Islington
LONGER WALKS
 The
Longer Walks group has a programme of walks normally
of between 8 to 14 miles, usually with options to
shorten the walk. Walks are over a full day with a
break for lunch (usually in a pub or café, although
sometimes people bring a picnic). Group size is
typically between 6 and 12 people. |
| When Normally there are four walks a
month, on varying days of the week so as to avoid
always clashing with the same iU3A groups that meet
on fixed days.
|
| Where We go to any good walking area in
Greater London and the South East that can be
reached relatively easily by public transport. Our
walks cover a variety of terrain, including park and
woodland, canal or riverside paths, open countryside
and hill walking. Most walks are suitable for anyone
who is reasonably fit and active.
|
Main
Walking Groups
Choice of walking groups:
Background
The Long Walks group is wonderfully balanced; some join walks regularly, others less frequently. To help the leader in their duty of care and to ensure safety we have a few rules. In summary the rule is 'respect others and stick together' but see the fuller version here.
To join the group, please either drop me an email (address as above) or register through Beacon. Having joined the group, to join a particular walk click on the relevant walk 'sign up' link below. If you are not a member of Islington U3A then you must firstly join this before joining any Group. Go to the Join Us page and there click on the Membership Form.
500th Badges: We've procured a badge to record and celebrate our provided 500th LW group walk. You don't have to have walked all 500 to be eligible to buy one of these cloth badges. All group members qualify. A contribution to costs of £5.00 is suggested. Available from Derek.
Our Next Walks
Choice of walking groups:
- Leisurely: up to 3 miles at a leisurely pace taking 2 to 3 hours, one a month
- Amblers: up to 5 miles at a reasonably steady pace, usually twice a month
- Shorter: between 5 to 7 miles usually at a moderate to brisk pace, three times a month
- Longer: between 8 to 14 miles at a reasonably fast pace, once a week.
Background
The Long Walks group is wonderfully balanced; some join walks regularly, others less frequently. To help the leader in their duty of care and to ensure safety we have a few rules. In summary the rule is 'respect others and stick together' but see the fuller version here.
To join the group, please either drop me an email (address as above) or register through Beacon. Having joined the group, to join a particular walk click on the relevant walk 'sign up' link below. If you are not a member of Islington U3A then you must firstly join this before joining any Group. Go to the Join Us page and there click on the Membership Form.
500th Badges: We've procured a badge to record and celebrate our provided 500th LW group walk. You don't have to have walked all 500 to be eligible to buy one of these cloth badges. All group members qualify. A contribution to costs of £5.00 is suggested. Available from Derek.
Our Next Walks
Walks Coming Up
See below for our programme of walks in 2025. We tend to fix the dates a quarter at a time. We'll make available the full walk details (including the meeting point) on this webpage about a week before each walk. Once sign-up is open please click individually on 'sign-up open' (in blue) for each walk you plan to join. To drop out of a walk, please return to the form, and enter your details again but with a 'No' instead of a 'Yes'.
Please note: the Walk Details provided by the Walk Leaders are provided as 'best endeavours' but cannot be guaranteed to be 100% accurate. Members should check travel times and costs themselves.
Wednesday 24 September (DMH), Lee to the Thames (sign-up open): this will be a shortish (6 to 7 mile) urban walk. A combination of the the River Lee walk, then Capital Ring. Not reckied beforehand but we've done bits before in different combinations.... Basically a morning walk finishing at lunchtime. Drop out points available along the route. Details here.
Friday 26 to Monday 29 September, Malhamdale: our Autumn Extended Walking Weekend in the Southern Yorkshire Dales. 3 nights, 4 days, 4 walks. Up hill and down dale. All booked, details sent to those registered. Here's hoping for half decent weather.... Details here.
Tuesday 30 September (SH) Balcombe via Ardingly Reservoir: another walk down south, on the Weald with its hills, woods, pasture and hidden farms. This circular walk also features Ardingly Reservoir, set between steep hills. 12 miles in total. No pub lunch! Instead Ardingly Café (6.3 miles into the walk) which serves sandwiches, salads, soups and light meals. Drop out possible by taxi from Ardingly to Balcombe – a 5-minute car journey. Details here.
Lookahead provisional (ie dates might change) schedule (* = where a walk leader is required):
October: Thursday 9 (JF), Tuesday 14 (*), Wednesday 22 (SH), Thursday 30 (*),
November: Friday 7 (KM), Thursday 13 (*), Wednesday 19 (*), Tuesday 25 (DMH),
December: Monday 1 (KM), Tuesday 9 (DMH), Wednesday 17 (*)
2026:
The only date fixed already is:
Friday 18 September 2026: We are going to the West Yorkshire Dales, Thorns Hall, Sedbergh. We last went there in October 2023. We've booked on the basis of 'exclusive use' ie we take over the whole house, as we did last time we went there. This means we need a minimum of 31 to be going. Initial place allocation and deposits (of £175) now made. There are four places left. If you want one of these places or want to go on a waiting list, please email Derek (details at the top of this page).
Useful and Other Information
Travel link — if you are going on a walk outside the Freedom Pass areas, here is a link to help decide which station to buy your ticket from online: Freedom Pass Map. If you need to figure out what train line we are going on then this overall map can help: Rail Map.
u3a Walking Exchange: there is a nationwide initiative for all u3a walking groups to support each other and allow u3a members to join a local walking group when they are visiting a different part of the country from their own u3a's patch. For more information visit the national website here: Walking Exchange (scroll toward the bottom of the page). We (Islington u3a Longer Walks) are signed up to this exchange scheme.
Ticks: there have been reports of increased population of ticks in the UK. If you are worried about catching a tick bite while out walking, for more information see here.
Walk Guides: Jo-Anne has provided three useful guides. You can view them here:
u3a has formed a partnership with 'Slow Ways' and hence we have also signed up for this initiative. The Slow Ways initiative is trying to get more people walking, and walking for more purposes. They are creating a network of walks joining up all villages, towns, cities. They aim then to get all these 'ways' reviewed so that full route information is available through their websites. And that's where we come in. They hope that u3as will help complete these reviews (and surveys). We hope as a group to check out some of these Slow Ways and you can do this as individuals as well. For more information see their website here.
Walks Register: if you want to look up any of our previous walks you can view our main Register here. Quote the walk number to Derek and he can send you the relevant Walk Details sheet.
Leader Responsibilities: see the following guidelines for reference here.
Recent Walks
Further specific walk reports will not be created however:
500th Walk: We recently got some good coverage in the local newspapers:
Freshwater Bay, Extended Walking Weekend (2025-1): weekend's report here.
Church Stretton, Extended Walking Weekend (2024-2): weekend's report here.
Past Walks
Islington u3a is now over ten years old. Here are our archive walk reports:
To see details of our walks in our eleventh year (October 2023 - September 2024) look here.
To see details of our walks in our tenth year (October 2022 - Sept 2023) look here.
To see details of our walks in our ninth year (October 2021 - Sept 2022) look here
To see details of our walks in our eighth year (October 2020 - Sept 2021) look here.
To see details of our walks in our seventh year (October 2019 - Sept 2020) look here.
To see details of our walks in our sixth year (October 2018 - Sept 2019) look here.
To see details of our walks in our fifth year (October 2017 - Sept 2018) look here.
To see details of our walks in our fourth year (Oct 2016 - Sept 2017) look here.
To see details of our walks in our third year (Oct 2015 - Sept 2016) then look here.
See below for our programme of walks in 2025. We tend to fix the dates a quarter at a time. We'll make available the full walk details (including the meeting point) on this webpage about a week before each walk. Once sign-up is open please click individually on 'sign-up open' (in blue) for each walk you plan to join. To drop out of a walk, please return to the form, and enter your details again but with a 'No' instead of a 'Yes'.
Please note: the Walk Details provided by the Walk Leaders are provided as 'best endeavours' but cannot be guaranteed to be 100% accurate. Members should check travel times and costs themselves.
Wednesday 24 September (DMH), Lee to the Thames (sign-up open): this will be a shortish (6 to 7 mile) urban walk. A combination of the the River Lee walk, then Capital Ring. Not reckied beforehand but we've done bits before in different combinations.... Basically a morning walk finishing at lunchtime. Drop out points available along the route. Details here.
Friday 26 to Monday 29 September, Malhamdale: our Autumn Extended Walking Weekend in the Southern Yorkshire Dales. 3 nights, 4 days, 4 walks. Up hill and down dale. All booked, details sent to those registered. Here's hoping for half decent weather.... Details here.
Tuesday 30 September (SH) Balcombe via Ardingly Reservoir: another walk down south, on the Weald with its hills, woods, pasture and hidden farms. This circular walk also features Ardingly Reservoir, set between steep hills. 12 miles in total. No pub lunch! Instead Ardingly Café (6.3 miles into the walk) which serves sandwiches, salads, soups and light meals. Drop out possible by taxi from Ardingly to Balcombe – a 5-minute car journey. Details here.
Lookahead provisional (ie dates might change) schedule (* = where a walk leader is required):
October: Thursday 9 (JF), Tuesday 14 (*), Wednesday 22 (SH), Thursday 30 (*),
November: Friday 7 (KM), Thursday 13 (*), Wednesday 19 (*), Tuesday 25 (DMH),
December: Monday 1 (KM), Tuesday 9 (DMH), Wednesday 17 (*)
2026:
The only date fixed already is:
Friday 18 September 2026: We are going to the West Yorkshire Dales, Thorns Hall, Sedbergh. We last went there in October 2023. We've booked on the basis of 'exclusive use' ie we take over the whole house, as we did last time we went there. This means we need a minimum of 31 to be going. Initial place allocation and deposits (of £175) now made. There are four places left. If you want one of these places or want to go on a waiting list, please email Derek (details at the top of this page).
Useful and Other Information
Travel link — if you are going on a walk outside the Freedom Pass areas, here is a link to help decide which station to buy your ticket from online: Freedom Pass Map. If you need to figure out what train line we are going on then this overall map can help: Rail Map.
u3a Walking Exchange: there is a nationwide initiative for all u3a walking groups to support each other and allow u3a members to join a local walking group when they are visiting a different part of the country from their own u3a's patch. For more information visit the national website here: Walking Exchange (scroll toward the bottom of the page). We (Islington u3a Longer Walks) are signed up to this exchange scheme.
Ticks: there have been reports of increased population of ticks in the UK. If you are worried about catching a tick bite while out walking, for more information see here.
Walk Guides: Jo-Anne has provided three useful guides. You can view them here:
u3a has formed a partnership with 'Slow Ways' and hence we have also signed up for this initiative. The Slow Ways initiative is trying to get more people walking, and walking for more purposes. They are creating a network of walks joining up all villages, towns, cities. They aim then to get all these 'ways' reviewed so that full route information is available through their websites. And that's where we come in. They hope that u3as will help complete these reviews (and surveys). We hope as a group to check out some of these Slow Ways and you can do this as individuals as well. For more information see their website here.
Walks Register: if you want to look up any of our previous walks you can view our main Register here. Quote the walk number to Derek and he can send you the relevant Walk Details sheet.
Leader Responsibilities: see the following guidelines for reference here.
Recent Walks
Further specific walk reports will not be created however:
500th Walk: We recently got some good coverage in the local newspapers:
Freshwater Bay, Extended Walking Weekend (2025-1): weekend's report here.
Church Stretton, Extended Walking Weekend (2024-2): weekend's report here.
Past Walks
Islington u3a is now over ten years old. Here are our archive walk reports:
To see details of our walks in our eleventh year (October 2023 - September 2024) look here.
To see details of our walks in our tenth year (October 2022 - Sept 2023) look here.
To see details of our walks in our ninth year (October 2021 - Sept 2022) look here
To see details of our walks in our eighth year (October 2020 - Sept 2021) look here.
To see details of our walks in our seventh year (October 2019 - Sept 2020) look here.
To see details of our walks in our sixth year (October 2018 - Sept 2019) look here.
To see details of our walks in our fifth year (October 2017 - Sept 2018) look here.
To see details of our walks in our fourth year (Oct 2016 - Sept 2017) look here.
To see details of our walks in our third year (Oct 2015 - Sept 2016) then look here.
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