Walking for 25 Years
NEXT WALK
Thursday October 7th. A circular walk based on Barry waterfront and Barry Island. About 5.5 miles. Meet 1pm by the Village Hall.
25 YEARS OF THE WENVOE
WALKING GROUP
In 1996 a chance remark to Bert Bates from two village ladies at a coffee morning, who asked the question ‘Wouldn’t it be good to have a walking group as we don’t like walking by ourselves?’ The seed of a local rambling group was sown.
Bert asked John Custance, who was a Ramblers Leader, what he thought of the idea and together they decided to hold an open evening to gauge the amount of interest in the proposal. 15 people attended and discussed ideas. It was decided that it would be an informal group of people who shared a common interest of walking together.
In the past 25 years the group has probably walked every ridge and a vast majority of countryside footpaths within a 50 miles radius of Wenvoe with various leaders. They have walked local long-distance trails, had weekends away and walked abroad. One year a group of over 30 villagers and friends spent a splendid week walking in Corsica.
Within a few years of its formation the group settled into two sets of walks on offer. Bert offered a monthly Thursday afternoon walk, mainly locally of around 5 miles, and different leaders have led Saturday walkers ranging over hills and dales with a variety of distances and difficulty.
Over the years many friendships have been formed amongst the walkers. Regrettably some of our friends have passed on and others now find their health curtailing their enthusiasm for walking.
After sounding out some of the original participants of the group it was thought it would be nice to have Walking Groups’ Silver Jubilee Reunion with a chat over coffee and a short stroll, for those who can manage it. We will meet at Marco’s Coffee Shop in Porthkerry Park, Barry on Thursday 14th October at 2.15pm.
If anybody would like a lift please contact Jacky Custance on 07858 555302