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Walking Routes
John Litchfield
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Walking is an excellent way of getting some exercise and
burning a few extra calories.
As it is low impact and low intensity it is perfect for
nearly all ages and fitness levels and costs nothing to take up.
However, if you begin to tire of taking the same old routes,
a change of scenery may be necessary to keep you interested.
Fortunately, there are a number of walking groups,
Associations and walking websites dedicated to helping you find
pleasant areas to roam on your own or with friends.
Here are some of the main people that can help you find the
right path.
The Ramblers Association
www.ramblers.org.uk
The Ramblers Association is probably the most established
name for promoting countryside walking.
The Association
organises group walks and can provide information to help you
plan your own.
They are actively involved in the protection of
the environment and campaign for walkers’ access rights.
Other
services include helping you find accommodation for stopping
points on longer walks and providing information on local public
transport routes and times to help you keep your exercise as
environmentally friendly as possible.
The British Walking Federation
www.bwf-ivv.org.uk
The BWF was formed in 1983 by a collection of walking clubs
around Britain. They promote a number of walking events of
varying distances and as they are a member of the IVV
(International Federation of Popular Sports), completion of
events will gain the entrant stamps towards the IVV award
scheme.
The BWF can also provide information for a number of
permanent trails that can be completed at any time.
Walking Routes
www.walking-routes.co.uk
The Walking Routes site provides links to hundreds of
websites to help you find details of thousands of walks around
the UK.
The site has separate sections for each county to make
it easy for you to choose walks in your area or find ones in
places that you would like to visit.
The Long Distance Walkers Association
www.ldwa.org.uk
The LDWA organises a large number of walks throughout the
year.
While the content of this site is largely for paid up
members (only events taking place in the next 14 days are
visible unless logged in), the site has an on-line shop
supplying walking accessories, clothing and the association’s
self published book, The LDWA Handbook which contains details of
over 600 long distance paths in the UK.
Race for life
www.raceforlife.org
While Race for life events are largely seen as being for
runners, these 5k routes can also be walked, so you can combine
taking your exercise with raising money for Cancer Research.
230
events are planned all over the country for this summer so there
is bound to be one happening not too far from you.
Walking Connections
www.walking-connections.co.uk
This site will put you in contact with potential walking
partners and will let you know when new members in your area
sign up.
Walking the way to health
www.whi.org.uk
WHI is an initiative of the British Heart Foundation and the
Countryside Agency and is focused on promoting “health walks” as
a means of improving fitness and primarily targets people who
may not be taking regular exercise.
Over 350 local health walk
schemes have been created by WHI and it has trained over 18,000
volunteer walk leaders to help people in their communities
increase their exercise.
Walklink.com
www.walklink.com
This site is full of advice and help for walkers of all
stages, from beginners to enthusiasts looking for walking
holidays and tours overseas.
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