Green banner with white text: "The Monday Group," "Voluntary rights of way workers in Sussex," and a direction sign pointing to "Stiles," "Gates," "Steps," and "Clearance.

The Monday Group – Improving our footpaths

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The Monday Group is here to help you get more enjoyment from walking in our beautiful Sussex countryside. We are very lucky to live in such a lovely area, and many of you already enjoy walking our footpaths. Many of these are ancient rights of way, legitimised by use through the ages, and now accessible by right in law as public rights of way. We need to guard our heritage closely or we’ll lose it, and our fantastic footpath network is no exception.Three people stand near a parked car and small trailer in a grassy, hilly landscape. They are working near a wooden structure and fenced area under a clear blue sky.

The Monday Group at work on Malling Down

However, as walkers know so well, paths are often neglected, either because they are overgrown or too muddy or the stiles are in disrepair. The Monday Group is one of the oldest voluntary organisations in the area, and we’ve been doing our best to look after the local footpath network since its inception in 1961. We are a registered charity and in 2023 we were awarded the Kings award for voluntary services in recognition of our work over the years.

A person wearing a wide-brimmed hat crouches and climbs under a large, fallen tree branch surrounded by dense green foliage and plants in a wooded area.      A narrow dirt path winds through dense green foliage and bushes, with tree roots visible on the trail and sunlight filtering through the trees above.

Blocked path – before and after clearance

However, we can only put things right when we know about them, so now that spring is coming, and as you get out and about more, please let us know of any problems like paths that are overgrown or dangerously boggy, or stiles that are getting too old/wobbly or difficult to cross so we can deal with them. It’s easy to report things that need dealing with. Our stiles all have plaques with contact details, including a QR code. You can also contact us by phone, email, via our “Report a Problem” page on our website, or Facebook. Many people use ‘what 3 words’ to identify locations, or else just describe where it is as best you can. If you provide contact details, we can follow it up with you if we can’t find it.

A wooden gate stands open on a muddy path through grassy fields, bordered by wire fencing and weathered wooden posts, under a mostly cloudy sky with patches of blue.

One of our gates on Offham Hill

We can’t deal with everything, but we can deal with most of the problems that are reported to us. If the work is out of our scope we can refer it to the County Councils, who we work closely with. Our core area is from Albourne to Ringmer, north of the Downs, but we do work further afield. Recently for instance we have worked in Folkington near Polegate, and south of the downs including Telscombe and Rodmell and as far away as Motts Mill near Crowborough.

I’m the fundraiser for the Monday Group and we are always grateful for donations towards our work, but please also keep us in mind as you set out into the countryside and let us know if you come across any problems. We’ll do our best to fix them.

Mostly, however, get out and walk. Use it or lose it as they say!

Happy walking.

Jim Redwood Monday Group (fund raising)

Contacts:

Website: https://www.mondaygroup.org

Messages: hello@mondaygroup.org

Mobile: 07510 12716

Facebook:  facebook.com/MondayGroupSussex