Also meaningless to me, is the following LSE Department of Mathematics conference: Colloquium in Combinatorics 2012. In this case I understand ‘in’ and ‘2012’ but not a clue on the other two words. On the other hand why is it everybody gets cheered up when they see dogs stick their heads out of car windows – what’s that all about? (That’s rhetorical I don’t really want to know.)

Hopefully both audiences these messages were aimed at understood them enough to act upon them appropriately. ‘It’ doesn’t really work all that well if only 1 person plays and a message painted on the pavement does suggest desperation. While the LSE wouldn’t favour an empty auditorium for anything let alone a talk dealing with finite and countable discrete structures. (Good old google but I’m really only a little bit wiser now.)

At the end of March the government – and I probably don’t need to remind you that it is the self-proclaimed ‘greenest government ever’ – finally published its National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). At the outset everybody seemed to agree that the UK’s planning system needed reform, with most clamouring for radical reform. Our system was undoubtedly perverse, lacking democracy and localism and seemingly designed to arrive at a decision that everybody abhorred.

The government’s initial proposals – planning lite if you will – was met with howls of derision from all sides. It was difficult not to read them as a route to build our way out of recession but even so the construction industry appeared unsatisfied. Environmental charities including the Ramblers, the RSPB, National Trust and CPRE were horrified. The proposals offered a dystopian vision of huge swathes of the countryside being concreted over while available brown field sites were left empty to continue to decay. Led by Zac Goldsmith, 45 coalition MPs signed a letter to the Prime Minister, warning that simplification of the system “should not come at the expense of the ability of planning to protect and enhance the environment.”

So it was with much trepidation these diverse groups read the final report. Most have given them a cautious and provisional welcome, acknowledging the serious and valuable concessions that have been made. As Nicky Philpott, Ramblers Director of Policy & Campaigns, says: “The Ramblers is pleased that the government has listened to some of the public’s concerns about protecting the spaces where we walk, rest and play, and that the Minister affirmed his commitment to a vision of sustainable development which includes the environment. Britain’s walking charity also welcomes the recognition of the importance of sustainable transport, protecting and enhancing the path network and the direction to local authorities to improve public access to and enjoyment of the coast.”

The proof of this particular pudding is certainly going to be in the eating and if I can throw in another cliché – the devil will be found in the detail. Nicky goes on, and I couldn’t agree more: “However, further in-depth study of the framework is needed in order to assess whether it provides the protection walkers, and the wider public, want to see for our local landscapes and green spaces and the Ramblers will now be looking into these areas in detail.” These measures will have a long-lasting effect on our environment – one that outlives this and many future governments.

For many of us the problem isn’t planning. We already have vast areas of land available today for development. As I understand it there are about 250,000 plots in the South East alone, in addition to 31,000 acres of brownfield land. That, and the fact that roughly 90% of applications were successful under the old rules, suggests the problem is neither lack of land to develop, nor a planning system that was not sufficiently permissive. By relaxing the rules we are unlikely to see more development overall but we could see more development in the wrong places. Developers might get richer but for the economy there would be no significant surge in growth. Like many things today (or any day I guess) it could be seen as largely a problem of finance. The banks have frozen their lending and simply aren’t helping people – while at the same time helping themselves plenty.

To be honest any language that embraces contronyms positively invites multiple interpretations. At first glance it seems NPPF is a vehicle that may well work for everyone but we will need to see a lot of practical application to discover what it really means and whether the letter of the law is more important than the spirit.

Finally, to misquote The Teardrop Explodes: ‘Bless my cotton socks I’m on the Board’. At the recent Ramblers General Council in Leicester I was elected to Board of Trustees. (Under my real name obviously.) If you’re interested in what this Board member does you might want to give this blog a look.

Useful links:

• The Ramblers
• LSE public events
• NPPF
• Ramblers Board of Trustees
• Ramblers General Council 

Listen to:

• Slut – What Does It All Mean
• Toyah – It’s A Mystery
• Jimmy Cliff – Hard Road To Travel
• The Teardrop Explodes – Reward
• The Teardrop Explodes – Treason
• Beastie Boys – Pass The Mic - RIP Adam Yauch: “What’s running through my mind comes through in my walk”

Walking Class Hero @walkngclasshero

There is a particular urgency to protecting these paths, because under existing law any path which hasn’t been recorded by 2026 will automatically be extinguished. This 2026 ‘cut-off’ date may seem years away, but backlogs in the recording-process coupled with cuts to local authority staff mean that many of the paths already identified could still be lost. Many well-used, totally uncontroversial paths like ones connecting residential streets will fall victim to this.

“Many local authorities across the country have huge backlogs of applications to register paths which are waiting to be officially recorded, but progress is slow,” says Nicky Philpott, Ramblers Director of Policy and Campaigns. ”If nothing is done to change this process then miles of well-used, but unrecorded paths, will be lost to the public when we reach 2026.”

The consultation will run from 14th May until mid August, and the Ramblers has been working with Natural England and other interested groups to find new procedures to ensure that all paths get the protection they need. Defra has now unveiled plans to take those proposals forward.

“We have been working, on behalf of all walkers, to suggest ways in which this process could be made better,” adds Philpott. “We will be responding to the consultation to ensure that the route you take to your local shop and the riverside path you love to walk will not be lost.”

It was raining steadily as I made my way to Higham, to join the Metropolitan Walkers  “What the Dickens” ramble to Rochester, in celebration of Charles Dickens’ bicentenary. My waterproofs had barely dried out from the day before, a recurring theme in the current South England ‘monsoon’ – a phenomenon which seems to occur every time a hosepipe ban is announced. Under the green archway of horse-chestnuts along my street, I noted the proliferation of white and pink floral pyramids shooting up from the leaves, one of my favourite Spring sights. After recent downpours you can almost see the trees stretching out their leaves in glee.

Kent was no less wet than London. 15 people donned their macs and gaiters as Walk Leader Des Garrahan, aka Walking Class Hero, introduced himself and told us about the planned walk – approximately 6 miles from Higham village to Rochester, in the footsteps of Charles Dickens. The writer lived in Chatham for a period as a child, returning as an adult, and loved walking in the area. A true rambler, he often walked 20 miles a day, thinking out plots and characters. In Des’ words, when Dickens wasn’t writing about London he was writing about Rochester, and it took starring roles in both ‘Great Expectations’ and ‘The Mystery of Edwin Drood’; was mentioned in ‘The Pickwick Papers’; and underwent a name change twice (Dullborough in the essay ‘The Uncommercial Traveller’ and Cloisterham in ‘The Mystery of Edwin Drood’).

The first point of interest is the fine tunnel at Higham Station. Built as part of the Thames and Medway Canal, at 3.5km (2.2m miles) it was the second longest canal tunnel built in the UK and the largest at over 10 metres (35 ft) high from arch to canal bed and 6.6 metres (21.5 ft) wide at the water line. Incredibly, the tunnel was dug through the chalk using only hand tools and according to the Tallis Directory of 1839, the tunnel was “so perfectly straight, that a person placed at one end, may discern a small light entering at the other extremity”. When the railway was built between Gravesend and Strood in 1845, it used the same tunnel, the single track resting partially on the towpath and partially on wooden stakes in the water. William Orr described the journey in 1847: “the ride through the dreary tunnel with the dark waters of the canal beneath us, and an insecure chalk roof above our heads, enlivened as it is by occasional shrieks from the engine’s vaporous lungs, and the unceasing rattle of the train, is apt to make one feel somewhat nervous”. Later the canal was filled by South Eastern Railway who built a double railway track over it.

The Kent fields are slick with mud, which we kick up in clumps as we pass pretty oast-houses. Skirting around Higham village, we wind down a country lane, glimpses of the shocking yellow rapeseed dazzling us from between the trees and hedgerows. Rapeseed is now the third largest source of vegetable oil in the world, yet in Dickens’ day it was used as lubricant for steam engines. The sky is heavy and grey, the clouds lying so low as to almost touch the tops of the trees in the distance. The path narrows to a green cut-through behind houses, extremely well-pruned to allow easy access (credit to the path maintenance team) and we emerge to find our first Dickens reference – a block of maisonettes called Dickens’ Court. Soon after we come to another on the main road, the signpost for Higham depicting Dickens in profile, his long beard and slightly unmanageable hair not detracting from his elder statesman air.

We shortly arrive at Gad’s Hill Place, where Dickens’ lived and died. He was apparently happiest as a child in Chatham and when he saw Gad’s Hill Place with his father, he expressed his desire to one day live there. In 1856 he achieved his dream, buying the home for £1790. At a roundabout our Walk Leader Des points out another village sign referencing Dickens, this time the mascot is Mrs Gamp, a character from ‘Martin Chuzzlewit’. An interesting choice – Sarah Gamp is an alcoholic nurse, who gives away her drinking problem by the alcoholic fumes she expels. Robbie Collin in the Telegraph selects Mrs Gamp as his favourite Dickens’ character and describes the author’s genius at matching characters to names, “on the page, the word Gamp suggests a gammy, damp hump; a lump of gammon; a gabby blimp. Read aloud, it forms chokingly at the back of your throat before lurching forwards and bursting from between your lips like a fat glob of spit.” Mrs Gamp carries with her a battered black umbrella and it was such a popular image for the Victorian readership that ‘gamp’ became a slang word for an umbrella.

Crossing the bridge into Rochester, the castle appears on the horizon and umbrellas (or gamps) bob above head height. From the bridge we spot a submarine tilting to one side in the grey water. Despite the dreary weather, the High Street is alive with festivities; Morris Dancers clack their sticks and throw their legs up, a man with a strange wicker bird mask leads girls in green dresses through elaborate dance steps. Circling up towards the castle, we pass the magnificent Rochester Cathedral, its architecture betraying its Norman origins. Dickens wished to be buried in the churchyard here, but no such obscurity; he was laid to rest in Poet’s Corner, Westminster Abbey. In the grounds of the ruined 10th-century castle, a funfair with its spinning teacups, carousels and merry-go-rounds creates a jarring juxtaposition of old and new. A band is playing the Monkees’ ‘I’m a Believer’, holding up signs to encourage the crowd to replace lyrics and beats with the name ‘Bob”.

Excited squeals and smatterings of “bob”s left behind, we come to the ‘real’ Satis House, the inspiration for Miss Havisham’s home in ‘Great Expectations’. Dickens took the name but imposed it on a different building in Rochester, that of Restoration House, which we reach through a pretty Grade II listed park called The Vines. London Plane line the avenue and a beautiful Maple adds a burst of red-orange. Dickens was apparently seen walking through The Vines just three days before his death in 1870. Restoration House is an impressive if severe building, in which Charles II apparently stayed on his way back to the English throne. We finished our walk in the Riverside pub at Strood, and raised our glasses to Des and the Met Walkers. We may not have matched Dicken’s daily 20-miler but we all agreed the walk was a great way to celebrate the author’s bicentenary year and a wonderful introduction to Higham and Rochester.

Walk with the Ramblers!
Join us and/or go on a led walk with the Metropolitan Walkers. Walking Class Hero also leads walks for London Strollers and Capital Walkers. You can also read his blog.

Follow us on Twitter:
The Ramblers @RamblersGB
Metropolitan Walkers @metwalkers
Sarah Gardner @sassgee
Walking Class Hero @walkngclasshero

Every few years there comes another anniversary of the Kinder Scout trespass, attended by walks, rallies, exhibitions, speeches and like festivity. For the 60th we turned out a pretty good booklet, with the front page of the northern Daily Dispatch, 25 April 1932, in facsimile (‘Hitler’s New Bid for Power’ taking second place to ‘Mass Trespass Arrests on Kinder Scout’); and Mike Harding wrote a play. Gaoled trespasser Benny Rothman was interviewed on television; and, decrying the freedom-to-roam concept in his column shortly afterwards, Peregrine Worsthorne somewhat vinaigrously complained that the Ramblers had wheeled out ‘an awful old man’ to speak in its favour. The 11th Duke of Devonshire addressed the 70th anniversary rally, and it is to be hoped that Mr Worsthorne found His Grace a rather less awful old man. The Duke certainly went down well with the assembled throng: prolonged acclamation resounded in that quarry at Bowden Bridge at the noble utterances he made about open access. At the 75th the speakers included David Milliband, who named a train after Benny Rothman, and Lord Hattersley, who rather daringly declared the trespass to be ‘the most successful direct action in British history’. At the 80th the other week, Stuart Maconie, Dame Fiona Reynolds and Mike Harding appeared on the bill; and, as before, people came in their droves to walk and listen.

Some colleagues lately confessed that they have never been to Kinder Scout. And so after some prompting and a night on the floor of a delightful if draughty barn at Upper Booth, this blogger found himself leading a party of them up the Scout, ascending by Crowden Clough, and climbing the majestic waterfalls to arrive at Crowden Tower; passing by that set of fascinatingly surreal stones the Woolpacks and Noe Stool and Pym Chair, turning north at Kinder Low toward the Downfall, passing Cluther Rocks; and then heading south-eastwards through Kinder Gates to show them the groughs and hags of this mighty sovereign of the Derbyshire hills. ‘Nobody has really seen that masterpiece of nature’s savagery who has not, once at least, crossed its barbaric expanse and paused amid its stillness and its solitude, where the elements have had their way, without let or hindrance, for countless æons of geological time,’ wrote the Derbyshire antiquarian Thomas L Tudor, in The High Peak to Sherwood (R Scott, c 1925), a book which handsomely repays a read. So half a dozen central office staff can now say they have sampled the fierce features and varying meteorology of the plateau’s peculiar grandeur. The descent was from Grindslow Knoll, with its endless vista of broken slopes and fading skylines, and on to the alluring charms of Edale and its Nag’s Head Inn, in which that evening the ales went down as well as ever.

A pleasing feature of all these Kinder anniversary celebrations is that they are never a wallowing in nostalgia for the old days of khaki shorts and stout shoes. One detects amid the crowds an awareness that the Countryside and Rights of Way Act has about it the air of an unfinished agenda; there is a forward-looking determined desire for an increase in the definition of open access land, so as for it to include the coast and the woodlands as well. People walk for all sorts of reasons: exercise, scenery, well-being, wildlife, remoteness, refreshment of spirit; and more space for it would not come amiss, thinks the present writer, for what his opinion may be worth. ‘Perhaps no experience is better calculated to relieve the hectic strain of modern life than a burst into these open sanctuaries of nature, free from the bedlam of the roads and the eternal distraction of the town; grand and solitary and untamed since the beginning of years.’ And it was in 1925 that Thomas L Tudor wrote that.

Eugene Suggett is the Senior Policy Officer for The Ramblers.

Ramblers, amblers, walkers and other outdoor enthusiasts will be gathering along the Welsh coastline this weekend to celebrate the launch of the Wales Coast Path – the first footpath to cover an entire nation’s coastline! The 5th and 6th of May will see over 100 coastal walks lined up as part of Ramblers Cymru’s Big Welsh Coastal Walk, with the charity calling on as many people as possible to join them over the May Bank Holiday weekend.

“It’s the final countdown to the launch of the Wales Coast Path and the Ramblers are gearing up for a weekend full of coastal walking,” explains Angela Charlton, Director of Ramblers Cymru. “The launch of this Coast Path is a milestone for access to our countryside and coast and to celebrate it we’re calling for everyone who can, to join us to walk along the Wales coastline to appreciate the magnificent opportunities that this path will make available.We’re thrilled to have lined up over 100 coastal walks and don’t want anyone to miss the chance to be a part of this exciting event. We’re encouraging everyone in Wales to gather their friends and families and spend this May Bank Holiday outdoors enjoying the exhilarating affect of a walk by the sea.”

There will be events taking place along almost every stretch of the Welsh shore – from short seaside ambles to exhilarating cliff top hikes as well as the Welsh Government’s official launch events in Cardiff; Aberystwyth and Flint.

“There is real excitement that the Coast Path is going to provide a valuable boost to the economy of coastal areas, attracting visitors as well as local people to enjoy this unique resource that we will have created,” says Morgan Parry, Chairman of the Countryside Council for Wales. “It’s important that everyone gets behind the initiative so that Wales can realise its huge potential. In terms of public health, it is more important than ever that we create the best possible opportunities for people to enjoy walking and all the benefits of being active outdoors.”

Ramblers members across Wales will be involving their local communities in a variety of walks to suit everyone. Visit www.ramblers.org.uk/wales to find details of coastal walk near you on the Big Welsh Walk map, or for more information on the official launch events please visit www.walescoastpath.gov.uk.

Elsewhere in Britain, Ramblers’ Coast for Most weekend aims to highlight the wonder and diversity of the British coastline, encourage even more people to get out and experience the exhilarating affect of a walk by the sea, and demonstrate why this amazing coastal path should be rolled out across England, with a corresponding network of coastal paths in Scotland too. To find out more about the Ramblers One Coast for All Campaign and sign the petition calling on the government to fulfil its duty to create the English Coastal Path, visitwww.ramblers.org.uk/onecoastforall.

Click here to read more about the Wales Coast Path on walk.

Image of Clarach Bay by Darren Wyn Rees.

13–18 May 2012

Click here to download the official programme.

✆ 01624 664460 www.iomevents.com

19 May–10 June 2012
Around 30 guided walks covering much of inland Suffolk around Stowmarket, Lavenham, Bury St Edmunds, Newmarket and Ipswich. The region’s softly undulating landscapes, pretty villages and magnificent cultural heritage are perfect for relaxing and enjoying the fresh air. Walks range from one to 14 miles, and many include lunch and afternoon tea stops with a chance to sample some fresh local produce.

✆ 01284 764667, www.discoversuffolk.org.uk