User:Edshiggins

Origins
A report in a 1934 edition of the student newspaper 'The Gong', records that Ramsoc was formed during the spring term of 1933/34, and immediately received "considerable interest". By the summer term, there were 39 members and the society enjoyed weekend trips to Youth Hostels as well as cycling, and the soon-to-become-traditional Sunday rambles of 15 - 20 miles. Show/hide report

Certainly the first term of 1934/35 was busy enough; as well as Sunday rambles there were trips to Yorkshire and the Lake District, the latter involving ascents of Scafell Pike and Helvellyn via Striding Edge. Any students considering membership of the society were urged to attend a Sunday ramble as soon as possible - "After all, what else can one do on a Sunday?" Show/hide report

By summer of 1935 the society had clearly found its legs, and reports an Easter tour of North Wales, including cycling to Idwal Youth Hostel and back, from Nottingham! With ascents of Tryfan and the Glyders and the presence of some snow, the secretary reported that all involved "had a thoroughly enjoyable time". Plans for a summer vacation trip were yet to be finalised, but possible destinations included Skye, Northern Ireland and the Dolomites. Show/hide report

A short entry in the 1960/61 student's handbook stated that Ramsoc had "been in existence for almost a year", suggesting that the club may have taken a hiatus in the late 1950s. However, the traditional Ramsoc values were again evident, with the advert stating that "members only require a stout pair of shoes and good thirst". At this point, the only weekend of the year was the "Dinner Meet"; today's ADM. Show/hide report

Rambles and Weekends
At one point in the late Sixties and early Seventies, Ramsoc was so popular that four coachecs were taken on the first few rambles of the year. Over the course of each year this dropped to just the one coach, as is run now. In the 1930s we know that the club was out rambling every weekend, but by 1964/65 Sunday walks were only run once a fortnight; the university's YHA Society ran walks on alternate Sundays when Ramsoc didn't. Throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, membership was so healthy that four coaches were taken on Sunday walks at the beginning of the year! Indeed, Sunday walks were much more of an event as well. After finishing the walk, the group would head to the Singing Kettle cafe in Matlock Bath or Judith's Cafe in Castleton for some dinner, before being taken on the bus to the Horse and Groom pub in Ilkeston (now the Gallows Inn). Here an upstairs room was reserved for sing-songs and drinking, (these becoming a theme of Ramsoc life). This routine died out in the early 1980s, although people still used to meet up in a campus bar after a Sunday ramble until 2002. The Committee for 2002/03 then instigated Wednesday evening socials, which have been going strong ever since.

The Songbook
The Ramsoc songbook can trace its roots back to a songbook 'appropriated' from the University of Sheffield around 1965. From this first version, containing 30 songs, the songbook grew, and a new edition was printed in 1971 by Brian Hughes and George Broderick. It featured 70 songs, and another 30 were added to the list in 1975. That total of 100 songs formed the songbook that's still in use today. Although it was lost to the mists of time for a while, it was resurrected shortly after the Millenium by the combined effort of George Broderick and Gary Mirams.