CRC newsletter: January 2002: news

Club Tithe
The committee will be allocating this at our next meeting. We have already received some ideas, but if there any other people or organisations that you are involved with, who you feel would benefit, please send details to Julie by Feb 15th 2002. Thanks.

Prayer Diary
I hope you will find these suggestion for prayer useful, together with the scripture verses. If you have any suggestions for prayer please email me. Remember it is your prayer diary and it would be good to hear from other members rather than just my suggestions.

Please pray		Scripture Psalm 24
week 1	For the inauguration of the new hostel booking sytem and its success with members	v 1
week 2	Continue to pray for those who lost loved ones due to the acts of terrorism. Pray that those responsible for such acts will be brought to justice	v 2
week 3	The Leicester/ Rugby group	v 3
week 4	For all walk leaders, for strength, wisdom and guidance	v 4
week 5	Edale weekend	v 5
week 6	The prime minister, government and others in prominent positions	v 6
week 7	Give thanks for the springtime, for new birth and fresh opportunities	v 7
week 8	The London group	v 8
week 9	The Queen and her family	v 9
week 10	The Easter Weekend	v 10
week 11	The national committee, give thanks for their hard work	v 11

Annual General Meeting (AGM) Notification
It is usual in this newsletter to give notice of the AGM, which will be in May. All the committee posts will become vacant, and there is a possibility that only three current members will be able to stand for re-election. We are very grateful to those who have helped us through the year with various tasks, but in order for the Club to continue to function fully, we do need folk who would be willing to do that bit extra and take up a committee post. We have three official meetings a year and various telephone conversations in-between. Please do pray both for the Club, and whether you could help in this way, or in any other. If you would like more information, please contact Julie or any of the committee.

Congratulations
To the following couples who have married recently
Dorcas Semple and Andrew Hanson
Sarah Dixon and Richard Perry
Pat Mead and David Biddle
Joan Kinnings and Nigel Smith
Julie Tejevo and Bill Croydon

New Long Distance Paths
The "Sandling Walk" was formally opened this autumn - a 60 mile walk from Ipswich to Southwold on the Suffolk coast, passing through heaths and woodlands. A detailed book of maps is available from the Sandlings Project Manager tel: 01394 388431 (Price £4.70).

For world-class ramblers the Te Araroa national walk is being established to offer a walk along the entire length of New Zealand's combined North and South Islands. The walk route is expected to be fully constructed by the year 2005, and the project is being assisted by a hefty grant from the New Zealand government. The route will be 3000 kilometres long, so it is a bit outside the CRC classifications.

Scottish Christian Hillwalking Club
Jill Morrow
25 Woodburn Terrace,
St Andrews KY16 8BA Tel no. 01334 478048.
www.christian.hillwalking.fsnet.co.uk

Right To Roam: Update
In November 2000 the Countryside & Rights Of Way Act became law. Amongst its provisions was the creation of a "Right To Roam" on registered common land, moor, heath, downland, and mountains (collectively known as "access land") in England and Wales. Whilst the new right does not apply to enclosed farmland, it will apply to significant areas of land in lowland England, and not just to mountain areas.

Following many years of campaigning, the new right is now law, but actually implementing it is dependent on mapping the access land, and this article aims to explain the progress with mapping in England and Wales. Separate legislation for Scotland is currently being considered by the Scottish Parliament, and I hope to cover this in a future article.

The Countryside Agency is responsible for mapping access land in England, and has divided England into 8 areas. For each area, the Countryside Agency will first publish a draft map of access land, and then allow time for public consultation and comments. These comments will be taken into account at the next stage, when the Countryside Agency publishes the provisional map. Only affected landowners and tenants will have a right to appeal against the provisional map; the Secretary of State for the Environment will decide appeals, and then the Countryside Agency will publish the final map. This will define the access land, and the Right to Roam will be a reality.

The draft maps for areas 1 and 2 (the South East and the Lower North West were published in November 2001, and the public only has until 11th February 2002 to comment on them. Draft maps for the remaining areas of England will be published between June 2002 and July 2003.

A similar process is being undertaken in Wales by the Countryside Council for Wales, with the country divided into fifteen areas for mapping. The first draft map (of the Berwyns and Ruabon Mountains) is due to be published in February 2002.

The draft maps for England can be viewed at council offices and public libraries, and on The Countryside Agency website. It is worth looking at the draft maps – because this is our only opportunity to influence what land is defined as access land, and there is no process for revising the map once the final map of access land in each area has been published.

My first impression of the draft map for South East England (Kent, Sussex, Surrey, and south London) is that the main gain for walkers is legal right of access to a very large number of pieces of common land, covering significant areas in Surrey and West Sussex, but very little of Kent. As you would expect, there is very little open land in South East England, but there are some parts of the South Downs which fall into this category, and which will be mapped.

In the Lower North West map (which includes Cheshire, Lancashire, and part of West Yorkshire, plus all of the Peak District National Park) large moorland areas of the Dark Peak, the Southern Pennines, and the Forest of Bowland are included, but only a few registered commons qualify in the rest of Lancashire and Cheshire.

The final maps for these two areas should be published in early 2003, and so it is likely that during the first half of 2003 walkers will be able to enjoy legal access to many attractive areas of England which have hitherto been out of bounds. Over the border in Wales the first access land should also be defined during 2003.

Advertising
The committee, with others helping, have spent some time looking at this issue. We usually allocate around 10% of our income to this area. We have committed ourselves to advertising in YHA News, Triangle, and the Christian Holiday Guide. Also, the green leaflets which give information about the club and have a response form attached, are sent out to various conference centres throughout the year. All of these have produced a good response in the past.

However, we feel we need to do more to get the Club known to folk outside. One of our biggest sources of members is `word of mouth’, and the enclosed cards can be given to people who show an interest - telling them how to get more information. Alternatively they can be used for Church notice boards. Further supplies can be obtained from Julie.

We have also had articles written for various denominational magazines such as the Church Times and the Methodist Recorder. If you know of an editor who would be able to publish such an article, or if you feel your Parish newsletter would be able to do this, then do contact us, and we will get an article written for them. However, if you feel you would like to write something yourself, please do, but please send a copy to the membership secretary, letting us know which newsletter/paper it will appear in, so that we can trace any responses received. Thanks.

We are also going to place an advert in TGO (The Great Outdoors) for a few months, to see what the response might be, as we know that Christians read this magazine, and it may bring us to their attention.

Another area that folk have asked about us using, is whether we should have a stand at various big events around the country such as Easter People and Spring Harvest. We have looked into the cost of this, but it is very expensive. One event alone would drain our resources, so at present we feel that this is not an option for us. But we will place an advert in the Spring Harvest brochure as this is given to each person attending the event.

Please feel free to ask for some extra cards or green leaflets, so that if you meet folk who are interested, you can give them some information about the club.

Brainteaser
Sorry no prizes, but you might enjoy trying out your knowledge of the books of the bible. There are sixteen hidden in the test below. See how long it takes you to spot them all. Solution in the next newsletter

I once made a remark about the hidden books of the Bible. It was a lulu: kept people looking so hard for facts… and for others it was a revelation. Some were in a jam, especially since the names of the books were not capitalised. But the truth finally struck home to numbers of our readers. To others it was a real job. We want it to be a most fascinating few moments for you. Yes, there are some really easy ones to spot. Others may require judges to help to find them. I will quickly admit it usually takes a minister to find one of them, and there will be loud lamentations when it is found. A little lady says she brews a cup of tea so she can concentrate better. See how well you can compete. Relax now, for there really are sixteen names of books in the Bible in this paragraph.

I would be happy to receive other brainteasers for future inclusion in the newsletter (email via the CRC WebWeaver). Thanks

Chairmans Chatter January 2002		Event Reports January 2002
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