The Rossendale Rambler

A.G.M.1999 - Publicity Officer/Editor's Report.

PUBLICITY OFFICER’S REPORT.
What a year it has been in terms of publicity what with all the kafuffle about 'Freedom to Roam' in the national press. But locally we have also done well in that over the course of the last year I have sent 40 walk reports to the Free Press which, with the occasions when I have delegated the job to Richard or Alan when I have been away, has meant that every walk has been covered. That is not to say that the Free Press have printed each one, or that they have printed what I have filed but generally speaking they have done us proud in that the publicity given most weeks has helped the good attendance we have had on our walks.

Where the Free Press have really done well has been on the special occasions like the Family Rambling Day where we had a huge picture in the paper and a good write up as well. I was able to reproduce the picture in the last issue of the Rossendale Rambler with the appropriate credit given to the paper. Other than that, the time that Ian Tattersall became the hero of the day when he and his satellite navigation instrument were able to guide people to safety when a blizzard nearly caused a disaster, also deserves mention. The Free Press covered the story in a way that put a positive spin on what could well have ended differently.

Apart from the Free Press, I have also begun cultivating other Lancashire papers and I note that the Lancashire Evening Telegraph regularly publishes details of our walks. The web-site also acts as a source of information about walks and the local ramblers in general and of course, it has the latest copy of the Rossendale Rambler for all to see. The latest innovation is that I up-date the site every Sunday and for those interested in reading the unexpurgated version of my weekly report to the Free Press, you can find it on www.spike.u-net.com/ The new walks calendar which was drawn up on the 28th September was up-loaded onto the net just a week later so those able to visit the site can plan their walks for the next year well in advance.

ROSSENDALE RAMBLER - EDITOR’S REPORT.
Another good year for the 'Rambler' and following a successful distribution of the souvenir booklet after the Ireland trip, stationery & materials for the forthcoming year are assured. Contributions have also been better than they have been and I have some plans to persuade/cajole/arm-twist more people to write guest articles. For the past year I have been trying to persuade Jaquetta Fewster at Rambler HQ to make a contribution and hopefully when this is published in the December edition, she will be reminded of her promise to send me something. I will also remind Bob Frith, the director of the Horse & Bamboo Theatre, to send me something - he half agreed to do so after I contacted him earlier this year.

Thanks to my good friend councillor Lawrence Forshaw, I have also been given the address of Ian Goldthorpe, the author of the two books entitled 'Rossendale Rambles' and 'Further Rossendale Rambles' and I hope to be able to persuade Ian to submit something for the newsletter, possibly about the new book he is about to publish.

I hope you all enjoyed the article I had permission to reproduce from the Daily Telegraph about the Round the Hills Walk - it was quite splendid, with not an 'eh bah gum' to be seen other than in the quote from the famous poem 'Down Behind the Gas Works.'

Lastly, let me appeal to all you readers out there to keep the copy coming. Even if I don't publish your contribution immediately, it is nice to have a stock of articles at times when the incoming supply runs out. Let me also, once more, ask you to send in letters if you are satisfied/not satisfied/angry or whatever, about what comes through your letter box four times a year. It is your newsletter and if it is not covering what you want to read about let me know.

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Walter Waide
Our e-mail address is: waidew@globalnetnet.co.uk