Chairman’s Piece

Gavin Miller, Vice Chairman and Trustee

This article is from Signpost 62, Spring 2020

Some of you will know that our chairman David Hurrell has been ill since the end of last year. Unfortunately this has prevented him from writing his usual Chairman’s Piece for this edition of Signpost.

As this issue goes to press, David is recovering in the stroke rehabilitation unit at Beech Hill Centre, Norfolk Park Road, Sheffield, S2 3QE, where he is in the Shrewsbury Ward. This excellent facility is only a few minutes walk from Sheffield station and David would welcome visits from his friends at Peak and Northern. It would, however, be prudent to check with his son Andrew, who many of you will know from AGM and half-year meetings, on David’s up-to-date situation before visiting. Andrew can be contacted at andrew@ahemsltd.co.uk.

I am sure we all wish David a speedy recovery and look forward to his resuming his chairman’s piece and returning to full health and strength as soon as possible. In the meantime, the Society’s activities continue as normal under its team of dedicated officers.

As you will read in more detail elsewhere in this issue, since the last issue of Signpost we have agreed a letter which will be sent to the chief executives of all local authorities in our area advising them that the Society has funds available to support meaningful improvements to footpaths and rights of way. We hope by this means to cast the net as widely as possible without overloading our own human resources.

As usual, some of the many activities of your Society are described in the following pages and our thanks go to the volunteers who are making these things happen and to Shirley for her work as editor in bringing them to our attention.

Photograph by David Hurrell

No doubt those of you who enjoy walking will be hoping for an end to the recent wet weather and the onset of spring to help dry up the mud which currently plagues many of our footpaths, especially in low-lying areas. However, as we splash our way through the puddles and mire, we may think of those less fortunate whose homes and businesses have been severely affected by floods, some of them in our area, such as the Calder Valley in West Yorkshire.

Sadly we have been forced to postpone our forthcoming AGM in Stockport on Saturday 18th April because of the Covid-19 epidemic. It is being rearranged for Saturday 17th October. Check our website for updates.

Safe safe and look after each other.

Next: Photographs Wanted