Newsletter

November 2005

News and Views

 

25th Anniversary

Next year, 2006 is the CRC’s 25th anniversary year.  The committee has a number of activities organised and ideas for ways of marking this occasion.  The year will begin with our New Year event so book yourself in early to be sure of a space.  Silver themed events will take place throughout the year, and on September 16th we are planning to have 25 CRC walks happening countrywide.  Book the date now so that you can be one of the 25 on one of the 25 walks!  The year will end with a barn dance at the 2006/7 New Year event.  Keep up with what is going on in our Silver Anniversary Year by going on events and reading your Newsletter.

Happy Birthday from the Committee!

 

New option to read quarterly CRC mailing by computer


Background

For several years now we have been asked why we do not offer members the option to be sent their quarterly mailing by e-mail rather than by conventional post.  With the increase in the proportion of members with access to computer technology we have decided that now is the time to pilot such a scheme.  The main motivations are as follows:

• Financial.  Currently the CRC spends about 2/3 of the subscription income on the quarterly mailing.  The option to read the programme and newsletter via computer will reduce the costs of printing and postage.

• Time.  Currently a team of 5-8 people spend a busy evening collating each mailing.  While there will be some overhead in a computer-access option, this should be less than that associated with the current method.

• Ecological.  There will be a saving in paper on those parts of the newsletter and programme that do not need to be printed out.

Proposal

The enclosed membership renewal form lists two alternatives for receiving the quarterly mailing for 2006.  The first option is to continue to receive the printed version as in the past.  The other is to be able to read the mailing on a computer.  For the pilot scheme there will be a discount of £3 to members who choose this option, so that the cost saving will be shared between members and the club.  This balance seems the fairest way to trial the scheme; those who opt for the scheme have already made an investment in the computer technology so it is reasonable that they should see some benefit, while we are also ensuring some benefit to the club (which means to all members).

Format

The mailing consists of the programme and newsletter each quarter, with the addition of an AGM notification and a renewal form once a year.  These will be accessible as follows:

Programme, AGM notification and renewal form.  These will be sent by email in Microsoft Word format.  The programme is approximately 180 kbytes, so can be downloaded in a reasonable time over a standard modem connection, and very quickly with broadband.  The other files are smaller.  You will need to print out any booking forms you want to use from the programme.  You will also need to print out and sign the renewal form when it comes in November 2006.

Newsletter.  Most of the text is already available on-line at the CRC website, www.crc-net.org.uk, and can be viewed comfortably with a standard modem connection.  The only parts of the newsletter which do not appear on the web site are some of the illustrations and the personal contact details usually found on the inside front and back covers of the newsletter.  These contact details will be sent as a Word attachment.

Prayer Focus: For the YHA

The news that the YHA is struggling financially with millions in deficit may prompt us to intercede for them as an organisation.  Nothing outside of our lives needs to be outside of His power and help, even as a ‘secular organisation, and how often have we seen the Lord intervene beyond our expectations because He is gracious.

Lord, thank you for all you have provided through the ‘I’HA, for all the blessings and for the fun and friendship we experience from you while staying in the hostels.  Thank you for the beautiful parts of the country we have enjoyed because of where hostels are situated.  Thank you for the special freedom we enjoy in them, knowing ‘what to expect’ being able to treat it as our own, muddy boots, group meetings and all.  Thank you for the people we have met, and the ‘chance’ conversations.

We intercede for the YHA now Lord, as an organisation, in whatever way you wish to guide.  We thank you for its ideals over the years in helping us enjoy the great outdoors and cities.  We plead that its special quality of welcome and facilitating acceptance would continue.  We thank you for its world-wide netwoik, but pray it would be able to extend its facilities to provide access to people of all backgrounds to be able to share its facilities.

Thank you for the wonderful locations and bequeathed buildings full of character, but we pray for their modemisation.  We pray you would give their management wisdom in their financial affairs, and sound decision-making on capital projects and refurbishing.  We pray for creative and real solutions to their ongoing maintenance and cleanliness needs without weighty overheads, and that it might be an attractive option keeping up with modem expectations.

We pray for the hostel staff - please help us be a blessing to the hostel staff, especially as we differ from their expectation as a ‘group’ and to show our appreciation of their helpfulness and efforts, even if something feels unsatisfactory.  Please help us to see them as people, whose own futures may be uncertain, and who are often voluntary.  We plead that people may still benefit from this unique facility if it be your will, and that we might be a part of its change.

 

Amen.                                                                                                       

 

Navigation Tips - Using Linear Features

Linear features are very useful when navigating.  They fall into 2 types:

• Man made - paths, tracks, roads, walls, hedges, power lines.

• Natural - ridges, valleys, streams, rivers, line of crags or steep ground.

 

They offer security when walking, as at least they enable us to retrace our steps easily, should it become necessary.  We can mentally tick off features as we come to them, which enables us to keep a check on our route and the distance travelled.  If you are on a linear feature and it is crossed by another, you can pinpoint your position, e.g., a path crossed by a stream.

 

It can also be useful to note the angle of intersection between features, for example in the diagram if you need to reach the path beyond the wail, you can aim in the general direction because if you hit the stream or the wall it will funnel you in the right direction.

 

Sometimes it may be possible to link linear features to reach the destination safely, even if it means walking a little further.  As in the diagram, by following the stream to the wall to the path rather than striking directly across to the path.

 

These examples use obvious features, for landform features may not be so obvious and we need to train ourselves to look for them and recognise them.  When you are out in the hills with a map look at the contours, and try to match the ground shape to the map detail.


Finally a word of caution regarding paths; we tend to assume that where a right of way is shown on a map there will be a clear path on the ground, but this is not always true.

 

 

Ian Parfitt

 

The Beacons Way

 

This is a new 100 mile linear walk across the Brecon Beacons National Park which experienced walkers can complete in 8 days.

 

It is a walk especially for Christian Ramblers as it starts on The Holy Mountain (near Abergavenny) and ends at Bethlehem (in Carmarthenshire)!!

 

For more information there is a very good guide book or see www.breconbeaconsparksocietv.org/psway.htm.

 

Steven Graham

 

Tales of Ticks

 

Ticks are small eight-legged blood-sucking parasites, which are becoming more abundant in the UK, and can infect livestock and humans with various diseases. They are active in October and November and again in April and May, when they wait on vegetation for a suitable host to pass by.

 

It is best to wear your trousers tucked in to your socks when walking in long vegetation.  If you do get bitten, remove the tick carefully, and consult your GP if you develop any flu like symptoms a few weeks later.

 

For further information see www.bada-uk.org which provides comprehensive information on tick borne diseases and the best methods of removing them.

 

 

Thoughts for the Walk

 

Where is your life journey taking you?

 

Can you imagine boarding a plane for your dream holiday and the pilot’s voice says: ‘Welcome on board.  After take-off, we’ll be serving you a meal and we’ll do all we can to make your flight enjoyable.  However, I need to tell you - we have no final destination.  So we are just going to keep flying until we run out of fuel and drop into the ocean.”

 

No matter how wonderful the journey is, what’s the point, if there’s no destination?  And yet many people live their lives like this.  They concentrate only on having the best ‘journey’ that they can, on traveling first class all the way.  But they never stop to consider where the journey is taking them - what their inevitable end will be.

 

 

 

 

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