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Blairgowrie and District Next Steps
Information
Dogs Equal Opportunities Equipment Insurance Joining Liability Litter Maps Meals Medical Participation Statement Photographs Schedules Smoking Subscriptions Supervision Toilet Stops Transport Walk Duration Walk Grading
The nature of the walks undertaken on Tuesdays and Thursday mean that it is inappropriate to bring dogs along. If dogs are brought along on a Wednesday please bear in mind that they must be under close control at all times. Also some other participants may not be entirely comfortable with dogs.
Please note that for safety and comfort reasons it is essential that walkers are equipped as a minimum to the standards explained here. Anybody not suitably equipped may not be allowed to participate in the walk.
Third party insurance for walk leaders is provided by the Walking For Health and Perth and Kinross Sports Council schemes. All our programmed walks are supervised by appropriately qualified and accredited personnel as required under these schemes. All our leaders carry up to date Emergency Aid in the Outdoors First Aid certification as required by adventure activity National Governing Boards. Walk participants are advised to ensure their own personal insurance is suitable for any activities being undertaken. A suitable policy that can be arranged on an annual basis can be obtained from the British Mountaineering Council at www.thebmc.co.uk. This policy also provides cover for specialist equipment.
In view of the Health Walking background prospective participants should join in with the Wednesday walks prior to trying the more advanced walks. But apart from this joining is easy, though there are annual membership fees for the Tuesday, Thursday and Advanced walks (see below. We also need to collect contact information and there is a short (Physical Activity Readiness Questionannaire - PARQ) medical questionnaire that we need to have completed along with agreement to the Code of Conduct. Contact and associated details will be held in electronic format but not passed to any other person or organisation. Such details will only be used to assist with administration of the group. The Group's Equal Opportunity Policy is available if required.
If you are new to walking particularly in the countryside please come and try some of the Wednesday walk sessions before committing yourself to anything that could be too strenuous. Please also read the fitness note and kit-list page for additional technical information.
We offer a very wide range of walks, from very easy to extremely strenuous. The harder walks may involve significant rough ground and steep and/or rocky terrain, coupled with extended distances and ascents and long durations away from the minibus. Therefore while the moderate and strenuous walks are structured and timed for almost anyone reasonably fit, the harder ones will not be suitable for everyone. We therefore ask that you contact us before committing to anything challenging. This allows us to cater for those who would like a very serious and strenuous challenge from time to time. Any delays or difficulties with complex terrain especially on a long high and strenuous walk will have a potentially major impact on the wider group, as well as the over committed participant. Our advice will be based on significant and fully qualified experience. Please read the fitness note for further and more information.
Those taking part in the Blairgowrie & District Next Steps do so at their own risk. The organisers and sponsors of events shall not be liable for any accident or injury, however caused.
Walk Leaders are covered under the generic WHI or Perth and Kinross Council Sports Insurance schemes.
In accordance with the principles of 'Tread Lightly' all litter, wrappers, unused food, paper, etc should be taken back to a rubbish bin and disposed of properly. It is bad practice to bury waste which can pollute water courses, and be dug up by wild animals.
Our walks make use of the following Ordnance Survey maps:
Explorer 1:25,000 scale (orange cover)
379 - Dunkeld, Aberfeldy & Glen Almond
380 - Dundee & Sidlaw Hills
381 - Blairgowrie, Kirriemuir and Glamis
387 - Glen Shee & Braemar
388 - Lochnagar, Glen Muick & Glen Clova
Landranger 1:50,000 scale (red cover)
43 - Braemar to Blair Atholl
44 - Ballater, Glen Clova & surounding area
53 - Blairgowrie & Forest of Alyth
On the Easy Wednesday walks you only need to carry appropriate outer clothing, though a small snack such as a chocolate bar and a small bottle of water are advised. The longer Tuesday and Thursday walks are usually of at least 3 or 4 hours duration, sometimes up to 7 or 8 hours so it is essential that you bring along a packed lunch or snacks with a warm drink, sufficient for the expected duration. It is also highly advisable to bring along additional water for sipping during the walk. Hydration is extremely important, even in Scotland and it is good practice to consider carrying and drinking around ½ litre per hour when walking. Please see the fitness note for additional information.
Any medical conditions that the leaders need to be aware of should be advised before each walk. Any details will be kept in strictest confidence and will allow the leader to make appropriate allowances as needed. It is a condition of joining that emergency contact details are registered. This is for your own safety in the highly unlikely event of something going wrong. If you feel unwell at any time during the walk it is essential that you let the leaders know. All walks are led by qualified outdoor first-aiders, and Mountain Leaders for anything high or remote, but none of us can perform miracles! If you are in any doubt please err on the side of caution and consult your GP. In the event of any emergency the walk will terminate and return to the transport as appropriate.
Hillwalking, Mountaineering and Climbing are activities with a danger of personal injury or death. Participants in these activities should be aware of and accept these risks and be responsible for their own actions and involvement.
Participants are reminded that photographs will be taken by group members or others. If you do not wish to be photographed please let the photographer or your colleagues know. Any photographs taken by participants remain their personal copyright but may be used for publicity purposes or placed in the public domain on this or other websites, printed material etc.
Walks are run weekly and our programmes are available in advance. Each itinerary is planned with at least a week's notice. Occasionally it may be necessary to rearrange a day for matters outwith the organisers control and for this reason all walkers are advised to be prepared with appropriate clothing, equipment and meals as appropriate at all times. All walks are subject to last minute change. Wednesday and Thursday walks if changed will always be something of no more difficulty than listed, but this does not apply to Tuesdays, where there is an expectation of general fitness and ability to cope with any conditions and terrain. All walks will be undertaken within the approximate times advertised.
Please
be considerate of others if you wish to smoke when on any of the walks, and also
to avoid undue risk of fire.
Moderate and Advanced Walks
The costs of providing the additional facilities for the Moderate and Advanced walks involve running a minibus. An annual participant subscription of £15 goes towards the fixed charges of this and runs from 1st June to 31st May in the following year. For joint (2 person) memberships the subscription is £20. For each walk a fee of £5 is charged. Special events and challenges will have a fee appropriate for the specific costs involved.
Easy Walks
A weekly charge of £4 is made. This covers the cost of town hall hire, refreshments and use of large service buses. This charge is under review due to increased bus hire charges.
All charges are subject to alteration due to economic factors as appropriate.
All of our walks are supervised by appropriately qualified leaders. For Wednesdays these are people trained to the Paths For All standard. Most of whom will also have an up to date 2 day Outdoor First Aid certificate. For all other walks supervision is to Summer Mountain Leader standard though Walking Group Leader is an alternative depending on the location and route. In winter conditions a Winter Mountain Leader will lead the walks. All of our leaders are very experienced people and their advice should be adhered to, they are there for your safety. All our walks are group activities, therefore everyone is expected to generally keep together. This means that we may amend our objectives and change planned routes depending on the group as a whole. If you wish to go and do your own thing, then please take part in walks organised by groups such as the Blairgowrie Hillwalking Club.
Inevitably it will be necessary to relieve oneself when out in the wild. All excreted waste can cause pollution and disease. Do not urinate near water courses, which may feed private water supplies. In particular if it is necessary to defecate in the outdoors a suitable hole should be dug approx 6" deep, with toilet tissue burnt and the ashes buried along with the waste preferably at least 100m from water and footpaths. Personal sanitary materials must be taken away, and this includes faeces if they cannot be buried effectively. Ziplock sandwich bags layered inside each other provide an effective means of carriage. As usual hands should be washed afterwards - dry cleaning gels are suitable for this purpose and do not add further pollution to the environment. As a last resort wet sphagnum moss (which is naturally antiseptic) can be used instead of tissue, but should also be buried!
For reasons of safety and logistics there are limited places on most walks, either on the service bus on a Wednesday or in the minibus on the other days. It is essential therefore, that for any walks using transport you pre-book to avoid disappointment! You are free to turn up on the off-chance but please note that the pre-booked places take priority. If a booked space is not taken more than 3 times in succession then for subsequent bookings the name will be erased and will need to be re-booked. This is particularly relevant for Thursday (Moderate) walks as they are increasingly popular and a 'no-show' increasingly prevents someone else from taking part.
Walks are planned in advance. For the more advanced walks these are based on walking at around 4km/h (2½mph) and ascending at around 45secs to 1min per 10metres, with lunch and stopping allowances, and estimated travel time to and from Blairgowrie. However, for many reasons the return time can never be guaranteed. Progress depends on the speed of the group, weather, number of stops for photographs, snacks, adjusting clothing, breathers, etc. Please do not plan something based on the published return time without allowing for a later return. Worrying about getting back in time makes the individuals and sometimes the rest of the group anxious and can often lead to accidents and problems through trying to rush.
The Wednesday Easy walks are undertaken at a leisurely pace of around 2½ kph (1 to 1½ miles per hour). The longer Wednesday walks and especially the other days will require an ability to maintain a speed of at around 4kph (2½mph), sometimes up to around 5kph (3mph). Please see the grading discussion on the fitness note page. Published distances, ascents and difficulty are for guidance only, if you have any queries about the walks or indeed any other matter please contact the organisers. The Wednesday Easy walks will usually be on hard paved or gravel surfaces, though occasionally soft and wet ground may be encountered especially on rural tracks or in woodland. On occasions it may be necessary to negotiate stiles or gates some of which can be locked unexpectedly. If any member of the group cannot negotiate these obstacles then an alternative route will be taken which may well add to the journey time. Invariably members of the group assist each other so there is no reason to feel excluded or barred from participation. The Advanced walks in particular but sometimes also Moderate will go across more uneven and rugged ground, including climbing steep rough heather covered hills, deer fences, burns, on occasions scree and boulders, and even ice and snow. Advanced walkers are expected to be prepared for more extreme weather conditions, as well as the terrain. The Advanced and Moderate walks will invariably go into 'unknown' terrain based on a map rather than a defined path, and participants on these walks must be prepared to extend their own boundaries! The satisfaction of having done so significantly outweighs the exertion at the time. Breathing heavily is a natural consequence of undertaking any exertion, and affects everybody - including the leaders! The Moderate and Advanced walks are led by a qualified Mountain Leader (Summer and Winter) so you are in safe and highly experienced hands.
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