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LDWA National AGM- Friday March 4th – Sunday March 6th
Woodland Grange Hotel, Leamington Spa, Warwicks
This year, as recently elected Chair of the LDWA Dorset Group I attended the National AGM with some apprehension, knowing hardly anyone at all. OK, I know that our very own Sue Widdowson and Deidre Flegg are co-organisers of the whole event but I could hardly expect them to be around to hold my hand!
I decided to go to Leamington by public transport, “let the train take the strain”, isn’t that what the advert used to say?? Anyway, my journey was in fact seamless and after a business meeting in Leamington my kind meeting associates drove me to the Woodland Grange. I had in fact been at the same hotel the previous November for another national AGM so I knew what to expect and as it’s a very good hotel.
Deidre and Sue were manning the LDWA ‘reception desk’ and checking members in. They were having to deal with a member who was being difficult, so I hastily grabbed my badge and welcome pack and made my way to my very comfortable room.
On the Friday evening there was a buffet meal preceded by drinks in the bar and, luckily, I was ‘found’ very quickly by John Widdowson who went to great lengths to look after me the whole weekend. What a gent! There was a workshop on the future of Strider after the meal which was very interesting and I made contact with a couple of members, one of which I’ve kept in contact with and subsequently met on a trip to London – but that’s another story. There was a quiz after the workshop, but I was ready for my bed by that point!
On the Saturday there was a choice of three walks of varying distances plus a coach trip. Hedging my bets with the weather I went for the 16-mile rather than the 24-mile walk which was led by Michael Jones. I enjoyed the walk, despite parts of it being necessarily urban, however it was just a shame that our walk leader introduced himself at the start and then hardly said a word for the duration of walk! Being used to Dorset walk leaders who are very pro-active and always full of information about their walks I found this strange. Especially as I was walking in an area with which I was unfamiliar! However, this was just a small niggle.
On the Saturday evening we had a buffet dinner – and I forgot to say earlier that the food was excellent – and this was followed by our after-dinner speaker, Mary Mansfield, who hiked the Pacific Crest Trail (2653 miles!!) solo and unsupported. Her talk was fascinating and motivational, however I wasn’t moved to emulate her efforts – her trip being most definitely ‘hard-core’.
At some point I discovered to my horror that the actual AGM was on the Sunday morning – not something I’d catered for in my travel arrangements! No-one’s fault but my own for not reading the event timetable properly. So, I had a slightly stressful hour trying to change my train booking on my mobile phone however technology worked on this occasion!
I found the AGM interesting because being a relatively new LDWA member it gave me the opportunity to put names to faces, particularly when it came to the NEC members and also other group Chairs. Otherwise, the AGM was much like any other association AGM – a small number of people with a lot to say and the usual admin stuff.
After the AGM Jane Laval, a member of the LDWA London group that I’d met at the Strider Workshop, and I shared a taxi to Leamington station where we caught our respective trains to go home. My journey involved two trains and two buses – it being a Sunday – but it all worked fairly well. At least on the train you can read a book, not something that’s recommended if you’re driving and stuck in a traffic jam!
I would certainly recommend the national AGM to anyone, its not just for Group chairs, and its an excellent way of meeting people from around the country.
Heather Giles
Chair – Dorset Group
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