Hi everyone,

I know it's hot on the heels of yesterday's Pewsey Downsaround (PDA) email, but it's time for another newsletter. Plans for the PDA are in an advanced state for the event on 26th April. Thank you to everyone who has been involved so far. Thank you in advance to all those who have volunteered on the day itself. A number of us completed this year's Capital Challenge in London on Saturday, and had a great time doing so. Clare joined Caroline, Dave, Jacqui, Sharon, Tony and myself, but chose to walk the event unofficially with Gwyneth. I gather from Lucy that 12 of you completed Andy's 50-mile walk on the Mendips over the weekend. I expect the last thing we all wanted after our respective events was the clocks to go forwards. Strider has also recently dropped through our letterboxes. It was nice to see something more in Group News other than the Wiltshire logo and our contact details. I also noticed that Andy has received a volunteer award. Details of the award will appear on the LDWA web site in due course.

Baking for the PDA

Please see the email I sent yesterday. The event is famous for the quality of its food; all produced by Wiltshire LDWA members. As always we rely on volunteers to bake for the event. If anyone can contribute baked goods (cakes, flapjacks, scones, pizza or other sweet or savoury treats) could they let Janette know alexthecat48@icloud.com. Ideally they need to be brought to Pewsey Scout Hut in the morning of the event but if you contact Janette in advance she can usually arrange an alternative arrangement. We are happy to reimburse the cost of ingredients.

Committee Meeting held on 26^th March 2026

The key points from our recent committee meeting are as follows:

• The focus of the meeting was the arrangements for the PDA, Those involved at the event can expect to receive more emails or phone calls prior to event to discuss specifics. It is highly likely that those manning Checkpoints 1, 2 and 4 - where there is hardly any mobile signal - will be recording entrants' progress manually, i.e. on paper. HQ will hopefully be using PACER to record starters and finishers. The arrangements for Checkpoint 3 will be decided shortly;
• Janette updated us on the arrangements for running the joint Dorset/Wiltshire checkpoint at the Hunnypot 100;
• The next committee meeting will take place in July/August, when we will be discussing the arrangements for our next Annual General Meeting (AGM). If any member knows of a suitable venue to host our AGM in December, please speak to a committee member. You may also have some views on the format.

Sue will publish the minutes on the Wiltshire LDWA website shortly.

New Walks

Our future walks programme is looking good, with 10 walks to look forward to, including a few to the south of the county. I hope you'll be able to support them. The average mileage of this year's walks is currently slightly more than last year. Now's the time to think about the remainder of the year, please. There are plenty of dates to fill. If you're out walking, please expect Lucy and I to be asking you to volunteer walks.

Treasurer Vacancy

Those of you who attended our AGM, will know that Dave will be stepping down as the group's treasurer at the end of the year. Anyone wishing to take on the role should let the committee know, so that we can ensure the handover process is as seamless as possible.

Forthcoming Walks

Finally, here's the usual look ahead to all the group walks and challenge events that are taking place within a 50-mile radius of Chippenham.

That's it for this newsletter. All our newsletters will be available via the Wiltshire LDWA website. If you have anything to contribute to future editions, please can you get it to me or Sue by the 20th of each month. I look forward to seeing you out on our group walks on the 3rd and 16th April.

Warmest regards

Clive

Chair of the Wiltshire LDWA
wiltshire.chair@ldwa.org.uk