PEAKED INTEREST
Gritstone is a marketing vehicle and not a traditional
publishing house and we will not be in a position to
publish books written by non-members of the co-op, no
matter how good they may be. We have also decided
for the time being while we get established to keep the
number of co-op members at four. There may come a
time in the future when perhaps we can increase the
membership, but we feel that this time hasn’t yet come.
We’re not yet past our first year of trading, so it’s early
days. But I think the consensus among the four of us so
far is that we’ve hit upon a model which brings us definite
advantages. We’re not sure why nobody has started an
authors’ co-operative before, and we would certainly
welcome being joined by other similar co-operative
ventures if others choose to come together in a similar
way to us.
T
he right to walk freely over mountain and
moorland was the birthright of every citizen
of Britain, claimed author and broadcaster
Stuart Maconie at the 85th anniversary
Spirit of Kinder event, held at Edale Village Hall
on Saturday, 22 April.
Stuart, the newly-elected president of the
Ramblers, added: “I was in Castleton earlier
today, and it was just great to see families from
all walks of life, colour and creed out enjoying
the glorious scenery of the Hope Valley.
“That’s who those brave trespassers of 85
years ago fought for, and that’s who I’ll be
fighting for as president of The Ramblers.”
Stuart added that he was greatly honoured
that, as a keen walker from a council estate in
Wigan, he had been elected to his new position
as head of the 140,000-strong Ramblers.
The theme of the standing-room-only
event was the transformation of the summit
of Kinder Scout, the Peak District’s highest
point, by the National Trust and Moors for the
Future partnership, and it looked forward to
current and future challenges to this precious
environment.
Other keynote speakers were Dame Helen
Ghosh, Director General of the five-million-
member National Trust, Stephen Trotter, Director
of the Wildlife Trusts of England and formerly
manager of the Trust’s High Peak Estate, Jon
Stewart, current General Manager of the Trust in
the Peak and Vanessa Griffiths, Chief Executive
of The Ramblers. Master of ceremonies was
the popular BBC Radio Sheffield presenter
Rony Robinson, and his partner, Sheffield
folk singer Sally Goldsmith provided the
musical accompaniment on the day, including
the leading of the traditional singing of The
Manchester Rambler.
S
Andrew Bibby is a writer and journalist. He won the
OWPG Award for Excellence in 2006 for his book
Wensleydale and Swaledale.
everal guild members will be leading walks at
this year’s Sheffield Walking Festival, taking
place from 8–17 September 2017. Sheffield is the
leafiest city in Europe and the greenest in the UK
with over 60% of it greenspace and much of the Peak
National Park within the city boundary.
Andrew White will be leading the Ladybower
Reservoir walk from the first series of his Walks Around
Britain TV programme on 15 September. Chiz Dakin
will be leading an outdoor photowalk in Padley Gorge
and up on the moors on 11 September. Anne and
John Nuttall will be leading a family walk, akin to their
kiddie book walk, in the same area on 17 September.
And Rob Haslam will go in search of Naked People
on a sculpture trail near Rotherham on 12 September.
Roly Smith’s joint venture on Clarion Call, a book on
Sheffield’s Access Pioneers, is also celebrated with the
GHB Ward Walk, also on 12 September.
For further details and booking visit the website:
www.theoutdoorcity.co.uk/walk
autumn 2017 | Outdoor focus 15