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Walking Routes

By WLR's John Litchfield

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 - Britain's biggest walking charity.  
The Ramblers is offering WLR Members a discount off membership:

Join today and get a 20% discount:

To join, visit www.ramblers.org.uk/offer and use code WE2 or call 020 7339 8500 quoting WE2.

NB. This offer is not available to existing Ramblers members.

 

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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