Tag Archives: Ken Hawkins

Workshop at Norfolk Record Office

We were pleased to have been able to arrange a Workshop at the Norfolk Record Office at the end of last month.  The 18 people who attended were drawn from those who had registered an interest in researching paths to be claimed as rights of way before the infamous cut off for claims based on historical evidence on 1 January 2026.

The Workshop started with a brief introduction to the Record Office itself, but quickly moved to a slide show illustrating the types of records which might be most useful in our research.  (That presentation is available on request from ken-hawkins@tiscali.co.uk.)

After responding to questions, and having further information added by our own Ian Mitchell, we were taken to the public searchroom and shown how to order original documents. We then went into one of the strongrooms (to which the public is not normally admitted) to see where the documents are stored, before returning to The Green Room, where a range of relevant documents had been laid out for inspection.

That process also provided opportunity for a lot of detailed questions and exchange of views between small groups of individuals.

Our thanks go to Gary Tuson and his staff at the NRO for providing this session, and in particular to the Education and Outreach Team (Victoria Draper, Kären Gaffney and Claire Bolster) who arranged the workshop, looked after us so well on the day, and also provided the photographs reproduced here.

Lord Gardiner Visits Norfolk as Part of England Coast Path Announcement

As part of the update on the England Coast Path, Lord Gardiner, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Rural Affairs, came to visit Norfolk to see how the project was progressing. On the morning of 1 September 2017 he visited Great Yarmouth, where he sampled a newly constructed boardwalk built to provide improved access to the beach there, linked to the England Coast Path.

Four RA members, three of them on Norfolk’s Area Council, met him at Waxham – Richard May (Chair), Ian Mitchell (Footpath Co-ordinator), Ken Hawkins (Secretary) and Catherine Hawkins. Ken and Catherine had surveyed the England Coast Path proposals before implementation; Ken and Ian had met several times with NE staff to discuss RA views, and drafted the formal RA response to the NE proposals when they were issued. All three had subsequently taken various roles in making comments for improvements to Norfolk County Council after the two stretches were opened.

Lord Gardiner made plenty of opportunities to talk (and listen) to all present – Natural England staff, members and staff from Norfolk County Council, Martin Sullivan (Chair of Norfolk Local Access Forum) and the contingent from The Ramblers. He came across as knowledgeable of both the context and specific issues, and expressed interest in the wider environment (eg the sea defences at Sea Palling, and the pipes which had come adrift and were awaiting ‘rescue’). He also generously bought ice creams for everyone in the party from a van parked at the start/end of our short walk.

Comment had been made to Lord Gardiner that we thought it would be beneficial to local businesses in widening their season. This had been taken up with an interview at Great Yarmouth (Munchies), and a similar discussion was had over lunch at the Waxham Barn Café, where he spoke both to the owner Helen and a member of her staff who walked to her job there from Sea Palling, in preference to using the road (which was derestricted and without a footway for a substantial part of its length).

The Minister was responsive and interested in hearing about the concerns of the Ramblers and we hope to continue that engagement. We were also pleased to see the level of media interest on the day, with Anglia TV covering the event. The day was a great success and we’re delighted to see progress being made on the England Coast Path, a project which the Ramblers has been heavily involved with both locally and nationally.

Walkers in Norfolk one step closer to enjoying England Coast Path

People in Norfolk are one step closer to being able to walk around the entire England coastline as Natural England have announced today (1 September 2017) that work has started on every stretch of the England Coast Path.

The England Coast Path is an inspirational project to create the world’s longest continuous coastal trail. In Norfolk there are 4 stretches included in the project:

  • Sea Palling to Weybourne which has been open since December 2014
  • Hopton on Sea to Sea Palling was opened last November
  • Weybourne to Hunstanton is still under consideration, with Natural England expecting to issue its proposals fairly soon
  • Hunstanton to Sutton Bridge is also still under consideration, with proposals expected late 2017 or early 2018

Ramblers’ director of advocacy and engagement, Nicky Philpott said:

“This is a huge milestone in the story of the England Coast Path and one we should celebrate. Building sandcastles on the beach, dipping toes in the sea and taking a stroll along clifftops are favourite activities that cross generations and bring us all together.

So it might surprise you that until recently, a third of England’s coastline was inaccessible. The Ramblers has long dreamed of a country where everyone can freely enjoy our beautiful coast, so we were pleased that after years of campaigning, in 2010, work started on the England Coast Path.”

At almost 3,000 miles long, the path will stretch around the entire English coastline. Not only will this open up new paths, it will create new areas of open access land so people can freely explore headlands, cliffs and beaches, right up to the water’s edge.

Natural England has been working with landowners, local authorities and others to open up stretches of the path and Ramblers’ volunteers have worked tirelessly to walk and survey swathes of coast, mapping out the best route for walkers.

Nicky added: “We’d like to thank our wonderful volunteers who have spent hours exploring possible routes for the path. Using their local knowledge and thinking with their feet they are helping to ensure that the England Coast Path is not just a path, but one of the most incredible walking trails in the world.”

In Norfolk, Ken Hawkins took on liaison between Natural England and The Ramblers during the planning of the route. He said, “Right from the start, The Ramblers put forward proposals for the route, and these always received full consideration from Natural England. Since 2013, we have had a number of productive meetings and a regular exchange of ideas. More than that, after the opening of each section, members of The Ramblers have walked the routes and offered ‘fine tuning’ suggestions to Norfolk County Council, which took over responsibility for them once open.”

The Government hope to complete the England Coast Path by 2020, and the Ramblers is keen to ensure that plans are put in place to maintain the path once it’s complete and has become a National Trail.

Local Press Feature Our Work in Clearing Paths

The Dereham Times has published an article featuring the work done by Dereham Walkers are Welcome and the Ramblers in making paths more accessible. It also makes reference to the plaques that have been put up to improve the signage on the route.

Peter James, pictured above in the article, is fast becoming the poster boy for Norfolk Ramblers with all the publicity his path clearance is generating! He helps run numerous path clearance teams where volunteers go out and clear overgrown paths to make them more accessible.

The full text of the article is also available on the EDP’s web-site.

Got a problem with a path? Please report it!

Summer is here (mainly), and so is the season of rampant crop, nettle and bramble growth, when walking can become more difficult on some paths. I suspect most of our members will have experienced repeated problems with certain paths. They may have reported them to the Council. They also may have done this on several occasions and given up doing so as they felt that little or nothing seemed to happen. This, though completely understandable, would in my view be a mistake.

From April this year, Norfolk County Council restructured the departments dealing with rights of way and those other routes supported by Norfolk Trails. The new structure, brought in at least partly because of pressure from The Ramblers and colleagues in CPRE, Open Spaces Society and U3A, is still settling down, and it is too soon to have a full appreciation of how it is working. But there are already signs of improvements and benefits. The most obvious change has been the appointment of three Countryside Access Officers, with specific responsibilities for public rights of way. Not only do these augment the previous two people holding equivalent positions, but they have been moved from their central positions in County Hall, to be based in defined geographical areas, and so be close to the nettle face.

The three areas are:

• West – King’s Lynn and West Norfolk: Manager Chris Alston, Countryside Access Officer David Mills
• North – North Norfolk, Broadland, Great Yarmouth: Manager Karl Rands, Countryside Access Officer Sarah Price
• South – Breckland, South Norfolk: Manager Grahame Bygrave, Countryside Access Officer Jody Thurston

David and Sarah are the previous centrally based officers, while Jody is a new appointment. As my own area is Breckland, I have already met Jody twice and a very positive experience it has been, even though she is still getting to grips with the role.

Which brings me back to my starting point. However enthusiastic and hard working the officers are, what sways management and councillors tends to be statistics. If the figures seem to suggest there are few problems, it will be assumed that current resources are fully adequate. It is therefore vital that all problems are reported; and if nothing happens, follow it up. And if still nothing happens, consider making a complaint. If you have access to the internet, this is the best way to report and monitor problems. Go to http://maps.norfolk.gov.uk/highways/#, zoom in to the area concerned until the paths become visible, click on the one which has a problem, and choose Report a problem. You will be invited to set up an account. You don’t have to do this, but if you do, you will get updates on what is being done about your report. It has to be admitted that these updates are not particularly informative, but they are better than nothing, and we continue to make representations to have the system improved. It will also help if, when you are aware of a change in the situation (eg the path cleared, or a route cut through a crop), it will help NCC colleagues if you also report this – and a word of appropriate thanks never goes amiss.

Some of you may be using The Ramblers’ Pathwatch app: by all means continue to use this, but please be aware that this is no substitute for making a direct report to the Council. Pathwatch data comes out only at intervals, and in a format which is not easily compatible with the Council’s systems: under time pressure, you can guess how much effort might be made to decode what is being reported.

Enjoy your walking – but please report all problems.

Ken Hawkins, Area Secretary.

Brambles Beware! Path Clearance in Dereham.

 

As is well known, Spring is the growing season.  Unfortunately for walkers, growth is not restricted to those nice flowers in your garden, but also includes rampant growth of brambles and nettles across public rights of way.  In Dereham, two paths are particularly prone to this – Restricted Byways 30 and 31.  These carry the legal right for horse and carriage drivers to use them between Neatherd Moor and Northall Green, but at their best, they are currently suitable only for walkers, cyclists and horse riders.  And even those users can find their way blocked by nettle and bramble growth, so to tackle this before the route became impossible, Dereham Walkers are Welcome and The Ramblers together cut the paths on 3 May.

Peter James, the Area Treasurer, laying new protective covers for the path, from a previous path clearance day.

Not in the pictures were Rambler Gerald and Ken Hawkins from Dereham WaW.  Try these paths for yourself – and let us know of any potential blockages on these or any other paths. We like to keep Peter busy!  🙂

 

Norfolk Ramblers AGM – A successful and enjoyable day!

It was our annual AGM this week and we were delighted that it was well-attended. It was held in Acle and Great Yarmouth group did an excellent job at leading an interesting walk and ensuring that an extensive range of cakes were provided!

The pre-AGM walk went around the Norfolk Broads and was only partly muddy!

Richard May, the Chairman of Norfolk Area Ramblers, opens up the meeting. Ken Hawkins, our secretary, is on the left and Peter James, our treasurer, is on the right.

Richard presented Ian Mitchell, our Vice-Chairman, with a certificate marking his extensive work to protect the footpaths of Norfolk. He has worked tirelessly, and has a knowledge which is unparalleled in the county, to help the Ramblers and his honour is very well deserved. He now goes on to a national award at General Council in Southampton in early April 2017, and our fingers are firmly crossed.

The wonderful range of cakes provided at the end of the AGM. Walking is important to the Ramblers, but so is food   🙂

Des Garrahan, the national chairman of the Ramblers, gave a talk about the future of the organisation and how volunteers were helping to achieve our aims. He also gave further information about the 2026 deadline of when paths have to be recorded on the Definitive Map to ensure that they are protected.

Lloyd, the beautiful Guide Dog!

Graham, with his guide dog Lloyd, is partially sighted but was able to complete our pre-AGM walk with assistance, showing  that this no barrier to walking with the Ramblers! Helen Sismore came from the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, and gave a fascinating talk on how we could welcome those with sight difficulties and ensure they can take part in walks. There will be a future blog post about this!

Julian White, the External Communications Officer, said:

“This was a lively and interesting AGM where there were discussions covering several areas, particularly regarding the 2026 deadline. It was great to have Des present so that we could ask questions and so that our members could hear more about what is planned. Helen also gave encouragement and ideas on how we could welcome more blind and partially sighted people to our walks. And thanks to Great Yarmouth group for the cakes!”

 

Boardwalk Improvement at Scarning Fen

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On a fine but frosty day, Peter James was out once again, but this time without path cutting equipment.  Instead, he was geared up with generator, compressor and staple gun to renew 50 metres of decaying wire mesh on the boardwalk at Scarning Fen in Dereham (Footpath 14a).

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Once the equipment had been carried on site (a small job in itself), Ken and Catherine Hawkins scraped off the old wire netting – and the frozen on leaves – and Peter followed up installing the new wire mesh.

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It was gratifying that a number of people using the path stopped by to say ‘thank you’ for the work being done.  Four hours later, and the mesh was down and ready for use.

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We’re always keen to get more volunteers for path clearance work, it’s good exercise, great for the local community and also fun! We have lots of equipment available to use, and we’re also keen to hear from anyone who has blocked paths near to where they live. Please do contact us (we love hearing from people!), our details are available at http://www.norfolkra.org.uk/.

Ramblers and Open Spaces Society Call for Norfolk County Council to Do More

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Norfolk Area Ramblers and the Open Spaces Society have today published a news release calling on Norfolk County Council to do more about the state of our county’s paths.

The release reads:

Little satisfaction with our public rights of way network

The Ramblers and Open Spaces Society have today called for Norfolk County Council to take action to improve on its poor reputation in maintaining and promoting its rights of way network.

Only a few weeks ago, the Council celebrated the opening of the latest stretch of the England Coast Path, from Hopton on Sea to Sea Palling. At the opening, the Chairman of the County Council, David Collis, joined Lord Gardiner (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) and Andrews Sells (Chairman of Natural England) to tell the gathered audience about the great benefits that walking – and the availability of footpaths – brought to the whole community: individual benefits in physical and mental health, and economic benefits to the county.

The Ramblers – who agree entirely with this – wondered then why the same considerations did not apply to the rest of the county’s 2400 mile public rights of way network. We wrote to the Chairman to ask about this, pointing out that the Council as Highway Authority has a duty to assert and protect public rights of way in Norfolk. Since then, the results from the 2016 Highways and Transport Network Survey have been published .

The Council is rightly pleased that, for the third year in a row, it has been in the top 3 of 28 similar counties for Highways and Transport matters overall. But it overlooked the fact that, also for the third year in a row, it is in the bottom half dozen for ‘Satisfaction with public rights of way’ – this year being 25th out of 28.

The Ramblers and Open Spaces Society have therefore put a question to the meeting of the Council’s Environment, Development and Transport (EDT) Committee on 11 November, to ask: If Norfolk is serious in aspirations to promote itself as a preferred tourist destination, public satisfaction scores should be brought towards the top of the list. Will the Committee refer this as a significant concern to the LAF* and ask them to bring forward proposals, or does the Committee have other proposals to address this?

Norfolk has an amazing network of public rights of way, but fails to promote and maintain them, and thereby fails to secure the health and financial benefits that are there in return for modest investment and effort. We hope the EDT will take an initial step to change this. Ken Hawkins will be attending the meeting of the EDT at 1000 on Friday 11 November to hear the response.

For further information, please contact Ken Hawkins on 01362 691455 or 07505 426750.

*The LAF is the Local Access Forum, which represents a variety of countryside interests with regards to improving public access across our beautiful county, and provides independent strategic advice to the County Council and others where there are issues around public access – see https://www.norfolk.gov.uk/nlaf.

Going, Going Gone – Dereham Footpath Warden Unblocks Route!

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Julian White, from Hike Norfolk, led a walk around Dereham on Sunday which was attended by fifteen walkers. The interesting walk went past Borrow Hall, the former Jolly Farmers pub, Bishop Bonner’s Cottage and St. Nicholas Church.

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The walk was interesting and varied, but there was a fallen tree near to the Mattishall Road. The tree blocked the footpath, requiring a small jump to get past. In the above photo is Clive Manwaring showing how to do it   🙂

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Ken Hawkins, who had initially been behind the creation of the walks, is the Dereham Footpath Warden and Norfolk Ramblers Area Secretary and on hearing about the obstacle he promptly went to ensure that it was removed for anyone else wanting to walk the path. Thanks to Ken for such a fast response!

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Above is a photo of Hike Norfolk after the walk, which can be found at:

http://derehamtc.norfolkparishes.gov.uk/files/2015/08/Walk-2-Badley-Moor2.pdf