David Wicks-Stone, who was until recently Bath Ramblers' Long Walks Co-ordinator and a very enthusiastic Walks Leader, sadly died in July 2021.
As well as loving to lead walks, Dave took great pleasure in creating walks too, both for his friends and family and for the Ramblers. He studied maps to create his walks and always liked to include as much variety of experience as possible – including valleys, farms, woodland, villages, rivers and waterfalls, open hill tops with good views, etc, and, occasionally, a nice cup of tea at the end!
When his deteriorating health forced Dave to stand down from the Bath Ramblers Committee, he very kindly offered a selection of his best walks to the group, for use by future Long Walkers. After further discussion with Dave, we agreed to publish some of these on the Bath Ramblers website, as "Dave's Legacy Walks".
Jackie Wicks-Stone, Dave's wife, has provided a short overview of what each of these walks meant to Dave:
Dave loved the beautiful countryside around Bath with its many lovely walks. He was especially fond of walking in this area because of its great views and because it was so close to his home in Weston.
This walk was special to Dave because it takes you round the Isle of Wedmore – a geographical phenomenon rising out of the Somerset Levels. You can do the walk around the top of the Isle without having to make much ascent by foot and you have far-flung views in different directions to the Mendips, Cheddar Gorge, Nyland Hill, Glastonbury Tor and the Polden Hills.
Another walk that takes you through terrain which contrasts with the Bath surrounds. It includes large, sloping, open spaces and pretty villages. It is an “airy” walk and a special favourite for spring through to autumn longer daylight hours. Dave liked to go to a bit of a distance sometimes – his spirit of adventure loved to uncover new places.
We hope these walks will serve as a memorial to Dave, and also encourage others to go out and enjoy long walks, and hopefully become long walks leaders themselves.
If you enjoy these walks, do please let us know, and please consider walking and leading with us.
Bath Ramblers