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February 2009

Spring programme

Planning is well underway for the Spring programme, which will cover walks and socials for March to early June. We had a great turnout at the Walks and Socials Planning Evening in Leatherhead, but there are still some gaps on the programme waiting to be filled with more walks and socials.
Please send in as many walks as possible so we can have a great programme for everyone to enjoy. It'll be spring and the sun will be shining (hopefully!), and if you put on a walk in your local area you won't have far to travel. And knowing that others will be there to join you means that you'll have to get out and do some exercise!
You'll find details of how to send your walks on our 'walk leaders' page. The Spring programme will be published at the beginning of March and the deadline is Sunday 8th February, so don't delay!

Members' area password

Please note that the password for the members' pages will be changing for the Spring programme. The password is always printed on the front page of your programme, and remember that it is case sensitive (lower case with no capitals).

Are you approaching the big '40'?

It's a fact of life that we're getting older every day. But if you've reached 40 don't despair, because there is life after SURG! Our sister group, SAWW (Surrey Area Weekend Walkers), is a very successful group with a great range of activities aimed at people between 35 and 55 years of age. SURG has regular joint walks with SAWW and there is a SAWW walk on Valentine's Day which any of our members are welcome to attend.

  • To find out more about SAWW, e-mail their membership secretary, Pearl (saww_enquiries@hotmail.com) and she'll send you their programme.
  • To transfer your group membership to SAWW, visit the Ramblers' website and use the Request a change option to switch groups
  • If you transfer, please email the SURG membership secretary too, and let us know if you'd like to keep receiving the SURG programme while you make the transition

Christmas Party weekend 2008 report

By Sarah Scutt and Steve Rumbold
2008 saw the SURG Christmas party weekend return to Burley Youth Hostel in the New Forest where the very first SURG Christmas party weekend was held in 2002. We arrived on the Friday evening to a festively decorated hostel and some scrumptious mulled wine and mince pies, then spent the evening socializing, pondering the photo competition and the quiz, and making nominations for the SURG awards for the best walks and socials of 2008.
Saturday's walks set off from the hostel in cold but sunny weather, walking over moorland and through forest. Numerous deer were spotted along the way, and the short walkers spied a cattle egret whereas near the end of the long walk people made the most of an opportunity to study the bio-diversity of a New Forest bog!
On Saturday evening we all headed to the Queen's Head in Burley village who did us proud with a lovely candlelit Christmas dinner with all the trimmings. Back at the hostel it was time for the evening's entertainment. Santa arrived to dish out the secret Santa presents (minus an elf this year due to the credit crunch!), and the winners of the SURG awards were presented with their prizes After the entertainment it was party time, and the ever-popular beer club, a delicious Christmas cake and a fabulous selection of cheeses kept most of us going until the early hours of Sunday morning.
Sunday dawned another bright day (a bit too bright for some!) and everyone pulled together to take down the decorations, scrape the thick ice off the cars and get the hostel ship-shape before heading off. Many thanks to everyone who came along and made the event such a success and an extra special thanks to all the many helpers. (And thank you from SURG to Sarah and Steve for doing such a fantastic job in organising this event.)

Christmas Party Weekend 2009

It sounds a very long way off but we've already booked Margate Youth Hostel as the venue for this year's Christmas Party weekend. If you're keen to play a part in organising this very popular weekend away, please contact Paul, our Social Secretary.

Summer Barbecue 2009

We are also planning the next Summer Barbecue, which will once again be held at Ripley in early August. For the last three years the BBQ has been successfully organised by Neil and Sarah, but they deserve a rest so we're looking for one or two volunteers to organise this year's event. Neil is happy to assist anyone who is keen to run this fun and popular even, so don't be shy! Please contact Paul, our Social Secretary if you're interested.