Links to other walking websites
The Hundred Parishes Society.
What is the Hundred Parishes?
It is a large, attractive, gently-undulating area, around 450 square miles of northwest Essex, northeast Hertfordshire and southern Cambridgeshire that is largely unspoilt and is richly endowed with many fine examples of agricultural and built heritage. It has many walks in what I consider to be our area.
http://www.hundredparishes.org.uk/walks
All Trails
All Trails is a site with walking and biking trails. It covers a wide area, but you can narrow it down by selecting a town and it gives walks/bike rides near by.
https://www.alltrails.com
Walking in England.
This site has walks sorted by county and covers the whole country. It breaks the walks down by town and village, with some good ones in our local area.
http://www.walkinginengland.co.uk
Hertfordshire and North Middlesex Ramblers.
This group have developed some walk routes in our area that are downloadable to a smart phone using Google maps. You can use your phone to guide you round the route. The phone needs to have its location switched on, but not the internet. You can download them at home for free. The site recommends printing the map at home and to take it with you. Should your phone run out of battery you can always revert to the paper map.
https://tinyurl.com/HNMAreaMaps
Essex Walks
It does what it says in the title. Walks, maps and photos covering all of Essex. I particularly liked the look of the coastal walks where I am less familiar.
http://www.essexwalks.com/
The Essex Way Backwards.
This is a long distance walk across Essex. The walk should start at Epping but this one starts at at the coast in Harwich and heads to Epping Central Line Station. It is devided into 9 separate 8 to 12 mile bits.
http://www.essexwalks.com/walks/essexway.htmlpage=page-1 (you will need to insert a hash sign between html and page)
Walking Britain (has a number of counties with walks)
This is a very large site with hundreds of walks. They are sorted by county, and would be useful if you wanted walks either locally or perhaps going on holiday and wanted to walk a new area.
https://www.walkingbritain.co.uk/
Bishops Stortford and District Footpaths Association
Walks in and around Bishop's Stortford. With maps and instructions that can be downloaded and printed.
This society does a lot of work keeping foot paths open and also publishes booklets of local walks.
https://www.walksaroundstortford.org.uk/
Slowways.
This organisation was formed in the Covid lockdowns. It is trying to promote footpath routes between cities.
https://slowways.uk/
GEOLOGY FOR WALKERS
I thought your Walking group members might be interested in knowing about a new book now available - "Geology for Walkers".
Written by a geologist and walker, and constructed as a 'companion for the scientifically curious' - rather than as a textbook, it is aimed at the outdoor enthusiast / hobby geologist interested in learning more about, and developing a deeper appreciation for, the geological story around them.
Its available on Amazon: c. £12. Link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B091JJTZST
If it is of interest, I can send a more detailed "Peek Inside" which will give a good feel for the book's content, scope and style.
Best Regards
Steve (author and Trust u3a member)
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