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WHERE WALKERS ARE WELCOME: 2010 conference in Kilsyth
Booking form and programme now available here
The 2010 conference will take place in Kilsyth on Sunday Oct 24th 2010, with pre-conference events on the previous day.
The Annual Walkers are Welcome conference for 2010 will be held in Kilsyth, North Lanarkshire which was the second town in Scotland to be awarded Walkers are welcome status. Kilsyth sits in the Kelvin Valley, an area rich in history and both natural and industrial heritage. And even more important for walkers, the area is criss-crossed by nearly 100km of paths. Many of these paths had an industrial origin being rail tracks to quarries and mines. An area that was covered in industrial waste is now a local nature reserve, the canal which lay disused for decades is reopened and a thriving hub of activity,and Roman remains have become part of a World Heritage site.
The last 30 years have seen many improvement to the environment and public access. Therefore our theme for the conference of renewal is particularly appropriate. Kilsyth is a ex -mining town which still faces many challenges and the pace of renewal cannot be allowed to waver. Many Walkers are Welcome towns have a similar industrial heritage and are using paths and walking as an aid to renewal.
The conference is being held as Colzium House, a Victorian mansion set within the landscaped grounds of Colzium Lennox Estate. The estate was gifted to the people of Kilsyth in 1937 and the provisions of that gift a jealously guarded. The conference theme marries local and renewal together to look at both the unique within localities and the lessons that can be drawn from their renewal.
Draft Programme
Saturday 23rd October 2010 : pre-conference events
Afternoon walks start at Auchinstarry basin.
Longer walk - via unique hilly section of the Antonine Wall and extensive views of Central scotland and the Kelvin Valley starts at 2pm.
Shorter walk - low level walk around the valley taking in Forth and Clyde Canal and nature reserves leaves at 3pm.
Pre - Conference dinner in the evening at 7.30pm at the Coachman Hotel.
Sunday 24th October 2010: the conference itself
Draft Agenda:
0900 Registration & coffee / tea
0930 Welcome by Kilsyth Civic Queen
0935 Plenary Chaired by Ian Jarvis
Local renewal by Paul Carter and a WaW representative
10.30 Workshops - first session
11.15 Coffee / Tea
11.35 Workshops - second session
12.15 Workshops- third session
13.00 Lunch (including very short walk - leg stretch - around estate)
14.00 Afternoon plenary chaired by Catherine Martin
Becoming a Walkers are Welcome Town
14.40 AGM
15.40 Market Weighton presentation (2011 conference!)
15.50 Vote of thanks and evaluation
1600 Close and tea / coffee
Accommodation. Some nearby hotels (WaW special prices shown - ask for these when booking)
Red Deer Vintage Inn, Innkeeper's Lodge, 1 Auchenkilns Park, Cumbernauld, Glasgow, G68 9AT (57 rooms)
contact central reservations to book 0870 243 0500
Sat £54.00 per room inc breakfast
Sun £49.95 per room inc breakfast
The Coachman Hotel, 4 Parkfoot Street, Kilsyth, G65 0SP
(11 rooms)
contact main hotel reception quoting Walkers are Welcome 01236 821649
£55.00 per room including breakfast
Boathouse Hotel,
Auchinstarry Marina, Kilsyth, G65 9SG
(10 rooms)
contact main hotel reception 01236 829200
£75.00 per room including breakfast
Shuttle bus. A bus will be provided for conference delegates, linking the Red Deer Inn, Croy railway station, Kilsyth town centre and the conference venue, Colzium House.
On Saturday the bus will be used to pick people up from Croy Station and Kilsyth and take them to Auchinstarry Basin for 2 and 3 pm., then at 4.30 to accommodation. Later to pick people up from Red Deer and Station to Coachman and return at say 11pm.
On Sunday, the bus will run from the Red Deer to Auchinstarry, the Coachman to Colzium for 9am and then to Croy Station for 16.00 and 16.40 trains.
2009 conference in Church Stretton
The excellent 2009 conference,'Our Present and Our Future', was held in Church Stretton on Sunday October 18th 2009. (For the programme, look here.)
2008 conference in Prestatyn
Our 2008 conference took place on Sunday October 26th, in the north Wales town of Prestatyn.
Over fifty delegates were present, representing twenty-two towns and villages. We were pleased also to welcome John Lloyd Jones, chairman of the Countryside Council for Wales, Tom Franklin, CEO The Ramblers Association, and Beverley Penney, Director, Ramblers Wales.
The conference programme is still available for information.
2007 conference in Hebden Bridge
The first Walkers are Welcome conference, held in Hebden Bridge on October 21st 2007, was a lively and stimulating event. Among other decisions, delegates present agreed to create the Walkers are Welcome Towns Network and the first committee for the Network was elected. Prestatyn offered to host the second WaW conference, to be held in the autumn of 2008.
PowerPoint presentations are available for some of the presentations - be warned, however that these can be very large files.
Andrew Bibby: the Walkers are Welcome concept
Malcolm Wilkinson: Prestatyn and Meliden (2 Mb)
Andrew Bibby: Hebden Bridge (10 Mb)
Bruce Crowther: How the Fairtrade Town concept was developed (1.3 Mb)
Making the most of Walkers are welcome status. Workshop
Note: the original leaflet for the conference is still available here.
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Thurs 23 - Sun 26 Sep 
Sat 9 - Sun 10 Oct