Can I walk on any old railway?
No – every piece of land is owned by someone. You can walk on any old railway that has been converted into an official path, but otherwise you need permission from the landowner. The situation is more relaxed in Scotland, but even there walkers are expected to respect landowners’ privacy and keep away from private dwellings.
Can I walk on an operational railway, e.g. on a day when there are no trains?
No – walking on an operational railway is always a criminal offence, even on Christmas Day when few, if any, trains are running.
What walks does the club organise?
Why are there sometimes several walks on the same day?
Can non-members join the club’s walks?
How much does it cost to join the club?
How long does membership last?
All subscriptions last a full calendar year from the date of joining.
Is there a branch of the club near where I live?
Why doesn’t the club advertise all its walks on the website?
The walks that we advertise here are a sample of those which use publicly-accessible routes, where extra walkers can be accommodated easily with little or no notice. There are two main reasons for this:
- Some of our walks are heavily subscribed and have a limit on numbers, determined by factors such as the capacity of our lunchtime pub, the number of seats in our transport (especially if we have hired a vehicle), the size of the party that a landowner will accept, etc.
- Other walks are over former railway land which is now privately owned. These require a large investment of time on the part of our walk leaders, e.g. to trace and negotiate with landowners. One of our aims has always been to respect private property, and for this reason we advertise walks over private land only via our magazine to registered members. Often, landowners are happy to accommodate an organised visit by a club such as ours which has a genuine interest; but, understandably, most are uncomfortable with anything that looks like an open invitation to members of the public on to their land.
We are immensely grateful to all those landowners who support us in providing fascinating walks, and fascinating glimpses into this country’s transport history. The number of historic railway buildings which they have saved is remarkable.
How do I get to club walks?
We have always made a consistent effort to get to and from our walks using public transport. To that extent, we have always been ‘green’ about getting there, and ‘green’ about what we do – which is making constructive use of billions of pounds’ worth of national assets which were scrapped as part of a sustained government policy which made economic sense, i.e. in terms of stemming railway losses, but was fundamentally destructive and wasteful. Where no public transport is available, our walk leaders arrange car sharing amongst participants, so that we can limit our environmental impact while pursuing our hobby.
Does this website accept advertising?
For example, would the club be willing to include a link to a commercial website advertising relevant products such as walking gear?
No – Railway Ramblers is a voluntary club whose committee decided many years ago to keep its website free from commercial content, including all advertising and sponsored links. The only exceptions occur when we use a free web-based service, such as a site search, where advertising links effectively are the price of getting the service for free. The advertising links are usually relevant to what we do, and members benefit from our very low membership rates.