Buckinghamshire, Milton Keynes and West Middlesex Area

A new gate for John

Wycombe District Ramblers have dedicated a gate to a founder member, John Esslemont. It replaces a tricky stile on the boundary of John’s home parish, Lane End, and Piddington and Wheeler End. John has two gates dedicated to him, the first was in 2015 in Piddington and Wheeler End parish.

Eighteen ramblers joined a walk on 1 April to ‘launch’ the gate and thank John for all his work for the Ramblers, at group, Area, and national level. Vice-president Kate Ashbrook told the gathering that John had been a member of the Buckinghamshire, Milton Keynes and West Middlesex Area Committee for around 30 years, as vice-chair, chair, secretary, and now treasurer. He was group secretary for 21 years, and path checker for many parishes in the district; he has walked over 2,000 times with the group and led more than 400 walks. He was also the chair of the GB motions review committee, scrutinising the motions to general council and spotting any grammatical or drafting errors.

If anyone deserves to have two gates dedicated to them, it is John.

Photo: John at his gate.

Photo: Plaque.

Obituary

David Bradnack, 1933-2024

David Bradnack, area secretary of the Buckinghamshire and West Middlesex Area (as it was then known) from 1996-2007, has died aged 91.  He was keen on maps, orienteering, and cycling as well as walking, and played an important part in the campaigns for better paths and access.

David was born in Cheltenham in 1933 and went to Worcester Royal Grammar School.  He then did his National Service with the Royal Artillery in Korea before reading Modern Languages at Brasenose College, Oxford.

After graduation, he spent a year in Strasbourg and a second year in Graz as a teaching assistant.  He then became a teacher at King’s School, Canterbury.  In 1967 he joined Lord Williams’s School, at Thame in Oxfordshire, as Head of Modern Languages where he taught French and German, as well as being heavily involved in extra-curricular activities, such as swimming, lifesaving, and overseas trips.  He lived in Haddenham, Bucks.

He retired from Lord Williams’s in 1986, and continued to live in Haddenham, later moving to Oxford.  In retirement he taught English to refugees, and was a regular volunteer at the Oxfam bookshop in St Giles, Oxford.

He took up the role of area secretary in 1996 and was a diligent manager of our work.  He checked paths in Ickford and Shabbington.  Pursuing his love of maps, in 2008 he carried out a detailed exercise, mainly in Aylesbury Vale, of paths which on the ground did not strictly follow their definitive routes, and he asked the county council to consider amendments to the definitive map.  He taught Ramblers’ members how to lead walks, giving them confidence to do so.  He also initiated an area walk in 2000 to encourage the groups to meet and talk, though sadly this didn’t continue.

He was secretary of Haddenham’s Safe Cycling and Walking Group and a member of the Oxfordshire Orienteering Association, producing special maps for competitors.  He did not consider himself to be a runner, and he enjoyed navigating accurately rather than going quickly.  

He was a prolific letter-writer, to the press and to institutions, complaining about anything which he considered to be unjust, and not giving up until he got a satisfactory resolution. 

His brusque and serious manner belied a kind heart and a sense of humour.  He was an admirable area secretary and we remember him with affection.

At Oakley, Bucks, on a demonstration of blocked paths, 22 June 2003. David is on the right.

Path Volunteers celebrate their three hundredth gate

North Bucks rRIPPLE (ramblers Repairing and Improving Public Paths for Leisure and Exercise), the small group of retired people who work on the ground to make public paths more accessible, celebrated the installation of their 300th gate in Dinton, Buckinghamshire on 21st September 2022.

The 300th gate with the volunteers, including Bill Piers (left) and James Spratley of Buckinghamshire Council (second from right).

The team, under the aegis of the Buckinghamshire, Milton Keynes and West Middlesex Ramblers⁽¹⁾, was founded in early 2015 and works closely with Bucks County Council rights-of-way department, landowners and villagers.  It is removing obstacles, such as dilapidated stiles, from the public-path network at the rate of around one per week.  It installs self-closing, self-latching, galvanised steel gates which are friendly to farmers’ stock and make life much easier for the ever-increasing number of more elderly and less-able walkers who wish to venture a bit further afield.

The Plaque on the gate

The 300th gate was sponsored by Dorton residents Peter and Jane Smith through the group’s Donate a Gate (DaG) scheme, whereby a person or occasion can be marked by a plaque on the gate.  The gate is on Dorton footpath 7 at grid reference SP680148.  The path runs across fields between the railway line and Lawn Farm, Wotton Underwood.

Says the team leader, Bill Piers from Haddenham: ‘When we started out in 2015 with a couple of wheelbarrows, we were in awe of those Ramblers’ groups that had installed 200 gates.  Now, with our Land rover, the support of Buckinghamshire council, landowners, and a fantastic team of retirees doing the hard graft, we have installed 300 gates, and are set for more.  There is certainly no shortage of opportunities to replace stiles with gates to make our paths moer accessible.’

Adds Kate Ashbrook, Area footpath secretary for the Buckinghamshire, Milton Keynes and West Middlesex Ramblers: ‘The Ramblers are proud of the work carried out by rRIPPLE, which is extremely impressive and to a high standard.  As Buckinghamshire Council has to face greater austerity, it is a wonderful help that volunteers are willing themselves to do vital work on our public rights of way.

‘Public paths are enormously important for our health and wellbeing and there is no better way to explore the countryside.’

1.         The Buckinghamshire, Milton Keynes and West Middlesex Ramblers, which is a part of the national Ramblers’ Association, has nearly 3,000 members.  Further information of North Bucks rRIPPLE can be found here.

200th gate installed in North Bucks

On 5 November 2019, N o r t h B u c k s rRIPPLE (ramblers Repairing & Improving Public Paths for Leisure and Exercise) group reached a significant landmark when they installed their 200th gate, although they estimate there are probably another 2,000 stiles in the area needing similar treatment - so there is no fear of running out of work any time soon!

The group was set up in 2015 by Bill Piers of Haddenham who had become frustrated by the many old and poorly maintained stiles he had to negotiate when out walking with his wife Janet and dog Mollie. This led to him forming the group, a team of like-minded volunteers who every week replace one or two damaged stiles with robust galvanised steel gates. The replacement gates are self-closing and supported by treated redwood posts guaranteed for at least 15 years.

The work is often commissioned by Bucks County Council or local parish councils and supported by the relevant landowner. More recently the 'Donate a Gate' scheme has been introduced to give individuals and organisations the opportunity to have a gate dedicated to a specific person or cause. If you are attracted to the idea of donating a gate or learning more about the work of the group, or indeed reporting a stile in North Bucks you feel might be in need of replacement, full details are available at www.bucks-wmiddx-ramblers.org.uk/donate-a-gate.

Charles Boon