Joining the Ramblers can boost your wellbeing and confidence while also protecting the paths you love. Also, it’s a great way to make friends.

We walk with the Ramblers to explore how simple steps turn into community, confidence, and real protection for Britain’s paths. Stephen and Vicky share how volunteering, inclusivity, and gentle advocacy keep people walking and our rights of way alive.

• Ramblers as a national charity for access and group walks
• Campaigning for paths and the England Coast Path
• Why neglected footpaths disappear without use
• Volunteer roles from walk leading to research
• How to plan and recce routes with OS Maps
• Inclusive pacing and options for all abilities
• Light training, shared responsibility, safety basics
• Confidence building for new leaders
• Right to roam explained for UK nations
• Nature, calm, and mental wellbeing on the trail
• How to find a local group and get started

Please don't forget to like, follow, or subscribe. That way you'll never miss an episode

If you are keen on the podcast above and want to join the ramblers, please click the following link for all the details on how to get involved. https://www.ramblers.org.uk/

Transcript

Why your Spare time really matters to you and organisations

Derm Tanner 0:00

Hello, welcome to another episode of Grey Matters More, the Antidote to the Retirement Blues. Certainly got rather more time on your hands than you're used to. Not sure how you're going to fill those days effectively. Perhaps you're missing some social interaction. Well, maybe this podcast can help. We spent months talking to charities, companies, and sports clubs who are all after volunteers. I'm Derm Tanner,

Roy Player 0:23

and I'm Roy Player.

Derm Tanner 0:25

and in this episode, we're donning a stout pair of walking boots, making sure we've got a waterproof with us because we're off walking with the Ramblers. You may know them formerly as the Ramblers Association.

Roy Player 0:36

Yes, I, I hadn't realised they changed their name, so it's brilliant actually to be able to flag up that they are now. If you look for them on the websites, they're called Ramblers, and 500 Ramblers groups across the country. So although we went with a little bit of walking, very small amount of walking, in Yorkshire, they are again across the whole country and it's not just about getting out there and getting the fresh air and doing a bit of exercise and meeting people and meeting like-minded people. If you want to, you can become a volunteer as well.

Meet The Ramblers

Stephen 1:07

Hi, I'm Stephen. By day I work for the local council, but in my spare time I love going out with Ramblers. I've been a member of Ramblers for nearly 20 years, and it's been the best decision I made was joining the Ramblers.

Vicky 1:22

Oh, seconded. My name's Vicky, by day I work as a nurse at the local hospital. My weekends are busy generally either out with ramblers or with running events, and I volunteer also for some local park runs as well.

Roy Player 1:36

Now we talk about rambling, and the first thing, because Derms with me here as well, and the first thing that Derm normally thinks about when I mention rambling, it's normally my, my conversation or my questions that i'm rambling on all the time Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely. So, Stephen, if you wouldn't mind just basically giving us an introduction to are the Ramblers just a group of people that get together and just randomly walk around.

More Than Group Walks

Stephen 2:00

It's a lot more than that. What most people see and are involved with Ramblers for is the group walks, and there are hundreds of group walks every week around the country, but Ramblers has other activities as well. It is a charity that campaigns on local and national levels. Local level, there might be issues with blocked footpaths or planning applications that will affect the footpath, ramblers will get involved and try to resolve those in the best interests of walkers. At national level, they will campaign with the government to get legislation put in place. We had the Countryside and Rights of Way Act of 2000, which introduced access land. That was largely thanks to the Ramblers. They've been instrumental in getting the All England coast path up and running and developed in a lot of areas. So there's a whole range of activities from people going out for a nice walk on an afternoon to you know serious national campaign work.

Roy Player 3:11

How important do you think it is though that sort of some of these paths are kept open and is there a sense of we're gonna lose lots of paths which will have an effect on people's well-being? Or is it just a case of well there's so many places you can walk around that it it doesn't really matter?

Stephen 3:29

It's a slippery slope. In the UK we are so lucky to have this fantastic network of public footpaths and bridleways that allow us to walk almost anywhere. If we start to say, Oh, well that path doesn't get used very much, so it doesn't matter if it gets overgrown and people can't get through, then we're, we're setting ourselves up to lose the paths that we want as well. It's really important that we do campaign to make sure landowners are fulfilling their statutory duties to keep paths open and accessible, and that applies to all paths. There may be a case that some paths aren't needed, but but we can't let them just disappear through lack of use.

Roy Player 4:18

I think therefore then obviously it sort of seems like a larger organisation than one would in initially imagine, and serves a fantastic purpose, but clearly volunteering is a huge aspect towards keeping this organisation going. If I can turn to you then, Vicky, a little bit. I mean you've you, you volunteered, how long have you been volunteering for about?

Why Open Paths Matter

Vicky 4:38

I'm, I'm not sure, probably about seven or eight years. I've been with Ramblers for about ten years, and I joined a young Ramblers group, and absolutely, as Stevie said earlier, it's one of the best things I've ever done in my life. It makes me so happy to be out walking with people partly of a similar age, but walking in the countryside, and to be able to give a little bit back. Walks only happen because people take their time to come out on recces, to plan walks, and then to lead them and I've been around in so many places that I would never have gone to if people hadn't led a walk. So it gives me a great pleasure to have developed my skills in map reading and confidence in leading walks as well, and then I also obviously volunteer for part runs as well and again, it's about giving back to others that people volunteer when I go running and do races, and to be able to give back to those and support others in their challenges and adventures as well, and it gives me a lot of personal sense of achievements.

Derm Tanner 5:31

So, Vicky, looking at the the website, are you what they call a walk leader? Then is one of the things you do in in you see you talk about wrecking. What do you do when you're wrecking?

Vicky 5:41

Okay, so recce's can be highly entertaining. So for recce's you are planning a walk to lead for a group in just a few weeks' time. So you come out, you will look at a map first and plan a route. I'm not great at sort of deciding where walks are, so actually, I use an app. I use OS Maps app, which has got lots of routes on there, and I can pick one that I think that looks suitable, and I'll look for distance, I'll look for elevation. I also look for things like is it going to be a pretty walk? Are we going to have beautiful views? and you plan other things such as what's parking going to be like, is there a tea room at the end? Because cake matters to all walkers. That is the fuel of my life and then you will then, so you plan it in advance, you will then come out and walk the route in advance and preempt any issues. Are there any are there any styles? Are there any difficulties that you might occur on walk day and just iron out any potential issues, and then a few you submit it into your walk dairy for your group, and a few weeks later you lead it, and hopefully everyone enjoys it, and I like to have features of interest on my walk, whether it's a beautiful view, a lovely old church, a piece of historical interest somewhere. I'm quite into trains, so there may be some train-related historical interest as well, if you come on a Vicky walk, it's generally entertaining.

Derm Tanner 6:56

Wow, that sounds great and the other thing, of course, is that you've got to consider who you're going to be walking with. So, therefore, there's various types of abilities, capabilities, age, all of that.

Vicky 7:08

Yes, absolutely and when I first joined Ramblers, I previously I'd been training to do the Yorkshire Three Peaks with some friends, and I'd just walked up and down the Cleveland way because I wasn't very good at map reading, and so that was my way of getting walk experience without having to read a map and after that, I wanted to start walking with a group because I really enjoyed walking and I thought Ramblers was about elite hiking. I thought I will not fit in, I'm not one of them. Oh, it's it's the image is a bit of an old fuddy-duddy. That's the image that people perhaps still have, and actually it wasn't. I joined a young Ramblers group, and from day one I met people who are interesting, people of a similar age, also people. I would never have met and I always say when I lead a walk that this isn't about a lead hiking, it's about enjoying a walk in the countryside. We walk at the pace of the slowest person, we stop, we regroup if we end up spreading out, and we stop and enjoy the view. I am terrible on hills. I stop and enjoy the view a lot going up hills because I like to get my breath back, and I would hate for someone to be put off thinking they couldn't do that too.

Stephen 8:10

There are all sorts of different levels of walking group. Our particular group, because we're aimed at people in their 40s and 50s, is looking at doing generally you know medium length to longer walks. There is another group that just does short walks, maybe five miles on an afternoon, for people who would struggle with that. There's also walking for health, there are options for shorter walks within most areas. There will be a group that caters for people who have more limited mobility, and that's something if people want to do that, get in touch with your local ramblers group and just ask and if there are options available, people will point you to those and you can get involved that way.

Volunteering Journeys And Roles

Roy Player 9:02

Can I ask you then, Steve? I mean it's obviously coming along for the walks is in is fantastic, but being a volunteer, what's the difference between being a volunteer and then just turning up regularly for for walks? What makes a good volunteer and what what sort of person are you looking for, and what sort of things can volunteers get involved in if they're not that keen on doing 20-mile hikes?

Stephen 9:24

There's all sorts of roles for volunteers. What we need most of are walk leaders, people who will plan a walk and lead a walk, and they might do that once or twice a year.

Roy Player 9:37

Do you need any experience for that though, Stephen, or is it something you can do that you can help teach people like Vicky to learn how to become walk leaders?

Stephen 9:45

Anyone can do that. We would say you know, come on walks as just a regular walk member, you know, member of the walk a few times. You'll get to know how we do things. Pick a walk that you know well, a walk in your local area, maybe one that you've done a few times before, so you're not worried about whether you're going to get lost, you're not worried about finding the way, and then there's just a short bit of online training that Ramblers ask new leaders to do, and then that's it, that's all you need to do. It's very easy anyone who likes walking can do that. Some people don't have a lot of confidence to stand up at the start of their first walk and say, Hi, I'm the leader, this is what we're doing, follow me and that's where we, we want to support people. When we've got someone leading their first walk, we will give them as much support as we can, whether that's in terms of planning the route, whether it's in terms of leading the route on the day, whether it's just someone to stand up and put on a big voice to get everyone's attention. We want everyone to have a good experience because if I've spent a month twisting someone's arm and persuading them to lead a walk and then they don't enjoy it, that's a month's work wasted, they're not going to come back and do it again. If I can give them a good experience, then they'll want to do another walk and another walk and another walk, and that's what we want people to do.

Derm Tanner 11:17

Just picking up on something you said there, Stephen, a small amount of training. I think when some people decide to volunteer at places, one of the things that might put them off is the kind of paperwork, the red tape. I've got to do this course, I've got to do that course. That doesn't seem to be the case here.

How To Plan And Recce A Walk

Stephen 11:35

No, it's a couple of hours e-learning course. It's, it's mostly common sense, but maybe things that you wouldn't have thought about necessarily. It's very straightforward. There's not a huge amount of red tape involved in just leading a walk because you're not out there in total responsibility. We operate on the principle of first among equals. Everyone on the walk is an adult responsible for their own safety, you're just showing them the way to go. Yes, we do need to take health and safety into consideration, but it's as I said, it's not that you're in a position of responsibility in the same way that you might be if you are looking after children in loco parentis, for example.

Roy Player 12:28

I think I mean it must be an amazing sense of achievement as well, actually. I mean you're gonna go and do a recce today, Vicky. It must be great starting from scratch, and then suddenly, sort of what I don't know, month, two months later, you've got a group of 20 people behind you and absolutely thoroughly enjoying that walk. It must be a fantastic feeling.

Vicky 12:44

It Yeah, it really is, and I was encouraged and supported to develop my skills in walk leading by being part of a Ramblers group. Like I say, prior to joining a Ramblers group, I couldn't map read, and I had no confidence, and I would only stick to routes that I knew I couldn't get lost on, such as up and down the cliffs on the Cleveland Way. I was encouraged to bring maps with me on walks and to look at identifying features and speak to the walk leader, and then when I first led my first walk. I was very well supported by helping on the recce, and then actually on walk day, there were experienced walk leaders with me who were there as a backup, and yeah, it really does build your confidence, and I would never have said this is something I would ever do. I love going walking and I love enjoying being led on a walk because then I can just enjoy the countryside and enjoy the view and there's no pressure. But like I said, I like to be able to give back to the walking community as, as well, and I do get a sense of achievement out of it and I enjoy making others happy, and if they've come away and thought, what a lovely walk, then I've done a good job.

Stephen 13:42

In terms of finding things rewarding, what I found really rewarding is seeing new walk leaders come along and develop confidence. We've had quite a few people who, when you first meet them, they are painfully shy, really struggle to get a conversation going, and a few years later they are leading walks, and that it's really brought them out of their shell, given them confidence, which you can see is extending beyond just leading walks and helping them you know get through life in general, and that has been one of the most rewarding parts of being a volunteer.

Inclusive Walking For All Abilities

Roy Player 14:20

I think that's also fantastic information for people who have either been made redundant or think about taking retirement as well, and sort of some people have I mean both of us have been sort of used to talking to people and things, and it's really nice to think that you could someone else may actually bother listening to us for the first time ever, Derm I don't know why you've been about to listen to us once, yeah, because otherwise we'll send them off to the wrong place to get their coming on piece of cake, certainly. If though you're not sort of ever going to be that person who, who feels confident enough about standing in front of a group of people, it sounds as though we'd like the path clearing. But also, are there things like sort of the need for social media with the ramblers and things? Are there sort of other sort of areas that volunteers can can get involved in?

Stephen 15:00

Yeah, and within our group we have a committee of about eight people who have various different roles. Some of them will be the kind of people who need to stand up in front of a group of people and talk to them, but there will be other people who are just working behind the scenes, whether that's as a group secretary or treasurer running the Facebook account and Instagram sites. There's also lots of work that goes on outside of a group in terms of path maintenance. There are path maintenance teams who will go out and sort out issues on footpaths themselves, obviously under you know supervision and with agreement from the landowner. I'm not talking vigilante hedge trimmers, but you know, but teams who will go out and and do that work, and then there's also the don't lose your way campaign, which is a national campaign to ensure that paths that have been walked since time immemorial but are not officially registered as footpaths get recorded properly and added to the map, and doing that can be quite involved in terms of the research that you need to do to get that evidence. But that's the kind of thing that someone might be able to volunteer to do if they're not so keen on standing up and talking to a big group or maybe even not going out walking with a big group something that people can do just on their own.

Derm Tanner 16:34

That sounds really interesting to me though. That that kind of trying to unearth a path that was once trodden by our ancestors 400 years ago or something, and now is overgrown and someone's found an old document. How much success have you had with that?

Stephen 16:49

It's been mixed. there have been some definite successes. There have been others where it has been much more challenging, and some where we're struggling to get the evidence that we need to show that a path has been in continuous use. It's not an area that I've personally been involved with. I know a couple of people who have and who, who've done a lot of work on it, and yeah, that there are definitely some paths where they've had success, but no, it's not a hundred percent.

Derm Tanner 17:23

I think the other thing is is I suppose the Ramblers, as many other organisations as well, have got a role to, to educate the public as well. You can't just walk everywhere anywhere you like. I mean the phrase right to roam still wrangles around in my head, but that's a bit of a misnomer, isn't it?

Stephen 17:40

Well, right to roam applies in certain areas. So it applies in Scotland, where they have very different legislation to other parts of the UK. In terms of England and Wales, we have the right to roam on access land, which is specifically designated in marked areas. It doesn't apply in a lot of lowland areas, it doesn't apply on a lot of farmland, where yeah, we have to stick to public footpaths, public bridleways, right marked rights of way. If people are getting the idea that right to roam does apply across the country, then yeah, that's something that we can help with educating people, and I like to think that we do that quite subtly just by modelling good practice. When we're out on a walk, we're following footpaths, we're following bridal ways. We might point out to people that the signs that show us where we can walk. We don't want to lecture people, but we hope that by doing the right thing and having other people follow us as we go, it will put good habits in place that will stand them in good stead if they're out walking without us

Becoming A Walk Leader

Derm Tanner 18:52

And Vicky, I mean here we are. It is quite noisy where we are at the moment, on the edge of the busy 1223, right on the edge of Sledmere House, which is you the people listening to this might think, well, I mean that's a bit busy to be walking around, but we're not walking here. We're here because you're gonna do a bit of research. What so what's the plan?

Vicky 19:10

So my plan is to recce a walk that I'm going to submit for the next few weeks' time. It probably, having looked at the route on the map, I think it's gonna be a great walk for winter, just in terms of what the terrain will be. So, my this walk or the where we're meeting now is where we're going to park cars. So, yes it seems busy, but actually it's very accessible the walk itself will very sort shortly take us down a very quiet country lane and then onto fields and away from the busyness of life, and you just get to enjoy nature literally in itself and sometimes when I go walking on my own, I sometimes just stand still and just listen, and you literally hear wind in the trees, birds singing, and it sounds almost daft really, but it's incredibly peaceful just to be at one with nature, and that's what I love about rambling.

Derm Tanner 19:51

I think that's really important that we don't stand still enough and actually listen and I never understand why people walk with headphones on for me. I just don't get that at all. I want to hear nature.

Vicky 20:03

Nature is beautiful, and sometimes you don't hear anything, and that's also incredibly peaceful. A few years ago, myself and some friends went and walked the West Highland Way, which was one of the most beautiful walks I think I've ever done, and I would recommend it wholeheartedly to everyone to do it. While we were crossing Rannoch Moor, my friend and I stood still. The rest of our group was slightly ahead of us, and we stood still, and you couldn't hear anything because it was beautifully peaceful. It wasn't silent in a terrible way, it was peaceful, and it gives you a sense of peace and serenity inside to be a part of nature and just let it absorb. I reflect back to when it was COVID times and obviously working as a nurse, it was an incredibly stressful time for everyone and in the beginning, obviously, we weren't allowed to go anywhere, and once restrictions were relaxed slightly and I was able to walk just a little bit for a few short hours, I was able to just forget about all the stresses and strains of work and and what was on the news and just enjoy that life is still good, and there's there's sort of light in every day, really.

Roy Player 20:57

So there are so many positive things.

Vicky 20:59

Yes,

Roy Player 20:59

so many positive things, and walking around can really bring those to the fore, I think.

Vicky 21:03

Oh, I agree, I agree. I think anyone who is perhaps struggling mentally, perhaps just go out and walk in the countryside. I, I mean I don't sort of struggle with mental health issues as such, but I just get so much mental pleasure for being out here. Today's beautiful, but even on a rainy day, there's something quite amusing about trudging through the mud and rain down your neck, and because you can't help but laugh because you think what a situation have I got myself in now, but it's amusing and you, and you find pleasure in in the dark days as well, so well

Roy Player 21:32

It, it seems to me, and to Derm I would imagine as well, that the Ramblers provide an extraordinary service and that basically volunteers get a huge amount like yourself if you coming coming to join you, and the Ramblers also as an organization get a huge amount of the vol from the volunteers. It it sounds absolutely fantastic. So, how do people get involved? How, how can they do that?

Stephen 21:58

The easiest way is to go on the Ramblers website, ramblers.org.uk. You can type in where you live, and it will tell you any group walks that are happening in your area coming up soon. Go along to one. That's all you need to do. Just turn up. Almost all groups will welcome anyone and everyone. It's very rare that you will need to book in advance. There are some groups that do have a policy about booking to keep numbers manageable, so do just check before you check with the group before you just turn up. But go along. See how you get on. Hopefully you'll have a fantastic experience. What I would say is if the first walk doesn't go brilliantly, don't write it off. Give it give it a second go. It may be that you just didn't find the right group of people the first time. Try a different group. There are plenty to choose from. Pick a walk that you think will be well within your capabilities to start with. If you think, oh, I can walk up to t up to eight or nine miles, don't pick a 12-mile walk to start with. Make sure you're comfortable, and then you'll enjoy it a lot more. Keep going back. You'll start to know people, you get to know people, start to make friends, and then once you've been going a few times for a little while, someone, I'm sure, will come along and start giving you a little nudge, twisting your arm, saying, Have you thought about leading a walk? Have you thought about joining the committee? It doesn't take us long. We get in there pretty quickly when we see someone who looks keen.

Roy Player 23:38

I thought it was going to be Vicky then saying, giving you a nudge to say, where can we get our first piece of cake from? Which is what we're off to go and do now. So look, thank you so so much. You've both been absolutely brilliant, and I've learned so much about the Ramblers today. You know, I can't wait to come on one of your walks. It's absolutely brilliant. Thank you both. Thank you.

Vicky 23:55

Oh, you're welcome.

Stephen 23:56

Thank you.

Vicky 23:56

Thank you.

Training, Safety, And Support

Derm Tanner 23:57

Vicki and Stephen there with some really good advice. And and I suppose speaking personally, I'm perhaps a bit of a lazy walker in the I love walking, but I will only do the usual walks around where I live, whereas the opportunity to go somewhere brand new and have someone organise that for me, and hopefully I won't get lost. Just as I won't do, because they'll be organised by proper people rather than me trying to map room. Yeah, that that really does appeal.

Roy Player 24:23

Having walked around several places with you Derm, over the years, I would imagine that you, you could get lost. So I would really recommend to you if you're, you're like us really, is that thing of trying new walks? Do go with someone like that. It's great. If that works for you. I mean, I'm I'm really happy walking the dogs and discovering walks, but you're absolutely right. There is a tendency to go to the same places because you like we you know, we like our routines. You can take your dogs with you on most of these walks, but do just check with the person that's organizing the walk for the ramblers that you can do, because obviously, because of some places we're you know, going across fields and things, it may be may be difficult to do. So do just double check that because I love walking with my dogs, but also the thought of actually meeting other like-minded people is is absolutely fantastic. So, great, join the ramblers, go for long walks in different places, perhaps, and then you can always go back yourself, can't you, Derm, if you want to try it out. But exercise and fresh air, what on earth could be better?

Derm Tanner 25:28

You've been listening to Grey Matters More, produced and presented by Roy Player and Derm Tanner. Please don't forget to like, follow, or subscribe. That way you'll never miss an episode.