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December 2008

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Programme news

Our new Winter programme has plenty to inspire you to go out walking and/or meet up on social events. Many thanks to Glyn and Sabine Jarvis for compiling the Walks programme and to Paul Russell for compiling the Socials programme. Anyone who has ever been involved with producing the programme will know what a huge task it is. Also a big thanks to everyone who has contributed to this programme. There are several new walker leaders and social event organisers on board which is an excellent way to close 2008 and bring in the New Year.
It would be good to have more weekends away next year, so why not make that your New Year resolution? If you'd like to organise a weekend away but don't know how to go about it, contact our Social Secretary, who will be happy to offer advice.

Membership news

Carolyn Mason is our new Membership Secretary, and you can contact her if you would like to join SURG, or if you have any issues with your SURG membership.

Greensand Way completed

Over the last two years SURG has been walking the Greensand Way long distance path, covering 105 miles from Ham Street in Kent to Haslemere in Surrey. Each stage was walking using public transport to get to the start, bringing the total distance covered up to 156 miles. The final walk took place on Saturday 8th November, when 17 SURG members turned out to walk the last stage to Haslemere, despite the miserable weather. Several hardy SURG members completed all 12 stages, and they received their commemorative SURG T shirts at the end of the walk along with Paul Russell who organised the walks.
For those of you who enjoy long distance paths look out for them on future programmes. If you prefer a slightly shorter trail we'll be starting the West Sussex Literary Trial from Horsham to Chichester in March, details on the programme.

Walks tip of the month

A good idea during winter when paths are likely to be muddy is to carry a few plastic bags in your rucksack with you on a walk. They have many uses:

  • If the ground is wet you can sit on them at lunch-time.
  • If it starts raining, put them over your boots so you can get your waterproof trousers on quickly without getting them all muddy.
  • If you stop at a pub for a drink or pub lunch, stick them over your muddy boots so you can get straight to the bar without having to stop to take your boots off!

Best of the bakes

Christmas is around the corner, so for those of you who celebrate this and fancy something festive, try Leanne's South African Mince Pie recipe:
For the pastry, mix together:
250g butter
125ml cream
2.5 cups cake flour
2.5 dessertspoons icing sugar
Pinch of salt
For the filling, mix together:
450g luxury mince meat
1.5 dessertspoons apricot jam
Roll out the pastry, cut into rounds and place in greased small cookie tins. Put 1 teaspoon of filling in each pie and cover with pastry lid. Prick the lids with a knife. Bake for 20 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius, then remove from the over and sprinkle with caster sugar while still hot.