Volunteer Wardens required to protect ‘Leicestershire Round’
Flower of the month
The Leicestershire Round was devised in 1987 by our members to celebrate what was then thought to be the Association’s centenary year.
Supported by the Leicestershire County Council, the 100 mile circular route passes through some of the most scenic areas of Leicestershire and Rutland and is arguably the premier walking route in the county that is popular, frequently walked and well signposted.
To help preserve and maintain the ease of passage of “The Round” we seek volunteers to adopt a section of the route and act as wardens. It is anticipated that the warden would check their section once or twice a year, clearing gateways and stiles, replacing signage where necessary and reporting any obstructions or damage.
Response to this project has been very good, the only section remaining is Shackerstone to Nailstone 3.5 miles so if you can help please contact David W on 01664 812510. There may be other sections that could be shared so please come forward if you would like to help.
2013 Annual General Meeting
This took place at the long standing and excellent premises of the Baptist church at Woodhouse Eaves on Saturday 23rd February. There were seventy six present and the formal meeting went smoothly. Jane D was thanked for her four year term as Treasurer and Dave R takes over so please make sure your subs, if still due, go to Dave. We didn’t get a volunteer to fill the vacant committee place and Clive and Chris will be standing down next year. The press gang will be out! Gerald P then gave an interesting illustrated talk on the Woodland Trust and the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Wood at Ravenstone to which LFA donated £1,000 last year. The Trust now has over 1,000 woods, the vast majority open to the public. Prized are the mature woods over 400 years old and the jewel in the crown is Hackfall Wood in Yorkshire. The Trust was started in Devon in 1972 and now has over 200,000 members. Lunch as always was excellent, thanks to Judy S and her WI helpers. There was officially a long and short walk, both well attended plus an informal grouping taking a shorter stroll. General comment is that all went well. Thanks to everyone who attended and made the day a success.
Lost Ways (Paths, used or unused, not shown on the Definitive Map)
There are potentially 400 Lost Ways in Leicestershire. Past experience of researching claimed rights of way suggests around 80 might reasonably be identified as worthy of preserving. The remainder would either have insufficient historical evidence or offer little in terms of public benefit.
A project promoted by the Leicestershire Local Access Forum aims to identify historical routes which are strategically important or missing links in the rights of way network and to have them safeguarded for the public benefit before the cut off date of 2026. Any routes which are subject to an outstanding application for addition to the Definitive Map by means of a Definitive Map Modification Order (DMMO) are automatically safeguarded from extinguishment after 2026. The County Council has more than 30 Definitive Map Modification Order (DMMO) applications awaiting determination and usually is processing around 60 public path orders. In addition to this, there are nearly 2,000 mapping anomalies which have been identified. This later figure includes the potential 400 “lost ways”.
Leicestershire County Council has made a commitment to develop and approve formally a priority system for dealing with DMMOs.
Each application will be evaluated in terms of the following criteria:
Will the route be well used and of public benefit?
Does the case have local community support?
How achievable is the proposal?
How does the route fit into the surrounding network?
Other Issues (e.g. hardship, outstanding legal action)
Health & Safety Issues
Date application received
Cases can then be listed in order to be dealt with. Low score cases will be held in abeyance or even closed if no further action is warranted.
For more information visit: http://www.leics.gov.uk/index/environment/countryside/paths/laf.htm
Did you know?
Following the circulation of the Annual Report, a member contacted me concerning the relevance of numbers allocated to rights of way.
The reference numbers were first allocated when the Definitive Maps were being complied in the early 1950s. The sequence starts with A1 which is a part footpath part bridleway stretching from Husbands Bosworth north towards Mowsley. Initially routes were numbered from 1 to 99, and then the next letter of the alphabet was used, so the numbers proceeded A1-A99, B1-B99, in an anti-clockwise sequence round the County. So Z99 is a footpath in the parish of Saddington. In the Wreake valley area of Hoby and Rotherby, the letter H precedes the number of each recorded footpath. Just to the west of the church at Rotherby, H52 proceeds northwards to the river Wreake and then onto Hoby.
Subsequently some routes were added to the Definitive Map as a result of a series of Tribunals and these are usually indicated by a suffix. A whole series of added paths in Great Dalby were numbered D98A – D98N. Newer rights of way have been added by using numbers from 100. Numbers on the eastern edge of Leicestershire are in the E series so, when Rutland became part of Leicestershire in 1974, all routes in Rutland were numbered in the E series from E101 to E357. Rutland retained this numbering system when it again became a separate County in 1997.
The numbering system is important when a legal event occurs, such as the diversion, creation or stopping up of a right of way in whole or part. The right of way must be correctly identified and is written into the order applied for, you may have noticed in local newspapers advertisements to this effect. The County Council, District Councils and some Parish Councils have copies of the definitive map which are open to the public for inspection.
Brian J & Andrew P
Is Tuesday a good day to walk ? asks Neil B
Those of us who walk on Tuesdays often say we are lucky with the weather. Even in 2012 rainwear was not often required. There has been research carried out by the London School of Economics into the best activities for each day of the week.
Wednesday is best for shopping (the shops are emptier).
Friday is the best for putting your house on the market, giving up smoking and having a thrifty wedding.
Sunday is the best day to get high bids on e-bay.
Saturday and Monday don’t have any benefits.
Tuesday is best for eating out (avoiding fish that’s been hanging about over the weekend), and best for a barbecue (statistically the driest).
I will leave you to find out what Thursday is best for, but it’s not walking. So, it seems our intuition is right.
We now have our very own Facebook page which can be found at:- http://www.facebook.com/pages/Leicestershire-Footpath-Association-LFA/135219046636175?ref=ts&fref=ts
Why not join us by clicking on the ‘Like’ button and leave us your comments, suggestions, or maybe even a photograph or two? Then encourage your friends to ‘Like’ our page and we can generate more interest in the LFA and gain some new members.
You can keep up to date with what’s happening in the LFA and elsewhere, plus the latest news from our website. You will also find links to other pages that may be of interest, such as LOROS, Walking For Health and The Leicestershire Round (walking & running pages). Check out our Next Week’s Walks feature. We will include times and venues plus any additional information you might need, including any last minute changes forced upon us.
There is of course a link to our website, should you need more information and there is a Facebook link on the website, so that you can return to Facebook if you wish to do so.
You might think some of this information is already available on our website, which is quite true, but with the Facebook page we are hoping to reach a younger and wider audience and at the same time include new and fresh content that adds value to the information already available, albeit in a slightly different form.
Walking Treasurer Hunt Sunday 23rd June 2013 – Glen Parva
From Glen Parva Manor starts 2.30pm Tickets £7.50 pp includes main course meal at The Manor. Meal at 5pm after the treasure hunt (with prizes). Walking route about 3 miles. Teams of 2 to 4 people, teams can be arranged on the day. Tickets on LFA walks or phone Mike R (0116 2331519) Proceeds for Faraja Support www.farajasupport.org.uk
LFA Quiz Night Sat. 6th April 7pm start
Black Horse 12 Narrow Lane, Aylestone Tickets £7.50 (includes food) available from walking organiser’s or Steve K (Tel 01455 272196 or Text 0777 3928008)