On a landmark day in CWW history, we marked our 20th anniversary by unveiling our seventh donated footpath gate.
Exactly two decades after the first CWW walk, the morning of September 24th, 2026 saw group chair Tim Axten cut the ribbon to open the new gate near Lacey Green. The launch ceremony was the finale of a special walk which passed three other CWW gates.
Tim said: “It was an honour to declare the new gate open because I was representing the CWW committee and all our members past and present. By getting the new gate installed in place of a dangerous dilapidated stile we have improved the safety and accessibility for everyone using the footpath. CWW are committed to get the condition of the footpath network in Lacey Green Parish improved.”
Led by footpath secretary Andrew Lyon, it was fitting that the 20th anniversary walk attracted 20 CWW members. They were joined belatedly by another walker who travelled all the way from Great Malvern on three trains and a bus for the occasion.
The new gate was installed by a team from the Ramblers footpath volunteer group rRIPPLE. It replaced a rickety stile discovered by Andrew on a path-checking walk. “The step posts had detached from the ground, presenting a seesaw-like challenge to anyone climbing over,” he said.
CWW’s first donated gate was installed in April 2012 at Horn Hill near Chalfont St Giles. As shown on the map below, more gates followed in Three Households, Speen, Cadsden and two locations in Upper North Dean.
Gate number 7 is near Kiln Lane in Lacey Green, the parish where CWW monitors and improves the rights of way network on behalf of Ramblers.
The passage of time and the great British weather have taken their toll on some of our earlier gate installations, especially those with wooden plaques.
Footpath secretary Andrew Lyon said: “We’ve reviewed the gates sponsored by CWW over the last 20 years and allocated funds to update neglected plaques and replace a deteriorating wooden gate with a maintenance-free metal alternative. We look forward to seeing these gates on our walks in the years to come.”
For the Lacey Green photocall, the new gate was dressed with 20th anniversary bunting and silver letter balloons spelling out CWW.
Mark Percy, who set up the decorations, said the operation was nearly scuppered… by cows. “I hiked over to the gate an hour before the start of the walk but was taken aback to see it besieged by cattle. The sight of me approaching with big silver balloons seemed to send them into a frenzy – mooing, bellowing and copiously relieving themselves. By some miracle a farm worker appeared and corralled the cows into the next field.
“I got to work trying to attach the balloons to the gate, fumbling with a roll of sellotape that kept getting stuck to itself. Matters weren’t helped by the stiff breeze which had the bunting flapping all over the place. With the clock ticking, I had to bail out and dash to the Millennium Hall for the start of the walk, praying that the wind and the cows wouldn’t wreak havoc. Fortunately the whole thing was just about intact by the time we returned for the ribbon cutting ceremony. What a relief!”
Name the series
CWW’s 20th anniversary has been the focus of the group’s longest ever series of themed walks.
Group chair Tim Axten devised a mammoth collection of 32 walks and invited members to guess the name of the series. He said: “Starting in January 2025, the series had a long lead-in to our 20-year anniversary. It was inspired by our earlier Alphabet series and the BBC quiz show Only Connect, where no clues are given.”
After the first five walks had been completed in Wendover (pictured above), Amersham, Lacey Green, Knotty Green and Studley Green, a few eagle-eyed sleuths twigged that the first letter of each location spelt the word walks. Further walk titles built up the sentence Walks and fun with CWW. It was in July, with 14 walks still to go, that former chair Anne Mograby became the first to guess that the full name of the series would be Walks and fun with CWW for twenty years. For her shrewd detective work, Anne was presented with a bottle of champagne and a box of chocolates at our walk leaders’ summer get-together.