Village Pathways - 1997 and ongoing.

Background.

F.R.E.G chose to tackle this issue as their first project as it was felt that it was something all the group members could relate to and did not require "expert" knowledge or abilities. After all, we can all enjoy local walks around the Village.

It also met most of the group's aims. Everybody in the Village was invited to come with us to enjoy the walks. We were hoping to attract local volunteers to help us improve the environment by clearing the pathways.

The whole Village would benefit by being able to appreciate and enjoy the Village wildlife & it's habitat.

Aims. 

    a) Identify the public access pathways around the Village &
        catalogue bodies responsible for their maintenance. 
    b) Survey the present state of these paths and identify the
        remedial work required. 
            Present these findings to those responsible for
            their upkeep. 
    c) Assist in the improvement of the pathways and encourage
        wider usage. 
    d) Create a legacy for the Village by documenting the 
        Pathways in publicly available locations in a friendly
        format.

Progress to date.

All the Village pathways have now been surveyed. The last walk performed the first bi-annual follow up to this survey as part of our aim to constantly monitor access to the public rights of way.

Three walks, open to anybody in the Village, were well attended and enjoyed. Comments were collected from all who attended the walks and documented for the Parish Council and the County Council (Rights of Way section). The latter has agreed to provide funding to allow F.R.E.G members to personally assist in the necessary repairs to the Pathways. This work is ongoing and included in our monthly working parties.




The project is receives extensive coverage in the Farndon Focus & generated two articles in the Newark Advertiser to date. It is also being used as an example, by Newark & Sherwood District Council, to encourage other villages to take an interest in their own environment.

Farndon Art group also assisted F.R.E.G. by helping to draw & paint scenes around the Village. These were used to create a large riverside map board, located at the picnic site, to pictorially represent all the walks in the area. The lectern to support this mapboard was made by a local craftsman living in Farndon.

We worked with the Parish Council to complete a leaflet, stocked in local shops, to help people to take self-guided walks around the areas of interest in the Village. This took the form of a fold up map with pictures supplied by the Art group & local schools (theme to be the wildlife found on the walks). The accompanying text explains a little of the Villages fascinating historic background.

We all learnt that our individual efforts do make a difference and can lead to far greater results by stimulating community wide involvement .

Follow up work that was completed.

Long term publicity for the Village walks generated using sign posts along the walks including coloured bands to signify likely duration.