I should have seen it coming!

Several months ago a nice man called Dave Williams asked if I could spare a few hours to help check the accuracy of the walks programme - now I find he’s retiring. Thanks Dave! No, I really mean THANKS Dave for doing such a sterling job for the past ten years.

We can all appreciate that compiling the large programme of walks offered to ramblers in the Derbyshire Dales has been quite an undertaking. I admit to some feelings of trepidation and apprehension in taking the job over but will try to uphold Dave’s standards and keep the programme in its present format, complete with the “spot the deliberate mistake” feature we have included in the last few issues. Many of you will know Dave as he rambles most days of the week whereas I only walk on Tuesdays, so long as it’s not raining, not too hot and I haven’t had a better offer. Perhaps that doesn’t make me sound like a dedicated walker, but as a very dedicated teashop visitor, Tuesdays suit me fine.

In my defence, I have always loved the outdoors and taken part in active sports, from my long-distant school days to the present as I continue to play badminton and chat to friends in the local gym on a regular basis. Also, in my ‘youth’, I spent many happy hours scrambling up the mountains of Snowdonia and tramping the fells of the Lake District. Other memorable walking activities have been the sixtyish mile long Black and White Village trail in Herefordshire and completing the Chatsworth Challenge in 2003, without the aid of the rescue vehicle.

PS How long will it be, I wonder, before I too ask someone if they have a few hours to help me check the accuracy of the programme?!

Kath Cartlidge

Current walks programme