Thank you for considering organising a day walk for the Fellwanderers. The opportunity to explore the South East of England is one not to miss and with the Fellwanderers you can not only do this but take others with you.
1) Decide on the date – think about trips that have already been planned and if there will be a clash. The best times to run day walks are on weekends when there isn’t a weekend trip but do not be put off if the only day you can run one clashes with something else – the club has lots of members and choice is a positive thing! Also, some people may prefer a day walk to a full weekend trip because of work.
2) Decide on the location – have a look online. Good sites are:
- http://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/ – National Trails
- http://www.southdowns.gov.uk/ – South Downs National Park Authority
- http://www.ruralways.org.uk/ – Rural Ways, walking in South East England
- Google Maps!
You can also look through the walking books and maps owned by the Fellwanderers in the stores (Appendix 1). There is a shelf dedicated to Day Walks and you can be let into the stores by any member of the Committee. Contact the Quartermaster or Deputy Quartermaster and they will arrange a visit for you. You will need to sign out any equipment you borrow.
3) When you have selected a walk and a date, work out timings via public transport to get to the start and back from the end. Walks that start and end at train stations are the easiest but there is normally a local bus network (Sundays will be more difficult).
4) Write an email to the club about the walk with plenty of time (2 weeks is best) before the walk date. The email will be sent to the whole club via the Deputy President. Send the email to fellwanderers@imperial.ac.uk and copy in the Deputy President so that they can send it out and add it as an event to the Fellwanderers website. Make sure you include in the email:
- The date of the walk
- The location (and description) of the walk
- Where and when to meet and when you will be back
- A rough distance you will be walking
- A short equipment list
- How much the train will cost (see Appendix 2)
- Your contact details for the day including mobile phone number and email
- Remember anyone can go on the day walks, they do not even have to be a member of the club. The club takes no money for day walks, we just provide equipment and organisation. The only cost for the walkers is for the train and for food.
5) Make sure you have any Fellwanderers-owned equipment ready in good time for the walk such as walk books, maps, compass, map case. You will need to sign these out with a member of the Committee.
6) Finally, make sure you reply to people who write to you with questions, and let the Deputy President know if there are changes to the walk details in case another email is required. You probably won’t know how many people will turn up until you get to the station, but that’s part of the fun!
Appendix 1 – The Fellwanderers currently own a lot of maps for the South East as well as The Rough Guide to Walks in the South East and walk books (with maps in) for:
a) The North Downs Way
b) The South Downs Way
c) The Ridgeway
d) The London Loop
e) The Thames Path
Appendix 2 – On all trains in the UK you can get a group save ticket which is 4 tickets for the price of 2. You have to buy the tickets on the day and you have to travel together. This offer does not work alongside a railcard (it’s one or the other) but it’s worth advising people to bring railcards in case the number of people on the walk isn’t a multiple of 4.
Appendix 3 – Contact details for 2011/12
Deputy President – Alex Kendall (alexander.kendall06@imperial.ac.uk)
Quartermaster – Gavin MacAulay (gavin.macaulay08@imperial.ac.uk)
Deputy Quartermaster – Jack Redvers Harris (jack.redvers-harris10@imperial.ac.uk)