The Ulster Federation of Rambling Clubs will profile affiliated clubs every few months. A  brief history of the club, some photographs, and information about activities during the present year will be included.                     

Mid-Ulster Walking Club

Mid-Ulster Walking Club was founded in the autumn of 1989 .  Trevor McKay from Dungannon , already a keen hill-walker was the principal initiator and provided most of the early experience and enthusiasm .  The bulk of members were drawn from Dungannon and Cookstown areas . 
The initial format of the club involved club walks on each third Sunday , a spring trip and autumn trip were organised each year .  It is a tribute to this early leadership that these core activities have not changed in eighteen years , although the club has gradually grown and in 2007 should reach over 60 members .
Recent changes have included successful walking trips abroad and the introduction of Wednesday midweek walks during the summer months . Joint walks have been initiated with other clubs including Down Danderers and Dungannon Rambling Club These new ventures have all proved successful . A Christmas walk in the Sperrins is enriched with mulled wine and mince pies followed by soup , sandwiches and desserts in "The Shepherds Rest "at the foot of the Sperrins.   
The club produces a professionally printed programme ( kindly sponsored) each year and the format of this has changed little over time . A further innovation in more recent years has been a member’s newsletter , a bright, interesting and well produced document produced every few months for distribution to members .  The club has also developed its own web site www.midulsterwalkingclub.org.uk .  This includes articles on club walks , group and scenic photographs , club programmes , membership details , photo galleries of trips and Club Dinners .
Mid-Ulster Walking Club has representatives from all adult age groups , with the membership core drawn from Dungannon , Cookstown and Magherafelt areas. however members from as far away as Belfast , Hillsborough, Limavady and even Glasgow also walk regularly .  The club is friendly, offering both A and B. walks on club Sundays .  New members are always made welcome.  The club has a number of qualified mountain leaders who are willing to give advice and help to new members .
A number of original 1989 members are still active and important members of a club approaching its twentieth anniversary  . 
 

Lagan Valley Walking Club

In May 2001 the Health Promotion Agency provided a small grant to set up the Lagan Valley Exploration Project.  Bill Ervine used the grant to organise a series of Tuesday evening walks that summer and to get guests to explain the history and wildlife of the river from Lagan Meadows to Slieve Croob.  In September, when the grant ran out, the walkers decided to set up the Lagan Valley Rambling Club, to extend the walks to weekends and to widen the range to the rest of Northern Ireland and beyond.
Our club is based in Lisburn, it has approximately 40 members, of which about 15 – 20 turn up for each walk.  Most members are late middle aged so most of the walks we do would be in the easy category.  We tend to walk in the more picturesque parts of the country, and while we like the mountains we seldom climb to the top.
We have programmes for both weekend and evening walks.  On the first Sunday of the month the walk starts at 2 pm, and is usually to somewhere pretty local to Lisburn.  On the second weekend we have a Saturday walk which starts at 10 am.   Finally, on the third Sunday there is a walk starting at 10 am.  These all-day walks allow us to travel a bit further away, and we usually bring a picnic lunch.  In the winter we arrange the Saturday walks so that people can get a hot meal in a local restaurant or café.  All weekend walks finish by teatime and we are usually back in Lisburn by 5 o’clock.
In the summer (April to September) we have a programme of Tuesday evening walks starting at 7 pm; these are also pretty local.  For all walks we meet at Hill Street car park in Lisburn, except for the Saturday walks when we meet at the Island Centre car park.  For Hill Street, turn into the housing estate at the crossroads (traffic lights) at the top of the hill on Laganbank Road, immediately (in 10 metres) turn right and you’re there.  For the Island Centre enter the car park by Canal Street, on the County Down side of Union Bridge.
Transport to and from the walk venues is by car pool.  You are welcome to bring your own car, but if you travel as a passenger we would like you to make a donation to the driver.  £1.50 for half-day and  evening walks, and £3.00 for a full day.
The Club also organises various social functions.  Once or twice a year we go for a weekend in a hotel.  This allows us to enjoy some walks that are too far away for a day out, on the north coast, in Fermanagh or Donegal.  A couple of times a year we attend a musical show in the Island Centre in Lisburn, for example a Musical produced by Lisnagarvey Operatic Society.  We also have an annual dinner and we round off the summer season with a Barn Dance.
Annual membership of Lagan Valley Rambling Club is £10.  The Club is affiliated to the “Ulster Federation of Rambling Clubs” (UFRC), which itself is affiliated to “The Ramblers Association” in Great Britain . We get our insurance cover through the UFRC.
You will be most welcome to join our club, in fact you will be welcome to join with us on one of our walks as a visitor, without obligation, to see how you get on.  I look forward to seeing you on one of the walks, just turn up at Hill Street or the Island Centre.  If you need further information, phone me on 028 9260 1943, or David Jamison on 028 9267 8277.
Jim Allen(Secretary)
 

Some photos of Lagan Valley Club on their walks (click photo for larger image)

GLENS OF ANTRIM RAMBLING CLUB

The Glens of Antrim Rambling Club had its beginning with a group of walking enthusiasts in Cushendall in 1980, a time when walking for leisure was not in fashion.  Bobby McMullan, a Cushendall resident, in his professional capacity as Health Promotion Manager with the Northern Health and Social Services Board had a special interest in promoting exercise. Having taken part in the Bannsider’s Causeway Coast 20 mile walk, on a number of occasions with colleague Jim Murray, he saw this as a means of giving the not so young an opportunity to get and keep fit. David Munnis, a founder member of the Bannside Club agreed to address an invited group of prospective walkers in the Cushendall Sailing and Boating Club on issues affecting formalised rambling and on how to affiliate to the Association as it was called in those days. Bobby together with Pat Clerkin, Jeannie Walsh, Ann McAlister, Ann O’Hara, Jim Murray and Molly Kernohan and a few others, wanted to get more out of the beautiful countryside they lived in and enjoy the challenges of the surrounding hills. In recognition of his work for the club Bobby McMullan has been made an Honorary  Life Member.
Their first task, as with any organisation, was to formalise it by giving it a name and electing a committee. As they were situated in the midst of  the glens, it was a natural  choice to call our club “The Glens of Antrim Rambling Club“. Our logo , quite appropriately is an outline of Lurig, viewed  from the coast road out of Cushendall. Much work had to be done in negotiating with local farmers in the Glens to allow access  to their land.
Our Chairperson for the first three years was Pat Clerkin, followed by Molly Kernohan in 1983, then Mary Doyle from 1984 to 1994. In 1994 Alan Turner was elected Chairperson and he held office until 1997 Alan was followed by Liam Murphy for the next three years. And in 2000, Mary Doyle was again elected Chairperson and has held that post and guided the club confidently  ever since. Our subscriptions are  nominal, enough to cover the club’s expenses, and are collected by Patrick Powell who has been our worthy Treasurer for the last 15 years. Our membership currently stands at around 44.
Over the years, our club was known for organising challenge walks. The Horseshoe Challenge Walk which starts and finishes in Cushendall and covers a distance of 15 miles (25Km) and rises to a height of 1800ft (578M) the Moyle Way Walk from Glenariff to Ballycastle  over Knocklade which is 20 Miles (37Km) rises to 1700ft. (514M). These walks which were enjoyed by many took a lot of man and woman power to organise and run.
The bread and butter of the club is the weekly walk, usually on a Sunday. A long walk starting at 11-00am and a shorter walk starting at 2-00pm on alternate Sundays. We produce a Walks Programme every six months and circulate it to our members. This programme tells you where the walk takes place, names the meeting place, who is leading the walk, and his or her phone number in case you need any advice on the walk. All these walks will have been researched and led by different  club members . Most of our walks are in the Antrim hills area but our Chairperson Mary Doyle arranges walking weekends for our members, during the bank holidays, in the Mournes, the Sperrins or in Donegal or Fermanagh . We insure all our club members know and respect the “Code of Behaviour for Rambling Clubs” by having it printed on the reverse of our Walks Programmes.
The club is fully insured.
On the social side, just before Christmas we have our “Mince Pie Walk“, a short walk in the Cushendall area ending up in the Boat House for our hot mince pies and a cup of tea followed by singing some carols, usually accompanied by Brian Duffin on his guitar. Every year in the Spring or early Summer, we have a B.B.Q. at the Cushendall Boat House. In November we hold our annual Dinner Dance in the Londonderry Arms Hotel in Carnlough, open to members and their guests. In 2005 we celebrated the 25^th anniversary of our founding. At the dance that year we were honoured by the presence of Bobby McMullan and some of our other founder members and their spouses. At these dances,  Sheila Powell leads us in her famous Circle Dances and James McKeown leads us in some Set Dances before the main dancing of the evening, for those who have any energy left.
A number of our members arrange, amongst themselves, to have walking holidays abroad. Switzerland, Austria and Poland were their destinations  in recent years.
Our club is affiliated to the Ulster Federation of Rambling Clubs  and we are listed on the Federation web site.

Patrick McLaughlin

Hon. Sec.

3^rd February 2008