Have map, will walk

So we went to the interview last week with the Ranger Service at Burrs Country Park – I can’t believe I’ve lived in the area for a year and I’ve never visited this place… it’s beautiful. Will definitely have to find an hour or two for a stroll as it’s only about a mile away from my house.

The rangers were really nice, Kathryn and Neil, and they went through everything we wanted to know without us even having to ask. We have to commit to a minimum of one activity a month (shouldn’t be too hard) and each quarter we get a list of all the duties across the three boroughs (Bury, Bolton and Salford) from which to choose.

There’s around 90 voluntary rangers across the valley, and about 85% are trained volunteers so that looks like the most popular route. The next training courses aren’t until October so it should give us a bit of time to see if we like it. They asked about my rock-climbing for some reason so perhaps they’ll be some opportunity for single rope technique like clearing dangerous trees, or securing crumbling overhangs with wire mesh?

Just one big problem for me – they recommended getting a tetanus vaccination as there’s a good chance of mucky injuries. I really, really hate needles. What kind of malicious mind first thought about sticking a hollow, metal tube into someone’s arm?

Just waiting on our welcome pack and I’ll let you know some more.