Programme Template Structure

To dispel some misconceptions about the current Programme structure I display here the ideas behind the Template.

The Template is a very simple concept in which every Sunday has two grades of walk; A + C alternating with B + D, each of these 4 grades, therefore, has 26 walks per year giving a total of 104.

Every Thursday also has 2 grades of walk AorB + D alternating with C + G; another 104 walks. A and B share a slot as there are 5 grades to accommodate on Thursdays. Walks on the same day are at least 2 grades apart.

In practice fewer Thursday A walks are done than Thursday B, say 10 A and 16 B, and C has 26, D has 26 and G has 26.

The complete 2-weekly pattern is therefore: Sun A + C, Thu AorB + D, Sun B + D, Thu C + G, and this is repeated throughout the year.

During May, June, July and early Aug, 8 Thursday D walks are replaced manually with Wednesday Evening E walks (they are both graded D).

The table below shows where we are now and the results of the walk scheme in 1995, after I joined in 1994. A variety of schemes have been used over the years as the number of walks have been increased successively with the E walks being the only ones to be reduced (from every week to every other week).

Today's Template was designed to simplify the allocation of grades to the correct slots, but this necessitated the introduction of too many slots. Therefore slots should be removed where it is most sensible to do so.