lunch! Wednesday January 13th.
Attached at the end of this Newsletter are full details of the New Year Lunch, to be held at Abbots
Barton Hotel, Canterbury.
A huge thank you to Maggie for organising this once again.
Please follow Maggie's instructions if you wish to attend.
Ebor Way – 2016 – Holiday Update
The holiday arrangements remain unchanged but we have recently spent several days checking out
various aspects of the holiday.
 We checked all of the start and finish points for the 6 sections of the Ebor Way walk, partly
to determine whether coach access is problematic and, for the one day when we may not
have the coach, where suitable bus stops are located and the timings of buses. We are now
confident that travel to and from the walk sections will not be a problem.
 Apart from the start of the walk in Helmsley, we found little waymarking of the route. While
the footpaths themselves are fairly well marked, don’t expect to see a ‘little acorn’ or other
symbol at every turn! For those leading daily walks, map reading skills will be needed.
Some of you have already offered to lead a section of the walk – thank you – if anyone else
would like to do so, please let us know.
 We explored some shorter walks for those not wishing to undertake the 12 mile Ebor
sections and will make proposals in due course.
 We gathered a lot of information on various points of interest in York and elsewhere along
the Ebor route.
 We visited the hotel and spent about half an hour with the proprietor / manager who was
very pleasant. Being only about 15 / 20 minutes’ walk from the centre of York, the hotel is
‘compact’ and does not have large circulation areas as we experienced on the Isle of Wight
but the bar and lounge area will meet our needs.
o We will occupy about half of the hotel rooms. Since our initial enquiry and
provisional booking the York Race Course programme been finalised and it overlaps
with our visit – that is why the rest of the hotel was quickly filled and we cannot
expect any additional rooms to be released for us. This also means there is another
near-by attraction for the non-walkers!
o The dining room is set with tables for 2 and 4 (there may be scope to group a few
together) and we will be encouraged to not arrive in the dining room ‘en masse’,
evening meals are served from 6.00 till 8.30. Menus are set on the day and there is
no need to pre-order your evening meal at breakfast time!
o There is a lounge area with just about enough seating for us all and we are welcome
to use it.
o There are bus stops, in both directions, immediately outside the hotel
 We found a suitable location in Ilkley for a celebratory cup of tea (or something stronger)
close to the end of the walk and a suitable coach pick up point!
 As previously indicated, those going on the holiday will be contacted again in early February
and the balance of the cost is due by 22 February.
John and Rosemary Burton
East Kent Ramblers/ Les Amis des Sentiers of Boulogne - 33rd Exchange Visit - Report.
Saturday morning 5th September dawned bright and sunny and saw ten keen ramblers gathered at
Dover Eastern Docks at some unearthly hour when respectable people should still be in bed.
Though we were booked on the 08.25 ferry the powers that be insisted on everyone getting there
an hour earlier to be properly processed and scanned before boarding.
The crossing was calm and we docked on time in Calais about 90 minutes later to be greeted by
our French friends. When we'd sorted out who was who, we were taken by car to the gîte called
'Le Reposoir', at Wimille, arriving at 11 o'clock. (12 o'clock French time as they are an hour in
front) After a copious cold buffet we went a short way by car to visit the Fort de la Crèche atop the
cliffs, of great historic interest if a bit draughty, and we got a commentary in English too. This was
followed by a short walk near Boulogne to check that Napoleon was still perched securely on his
column, glowering across at 'les anglais' He was! The second part of the walk was cold and windy
though, and we got quite wet. After returning to our hosts' houses to freshen up we sat down to
an evening meal back at Le Reposoir at 8. This lasted through several courses as they do, and some
of us were struggling to keep our eyes open by the time coffee came.
Sunday morning was bright with a cold north wind when we met at 9 am at a car park at les Deux
Caps for a 15km walk along the cliffs and through dunes. The views of the English cliffs were
stunning, as were the bays and golden sands we passed en route. Later on the weather bucked up,
the cold wind dropped and it was a fine summer's day as we finished the walk. Then back again to
a welcome buffet at Le Reposoir in the afternoon, until all too soon it was time for protracted
goodbyes and our hosts took us back to Calais in plenty of time for the ferry. The boat was
crowded but the crossing smooth and we were back in Dover about 7.30 English time.
A year to plan how to receive the French next year with the same hospitality they extended to us!
John Pitcher
The Committee would like to extend their sincere thanks to John for all the organisation this year.
Walks and leaders.
The next Walks Programme has a variety of walks, in both length and starting venues. Something
for everyone it is hoped.
However, new leaders with new ideas are always welcomed. Please do not hesitate... have a go....
seek assistance from any of the current regular leaders if necessary.
If you are one of the many members who used to lead walks but for whatever reason are no longer
able to.... if you have details of walks which you would be willing to give to someone else to follow
now, please pass them on, via any committee member. There are areas of East Kent that are not
being explored at present, out there waiting for us to enjoy!
Sad News.
Members will be saddened to learn of the death of Peggy Wilkes, who passed away on the 9 th of
September. Peggy will be remembered as a long standing member of the club, and a very popular
leader of many walks and organiser of club walking weekends.
Our sincere condolences go out to her family and friends.
Roger King’s Rights Of Way Report (For more information contact Roger on 01304 362730 or by email at roger@rambler89.wanadoo.co.uk)
KCC General News
At long last, the computer discs containing sheets of the new (May 2013) Definitive Map of Public
Rights of Way have reached the larger public libraries. However, there has been a major technology
failure, in that the online facility for reporting path problems has been without a map, and thus
useless, since the summer! So until further notice we are asked to report problems encountered
on paths via KCC’s Brabourne PROW office e-mail address eastprow@kent.gov.uk Although KCC
have given it almost no publicity, a new Explore Kent website (Google these words to find it) has
been produced, with material reminiscent of the less cash-strapped days of their glossy
Countryside Access magazine. It’s worth a look. There has been another Cropping Campaign this
summer, targeted on landowners with a less than good record in restoring paths. The final results
show that a total of 133 paths were checked, with only 58% passing first time. All were eventually
reinstated. This has led to some formal enforcement notices being issued to landowners – which
certainly had an effect on the problem paths in Guston – and direct action was taken by KCC to
remedy the situation in two cases. Some progress has also been made with blocked or impossible
to follow paths, notably in waymarking the path across Canterbury Golf Course south-west of
Fordwich. But KCC still report over 700 “long-term obstructions”, which will keep them busy for a
while yet, since only 280 have been resolved since the list was created in around 2009.
Footpath Vegetation Clearance
KCC’s contractors have done a satisfactory job in summer 2015. Inspection results (a sample 14% of
all paths were checked by KCC Countryside Access Wardens) were similar to last year, with 90%
meeting the required standard and only 3% unacceptable. The paths to be cut in 2016 will be
reviewed in the light of this year’s feedback. Meanwhile, Ramblers Association volunteers are
active countywide, and achieving even more now KCC have purchased six new motorised
brushcutters and organised training for operators. In East Kent, the White Cliffs group have been
particularly active, and were featured by BBC TV South-East in July, at work on a path just east of
Duckpit Lane, close to Ansdore in Waltham parish. If you would like to join them (or a group closer
to home) at any time, please contact co-ordinator Averil Brice on 01303 892252.
Coastal Access Routes
 Ramsgate to Folkestone. The new flood defence works in the Sandwich area are now complete, and footpath ES1 from near Sandwich Quay along the Stour to the New Downs Farm
sluice is open again at last. Now the sections of route not previously having PROW status
need to be prepared, and access rights and “spreading room” established. Target opening:
the second quarter of 2016.
 Folkestone to Camber. In September the Secretary of State agreed the final route, so after
the preparation work mentioned above, the path should be open no later than autumn
2016.
 Ramsgate to Whitstable. The Secretary of State is currently considering the report regarding the final route. A decision is expected before Christmas, with the path opening by the
end of next year.
 Whitstable to Iwade. Initial surveying has begun, contact made with various interested parties, and open meetings held locally for the public. All being well, this stretch will be
opened in 2017.
Condition of the North Downs Way north of Dover
Work on repairing the surface of the still-closed byway section between Dover town and the A2 is
currently under way, and reopening will take place later this year. The condition of the already
reopened byways north of the A2 will be monitored during the winter. Seasonal closure to prevent
further surface damage by 4x4 vehicles is being considered as a future option.
Applications for solar and wind farms
Wind farms – the proposal for nine turbines on Chislet Marshes has been withdrawn due to local
opposition. Meanwhile the appeals re turbines at Knowlton (Eastry parish) and Barville Farm,
Tilmanstone, are ongoing.
Solar Farms - the proposed farm between East Langdon and Pineham has just been refused by
Dover DC. Other proposals: near Sellindge, at Nackington and between Aylesham and Snowdown
(which may be replaced by a new proposed development on the Snowdown Colliery site) are
ongoing
Public Enquiry into the proposed upgrading of AE429 to byway open to all traffic status - at Chilham Village Hall, beginning Tuesday 24 November
This existing 1.2 mile route, from the Chartham boundary, across Juliberrie Downs, and then south
in the direction of Godmersham, is being claimed by the 4x4 fraternity as a byway open to all traffic, against the wishes of KCC. As this is part of a recently-created and very well received off-road
cycle route, most people are very much against any change, as experience shows that the new surface for cyclists (let alone for walkers) is likely to be destroyed. But in such cases historical/user evidence are normally deciding factors.
East Kent Rambling Club
Maggie Lee
1 The Ridlands
South Canterbury Road
Canterbury
Kent
CT1 3LJ
Tel: 01227 379105
E-mail:maggielee194@gmail.com
October 2015
Dear Members
New Year Annual Lunch, Wednesday 13 January 2016
Best Western-Abbots Barton Hotel,
36 New Dover Road, Canterbury. CT1 3DU
We are trying a new venue!
The price is £14.50 per person and, as you’ll see overleaf, there’s a good choice of dishes with tea
or coffee to follow the meal. This price does not include a tip for the waiting staff.
We hope to see you at the lunch.
Best wishes,
Maggie Lee
East Kent Rambling Club - New Year Lunch 2016
Wednesday 13 January 2016
Starter
Leek & Potato Soup (V & Dairy free))
with a crusty bread roll
12.30 for 1.00pm
Tomato & Mozzarella with basil oil & rocket
£14.50 each
Main Course
Roast Chicken Breast
with oyster mushroom & white sauce
Best Western-Abbots Barton Hotel
36 New Dover Road, Canterbury CT1 3DU
Baked Salmon Supreme with herb cream
sauce
Complete the form below and send to:
Goats Cheese Tart with red onion chutney (V)
Maggie Lee,
1 The Ridlands,
South Canterbury Road,
Canterbury,
Kent
CT1 3LJ
Tel: 01227 379105
(All above served with vegetables)
Dessert
Eton Mess with strawberry syrup
Dark Chocolate Brownie with chanchilly
cream
Cheques payable to East Kent Rambling Club
Tea or Coffee to follow
Make your menu choices.
Cut off the reply form
Return to Maggie Lee by 1 December at the latest.
Cheques payable to: East Kent Rambling Club
Name:
Starter
Main Course
Dessert
Leek & Potato Soup
Chicken Breast
Eton Mess
Brownie
Tomato & Mozzarella
Baked Salmon
Goats Cheese Tart (V)
Name:
Starter
Main Course
Dessert
Leek & Potato Soup
Chicken Breast
Eton Mess
Tomato & Mozzarella
Baked Salmon
Brownie
Goats Cheese Tart (V)
Choose your menu, cut off the reply form along the dotted line and send with your cheque to
Maggie Lee (address as above) asap, but no later than 1 December 2015 Make cheques payable to
East Kent Rambling Club (not to M. Lee)