I am pleased to report that we have had a full year of Work Parties which have benefited footpaths in areas that we walk regularly and resolved some issues highlighted by our members. Our working relationship with Surrey County Council Countryside Access is excellent and after additional staff recruitment they seem to be much better organised and able to plan further ahead.

October saw us make our final visit to Butler Farms, Ewhurst where we installed two kissing gates and did a walk-and-snip on all the surrounding footpaths. SCC had already widened and installed a hard surface on a previously very muddy section of FP371 by New Barn and our installation of the nearby kissing gate completed a 9 km stile free route from the Down’s Link.

November saw us on the footpath network opposite the Winterton Arms, Chiddingfold for what we thought would be a major veg cut. Our spirits lifted when we found that the Chiddingfold Fairies had cut back the worst of it and we were quickly able to complete clearance work on FP238a and re-establish a section of FP211 as well as move to the main road entrance to clear the bridge of overhanging branches. This area is the subject of a large planning application at Stillers Copse for a SANG (Suitable Alternative Green Space) which should improve the footpaths in this notoriously wet and muddy area.

In December we returned to the Surrey Border Path at Shillinglee which was again in need of a hard cut-back. We followed this with our Work Party Christmas Lunch at The Sun Inn, Dunsfold which I can’t report on first hand as I was in bed with critical Man Flu. I understand that a good time was had by all in my absence.

We usually take a break in January, but Surrey Hills Society asked if we could help them again planting native hedgerow at Honeymead Farm, Gate Street. The plants had been delivered before Christmas and needed planting urgently, so we pulled the February Work Party forward and nine volunteers braved the very wet weather to plant 150 metres of hedgerow.

March and April saw us at Roppeleghs, Chiddingfold where a tree had taken out a handrail on a bridge as reported by our Thursday walkers in January 2023. The plan was also to replace a stile with a gate and install a handrail on a steep slope down to the bridge. Thirteen volunteers arrived in March and so did torrential rain. Our intrepid SCC Co-ordinator, Thomas, removed the offending tree with a chain saw while others slid up and down the slope delivering materials from the van. The veg cutters went off to tackle over-enthusiastic holly and conifers along nearby footpaths. It was at this point that someone suggested installing “a couple of steps” to make the slope more manageable in bad weather. As a result in April the Work Party returned, fortunately in drier weather, to install a flight of twelve steps and a handrail. We look forward to the Thursday walkers planning a walk on this footpath to declare it open.

May’s Work Party was at Dunsfold where we restored one flight of steps and built new steps on a steep slope away from a bridge. The veg cutters cleared the path behind a row of houses. We received several positive comments from nearby house owners about the improvements as this is a popular dog-walking route. Altogether thirteen new steps were installed, and G&H donated the materials for this work.

In June we were at Witley on FP135 to repair a flight of steps that we had built in 2000 and previously repaired in 2018. We cleared an old metal kissing gate, re-instated some steps that had been lost and then worked to resolve the drainage issue that was causing the steps to erode.

In July we were back at Pook Hill to install a boardwalk across a ditch where we had previously installed a field gate. We also replaced a broken stile with a kissing gate on FP229 which was hard going after weeks of dry weather. The veg cutting team cleared away growth around the roadside kissing gate we had installed in July 2019 which had almost disappeared. This footpath is very well used and some dog walkers, two G&H members and the landowner stopped to thank us for making the improvements.

The weather had been kind to us since our mud bath in March. However, in August the forecast was for cloud, but the rain started as soon as we arrived in Rudgwick to re-build a bridge, replace a stile with a pedestrian gate on FP449 and clear a stretch of path close to the Sussex border. It was a small but mighty team of four who worked on the gate and bridge with Thomas while seven veg cutters battled holly and blackthorn along the path. The new lighter weight brush-cutter SCC have purchased was a real boon. G&H donated both the gate and the bridge kit for this Work Party.

September saw us working on FP312 off Northcote Lane, Wonersh. This footpath had failed the BVPI (Best Value Performance Indicator) survey in May 2024 completed by our Footpath Warden for Wonersh. The entrance to the path from the road required a scramble up a bank and this was resolved by installing a flight of four steps. Along the path to the north was an awkward stile and other fencing put in by the landowner and this was all removed and replaced with a kissing gate.
To the south the path was totally overgrown and the veg cutters cleared this to reveal two flights of steps in dire need of repair. Looks like we know where we will be working in October!

As a follow-up to the Work Parties, we continue to place plaques on the gates/steps/bridges we install and an additional plaque where we have donated money for the materials. This is good publicity for our group and demonstrates our commitment to keeping the footpath network in our parishes in good condition.

Thank you to everyone who has joined a Work Party this year either as a step/bridge/gate/way marker installer or as a veg cutter. We have an experienced and very hard-working core of volunteers who sadly are getting older. We are looking for new younger blood, in the nicest possible way. No experience is necessary just a practical bent and a willingness to commit four hours on the first Tuesday each month. If you would like to give something back to the footpath network and want to find out more, please contact me.

J F, November 2024