Well summer is supposed to be here now, so let's hope the sun comes out and shines on us while we're out there walking in the next few months!
Our new programme of summer walks and socials is out now . Thank you to Chris and Fi Turner for compiling, and to Anna Elliott and Paul Russell for proof-reading. Thanks also to all those who have submitted walks and socials - we have a lovely and varied programme, including some evening walks.
You'll see the programme includes some 'new' names of members who have come forward to lead walks. This is just what we need and I hope it will inspire those of you who may feel nervous of leading a walk for the first time. There's no need to be, and we can find someone to co-lead with you if you want. So think about it for the next programme!
With the rapid increase in petrol prices you may like to get together with other SURG members to share the drive to walks. It helps the environment as well as the pocket! Some walk leaders advertise a lift share starting point for their walk, or you can use the members' message board to organise lift shares.
This year's Coulsdon Fair wll be held at Grange Park, Old Coulsdon on Saturday 5 July, organised by the Rotary Club. Rotary invite local charities to set out their stalls, and SURG will be joining the Croydon Ramblers to try to recruit a few new Ramblers members.
If you'd like to help to hand out our publicity leaflets please contact Leanne. Or if you find yourself in the area that day, why not pop past and say hello? The Fair runs from 12 noon until around 4.30pm and is very well supported by the locals. Scouts provide the hamburgers and Rotary run a tea and cake stall.
Summer's here, and it's nearly time for the annual SURG BBQ. To celebrate our anniversary year, the SURG Social fund will be subsidising the event so tickets are a bargain at just £3. The price includes all your food meat or vegetarian main course, plus salads and desserts), but you'll need to bring your own drinks. All the meat is supplied by a local butcher, and those who've attended the BBQ in the last couple of years will be able to testify to the superb quality. Tickets are limited, so book now!
Our organisers Neil and Sarah are experienced at running the SURG BBQ, but they still need lots of help to run such a big event. So if you are able to help - whether it be helping to set up, organising the entertainment, preparing the salads and desserts, or even cooking the food - please contact Fi, SURG social secretary.
by Paul Russell
On the first weekend in April, 15 SURG members joined Leanne and I on a trip to Stourhead, a National Trust (NT) property in the beautiful village of Stourton, Wiltshire.
We were staying at the NT's Basecamp which was a well equipped bunk house. The ten ladies had the privilege of sleeping in a converted granary in the stable yard. The seven lads were in the main bunkhouse building but had to negotiate a very steep staircase to get to their dorm, which proved quite entertaining after a few beers!
Once everyone had arrived on the Thursday evening we relaxed with a drink and some snacks whilst discussing the walks for the Friday and Saturday. Some real ale was supplied by the Keystone Brewery and the cider by Thatchers.
Friday's walk started off very misty as we headed east from Stourhead up White Sheet Hill and on to the pretty village of Kingston Deverill. We then scaled the heights of Bidcombe Down and Brimsdown Hill where we sat and had our lunch - in the mist! Soon after lunch we began to see our first real views of the day across Salisbury Plain. On reaching the next village, Maiden Bradley, we were rewarded with a fine pub stop at the Somerset Arms. After leaving the pub we climbed up on to the Long Knoll, which is a mile long ridge, just in time for the skies to clear of mist completely so that we could enjoy the panoramic views.
Early on Saturday morning Moira coaxed some of our group to take advantage of our free (out of hours) entry to the fantastic gardens with all its follies and monuments surrounding the lake. The day's walk started from Stourhead and passed many memorials which surround the house such as the Obelisk, St Peter's Pump and the triangular Alfred's Tower which some of the group climbed to the top of. A pub stop in the village of Bourton followed by a short walk back to Stourhead completed the day.
Our evenings were mainly spent in the Basecamp eating, drinking and playing cards, Scrabble and Backgammon and generally involved lots of laughter. A few of the lads ventured up to the Red Lion pub a mile or so away which is a very unspoilt old country inn that doesn't even need to bother selling food, it's that good!
A good covering of snow greeted us on Sunday morning, to everyone’s surprise, and most of us took the opportunity to snap some very different photos of the area - the gardens were particularly stunning, especially with the blue sky which had appeared, but we had to be quick, it wasn't long before most of the snow had melted. A fine end to a very enjoyable weekend...
You can view some of the photos from the Wiltshire Weekend in our photo gallery.
If you've been on a walk or social that you've particularly enjoyed, why not send in a report for the newsletter? All you need to do is email it to Leanne, the SURG Chair, by the last week in the month and she'll include it in the next newsletter. Sometimes the Ramblers' head office ask us for reports for publications - you'll see in the May issue of South East Walker that there is an article on our Greensand Way series of walks.
This month we have a new feature. 'Best of the Bakes' will feature recipes that we've enjoyed on recent SURG walks, and we kick off this month with the recipe for Leanne's Banana Loaf from the SURG Anniversary walk in May.
125g (4oz) margarine or butter
1.5 cups (375 ml) sugar
2 eggs
2 cups (500 ml) plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (188ml) milk
3 mashed ripe bananas
Line a loaf tin with grease-proofed paper and preheat the over to 190C (gas mark 4-5). Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the beaten eggs. Sift together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt, then add to butter, sugar and eggs gradually. Add the milk and lastly the bananas. Pour into the loaf tin and bake for one hour.
If you a have tried and tested recipe that you don't mind sharing, please do send them to Leanne for a future newsletter (your recipe can remain anonymous if you prefer). And for the Real Ale drinkers who are missing our regular 'Pick of the Pubs' feature – never fear, the July newsletter will feature a pub again!
