2010 Dates for your Walking Diary

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19th to 27th June

Herefordshire Walking Festival

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Ross-on-Wye Walking Festival

Organised by Walkers Are Welcome

Walking Festival :  9^th & 10^th October

CLICK HERE for details of the planned walks and to book your place.

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Press Release

With walking becoming an ever more popular form of recreation and exercise for both dogs and their owners Ben is confident his new publication will enable both to enjoy further the beautiful countryside around Ross. He is keen to stress that owners need to be responsible when taking their pets into the countryside, taking extra care when around livestock or wildlife and being conscientious about cleaning up any dog mess,

Ben’s booklet is now available from the Ross-on-Wye Tourist Information Centre at a price of £3

Work is continuing on the remaining two maps the Group intends to publish.

• Ross Street Map. This is a replacement for the current map issued by the Tourist Information Centre which is nearly out of stock. It will contain the line of the extended Buggy Route as well as improved representation of the Wye Valley Walk and the Herefordshire Trail where these important routes pass through the town. It is hoped to have this in print before Christmas. This will be a free leaflet.
• Ross Area Footpath Map. We have experienced problems with obtaining the necessary Ordnance Survey licence for this map but are hopefully close to resolving this and are aiming for publication by Christmas. This map will be sold by the TIC, but supplies will be available to sponsors on a similar basis to the Dog-friendly Walks booklet.

Back in July Ross became the 30^th town in the country to obtain accreditation as a Walkers are Welcome town. To celebrate this outstanding achievement the organizing committee decided to organize a walking festival. This took place over the weekend of 3^rd and 4^th October and was a resounding success.

A total of 88 walkers booked places on the 15 walks. For a first time festival this was an excellent number.

The Festival was opened at a short ceremony at Ross Market Place on Saturday 3^rd October. The crowd, made up of walkers, sponsors of the scheme local people and a few curious passers-by was welcomed by the Steering Group Chairman, Sam Phillips. He said that the occasion was one for celebration, thanks and welcome. The celebration marked the achievement of accreditation; the thanks was for all the hard work and support given to the project and the welcome was to all who attended the festival. The welcome to the visitors to our town was genuine and friendly.

The Mayor of Ross, Councillor John Edwards, accompanied by the Mayoress, Mrs Sue Edwards, declared the festival open. In his opening address the Mayor said that he and the Town Council were delighted to support the Walkers are Welcome initiative and wished it well for this first festival and for future events. He said that the Walkers are Welcome ideal, of encouraging all organisations and individuals in the town to work together was just what the town needed and he was pleased to see the principle in operation elsewhere, an excellent example being the recently formed Association of Ross Traders.

At the conclusion of the speeches many of the walkers gathered behind the Mayor at the top of the Market Hall steps. The Mayor cut a ribbon, held by two of the Steering Group Committee, Heather Webster and Sally Northcott, and the walkers descended the steps and set out on some of the Saturday walks.

The walking programme was large and varied with 15 walks in total varying in length from 3 to 10 miles and in difficulty from flat, riverside to walks that climbed Garway Hill, Howle Hill, Chase and Penyard Hills and Coppett Hill. There was walk that took the 35 bus to Kerne Bridge. The walkers walked back to Ross alongside the river. Another looked at the local woodlands, ponds and streams. One walk climbed Garway Hill and called in to the Knights Templar Church at Garway and another visited the wonderful Norman Church at Kilpeck, where the visitors were treated to a guided tour. The walk on the Doward used some of the magnificent sunken lanes, visited King Arthur’s Cave and the walkers enjoyed the return on the ancient hand-operated ferry. Yet another walk included a sumptuous cream tea at the half-way point.

Without exception the visitors to Ross, many coming here for the first time, thoroughly enjoyed themselves and want to return. They were delighted with the walking in the area, the welcome they received and were very impressed at the amount of local knowledge displayed by their guides.

This Festival was our first effort at organizing such an event and was great success. The knowledge gained this year will be put to good use at next year’s Festival (note the dates the 9^th and 10^th October) when more visitors will be expected as there will be much more time to advertise and spread the word. The Ross Walking Festival now has 88 advertising “executives”, all of whom can truthfully say that, in Ross, Walkers are Welcome.

Left to right - Sam Phillips (Chairman Ross walkers Are Welcome), Mayoress Mrs Sue Edwards and Mayor John Edwards at the opening ceremony.	Mayor John Edwards cuts the ribbon to start the walks at the festival
One walking party setting off to start their walk.	Climbing Garway Hill to appreciate the views
Spectacular Tree Roots!	Autumn Fungi
A sumptuous cream tea halfway!	Time to dig in!
A splendid view of Goodrich Castle	Wind blown on top of Garway Hill!

The Ross-on-Wye Group of the Ramblers Association and the Ross Walkers are Welcome Group are delighted to announce that the Ross Buggy Route is almost complete. The final stage, the construction of a ramp alongside Ashfield Park Primary School, is well underway and should be finished within the next few days.
The Ross Buggy Route was conceived four years ago as a joint project between the Ross Ramblers and the Ryefield Centre’s Leisure Link Club. It has taken a lot of hard work, in cooperation with Herefordshire Council’s Rights of Way Department to bring the project to fruition.

Phase one of the route, a two mile section running along the riverside and through the town, was opened by the then Mayor, Councillor John Davies, in June 2008. This section of the route involved the construction of a ramp alongside the steps on the riverside, outside the Hope and Anchor Inn.

The new ramp becomes part of the much-loved John Kyrle Walk and replaces the steep steps where the walk drops into the lane outside Ashfield Park School. Its completion will mean that the full four miles of the Buggy Route can be completed without negotiating any steps or kerbs. The ramp has been funded by the Wye Valley AONB as part of a cooperative venture between Herefordshire Council and the AONB to improve access and safety along the section of the John Kyrle Walk that runs along the cliffs overlooking the cricket and rugby pitches.