Ramblers Association
The North Hampshire Downs Ramblers group, is part of the Ramblers Association. We walk mostly in Hampshire and the surrounding countryside. In the last few months our group has enjoyed both walks and social activities, we enjoyed the snow at Frensham ponds on 27th February. We also had a Christmas lunch and the ladies are looking forward to a lunch in Basingstoke at the beginning of March.
The group walk on both Tuesday and Saturday and cover areas in and around Basingstoke as well as sometimes going further afield. We have had some lovely Autumn and Winter walks, enjoying the changing landscapes and of course the snow just recently. We are also expert at walking round mud and trying not too take too much of it home on our boots.
Our Tuesday morning walks, which are typically 6- 7 miles, we continue to attract many walkers. We have recently walked around Frensham Ponds, Fleet ponds and around Victoria water (no mud), to name but a few. We usually end up with an end of walk pub stop, to give people time for a catch up.
Our Saturday walks tend to be longer, with fewer walkers, and can sometimes take most of the day. This last quarter our walks have included from Basingstoke to Greywell , along the Basingstoke canal, and Salisbury to Downton using the Avon Valley path
As well as the walks, the group also enjoys social activities, this includes an Annual Summer Picnic, Christmas Lunch ,Boys lunches, Ladies walks, and lunches and the group occasionally organise weekends and days away.
The group have an active path patrol group, who report problems to the local council and also do some work on the paths, which can be as varied as checking waymarking and replacing waymarking discs, minor clearing or even repairing stiles and gates. To date this group has replaced 20 plus gates in conjunction with the local council. The latest task was building a sleeper bridge at Silchester.
If you are interested in finding out more about the North Hampshire Downs group, there is more information on our Website. www.northhampshiredownsramblers.org.uk.
If you are new to walking and want to give us a try, or already walk, you would be given a very warm welcome by the Group. We hope to see you soon!
If you are interested in joining the Ramblers we suggest you come along for a couple of walks with the group first to get a taster. Membership details are available from the Ramblers’ national website: www.ramblers.org.uk
Ramblers Charity England & Wales No: 1093577 Scotland No: SC039799
