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Gloucestershire County Council’s public rights of way team has recently completed the replacement and repair of numerous footpath signs in parishes around Cheltenham. These include Andoversford, Sevenhampton, Stoke Orchard and Winchcombe.
The work was made possible by the Bradbury Bequest, a fund which was established in 1959 on the death of Herbert Lucas Bradbury, a local benefactor. He left £1,500 in trust for the erection and maintenance of signposts on public footpaths within a six-mile radius of Cheltenham Post Office, which was at that time located in The Promenade.
Originally the fund was administered by the Open Spaces Society, and the Gloucestershire Ramblers, led by the late Tony Drake, arranged for the signposts to be erected. In 2013 the society passed the remaining £7,000 (including the interest from the trust) to Gloucestershire County Council as a ring-fenced fund for the repair and replacement of footpath signs. Now the county council has spent the fund.
Says John Lane, lead public rights of way officer of Gloucestershire County Council: ‘I am pleased that we have been able to use the Bradbury Bequest in the way in which it was intended. In these financially-difficult times, any donations of this nature are extremely helpful in maintaining the county’s footpath network.’
Adds Kate Ashbrook, our general secretary: ‘We are delighted that the Bradbury Bequest has been spent exactly as Mr Bradbury wished, on enabling walkers to find their way more easily in the parishes surrounding Cheltenham. Mr Bradbury’s name will be remembered, by the emblem on the signs bearing the Open Spaces Society’s logo and the words “Bradbury Bequest paid for this sign”.’