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F o r e s t R a m b l e r s’
C l u b
F o u n d e d
1 8 8 4
w a l k i n g
i n t h r e e c e n t u r i e s
More about us – a brief history of the
Club
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The
Forest Ramblers’ Club was formed in November 1884 by a group of One
of the Club’s first aims was to keep a watch on Because
of the Club’s connexion with Epping Forest, the chief officer was – and still
is – known as the Ranger, and there were up to 15 Verderers, each responsible
for a particular area. This latter office is long since defunct. The
Club soon began to explore footpaths on all sides of |
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In
the early days social events played an important part in the life of the
Club. An annual soirée, consisting of an evening of music and dancing, was
held from 1886 until about 1897, when dinners and social evenings found more
favour. Although women did not attend the rambles, it is clear that this
restriction did not apply to social events. During
this period there were also extended visits to places well beyond the Club’s
usual area, such as Some
notable personalities have been members of our Club in the past. These
include the author of rambling booklets E S Taylor (alias “Walker Miles”),
Sir Lawrence Chubb, Secretary of the Commons, Open Spaces & Footpaths
Preservation Society (“Pathfinder” of the Star newspaper), Percy Lindley,
author of travel books, and Charing Cross Road booksellers William and
Gilbert Foyle. Rambles
have been held continuously throughout the year since 1884, except during a
few months in the Second World War when bombing was intensive. Only one walk
is known to have been totally abandoned – at The
Club’s constitution rather quaintly states our object as “to organise and carry out short rambles to
places tending to healthful and instructive recreation and antiquarian
interest”, and we try to follow this principle when the opportunity arises. |
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Despite
the ongoing social changes of the twentieth century, women were still barred from
membership in the 1990s and only took part in an annual Ladies’ Day. A full Ladies’
Ramble was held for the first time in 1996 and the number of these events had
increased to three a year by 1999. In 2000 the Committee, now under new
leadership, decided informally that women could be invited to all rambles and
in 2001, as a further step, members’ wives were admitted as full members. In
2002, at long last, the Annual General Meeting voted overwhelmingly in favour
of equal membership rights for all and the Constitution was reworded in
non-gender specific terms. In
earlier years most of our members were employed in small retail businesses
and the rambles were always held on Thursdays, this being early closing day
in many parts of As
we approach our 125th anniversary in 2009, we invite you to come
along and try out our mid-week rambles for yourself. You are assured of a
warm welcome. |
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