How this Group Works
We catch a train normally arriving in London at 11am-ish, which permits us to take advantage of off-peak and super off-peak rail tickets.
Depending on where we live we will take different trains so an obvious meeting point and time at a mainline station is decided upon to allow all to meet up and proceed from there.
We should aim to be able to take a ‘comfort stop’ and/or coffee on arrival in London before the walk starts.
A break for lunch should be factored into the itinerary. This is usually a cafe or pub on the route. Juliet has been brilliant I believe, in being very inclusive and ensuring that no one is left to their own devices at lunchtime.
I think that as we are a group of mixed age and walking abilities, it would be useful if the walk leaders could provide a rough estimate of how long their walk is - generally no more than 3 miles taken at a gradual pace to allow for stops to look and discuss what we are seeing.
If you plan to offer a longer walk then this should take place after the main walk (for the benefit of people who would like to stay in London for longer).
If anyone needs to leave the walk early, maybe after lunch, then guidance on how to get back to the station would be useful.
Bring along your Senior Railcard and Bus Pass to allow you to hop on a bus for free.
Walk leaders should ideally be able to advise re trains to catch and prices and timetables.
Each walk should have two leaders, one of whom should be prepared to act as a ‘back marker’ to ensure everyone keeps up and no one is lost! It is also is a safety net so that in the event of one of the leaders being unwell, then the walk does not have to be abandoned.
There will be a maximum of twelve (12) people on each walk, so if you are keen to take part in a particular walk then sign up early. There will be a waiting list in the event of it being over subscribed. This stops our group creating havoc for other pedestrians as we progress round our route.
In principle, if you are a member of this group you should be prepared to offer to lead a walk, teamed up with another member. With 30 people on this mailing list you are not going to have to lead one very often, and you would have plenty of time to drum up a walk together.
If you don’t have a ‘friend’ in the group I am sure I can pair you up with someone, and if you are unsure about your abilities please don’t worry, you are not expected to be a Blue Badge Guide. I would be very happy to give you some pointers and support.