So Jack, what does an average day as head of paths at the Ramblers involve?
I’m not sure there is such a thing as an ‘average’ day, but the team helps support the thousands of Ramblers volunteers across the country who do everything from legally protecting our rights of way to physical path maintenance work. We answer thousands of queries from the public on issues related to paths and rights of way. I also feed into national campaigns and talk to local authorities about issues in their area.
What made you want to work for the Ramblers?
I joined the Ramblers four years ago. The summer before, I’d walked from Land's End to John O'Groats over four months and saw the importance of paths that connect villages and through fields across the length of the country. I joined the Ramblers to help protect and expand that network across Britain.
“Without the Ramblers’ work over the last 87 years, we wouldn’t have the legally recorded path network that we have now. It wouldn't be as extensive, protected or well used. Being a Ramblers member contributes to an historic cause that continues to deliver to this day.”
We hear you’re writing a book about walking
I am! It’s about some of the work we’re doing at the Ramblers, but also a history of the walking network, and how we can view the history of our country and our landscape by looking at this infrastructure that winds across England and Wales.
The core case of the book is that the path network is a heritage asset and a vital part of our history, as much as a cathedral or an Iron Age hill fort. When you're walking on one of these paths, you’re doing exactly the same activity that somebody could have been doing 1,000 years ago. I hope it inspires people to get involved with the Ramblers.
With the help of thousands of volunteers, the Ramblers has searched all of England and Wales and found over 49,000 miles of paths which could be lost forever. Now Ramblers volunteers are working to collect the historical evidence needed to build and submit applications to restore the most important paths for future generations.
To find out more about Don’t Lose Your Way and to donate to the campaign, click here.
How is Don’t Lose Your Way progressing and how has your team been involved?
It’s going well. It’s been great to involve thousands of members of the public in researching paths, diving into historical archives. We want to make sure that we're saving the most important paths. This spring we'll be encouraging more people to get involved, giving them the resources and training they need to do the historical research and submit applications, so the paths can be protected for many generations to come.
What sort of work does the Ramblers do at a local level?
The Ramblers has a whole network of path maintenance teams across the country. Paths can easily be consumed by nettles or overgrown brambles so nearly all those teams clear vegetation; strimming and lopping to make paths walkable. Volunteers might also improve paths by laying new surfaces or putting in steps.
We also have volunteers who replace stiles with gates to make paths more accessible. Some do even more physical engineering-type work, like building wooden bridges across streams.
“If we want to get people out of their cars, and more physically and mentally healthy, then we need an infrastructure that enables everyday walking, whether that's going walking for an hour after work or a whole day out.”
If someone notices an issue with their local trail, how can they raise it?
We can support people, but nearly all issues need the local council to get involved, so the first step is to contact the local authority. If we have a Ramblers path maintenance team in the area the council may then ask us to do the work. This might include work like removing a fallen tree or dealing with barbed wire or a locked gate that is blocking a path.
In some cases, if we think a council isn’t doing the work it should be doing, we do take councils to court.
Do you feel a sense of satisfaction knowing how much difference this makes to walkers?
Definitely, and I know our volunteers do, too. Our action has opened up paths that had been closed for 30 years. The walking network reaches into nearly every community in the country. That's something that we really need to treasure because those paths take you from your doorstep to natural green space. If we want to get people out of their cars, and more physically and mentally healthy, then we need an infrastructure that enables everyday walking, whether that's walking for an hour after work or a whole day out.
And how does being a member of the Ramblers help enable access to these walking routes?
Without the Ramblers’ work over the last 87 years, we would not have the legally recorded path network that we have now. It wouldn't be as extensive, protected or well used. Being a Ramblers member contributes to an historic cause that continues to deliver to this day.
Finally, do you hope the trend of people walking more during the pandemic remains and inspires a new generation?
Absolutely, it’s great to see people getting out there. But the reason so many of us were able to walk from our front doors to green spaces during lockdowns is the work of the Ramblers. Paths are a vital part of our infrastructure, like the railways or our road system. The path network often gets overlooked, because it's everywhere, but that didn’t happen by accident: without the Ramblers, it wouldn't be as it is today.
The Ramblers is generously supported by players of the People’s Postcode Lottery, as part of the lottery’s Climate Challenge initiative. People’s Postcode Lottery manages lotteries on behalf of 20 Postcode Trusts.
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