Home › News › May 2009

May 2009

News, May 2009

The bluebells are out already and may they inspire you to go out walking in the month of May!

Summer programme

The SURG Summer programme will be out at the beginning of June. The summer is a great time for walking and socialising and hopefully this will be a lovely sunny summer in the UK (unlike the past two years!), so let's make this our best programme yet. There are still plenty of gaps so please come forward and lead a walk or social event. If you need advice please contact our Walks Secretaries or Social Secretary.

Please use the Walks and Socials submission form when submitting your walks. The programme covers walks or socials from 8 June to 6 September, and the deadline for submissions is Sunday 11 May.

Annual SURG Summer Barbecue

This popular event will be held this year on Saturday 1 August, and we're looking for volunteers help with planning the event and helping out on the day. If you're keen and would like to find out what it involves please contact Paul, SURG Social Secretary.

Changing your contact details?

If your personal details change you can notify the Ramblers' central office via the Ramblers' website. Please also send your new details to Carolyn, our Membership Secretary, as sometimes there is a delay in our receiving your updated details from central office.

South Downs National Park update

SURG joined the South Downs Campaign early last year and thank you to all our members who signed the paper or online petitions.
At the end of March the Government announced that a South Downs National Park should be created and that it should include the Western Weald, Ditchling and Lewes. The Secretary of State, Hilary Benn, is consulting on six possible further additions to the National Park, the largest of which is Alice Holt Forest, which means that the final boundary will not be confirmed until later in the year. A National Park Authority is then expected to be up and running by April 2011.
For more information (and to see Bill Bryson handing over a giant postcard) see the South Downs Campaign website

SURG at the Old Coulsdon Fair

SURG has been invited to once again join the Croydon Ramblers Group at the Old Couldson Rotary Fair on Saturday 4 July.
Would you like to give up a couple of hours of your time to help hand out SURG leaflets to the public? It is a fun day with lots of stalls and hopefully the sun will shine again this year. If you're interested in helping with this year's event please contact the Chair.

Walks tips: Finding the start of the walk

Missing a walk you'd like to do because you couldn't find the start in time can be very frustrating, so here's a few tips to help you avoid disappointment on the day:

  • Read the programme carefully and plan ahead.
  • If the walk starts at a station, make sure you're going to the correct one. If there is more than one station with the same or similar name, we usually try and highlight this on the programme.
  • If the walk starts at a car park, take a look on a map to see exactly where it is. The walks programme includes a link to a map of the start point, or you can go to www.multimap.com and type in the grid reference of the starting point.
  • If you're still not sure where the walk will start, you can contact the walk leader or walks secretaries in advance of the walk. Please note that if you email anyone on the committee about a walk, you may not get an immediate response as we all have full-time jobs. You can also phone the walk leader, but bear in mind that if you phone on the day of the walk there may not be a signal in the area where the walk is taking place.

Then, of course, make sure you leave plenty of time on the day to get to the start, put your boots on, fill in the attendance form etc and then most of all, enjoy the walk!