| AdminHistory | KEY DATES:
1926: Sheffield and District Ramblers' Federation established.
1931: Six regional federations representing walkers from all over Britain joined to create the National Council of Ramblers Federations, a body that could advocate on behalf of walkers’ rights at a national level.
1935: Ramblers' Association officially established.
1930s-1950s: the local branch continued to be known as the Sheffield and District Ramblers Federation which was run by an Executive Committee chaired by G.H.B. Ward (who died in 1957).
1955: the group's constitution officially named the local branch as the 'Ramblers Association (Sheffield Area)' covering South Yorkshire and North East Derbyshire.
1975: A new constitution (replacing the 1955 version) came into being in Feb 1975 giving the local organisation the name 'The Ramblers' Association, South Yorkshire and North East Derbyshire Area'.
1982: The Sheffield Group formed.
2009: Ramblers' Association changed its name to the 'Ramblers'. The local branch became 'South Yorkshire and North East Derbyshire (SYNED) Area Ramblers'.
THE RAMBLERS' ASSOCIATION
The Ramblers' Association was officially established on 1 Jan 1935 to promote public right of access to large areas of the countryside. The Association's roots date back to the 19th century, when a growing number of people turned to the countryside for recreation to escape the increasingly industrialised cities. Federations of rambling clubs developed in several provincial cities (Manchester Ramblers' Council in 1919, Liverpool and District Federation in 1922, and Sheffield and District Federation in 1926), but by the early 1930s it became clear that a national body was needed to represent the interests of ramblers so delegates from around the country attended a meeting at Longshaw in the Peak District in Sep 1931. As a result, the National Council of Ramblers' Federations was established. It changed its name to the Ramblers' Association in 1935. In its first year, the Ramblers had almost 1,200 individual members, and over 300 affiliated rambling clubs. In 2009, the Ramblers' Association changed its name to the 'Ramblers'.
THE RAMBLERS' ASSOCIATION, SOUTH YORKSHIRE AND NORTH EAST DERBYSHIRE AREA
The Sheffield and District Ramblers' Federation was established in 1926. This became part of the National Council of Ramblers Federations in 1931 which later became the Ramblers' Association in 1935. The local organisation was renamed the 'Ramblers Association (Sheffield Area)' in 1955, becoming the Ramblers' Association, South Yorkshire and North East Derbyshire Area in 1975. The Sheffield Group formed in 1982. Following the rebranding of the Ramblers' Association in 2009 to become 'Ramblers', the local branch became the South Yorkshire and North East Derbyshire (SYNED) Area Ramblers.
It presently (in 2019) comprises a number of local groups including: the Sheffield Ramblers; Barnsley and Penistone Ramblers; Chesterfield and North East Derbyshire Ramblers, Dearne Valley Ramblers, Doncaster Ramblers, Rotherham Metro Ramblers and various age-related walking groups.
ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE
Organisation of the Ramblers is divided into Area Councils which govern Rambler 'Areas'. The South Yorkshire and North East Derbyshire area is covered by the regional branch called the 'Ramblers, South Yorkshire and North East Derbyshire (SYNED) Area' which in turn is made up of a number of local groups (e.g. the Sheffield group) which are accountable to their representative area. |
| Description | Constitution, [copy of 1926 rules] - 1975 (SYNED/1)
Minutes of Area Council Meetings (including AGM minutes up to 2006), 1934 - date (SYNED/2)
Minutes of Annual General Meetings (AGMs), 2009 - date (SYNED/2) [for earlier AGM minutes see SYNED/2]
Minutes and papers of the Area Footpath Sub-Committee, 1972 - 1978 (SYNED/4)
Minutes of the Access, Countryside and Rights of Way (ACROW) committee, 2015 - 2018 (SYNED/5)
Correspondence files (largely miscellaneous), [1940s] - 1994 (SYNED/6)
Photographs, 1971 - 1975 (SYNED/7)
Newsletters ('Area News'), 1978 - 2011 (incomplete run) (SYNED/8)
Printed miscellanea, 1928 - 1979 (SYNED/9)
Records of the Sheffield Group of the Ramblers' Association, South Yorkshire and North East Derbyshire Area (formed in 1982), 1981 - 2017 (SYNED/10) |