Know your rights of way
Pat Crabb is Chairman of the North East Wiltshire Group of the Ramblers’ Association, and was responsible for coordinating the volunteers who tested Swindon’s Rural Heritage Trails. Daryl Jones is Senior Economic Development Officer with Swindon Borough Council, and coordinator for the project. Pat is in favour of making people aware of the delights of the countryside and understands the importance of involving the right people from the start: “I’ve worked with the Borough Council Rights of Way Officer to improve the routes, and to decide which bits could be left out. It’s very important to involve the local Rights of Way Officers early on. They can help to avoid potential trouble spots, because they will know all the details of public access to paths and heritage sites.”

Final resting place for 007 creator
Daryl adds “The best thing about this project is the teamwork - the Ramblers, myself and the council’s Rights of Way officer, Annie Ellis, working together.
I was already a Rambler myself, because the countryside around Swindon is beautiful. There are lots of good walks already identified, but this is the first time we’ve linked them to Swindon’s heritage - did you know for instance that the author of James Bond, Ian Fleming, is buried in Swindon, at Sevenhampton Church? Some of the filming for James Bond was done here too.” Another tantalising nod to the past is the uncovering of a trail that follows the centuries old Rogues Way, at Wanborough.

Walker friendly routes
Pat was able to suggest revisions to the routes, to make them more walker-friendly, “We had to revise the routes because some of the original trails were much too long for ordinary members of the public. I think anything up to five miles is reasonable, though two of our trails are still longer than that - one of six miles and one of eight and a half miles.” She adds “Apart from the five new trails, this project has also provided the Ramblers with two useful items that will come in handy for future ventures - a strimmer for clearing the paths, and a digital camera that I’ve learnt how to use because of the LHI project.” Clearance of overgrown paths is a vital part of keeping the country routes open, especially in springtime. The work is carried out by teams organised by the Rights of Way Officer and volunteers from Ramblers Association.

Culture and heritage
Daryl concludes that working with the LHI has provided a boost for local people : “A lot of people are interested in culture and heritage, and the LHI scheme offers a really good opportunity for communities to do something practical about it. This scheme allows ordinary members of the public - including children - to apply for as little as £500 or as much as £25,000 to fund a project that’s very local to them and close to their hearts.”