Penallt Footpath Group in 2025
The following account is based on a report to TUCC tabled for its November 2025 meeting:-
The Penallt Footpath Group (PFG) was set up in March 2019. Our aim is to make the footpaths in our area easy to find and walk. We have an ongoing programme of infrastructure maintenance and vegetation clearance, and engage with a team of enthusiastic volunteers from the wider village community.
Monmouthshire County Council (MCC) have been supportive in supplying materials, guidance, and training. They have also loaned us a second electric brush cutter in addition to the one purchased for our group by TUCC.
We prioritise our work based on paths forming part of through-routes, circular routes within the ward, and walks featuring local pubs and stops along the 65 bus route. We have published guides to several of these routes which can be accessed at https://www.penallt.org.uk/village-walks.
This page is consistently one of the most visited pages on the website.
The committee of the footpath group currently has seven members and meets approximately monthly. It coordinates regular volunteer work parties which undertake path clearance, finger-post installation, waymarking and maintenance. Some of the work is performed with participation from MCC officers, but the vast majority of it is done on a self-led basis. All paths are regularly re-surveyed to ensure they are passable, and route descriptions remain up-to-date.
In November 2024, three PFG members attended an MCC-organised 2-day training course on the operation, maintenance, and safe use of brush cutters and line trimmers. This brings the number of brush cutter-trained volunteers to five.
Since our last report we have completed 50 separate tasks, logging a total of 436.5 person-hours of work contributed by 20 volunteers, to whom we are enormously grateful. In addition to the clearance of much seasonal vegetation growth, we have installed 12 fingerposts and 6 waymark posts. On maintenance, we have repaired 4 stiles, 2 gates and 3 flights of steps. The logged hours also include path surveys, training, and meetings. The reporting period was from 6 November 2024 to 2 October 2025.
The group is grateful to TUCC for their continuing support of our activities.
The group is always on the lookout for new volunteers to join working parties. If you are interested in helping, whether regularly or occasionally, the best way to find out what is happening is to join the “Footpath Volunteers” WhatsApp group. Contact Bob Scarr to do so.