Well, that was a turbulent year in so many ways. However, after the lean covid years of 2020 and 2021 when we managed just 39 and 51 volunteer days respectively we came back to life with a bang and achieved 136 volunteer days this year.

November 2021 saw us out near Ewhurst removing an old semi-buried vehicle bridge and fitting a replacement pedestrian bridge whilst also clearing an almost obliterated path. Enthusiasm was high and bramble and nettle bashing was carried out with gusto with great results.

For December we set out to clear a long section of path near Dunsfold followed by Christmas Lunch at the Sun Inn. After what felt like a long walk carrying all our tools we arrived on site to dark wintry skies. Then it started to rain, after a while it rained even heavier and then it just kept raining. As well as getting soaked we were all reminded of the old adage stay away from anywhere with ‘fold’ in the name during wet winter days as the mud can be awful. We can now definitively confirm that’s true. The good news was the lunch in the pub went off really well and we all felt really righteous in telling the locals we had all been volunteering in spite of the atrocious weather.

January was R & R but we leapt back into action in February with a major clearance of a blocked / abandoned footpath at Hascombe and a total of 19 volunteers almost a record. Having done such a good job clearing in February we moved onto the Downs Link near Cranleigh as the equivalent of apprentice lumberjacks (slave labour). The task was to clear all the saplings growing at the side of the ex-railway line which were starting to encroach on the path. Normally someone would have strolled along with a chainsaw and quickly topped the lot. However, we went back to Middle Ages standards and attacked them with bow saws and loppers and tried not to drop trees onto passersby’s heads.

April saw us back at Hascombe finishing the clearing and erecting a magnificent flight of steps to finally bring the disused footpath back into use. (We are expecting to see lots of walks in the programme featuring these steps with suitable appreciative comments for the team.)

May we went to Smithwood Common clearing vegetation from the right of way as part of re-establishing the correct line of the path and preparatory to replacing some of the bridges.

June we cleared some veg and erected a large revetment to contain and then fill a very large hole in the footpath near Witley, which had been opened up by the collapse of a very large tree. Luckily this was before the energy crisis so the cost of hot baths for aching backs after this exercise went largely unnoticed.

In July, Surrey rights of way team informed us that they wouldn’t be supporting work parties for a period of months whilst they recruited replacement Rights of way assistants and improved their systems. However, we could still carry out veg clearance tasks with their prior approval. So not to be deterred we identified some suitable paths and went back to work.

Unfortunately July. August and September saw the steady decline of volunteer numbers from the heady heights of January’s turnout as many members succumbed to the delights of Coach walks and holidays, would you believe it? Fortunately the stalwart few (stalwart: [adjective] marked by outstanding strength and vigour of body, mind, or spirit!) continued with the good work and cleared paths near Thursley, the Sussex Border Path near Shilling Lee Park and Puttenham.

Thanks to all the volunteers for their hard work over the year and we look forward to welcoming even more next year. (NB with just a little extra effort you too could achieve the coveted Stalwart of the Workparty Award!)