Redspearlands Footpath Group

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Page last updated
1st March 2011

Activities

RFG GROUP WALKS FOR 2011
Monthly walks for members are held on the second Saturday of each month, May to October (occasionally November) inclusive. See elsewhere on our website for membership details.

See here for the Monthly Walks Programme for 2011.

Group walks are as much a social event as a healthy activity, and we endeavor to finish off each walk with afternoon tea. Tea-time is usually taken in a village hall, a community building, sometimes at a member‘s home, or we enjoy a bring and share picnic Now and again, if there is something special to celebrate, we’ll have a catered-for Farmhouse Tea.

The group’s walks are mainly circular ones within the parish, and from three to five miles in length. Visitors to the area are most welcome to join in as a guest member. The year’s programme with details of each month’s start point and route is published on the website prior to start of the season in May.

Once a year we have a combined walk with members of the Ivegill footpath group in our neighbouring parish. This is an out-of-area ‘expedition’ to a next-door county, or even over the border. The combined walk is longer than the local monthly ones, but never more than ten miles.

Please contact the group’s Secretary if you have any questions concerning membership, the walks programme, or the Circular or Mile walks. He can be reached at 01697 476304.

RFG CIRCULAR AND MILE WALKS
RFG’s Circular and Mile walks on the Walk for Life website have been placed there for all to enjoy. Please read the first entry in the ‘Comments’ box, as this will introduce you to the particular characteristics of each walk.

Starting as early in 2011 as the weather will allow, RFG volunteers will be hard at work waymarking and improving as many paths as we are able. Most of the ‘Miles’ are making use of dead-end paths which haven’t been used (or maintained by the landowner, farmer, or the City or County) for many years.

Redspearlands Footpath Group's Top 10 reasons to get physical
As Spring approaches, discover what walking does for your health:

Regardless of age, weight or athletic ability, walking is good for you. As your body adapts to regular exercise, you'll get stronger and fitter. Consider the following 10 ways that walking can help you feel better and enjoy life to the fullest. As a recreational exercise, walking can help you:

1. Keep excess pounds at bay. Combined with a healthy diet, walking helps you lose weight — and keep it off.

2. Increase your stamina. Walking may make you tired in the short term, but over the long term, you'll enjoy increased stamina and reduced fatigue.

3. Ward off viral illnesses. Walking activates your immune system leaving you less susceptible to minor viral illnesses such as colds and flu.

4. Reduce your health risks. Walking reduces the risk of many conditions, including obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke and certain types of cancer. Weight-bearing aerobic exercises, such as walking, reduce the risk of osteoporosis.

5. Manage chronic conditions. Walking helps to lower high blood pressure and control blood sugar. If you've had a heart attack, walking helps prevent subsequent attacks.

6. Strengthen your heart. A stronger heart doesn't need to beat as fast. A stronger heart also pumps blood more efficiently, which improves blood flow to all parts of your body.

7. Keep your arteries clear. Walking taken as an exercise boosts your high-density lipoprotein (HDL or "good") cholesterol and lowers your low-density lipoprotein (LDL or "bad") cholesterol. The potential result? Less buildup of plaques in your arteries.

8. Boost your mood. Walking can ease the gloominess of depression, reduce the tension associated with anxiety and promote relaxation.

9. Stay active and independent as you age. Walking keeps your muscles strong which helps you to maintain mobility as you get older. It also keeps your mind sharp. At least 30 minutes of walking exercise three days a week seems to reduce cognitive decline in older adults.

10. Live longer. American studies show that people who exercise regularly live longer than those who don't.

(Adapted from the Mayo Clinic newsletter, with permission)

PARISH PATHS INITIATIVE
Dalston Parish Council is a participant in this Cumbria-wide PROW improvement programme.
Cumbria County Council have a good web site for the PPI. Here is a link to it.

Update. An application is being prepared for this year's improvements. It is proposed to continue with removing stiles and replacing them with kissing gates. The preferred locations (subject to obtaining landowner approval) are: Cumbria Way as far as Bog Bridge; Sowerby Wood thereby creating an extension to the Redspear Activity Circuit. Full details to follow when and if the application is approved.

ADOPT-A-WAY
A-A-W volunteers undertake to monitor one or more PROW, or a length of one, reporting damage or problems to the A-A-W co-ordinator who passes the report to East Cumbria Countryside Programme for action. Please contact us to volunteer for Adopt-A-Way.

Update. AAW volunteers have been contacted to request their co-operation in providing RFG with a condition report for the paths they have adopted. This is to obtain as much information on the state of
Dalston's rights of way prior to the start of next year's 5-year rolling maintenance programme. The work of the programme is undertaken by Carlisle City Council's 'Green Spaces Team' based at Bousteads Grassing. Andrew Nicholson, formerly of East Cumbria Countryside Project, will most likely be in charge.