| Founded | 1 January 1935 |
|---|---|
| Area served | United Kingdom |
| Focus | Walking |
| Mission | Promoting walking |
| Members | 123,000[1] |
| Website | www.ramblers.org.uk |
The Ramblers, formerly known as the Ramblers' Association, is the largest walkers' rights organisation in Great Britain which aims to look after the interests of walkers (or ramblers). It is a charity registered in England and Wales and in Scotland[1], with around 123,000 members[1].
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In 1931, the National Council of Ramblers' Federations was formed because walkers felt that a national body to represent their interests was needed. On 24 April 1932, the Communist-inspired "British Workers Sports federation", frustrated at the lack of resolve of the newly-formed Ramblers, staged a mass tresspass of Kinder Scout, the highest point in the Peak District. During the mass trespass, the Ramblers present scuffled with the Duke of Devonshire's Gamekeepers and 5 Ramblers were arrested. This mass trespass is often seen as the pivotal turning point in the history of the Ramblers. In 1934 it was decided to change the Council's name, and so on 1 January 1935, the Ramblers' Association was officially created. On the 21 and 22 April 2007, the Ramblers celebrated the 75th anniversary of the illegal trespass of Kinder Scout and the imprisonment of those who participated.[1]
From 1948 onwards its secretary was Tom Stephenson, who was a leading campaigner for open-country access and for the first British long-distance footpath, the Pennine Way.
The Ramblers association and its members long felt that there was a need for a change of image following on from the last change in 1987. Research commissioned by Ramblers found that people perceived its members as old men with beards and bobble hats marching through the countryside. Its image was bordering on parody, which both embarrassed and amused the Ramblers. London-based brand agency Spencer du Bois, which specialises in not-for-profit organisations, was commissioned to create and effect the rebranding. It surveyed all members of Ramblers, receiving almost 6,000 responses, to find the aims and values that the charity wanted to convey externally. It was apparent that there was a shift in emphasis within the Ramblers, away from elderly and retired middle class and predominantly white Caucasian members walking in the countryside, towards a younger and more ethnically diverse membership for whom walking was an increasingly urban activity. The rebranding exercise was targeted towards this new and evolving demographic. In 2009 the Ramblers association was re-branded as the "Ramblers" at a cost of £35,000 and a new logo emerged incorporating a younger, fresher, and more all-inclusive urban image.[2]
The Ramblers has five main charitable aims as detailed below from the Ramblers Charity Commission summary:
In summary, the aims of the charity are:
The Ramblers as a charitable organisation believes in the power of walking. A belief of the organisation is a recognition of the positive impact that walking can have on people's lives. Although it is a membership-based organisation, the Ramblers believes that its work benefits society as a whole, and a core belief is that the countryside should be for Ramblers. Since its inception, the Ramblers have campaigned for full rights of responsible access to all of Britain's green spaces, culminating in the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (the CRoW Act). Access in Scotland is even more liberal: the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 made Scotland among the most walking-friendly countries in Europe, along with the Nordic countries, with walkers having the right to access virtually all land.
The Ramblers argues that Britain's network of public paths is an invaluable part of its national heritage and that the relevant authorities have a duty to invest in them.
There are 485 Ramblers' groups in about 50 areas, and around 350 other affiliated bodies, such as societies especially interested in walking and pedestrianism, for example the Footpath Society.
Each of the Ramblers groups is structured into areas. Each group sends representatives to an area committee. Once a year a general council is held, whereby representatives from each area meet to discuss the priorities of the Ramblers for the forthcoming year. The trustees that are legally responsible for the Ramblers are also elected during this.
A criticism of Ramblers groups is that they traditionally attract retired heterosexual middle class people on walks and not people of other age groups or people from ethnic minorities. However, there is a concerted effort to change this legacy with the growing numbers of Ramblers groups being formed specifically for people in their 20s and 30s. The largest one being the Metropolitan Walkers based in London. Increased emphasis towards urban pedestrian walking is hoped to also attract those from ethnic and other minority and underprivileged groups. Whilst the Ramblers have attracted new members from younger age groups, there is still a lack of ethnic diversity within its membership when viewed as a percentage of overall Ramblers membership. [2].
In order to broaden the Ramblers appeal and membership demographic, a recent initiative to be implemented has been the Gay City Strollers, a collaboration between the Ramblers and the Lesbian and Gay Foundation Manchester. The project is an urban walking programme targeted at the city's gay and lesbian community.[3]
In 2009 the Ramblers introduced funding cuts due to the loss of membership revenue with a 5000 reduction in membership numbers. Ramblers suggested this "certainly resulted in part from difficulties we have experienced in processing and servicing memberships during the year. Also, the economic downturn coupled with a large structural reorganisation and a reduction in marketing has had an impact too."[1] Although the economic downturn was cited, this was against a background of increased retail sales of walking gear during the economic downturn. The funding cuts were especially difficult for Ramblers Scotland who saw funding cut by 75% to just £100,000 per annum. Ramblers Scotland was told to reduce staff numbers from 7 to just 2 and to close their office in Kinross. Dennis Canavan, the chairman of the Ramblers Scotland, mailed every Scottish Ramblers member about the possibility of forming a totally independent Scottish walking group as it was felt that having a London-based Ramblers association meant the Ramblers was too London- and urban-based and out of touch with Ramblers Scotland and other ramblers groups.[3] Funding cuts also resulted in the threatened closure of the Wales office of the Ramblers Wales and redundancies at Ramblers headquarters in London. Hike, a magazine aimed at Ramblers aged 18–30, was discontinued and there was also a reduction in spending on Rights of Way, Countryside Protection and Freedom to Roam both by Areas & Groups to £82k (2008: £133k), and centrally to £2.3m. (2008: £2.7m).[1]
The Countryside and Rights of Way Act, granting the freedom to roam in the open countryside in England and Wales, was passed in 2000. The Ramblers was at the forefront of those campaigning for a consistent scheme of access to the whole coast of England and Wales (under the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009).[4]
A campaign in the summer of 2003 was conducted "to work for safer road crossing points for users of public rights of way" in order to make the authorities and the public at large aware of the attendant dangers of crossing some extremely busy roads while walking.
Long-distance footpaths, some of them ancient, have been maintained in conjunction with local authorities, and their use has been encouraged and promoted by the charity. It is in this way that walking on the Pennine Way, the Pilgrims' Way, the Saxon Shore Way, Offa's Dyke, The Ridgeway and many others, as well as innumerable shorter paths, has become very popular over the years. Gloucestershire-area members of the Ramblers were also responsible for devising (in 1953) and promoting the line of the Cotswold Way.
Along with the Long Distance Walkers Association, the Ramblers is recognised by Sport England as the governing body for "Rambling" in England.[5]
The Ramblers have just launched (2010) a campaign to monitor the level of funding cuts to highway authorities, as it is believed these will have a significant impact on footpath provision.[6]
The Ramblers were previously campaigning against the expansion of Stansted airport, as this will be detrimental to the enjoyment of walking in the area. Ramblers Walking Holidays Ltd, the commercial arm of the Ramblers and the largest commercial financial contributor to the Ramblers, also offers flights from Stansted airport.
The Ramblers is active in promoting "walking for health" schemes (under its "Get Walking, Keep Walking" initiative).[7]
Throughout its history, the Ramblers have often been involved with other countryside user groups and landowners.
Notable confrontations are:
Madonna won a battle against the Ramblers in 2004 after Ramblers were banned from the pop star's country estate for half the year because of the risk of being shot. Fifty-four acres of the 1,132-acre (4.58 km2) Ashcombe Estate on the Wiltshire/Dorset border were opened to walkers under new right-to-roam laws, but the Countryside Agency agreed that ramblers will be banned from the open part of the land from September to February—during the shooting season. During the rest of the year the small section of land will be open.
Jeremy Clarkson, the TV presenter and Top Gear host who lives on the Isle of Man, became frustrated at the lack of privacy at his home when ramblers deviated from a pathway to take photographs of his dwelling, hoping to catch a glimpse of the star. Clarkson's property bordered a small 250-metre strip of land that had no definitive status as a public right of way but was used by walkers regardless. Clarkson aimed to close access to this small strip of his land, thereby forcing ramblers to take a small diversion to stick to the official public Right of way and therefore protecting his claimed right to privacy on his own property. In May 2010 the former transport minister, Hon. David Anderson MHK, accepted the conclusions of a public inquiry that all except five of the paths claimed at the inquiry as Public Rights of Way have been dedicated as public rights of way and should be added to the Definitive Map.[8]
Nicholas Van Hoogstraten, the millionaire property tycoon, has had a long-standing dislike of and dispute with Ramblers, describing them as "scum of the earth". In 1999 Mr Hoogstraten erected a large fence across a footpath on his country estate in East Sussex. Local Ramblers staged a protest against the erection of the fence outside the boundary of Mr Hoogstraten's estate. On 10 February 2003 and after a 13-year battle and numerous legal proceedings, the path was finally re-opened.
Locally, walks vary in length: short distances of three to four miles (6 km); a medium range of five to six miles (10 km), or seven to nine miles (14 km); or for the more experienced ramblers, ten to fifteen miles (24 km). Consideration is given to the difficulty of the course and the terrain, whether stiles, steep hills, and busy roads are to be crossed, and the number of members who may be expected to take part. Ramblers take their turn in volunteering in advance for the list of leaders of the walks. Leaders walk out the designated route in order to reconnoitre it, bearing in mind that certain features of the route may change before the actual day of the walk. Crops in fields growing or harvested, foliage on trees changing, footpaths overgrowing—all will make a difference to what Ramblers will encounter. With many walking groups consisting of elderly people, particular care is taken to ensure that the walk is both feasible and not too strenuous for these individuals.
Lunch will normally be taken en route and may consist of a picnic or a lunch taken in a pub that welcomes Ramblers. Historical problems with group size, dirty boots, and general anti-Ramblers prejudice means that not all pubs welcome Ramblers; therefore, the walk leader will be familiar with suitable pubs to visit before the walk. Sometimes a pub may be used as a starting and end point for the walk but this can create problems for pub owners due to the capacity of the pub's car park.
Many members of the Ramblers are not active members of a group however, but are members to support the access and advocacy work of the Association. Similarly, there are many members who are not users of long-distance paths, but are more interested in preserving the diversity of the existing footpath network. The majority of Ramblers will drive to the walk starting point, but car sharing is encouraged to lessen the environmental impact of car usage.