dg comments

please empty your brain below

I was on a walk with Ian Bull one of their walk guides for South East London last January and he said they were waiting for the next round of budget allocations but he suspected that this walk (early January) could well be the last.

It appears he was right.

thefallingman | 17.12.12 - 7:19 a.m. | #

DG - thanks for raising this. If there is an organisation who are supposed to safeguard public footpaths in London then it isn't working properly.
I'm thinking especially of the Thames-side path. The signs and information leaflets for this are an example of where work is needed. Signs were erected a few years ago, but in that time new sections of river access have opened on the Isle of Dogs - but the signs still point people away from the river onto nearby streets. Meanwhile, on the Greenwich side, the path between the Naval College and the O2 is almost completely inaccessible - and it seems as if no-one is chasing the developer(s) to re-open it.

IslandDweller | 17.12.12 - 7:43 a.m. | #

The London Ultra (50K) run takes place in February. It relies on the signs to send runners the right way. Starts SE London and finishes NW London and follows the southern section of the Capital ring. Should be fun then.

Dave | 17.12.12 - 8:01 a.m. | #

The Ramblers (ramblers.org.uk) is the national organisation that has campaigned since 1935 for the upkeep of public footpaths, and there are several London-based groups. The Ramblers was instrumental in establishing the Thames Path, the London Loop and other long distance paths. Like many rganisations, however, it relies on subscriptions to thrive.

Paul | 17.12.12 - 9:24 a.m. | #

It looks like whoever runs the @WalkLondon Twitter account has just sent a fresh tweet: https://twitter.com/walklondon/status/280639356379754497. Maybe they saw this post and perhaps thought they'd better let everyone know they're still going?

Andrewh | Homepage | 17.12.12 - 12:04 p.m. | #

Well done DG

Another kick up the pants of bureaucratic sloth and disinterest.

Rob C | 17.12.12 - 12:37 p.m. | #

Poor old Walk London has had its budget and staff slashed. I think they are doing the best that they can on the resources available. I used to be a volunteer Route Ranger on the London LOOP but last year we were all told that they could no longer afford the public liability insurance to keep us on. A great shame, but it seems walking for leisure has dropped way down TfLs priority list.

The good news is they are doing some winter walks at the end of January

Rob

Rob Smith | Homepage | 17.12.12 - 2:25 p.m. | #

Dg you must have woven your magic- look forward to the winter warmers- pity the world is ending on Friday though

kissenme | 17.12.12 - 3:28 p.m. | #

Shame that the "upload your photos" section is buggy, mis-spelled and wrong! Is that really Sheldon Square? because the totems are on the Greenway by West Ham, (saw them this Sunday)

Jan 842 | Homepage | 17.12.12 - 3:46 p.m. | #

That's a shame about the volunteer rangers being disbanded because of insurance costs. You'd think that would be a very cost-effective way of maintaining the paths, very big society and all that - yet scuppered by a bit of penny pinching somewhere. Insurance and public liability in general seems to be the biggest stumbling block to any sort of voluntary activity these days.

disgruntled | Homepage | 17.12.12 - 8:28 p.m. | #

Insurance? To go for a walk? The mind boggles.

Andrew | 18.12.12 - 9:12 a.m. | #

Response from Amanda Searle at Walk England:

Thanks for raising the question 'What's going on with Walk London ?'! We're delighted to say that last week Walk England and TFL agreed the 2012/13 contract. From March 2012 until this point Walk England have been managing the website, social media channels and email enquiries as a gesture of goodwill.

The budget to March 2013 has now been confirmed.It is reduced from previous years but happily we are able to put on a free walking weekend in January. We are also delighted to say that meetings have been arranged with TFL in January to discuss next year's budget. We are optimistic.

Covering another of your points: The Boroughs are now responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of the routes. We pass any problem reported to Walk London on to them.

To address a fellow comment: The Gallery on the website is a user generated gallery and so spelling mistakes and minor placement errors may occur from time to time.

I hope this goes some way to shedding light on the situation. Thanks.

Amanda Searle | Homepage | 18.12.12 - 11:12 a.m. | #

Thanks Amanda.

It's reassuring to hear that things are progressing positively, although also a little unnerving that the contract for this financial year has been settled with less than four months remaining.

Needless to say, I'm very pleased that another Winter Wanders weekend is planned.

Long-term, however, I fear that some boroughs will take their footpath maintenance duties less seriously than others, and parts of the waymarked network will quietly fade away.

Fingers crossed for a swift and successful budget settlement for next year.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 18.12.12 - 11:24 a.m. | #

"Long-term, however, I fear that some boroughs will take their footpath maintenance duties less seriously than others, and parts of the waymarked network will quietly fade away" - just as happens in different Counties and Boroughs (depending on who the Highways Authority is.

| 18.12.12 - 12:44 p.m. | #

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