Congratulations & Celebrations

There is only one way to start this month's newsletter and that is to congratulate those group members who completed the Cinque Ports 100 last weekend, or the Marshalls Walk (MW) earlier in the month. Very well done to:

• Sheena Findlay (MW)
• David Purdy
• Lucy Robins
• John Sreeves
• Clare Staff
• Andy Todd (MW)
• John Walker

Your achievements have been recognised in the Wiltshire LDWA's Roll of Honour. Also in this month's newsletter:

• Cinque Ports 100;
• Celebrating the walking achievements of the group's members; 
• Arrangements for our 25th anniversary ceilidh,
• Feedback from the recent PDA committee meeting;
• Wiltshire Trivia;
• In Case of Emergency (ICE);
• Murphy's Walking Laws;
• The General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR);
• Corsham Walking Festival; and
• This month's walks in and around the county.

Cinque Ports 100

From Lesley:

"Firstly I'd like to add my congratulations to the aforementioned group members who completed this year's Hundred main event or marshalls walk. Well done too, to Gwyneth Littlejohn, from the Bristol & West group, who accompanied Clare and Lucy.

Thanks go to Alan Voyce, Andy, Bruce Barclay, Sheena, Roger Swift and Jan Cox (from the Heart of England group) for their magnificent efforts through the night at the Hythe checkpoint. The Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports who started this year's event, later called into all the checkpoints to talk to the entrants and marshals and was very impressed by the spirit of camaraderie that exists within the LDWA.

Our checkpoint was the breakfast stop. Sheena, Jan, Alan, Andy and I arrived at Hythe Sports Pavilion at 2300hrs on Saturday night to start our shift with Andy and Alan looking after the registration and baggage logging, and the girls handing out the breakfast bags to the entrants. It was quite a sight to find two changing rooms full of various holdalls, rucksacks, suitcases and carrier bags of differing weights and sizes. It certainly kept us fit lugging all the bags for 15 hours. Bruce and Roger arrived at 0500hrs to offer much needed assistance. I don’t think any of us need to go to the gym for the next few weeks. Thankfully it was a very warm night and most entrants chose to eat their breakfast and dress their sore feet outside and watch an amazing lightning display. It turned into some sort of strange midnight feast with Compeeds and plasters being offered around.

Special thanks must go to Andy who walked the second night with the girls, along with others who decided it was a good idea to follow someone who knew where he was going. Clare, Gwyneth and Lucy arrived at the end at 0550hrs on Monday morning.

Thanks also to all the other groups managing checkpoints and of course to the Kent group for looking after our entrants so well."

Roll of Honour

I have now created the aforementioned page on our website to celebrate the walking achievements of our members who took part in the Cinque Ports 100, in the hope that it will also inspire others to take part in one of the more extreme LDWA challenge events one day.

I'd like to hear from all of you who have completed a LDWA Hundred, meeting the following criteria:

• You must have completed the LDWA Hundred;
• It must have taken place on or after 1993; and
• You must have been a Wiltshire LDWA group member at the time of the event.

As the page grows I hope to add 50+ mile challenge events.

Celebrating Our 25th Anniversary

From Lesley:

"The arrangements for our 25th Anniversary ceilidh are as follows:

   Date and Time: 7th September 2018 at 7pm

   Venue: Selwyn Hall, Box, SN13 8NT

   Cost: £10

We have a ceilidh band and caller booked and tickets can be purchased shortly via a link on our web page. Please bring what you would like to drink and a dish to share and of course yourselves, partners and friends, as we want this to be a wonderful celebration of 25 years of walking. There will be a cake. I suggest you wear light clothes and flat shoes as you will get hot."

Pewsey Downsaround (PDA) Committee Meeting on 8th May 2018

The committee is anticipating holding the next PDA on Sunday 28th April 2019, with event entry opening on Saturday 1st December 2018. Once again, it will follow the Bath Beat.

The committee agreed to increase the registration fee to £10 for LDWA members and £15 for non-members.

The committee also agreed to extend the walking time for the 35-mile route, in an effort to attract more walkers.

The committee is asking group members to submit suitable photographs that they have taken, for use as the backdrop on next year's PDA certificate.

In Case of Emergency (ICE)

Emergency situations can develop anywhere and for anyone, so the simple act of carrying your emergency contact information in a convenient manner makes sense for everyone. Walkers are therefore encouraged to carry up to date ICE cards in an accessible place, e.g. a top rucksack pocket, so that if something should happen on a walk, the walk leader or emergency services know about any medical conditions and who to contact. For my annual long distance treks - and future challenge events - I've recently purchased a personalised ICE wristband from OneLife ID.

General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR)

You will almost certainly be aware that the latest data protection regulations changed with effect from 25th May 2018 - these affect the way in which the LDWA keeps your personal information. To comply with the GDPR, the LDWA has adopted a revised Data Protection and Privacy Policy and written a user guide and a set of instructions for LDWA Officers. Further information can be obtained by clicking HERE.

Forthcoming Walks

Finally, here's the usual look ahead to all the group walks and challenge events that are taking place this month within a 50-mile radius of the geographical centre of Wiltshire.

This e-mail has been sent to all Primary and Associate group members. If you wish to opt out of receiving e-mails from us, you will need to change your e-mail preferences by logging onto the LDWA website.

That's it for another newsletter. All our newsletters are available via the Wiltshire LDWA website. If you have anything to contribute to future editions, please can you get it to me by the 20th of each month. I look forward to seeing you out on our group walks this month.

Warmest regards

Clive

Secretary of the Wiltshire LDWA
WiltshireLDWA@outlook.com