Dear Newark Rambling friends

I hope you are all enjoying our walks in this lovely summer weather. It is not often that our main concern is overheating!  Well, t was at the time of writing this! Occasionally, our concern is dogs and I wanted to let you know about our progress on dog walks.

The Ramblers encourage groups to make dogs (and their owners) welcome on walks wherever possible and we have over the last few months trialled some specifically dog friendly walks. These have been appreciated by dog owner members and I am happy to say that we shall continue to ask walk leaders to offer these where possible. Although, of course, walk leaders are under no obligation to do so.  

Dog friendly walks will be identified on the Walks Programme and anyone wishing to bring their dog should, please, speak to the walk leader directly to confirm arrangements. If you do bring your dog, please keep it under close control and, where necessary, on a short lead. The Ramblers Walking with Dogs page provides useful guidance on this.

Most walks will, likely, not be identified as dog friendly and the expectation would be that there will not be any dogs on them, apart from, maybe, assistance dogs. However, there is always the possibility that an unexpected guest may bring a dog: the walk leader will handle this type of situation based on the actual circumstances.

There is usually a good walk description and guidance given on the Ramblers “Go Walking” pages, which you can access directly or via our local website.  Nevertheless, anyone who has any concerns about any walks, whether dog related or otherwise, should always feel free to check with the walk leader directly. 

My view is that there will be very few dogs on any walk so people should not be overly concerned about us turning into a “dog walking” group instead of a bunch of people who appreciate walking together in pleasant surroundings! The committee will, of course, keep this under review but if anyone has any concerns, I shall be happy to discuss.

And finally ….. a big thankyou to all our walk leaders for putting on such a great variety of walks.  We always seem to have something to suit everyone.

Joyce

JOYCE PEDERSEN OBE

CHAIR, NEWARK RAMBLERS