NOTICEBOARD
last updated 21 October 2008
NEW DofE WEBSITE
The new DofE
website is now on line and can be reached via the new web address:
www.DofE.org The site is worth a visit to read about some of
the changes that have taken place. For example, the Service Section
of the DofE is now called Volunteering which in turn has introduced
some surprises. Have a look at First Aid to see an example of
the changes. There are also changes to the titles given to various
DofE Leaders.
CROW ACT
- IMPORTANT NOTICE
All Open Access
Land owners have a discretionary right to exclude access on their
land for up to 28 days in any one year (subject to some timing
restrictions) under the CROW Act. Details of any restrictions
can be found at: http://www.openaccess.gov.uk/wps/portal. Only
5 working days notice is required to be given by the landowner.
As such, it is necessary for groups undertaking expeditions on
CROW land to check the Open Access website for such restrictions.
Any check on the website should be made within 5 working days
of the start of any expedition .
IMPORTANT SAFETY NOTICE
There is evidence
that more and more DofE teams are to be found walking along dangerous
roads in the Peak District. Main roads through the Peak District,
such as the A515, A6, A628 and A57 carry large volumes of traffic
travelling at high speeds. Most of these roads are used by heavy
goods vehicles. Please advise teams to avoid walking along such
roads and where possible please re-route them onto safer alternatives.
The A515 west of Tissington is a good example because this is
a fast and narrow stretch of road and the bends are not obvious
when viewed on the map. Extra care is required if it becomes
necessary to cross these roads and the normal procedures should
be adopted. Crossing the road west of Tissington could be avoided
by using the bridge on the Tissington Trail for example. There
are long stretches of these main roads that have no protection
for pedestrians. If short sections of busy roads have to be used,
the normal advice is to walk facing on-coming traffic. On right-hand
bends however, where there are high hedges and no verge, it is
often wise to cross the road well before the bend and to then
walk with the traffic for the duration of the bend before then
crossing the road again when safe to do so, once more facing
on-coming traffic.
FIRST AID COURSE
The Peak Assessor
Network is again running a two day First Aid course on 17th and
18th January 2009 at the Middleton-by-Wirksworth Village Hall.
The course is "First Aid for Mountaineers and Instructors".
It is highly appropriate for expedition leaders working with
the DofE. This remote-environment orientated course contains
a substantial practical element, including an evening session
in an open environment. This session is invaluable practice for
dealing with casualties in situ. Following successful completion
of the course, certification lasts for 3 years. The course content
exceeds that of the First Aid at Work course and is also appropriate
for those working with children. The certification is recognised
by national governing bodies such as MLTE, BCU, RYA. Further
details and application forms can be obtained from here.
ACCESS POINTS
The Ordnance
Survey Outdoor Leisure map (OL 1) of the Dark Peak no longer
shows access points to Open Access land. However, the relatively
new British Mountain Map published by Harvey in conjunction with
the BMC and British Geological Survey does show most of the access
points that might be used by D of E teams entering the Dark Peak.
This map is worth exploring.
ANNUAL
NIGHT NAVIGATION EXERCISE
The 2009 event
will be held on Saturday evening 7th February 2009. Please check
the Peak Expedition area's website for final details and any
late changes please check this site again nearer the time.
Open Gold Week 17th (exploring) or 18th
(journeying) to 24th July 2009 Open Gold Expedition week providing an opportunity
for completing a qualifying or full scale practice Expedition.
There will be a range of Expeditions on offer including opportunities
to concentrate on either exploring or more traditional journeying.
Please send a stamped SAE (A5 size) for further details to: Peak
Expedition Co-ordinator, Losehill Hall, Peak District National
Park Centre for Environmental Learning, Castleton, Hope Valley,
Derbyshire, S33 8WB. (tel: 01433 620373) e-mail: alanfjones@tranearth.freeserve.co.uk
EMAILS As the Peak Expedition Area's email address
is posted on a number of websites we have a problem with spam.
Our spam filters do get a bit over-enthusiastic sometimes and,
while we check them regularly, occasionally we miss the odd innocent
email. If you have emailed us and not received a reply within
a week please phone the office to check we have received your
enquiry.
DIGITAL MAP PRINT-OUTS DofE teams have been observed navigating
through the Peak District using only laminated A4 print-outs
from one of the popular digital mapping programmes. On questioning,
it has been revealed that the print-out is the only form of mapping
being carried by some teams. Such a practice is not to be encouraged.
While these print-outs are excellent aids it should be recognised
that at least one full copy of a map of the area should also
be available within each team. The DofE does not recommend the
sole use of A4 print-outs particularly when printed out at a
very small scale which makes it difficult to read fine detail
on the map. The best scale as a minimum is the 1:25,000 scale
but this means that it is not difficult to 'walk off the edge'
of an A4 map print-out. If the adjacent A4 print-out is not available
then problems can arise! TEAMS SHOULD ALWAYS CARRY AT LEAST ONE
COPY OF THE FULL MAP.
RED FORM The Peak Assessor Network
would now like to receive information about all ventures coming
in to Peak District Normal Country. This will enable us to give
you local information where appropriate, and for us to monitor
DofE activity in this busy part of the National Park. If you
are coming to the White Peak for Bronze/ Silver please contact
the Peak
Expedition Co-ordinator. You can now download the form from the DofE website
too - just do a search for "red form". Hard copy postal
notifications via the Red Form will not be acknowledged unless
a stamped sae is also included, but email notifications will
normally receive a prompt response.
GROUSE SHOOTING (ACCESS
LAND) 12 August to 10 December . Please ask the Peak
Expedition Co-ordinator
for advice.
CRoW Act The CRoW Act came into
force in the Peak District on 19 September 2004; doubling the
area of open access land in the National Park. New 1:25 000 Explorer
maps are available (in all good bookshops and outdoor shops or
see www.aqua3.com/theaward for discounted maps). For further information
about the areas affected please see www.peakdistrict.org. The new Countryside
Code (The Education Pack is available also) can be viewed at
www.countrysideaccess.gov.uk
NOTIFICATIONS Please help us by ensuring
your notification is complete and submitted on time. Please submit notifications
(Green Forms) according to DofE and Peak Assessor Network guidelines:
please enclose two copies each of the Green Form and tracings
(or colour printouts) for each group. Response is likely to be
quicker if you send send two copies and an A4 stamped SAE and
email address with your notification. Please ensure that the
stamps adequately cover the return postage. Tracings should be
transparent, clearly marked with team information and dates of
venture, map reference (eg 1:50000: Landranger 110), direction
of travel, grid reference crosshairs and key features to help
when placing a tracing over a map. Poor tracings take a lot of
time and effort to read and will probably delay response.
The Peak Assessor Network accepts notifications through the use of Memory Map (a system supported by The Award) or other mapping software by arrangement. The scale submitted is not important since the route will overlay on either 1:50,000 or 1:25,000. The route files can be attached to emails along with the electronic version of the Green notification form. This form can be downloaded from the DofE's website. It is recommended that the Word version of the form is used since this allows the group leader to retain a saved copy. Notifying by email overcomes the need to present two copies of the Green Form or the route! To do this now please click here.
The DofE Head Office entered into an initial three year partnership deal with Memory Map (now extended) that allows Unit Leaders to purchase Memory Map at a discount of 30%. Accredited Assessors can purchase Memory Map at a saving of 45%. Individual participants have the benefit of a 10% discount.
Please notify
in time! At
least 4 weeks
in advance if only notifying, but at least 6 weeks if you are
notifying and requesting a Peak Assessor Network assessor.
POST PROBLEMS Apart from problems with
delayed post, please also note that the Post Office will - and
does - withhold envelopes without sufficient postage. The Peak
Assessor Network cannot be held responsible for any notifications
that do not arrive. Do ring or email to check if you're worried.
STONE WALLS Following a complaint
in Monyash we must remind teams not to climb over stone walls.
They can be fragile and liable to collapse. Rebuilding is expensive
and time-consuming and livestock may have to be moved if a wall
collapses. If you think you might have damaged a wall please
contact the Peak
Expedition Co-ordinator
so we
can make amends with the land owner.
DOGS ON THE MOORS Following concern over
dogs on the moors, leaders are reminded to follow the Moorland
Visitor's Code carefully with regard to our four-legged friends.
As this is an extremely sensitive issue, please familiarise yourself
with the current advice. The code can be downloaded at www.countrysideaccess.gov.uk It is also worth visiting
www.pawsonthemoors.org to view an interesting
video.
BAKEWELL
CAR PARKS In
spite of warnings and polite requests placed here there a number
of high-tension incidents continue to arise between DofE groups/
leaders and parking attendants, and land owners in Bakewell,
where there are real problems in the town's central car parks.
If you must park there, please obtain appropriate permission
to park and wait, paying all due fees and not spreading out across
spaces. Where possible do not use these car parks to pick up/
set down DofE Teams and please help us to calm the friction.
Recent complaints have been about DofE Leaders and not participants.
These DofE Leaders have clearly been demonstrating an unacceptable
standard of behaviour towards officials when approached with
a polite request to move on. For example, issues have arisen
at Bakewell Bridge Car Park - please DO NOT use this car park.
If it is essential that Bakewell becomes important in your planning,
then the Agricultural Show Ground car park is very large and
affords a much better location for dropping off and picking up
DofE teams - and it is very close to the centre of the town.
Just beware of market days.
The best advice
is that groups avoid
Bakewell
- either en route or as a set down/ pick up point. Parking can
be very difficult and there have been a number of reported incidents
with parking attendants.
An alternative set down/ pick up point close by is the Countrybookshop
at Hassop Station on the Monsal Trail (grid reference 218706).
Short-term parking (charges must be paid) is available at the
back of the bookstore for visitors and also at the front for
Countrybookshop customers. There is a cafe in the shop, which
may be welcome for leaders! More info about this site can be
found at www.countrybookshop.co.uk
CAMPSITES - GENERAL A recent meeting with
campsite owners has highlighted a couple of issues that must
be addressed by all Supervisors and teams using campsites in
the National Park. It is important that all team members behave
in a manner that is both acceptable and also not likely to bring
the name of the Award into disrepute. If a campsite has a code
of conduct then it is important to follow that code as well as
any standard code that would be expected anyway. Team members
must recognise that other members of the general public may be
camping on the same site and their interests should be considered
at all times. All participants are considered to be ambassadors
for the DofE and must therefore respond to that responsibility.
Please also give consideration to local residents who also have
a right to enjoy the beauty, peace and quiet of this National
Park. BE CONSIDERATE AT ALL TIMES.
Some campsites, because of circumstances, do not provide waste bins on site and in such cases expedition teams must take all rubbish away with them. Clearly the Supervisors may have a part to play in ensuring that no litter is deposited anywhere in the National Park.
On that same
point, checkpoint systems must be exercised with caution and
if you as a Supervisor are one of those utilising the system
of leaving notes at strategic points it is important to make
sure that such notes are removed at the first possible opportunity
during any venture. Full details of the team and the date on
which the note is left must be included in any note, otherwise
the note will be removed by the Rangers and or others with an
interest in maintaining high standards in the Park. The removal
might therefore be before any Supervisor has had a chance to
check the note! There are alternative methods of checking on
the progress of teams. In the final analysis it is illegal to
post notices so it is possible (although unlikely) for action
to be taken against those posting such notices!
**WOOD
COTTAGE**SK128896
There is no
right of way
through this property between the Snake Road and Cowms Moor. Please do not try to
use the track as a short-cut to / from the road. Groups going
to/ from Hayridge Farm or Rowlee Farm may need to be especially careful
- this route passess well above Wood Cottage and not through
the cottage grounds.
ACCESS ISSUES/ WILD CAMPING There have been a number of calls from the Ranger Service, landowners and tenant farmers about groups using private land without permission. Please ensure that groups (and leaders) understand what Access Land is and where its boundaries are. This is a particular issue around Longdendale/ Kinder/ Bleaklow. Please also remember that planned wild camping is not permitted - it can be a fire risk - and that the Peak Assessor Network will never knowingly approve plans to do this. Please help us to maintain a good relationship with the people who live and work in the Peak National Park.
HAYFIELD We continue to receive complaints about DofE leaders parking where there is no public access and blocking entrances. Please use only public car parks (Bowden Bridge) and show consideration to those who live and work there. Vehicles should not be taken up Kinder Road - there is no parking above Bowden Bridge. There has also been some evidence of groups misusing the Hayfield CC Club campsite. It is important that groups behave in a socially acceptable manner to avoid upsetting the Wardens and/ or other campsite users. This is an area extremely popular with groups and we risk jeopardising support for the DofE in this part of the National Park. There is currently a situation at Hayfield that causes some disappointment for groups wishing to camp. The Wardens are restricting the number of DofE teams on the site for any one night. Negotiations are under way but we would appeciate your help and patience during these negotiaitons.
DERWENT RESERVOIRS DofE Leaders and supervisors should be aware that the road up the western side of the reservoirs beyond the Fairholmes Visitor Centre is closed to traffic at weekends and Bank Holidays. The road that continues through to the eastern side of the reservoirs is closed to traffic at all times. Disobeying either of these regulations will be treated as a traffic offence and the police will issue a 'ticket'.
CAMPSITES IN THE HAYFIELD AREA Having lost the use of Spray House Farm for camping it has sometimes proved difficult for groups to find a campsite on that western edge of the Peak District. If there are difficulties with the Hayfield CC Club site the Peak Expedition Co-ordinator may be able to recommend alternative sites in that area. Please ask.
HADDON HALL (normal country) Would all group leaders and supervisors checking groups in the Haddon Hall car park please ring first for permisson to wait there. This is not a public car park but the Hall is willing to allow DofE leaders short-term access to meet groups. Please ask Peak Expedition Co-ordinator for the phone number to ring. Failure to comply risks jeopardising the good relationship we have with the Hall. In recent weeks this agreement has been placed in serious jeopardy by parents and Unit Leaders using the car park without permission.
NETHER BOOTH CAMPSITE The owner of Nether Booth campsite in Edale has commented on the mis-use of the farm yard by supposed assessors and/or supervisors who leave their cars in the farm yard all day. Whilst short term parking is acceptable with permission, all day parking is not. Please give consideration to the way in which car parking areas are used at any location.
SILVER AND BRONZE EXPEDITIONS IN THE WHITE PEAK There is evidence that some Silver and Bronze teams using the White Peak for expeditions are bringing the DofE into disrepute through unacceptable behaviour. Leaders and Supervisors are requested to ensure that team members are fully briefed in terms of what is expected of them during the period of their venture. Special care should be taken to see that teams are able to recognise Public Rights of Way such that they do not wander into non-access land. Please also ensure that teams leave no litter and that all members of the team are polite and courteous towards people who live and work in the Peak National Park. Any checkpoint system used by Leaders or Supervisors should be operated with sensitivity and nothing should be left behind.
ALSTONEFIELD/ WETTON AREA While Silver and Bronze Award groups are welcome to visit the area round these villages, all teams are requested to follow the Countryside Code carefully. Please DO NOT damage or climb any walls, leave litter or disturb livestock. Any checkpoint tickets should be collected, and should be fully biodegradable in case they blow away. Any tickets left in the villages will be passed to the Co-ordinator for return!
This is an extremely popular area for DofE groups and there has been local concern over the standard of training of some teams. Additionally, there is concern over supervisors who seem to sit around in either minibuses or the pub. Please help us to uphold the good name of the Award in this busy area.
CROWDECOTE It has been brought to the Peak Assessor Network's attention that groups use this small hamlet as a set-off/ meeting point and that this may cause aggravation to some local residents. Please find alternative places to start/ finish a route or meet a group, where possible. It is recommended to avoid the Severn Trent Water pull in on the bend. At all times, groups must obey local parking/ access restrictions and "tread lightly". If challenged, please be courteous and move on.
Please note that the campsite at Bridge End Farm continues to welcome Award participants.
COMPLAINTS Please note that many complaints received are against DofE Leaders and not the participants. DofE Leaders should themselves take on responsibility for upholding the good name of the DofE and therefore should set an example for the participants in their charge.
SHELDON If it is absolutely necessary
to park in this village,
please do so with all due consideration to local people, avoiding
blocking any entrances.
CARSINGTON
PASTURES WARNING
In the area of Carsington Pastures, vehicles have disturbed some
of the old mine caps and in some cases opened them up. Footpaths
are safe but areas away from footpaths may be dangerous; please
advise groups to stick to footpaths in any areas of disused mine
shafts.
FIRE
RISK WARNING There
could
be a HIGH/EXTREME risk of fire on the moors during the period
of your venture: Please
ensure that all participants are aware of the possibility of
high fire risk. Do NOT light stoves on the moors and do NOT discard
matches or cigarette ends; these could easily start a fire unwittingly.
If there is sufficient risk, partial moor closures may be in
force during your venture.
Please contact Fieldhead Information Centre (01433 670216) for up-to-date information on the fire risk.
Alternatively,
go to www.openaccess.gov.uk/wps/portal/home/welcome , click on 'Fire Severity
Index' and enter the appropriate area such as Kinder, or Derbyshire.
The Fire Severity map comes up with a grading. When it becomes
4 then things are becoming serious.
FOR EXPLORING EXPEDITIONS
An interesting
website for participants engaging in an 'Exploring' type expedition
(or a standard journeying venture for that matter) can be found
at www.mypeakexperience.org.uk On this site you can
upload and share your photos, videos, words and audio about the
Peak District (It may be necessary to copy and paste this link
into your internet browser).
LITTER!
The National
Park Ranger Service has drawn attention to the fact that some
DofE teams are dropping litter along the course of their routes.
If these allegations are correct then we must all attempt to
encourage DofE teams to dispose of any litter at any suitable
disposal point. As Leaders, your help with this problem would
be most appreciated.