Editorial
The t=
heme
of this month is “Past and Future”
A
bad fit of countryside reminiscence has been brought on by a bout of
spring-cleaning old Ramblers’Association documents.
The countryside future, as determi=
ned by
politicians, planners, landowners, climate change, environmental charities,
writers, can even be influenced by walkers as evidenced by the Mass Trespas=
s of
the 1930s, and more recently by pressures bringing The Right to Roam, the S=
outh
Downs National Park and hopefully soon more coastal access.
When canvassers darken your =
door,
catch them on the hop by asking not only about Afghanistan and taxation, but
what is their party doing about the countryside!
Living in the past
Turni=
ng out
some old Ramblers’
But
I don’t hanker to return to those times. We were walking regularly then, an=
d the
path network was generally poorly marked, and often obstructed, and in
Cambridgeshire at least, the absence of a vital bridge along a path was not
unusual.
Landscape Change in
Cambridgeshire
Also
in our archives, I came acros=
s a
County Council survey of landscape change in the county between the years 1=
970
and 1994. The survey covered areas in the small limestone belt to the North,
the gravel soils, fenland, chalkland areas to the South, and the West and SE
claylands. On the whole, the document makes for depressing reading, except =
in
the matter of tree-cover in the county, which was already improving in 1994=
.
- A
total of 7566m of shelterbelt
recorded in 1970 had been lost by 1985. Some 4000m of new shelterbelt were
recorded between 1985 & 1994.
-
Some 11% of ponds recorded in =
1985
had disappeared by 1994.
-
14 copses were lost between 19=
85
& 1994. However 112 new copses were planted in that period (a copse hav=
ing
3 to 300 trees).
-
Some 80% of orchards were lost in the survey areas between 1970 & 1985.
Landowners were often actually paid to rip them out.
- Hedgerows were still in decline b=
etween
1985 & 1994, the survey indicating some 10 miles had become gappy in th=
at
period.
- Cambridgeshire has the dubious
reputation of being the least wooded county in Britain, with only 2% tree-c=
over
in 1994. But the survey recorded 14% more woodland
area in 1994 than in 1970, and the improvement continues, thanks to The
Woodland Trust, Parish Councils, the County Council and private individuals
& organisations.
Fortunately,
nowadays tree-planting initiatives have been reinforced by awareness of the
benefits of trees to combat global warming. Several local charities and
parishes need volunteers for tree-planting days. See particularly “Cambridge =
Past
Present & Future” needing volunteers at Coton.
=
![](3D"CANTAB562_files/image002.gif")
“Lies, Damned Li=
es,
& Statistics”
Writing
on ramblersnet, Roy Hunt dispar=
ages
conclusions drawn from a Ramblers’ Volunteer Survey, to which just 644
members replied on-line.
As
a parting shot, he says,
“Remember, more people die in bed than anywhere else - so all =
the
time you are out walking you improve your chances of surviving another day!=
”
“Towpath Talk=
221;
This =
is a
free newspaper, which is sometimes available at the office at Baits Bite Lo=
ck.&nb=
sp;
As the title suggests, it’s all about waterways.&nb=
sp;
Issue 52 of January 2010 has a front page article on a possible
creation of a “national trust” for the waterways.
On
17 December, British Waterways published its proposals “Setting a new
course, Britain’s Waterways in the Third Sector”. The move to
create a trust, rather than direct state control, has the aim of securing t=
he
future of canals and navigations in England and Wales, and has met with wide
support As a charity, British
Waterways would be the 13th largest charity by income. The waterways have been suffering =
from
real term grant reduction since 2003, and without ongoing maintenance the 2=
00
year-old network will once again go into decline. The article speaks of =
11 million
visitors a year to the network, which doubtless includes lots of walkers as
well as boaters, fishermen, birdwatchers,&=
nbsp;
and others.
The
full report can be read on :
www.britishwaterways.co.uk/
settinganewcourse
Mid-Anglia Line
Station-to-Station Walks 2010
You
are invited to join walks led by Ramblers’ Association volunteer Roger
Wolfe on behalf of the Mid-Anglia Rail Passengers Assoc.
For more info. phone 01473 726649
or e-mail rdandaswolfe.2@btinternet.com
All walks are on Saturdays; starting place and time are shown, and walk
distance.
10 April Ipswich-Needh=
am
Market
Ipswich
station forecourt 9.15; 11.5 miles
24 April Needham Market-Stowmarket=
Needham Market sta.yard 9.30; 6.5 miles
1 May Stowmarket - Elmswell
Stowmarket sta forecourt 9.50; 7 miles
22 May Elmswell - Thurston
Elmswell station 9.45; 7.8 miles
12 June Thurston - Bury St Edmunds=
Thurston station 9.50; 7.5 miles
19 June Kennett - Bury St Edmunds =
Kennett sta 7.15 ; 18.5 miles; or Bury rail sta forecourt, 9.48 bus 312=
to
Barrow; 11.5miles
26 June Kennett to Newmarket
10 July Dullingham - Newmarket
Dullingham station 9.20; 7 miles
24 July Dullingham - Fulbourn
Dullingham station 9.20; 12.5 miles
31 July Fulbourn - Cambridge <=
br>
Fulbourn Post Office 10.25; 8.5 miles
14 Aug Newmarket - Soham
Newmarket Rail Station 9.15; 11 miles
Aug 21 Soham - Ely
Soham memorial 10.00; 6.5 miles
Check
with Roger Wolfe shortly
Before
each walk. Leaflets can be downloaded free from www.marpa.org.uk.
Where to stop for coffee?
The
following paragraphs are adapted from correspondence in ramblersnet, with acknowledgements to Malcolm Macdonnell, Brian
Reader, Geoff Mullett, and others countrywide.
How
does one interpret the use of a public right of way, when stopping for a co=
ffee
break? In East Sussex, 21 people on a walk were asked not to stop on a path=
for
their coffee. The (presumed) landowner on a quad-bike spotted them from a
distance & turned back especially to “challenge” their acti=
on.
Advice comes from the “Blue Book” (Rights of Way, A Guide to Law
& Practice). It quotes Lord Justice Smith in his judgement in Hickman v
Maisey (1900) who said “If a man, while using a highway for passage, =
sat
down to rest himself, to call that a trespass would be unreasonable. Similarly, if a man took a sketch =
from a
highway, I should say that no reasonable person would treat that as an act =
of
trespass.”
In
a more recent case, DPP v Jones, The Lord Chancellor said “The public
have the right to use the public highway&n=
bsp;
for such reasonable and usual activities as are consistent with the
general public’s primary right to use the highway for purposes of pas=
sage
and repassage”, and wen=
t on
to find a demonstration on the highway verge was legitimate usage and not a
trespass. However, he continu=
ed
“On a narrow footpath, for example, the right to use the highway woul=
d be
highly unlikely to extend to a right to remain, since that would almost
inevitably be
inconsistent
with the public’s primary right to pass and repass”...
One
of the authors of “The Blue Book”, John Riddall, published a
detailed article for the Open Spaces Society, reproduced in: www.derbyshireguide=
.co.uk/travel/picnics.htm
The John Muir Trust
As
an enthusiast for the wide open spaces, coasts and mountains of Scotland, we
are supporters of the John Muir Trust, which seeks to ensure that wild land=
is
protected and valued. See www.jmt.org
Some of the statistics from their 2009 =
Annual
report are below.
160
000 visitors used the path to the summit of Ben Nevis
|
|
![](3D"CANTAB562_files/image004.gif")
=
25
000 native tree seedlings were planted on Skye in 2009
22
work parties contributed 520 conservation days
A
project to control path erosion on Quinag has been completed
The
huge outcry which greeted the decision to allow the Beauly-Denny electricity
transmission line showed the 20 000 objectors were speaking for a much wider
cohort.
Friends of St
Etheldreda’s Reach The Friends c
Contact dking66@btinternet.com
phone 01638 742924
Parish of the Month -
Hadstock
Altho=
ugh in
Essex, Hadstock, 12 miles SE of Cambridge,=
looks to its nearest shops and transport in nearby Linton, over the
Cambridge border.
Once
Hadstock had a market, and the village assumed a greater importance.. The
manor house is Elizabethan, with a central chimney having 8 octogonal
shafts, and other fine thatched cottages cluster below the church.
The
church is believed to be Canute’s “Fair Minster” built 10=
20,
celebrating Danish victory over Edmund Ironside at Ashdon
(“Assandune”) in 1016. The nave & north transept remain, bu=
t a
C15th porch covers the original Saxon doorway, on which the old oak door was
reputed once to have been covered by the skin of a Dane. (The church guide =
says
that when the door was repaired, a piece of human skin was found under one =
of
the hinges). The south transept was rebuilt in the C14th, and the west tower
added ca. 1450.
Hadstock
also has a possible association with the lost settlement of Icanho, mention=
ed
in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as having a monastery founded 654. Abbot Botolph was buried in =
Icanho
ca 680. A large early Saxon grave was found against the E wall of the south
transept, and it is known that the body of St Botolph was removed in 970, a=
nd
relics distributed to Ely and Thorney Abbey. However, there are other possi=
ble
contenders for Icanho, and I recommend reading the display board at the rea=
r of
the churchyard, describing archaeological investigations.
On
the N side of the churchyard is St Botolph’s Holy Well, feeding a sma=
ll
pond. Once a source of water =
for
the village, it was declared insanitary before WWII.
Walks from Hadstock;
Explorer 209
Hadst=
ock
has a complex network of paths.
The following brief notes may be of assistance in designing walks.
From
Linton, there are several approaches.
(1a) Cross the A1307 to Malting Lane, pass Malting Cottages & the stump=
of
the old mill, and continue on “Chalky Road” (muddy lane) joining
the road into Hadstock. Turn =
off at TL566452 by an old red-painted =
wagon
wheel and footpath sign on the right, to reach the recreation ground by a
narrow wooded path, then a field edge.
(1b)
Opposite Malting Cottages, a signed path crosses a field, and should contin=
ue
SSW up the arable field, and towards Hadstock rec. Common practice crosses the bridge=
over
the ditch at the end of the first field, and turns E along the field edge, =
then
S up the hedge, continuing on the field path into the rec.
(1c)
Cross the A1307 near the top of High Street, and start up the B1052’s
footway towards Hadstock. Bey=
ond
Linton Zoo, an asphalt path “Lens Path” climbs parallel and just
above the road into Hadstock. Beware cyclists!
(1d) From the B1052 beyond the Zoo, at the same place where the tarmac path
starts,
TL 558460, a bridleway branches off SW.&nb=
sp;
Follow this to a bridge over a ditch at TL553453. This, too leads to Hadstock.
Once
in the village, a network of paths leads from behind the church.
(2) Follow one of these generally S, from the carpark behind the church,
keeping close to trees behind large wild gardens. The path turns into the trees to d=
escend
steps to the B1052 towards Saffron Walden at
TL 558446. Go S (cautiously) down this road to the ‘Harrison Sayer=
217;
nature reserve, at
TL 557441. The entrance is do=
wn an
earth bank, to find unimproved boulderclay grassland on the site of a warti=
me
airbase. Flowers include wild
liquorice, bee orchid, twayblade, fairy flax, blue fleabane, wild roses.
(3) From the steps described in (2) tu=
rn
back N on the B1052 for a few metres.
Find a seat by a pond overhung by a willow. Turn down the adjacent p=
ath,
between a stream and garden hedge. At the end, TL 557 446, turn right, N,
(4)
From the path described in (3) at TL557446, continue W on a waymarked path =
past
Pen Farm, and thence to join the Icknield Way LDP which leads either back to
Linton or to Great Chesterford.
(5) Continue on the B1052 past the Nature reserve described in (2). Shortly, a signed bridleway leads =
W to
join the Icknield Way LDP just W of Burtonwood Farm. Follow either the IW
footpath, or Cow Lane into Great Chesterford.
(6) Between Hadstock Church, and New Farm Cottages, S of the road to Bartlo=
w,
there is a well-waymarked network of short paths worth investigating. En route to Bartlow, use of the ro=
ad
between New Farm Cottages and the Bartlow Crossroads seems unavoidable.
Unfortunately, the track of the old railway is not available.
(7) From the stile behind the church carpark, go SSE on a long cross-field =
path
to Little Bowsers. From here,=
a
number of possible paths lead to Ashdon.&n=
bsp;
There is some waymarking, but the route is best not attempted unless=
the
ground is dry, and the path has been reinstated. Alternatively from Bowsers=
, a
byway may be located running WSW to Mitchells, and thence to Butlers Farm, =
and
thus to Saffron Walden.
For
all practical purposes, Hadstock can be assumed to have no transport, so ro=
utes
are best designed from Linton, through Hadstock to Chesterford, Ashdon, or
Walden.
Cantab Rambler by E-Mail &=
Post
Cantab usually appears every two months. A large numbe= r of you now receive Cantab by e-mail. By hand, 20p is appreciated towards the c= ost of paper and ink. If you would like to receive an issue by post, please sen= d a large SAE, & 2nd class stamp.
Offers of brief articles will be gratefully received.<= /p>
This
is a privately produced magazine, and the views expressed are solely those =
of
the editor, or of the author of an individual item.<=
br>
Janet Moreton 01223 356889
e-mail roger.janet@care4free.net
Price 20 pence where sold
Cantab 56 ©
Janet Moreton, 2010