WALKERS ARE WELCOME

Llandysul and Pont-Tyweli Walkers are Welcome are once again holding a  festive walk between Christmas and New Year. This year’s event will be extra special as it coincides with the Teifi Valley Trail launch celebrations. The Teifi Valley Trail is a newly established 80-mile long-distance route, following the River Teifi from its source in the Cambrian Mountains to its estuary at Poppit Sands. The Walkers are Welcome groups along the valley—Tregaron, Lampeter, Llandysul and Pont-Tyweli, and St Dogmaels—have played a vital role in creating the trail.

To mark the launch, a series of guided walks is being organized, which started at Pontrhydfendigaid, near Tregaron in October followed by a well-attended event in Lampeter in November.   See the earlier news item.  Walks are scheduled monthly through to April, with the next one taking place on Saturday, 28th December, at Llandysul.
Event Details:
Date:Saturday, 28th December
Meeting Point: Abercerdin Farm Yard, SA44 4PA
Route: The walk begins alongside the River Teifi, ascending through woodland to the summit of Pencoed-y-foel Hillfort, offering Refreshments: Enjoy a hearty cawl (a hearty stew) and light refreshments at the Porth Hotel. Please pre-book food with Y Porth at 01559 362202.
Dogs: Welcome on leads.
Contact: For more information, reach out to Tom at 07866 876741 or 01559 363200.

For full details, see the website: https://www.llandysul-ponttyweli.co.uk/walkers-are-welcome-monthly-walks
Nadolig Llawen to you all!

Evesham welcomed ramblers from all over the country to its fifth annual Walking Festival recent. This year Evesham Welcomes Walkers took over the mantle of organisers of the festival in conjunction with the town receiving Walkers are Welcome accreditation. Twenty-two walking events took place over the five days as part of the biggest and most successful festival so far.

This year, organisers extended the range and type of walks being offered and included for the first time, a Nordic Walking taster and a linear walk over four days. Guests were able to visit Kemerton Lake Nature Reserve where a member of the Kemerton Conservation Trust gave a short talk. Another themed walk included a visit to Kiftsgate Court Gardens. Walkers explored the Pershore Avon Meadows whilst others climbed Bredon Hill to enjoy amazing panoramic views and walk through fields edged with poppies on a balmy summer’s evening.

For those who wanted something more demanding the organisers had arranged for a party to walk the Wychavon Way from Droitwich to Broadway over four days. The group of 13 was supported by a mini bus which transported them to the start each morning.
Many participants were returning walkers who had attended previous festivals and had so enjoyed the experience that they were returning to discover new places this year. A recent development is “festival baggers” who attend walking festivals around the country and the Evesham Walking Festival is now very much on their list, bringing in business for the town’s shops, restaurants, pubs and accommodation.

Glyn Hayter, from Evesham Welcomes Walkers explained that the group was delighted with this year’s outcome.

He said: “With over 350 walk bookings and 312 different people attending, this has been a very successful festival. It has been wonderful to see walkers come together and enjoy the amazing range of walks we have offered. It is also nice to see returning guests and new faces from as far afield as Colchester, Chepstow, Bridgend and North Wales. We are now firmly on the walking festival calendar and are also receiving requests to repeat walks that have been enjoyed in previous years. We look forward to 2025 and are already starting to plan an exciting programme.”

The festival in 2025 will take place in the last week of June. For more information about walking in the Vale of Evesham go to www.walkevesham.uk

This year’s Suffolk Walking Festival runs from 13 to 28 May and offers over 70 walks over 350 miles across Suffolk. 

Walk with an archaeologist in the Valley of the Kings at very heart of an Anglo-Saxon Kingdom.  Explore the heart of The Brecks in a unique landscape of gorse-covered sandy chalk soils characterised by purple heathland, tall pines and rare wildlife.  Uncover the hidden history of West Stow Country Park.  Discover the Island of Secrets on the mysterious Orford Ness. Experience Spring Wildlife at RSPB Minsmere. Meet the Blyth Otter Group watching estuary birds at Hen Reedbeds. Learn about the poet Edward Fitzgerald.  Spectacular riverside walks include a River Orwell Ramble, a Martlesham Meander, and Waldringfield Wander along the River Deben.  You can also try some Japanese Shinrin-yoku Forest Bathing.  And there’s starlit adventure on a woodland night exploration at Sutton Hoo. 

A brand new 4 day Challenge Walk, being run jointly by Sudbury Ramblers and Clare Walkers from 14 to 17 May, will take you to and through the five medieval Wool Towns of Clare, Sudbury, Hadleigh, Lavenham and Long Melford!   Clare Walkers have also entered three other walks in the Festival, including a walk in the countryside surrounding Clare, and a wellbeing and a Nordic walk.

 Also included this year are the ever-popular Walk n’ Water River trips with a boat in Sudbury; an exclusive walk with Sweep the sheepdog on Orford Ness; a twilight safari in an ancient woodland; and the intriguing stories of ancient smugglers and shipping routes on Dunwich Heath.  Lots of walks for everyone, heritage trails, and foraging walks including cream teas.

Tickets are on sale from early March. Visit:

www.suffolkwalkingfestival.co.uk for more details and buy your tickets early, especially for the ones in Clare!

Bingley Walkers are Welcome held their annual Walking Festival on May Day, Bank Holiday Monday.
The event which is now in its fifth year attracted over two hundred and twenty walkers who enjoyed a choice of four walks along with a taster session for Nordic Walking.
“Harden Moor and More” was an eight mile walk taking in Druids Altar, Harden Moor and Cullingworth before heading back into Bingley via Blackhills and Beckfoot.
“The Bingley History Walk” was a very popular choice which took walkers on a tour of the town whilst discovering more about its history.
The four mile “Aire and Altar Walk” went along the River Aire and then enjoyed views over the Aire Valley as it returned to town via Blakey Wood.
The final walk in the afternoon was the “Eldwick Farm and Fields” walk which was a three mile walk past farms and fields and over the gallops of High Eldwick.
Myrtle Park was the venue for the Nordic Walking taster session led by Discover Nordic Walking and was also a popular choice.
The group also hold regular second Sunday in the month walks meeting at Bingley Arts Centre at 10 a.m. No prebooking is necessary.
For more details take a look at www.bingleywalkersarewelcome.org.uk