| Status: | Active, open to new members |
| Coordinator: |
Derek Harwood
|
| Group email: | Walks: Longer - 8 to 14 miles group |
| When: | One walk a week on different days of the week |
| Venue: | Various locations |
The Longer Walks Group has a programme of full-day walks of 8 to 14 miles, usually with options to shorten. We explore a wide range of routes across Greater London and the Southeast, all accessible by public transport. Expect varied terrain, from parks and woodland to canals, riversides, open countryside and hills. Walks include a lunch stop at a pub or café, or a picnic, and numbers are typically 6–12. Suitable for reasonably fit and active members. When sign-up opens, click the blue ‘sign-up open’ link below for each walk. If your plans change, simply resubmit the form and enter your details again but with a 'No' instead of 'Yes'. The walk details are provided in good faith but may change. Please check your own travel times and costs.
Our Next Longer Walks
Thursday 15th October (SH): Battle (sign-up open): this is the day after the 960th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings. This is a lovely, interesting walk but will be a long day (back in Islington 7:00 to 7:30pm). As the train journey time is 1hr 20mins and the earliest train we can take to benefit from our Freedom Passes is the 9:53am from London Bridge, we will not start walking until c11:15am. The lunch pub is not till 8.4 miles in, so people should bring a substantial snack to eat at approximately 12:30/1:00pm to tide them over until we reach the pub at 3/3:30pm. From the lunch pub there is the option of taking a taxi to Battle to arrive in time to visit the Abbey before it closes at 5:00pm. Walk Details - Battle.
Friday 23rd October (SH) - details to follow
Thursday 29th October (DH) - details to follow
2026 Lookahead: provisional schedule ie dates might change. * leader required
November: Wednesday 4 (DMH), Tues 10 (SH), Mond 16 (KM), Tues 24 (*)
December: Wednesday 2 (SH), Thurs 10 (DMH) Christmas social, Friday 18(KM)
2027 Lookahead:
January Thurs 7 (SH), Wednes 13 (DMH), Tues 19, Wednes 27
February Thurs 4 (SH), Frid 12 (DMH), Thurs 18, Wednes 24
March Tues 2 (SH), Mond 8 (DMH), Tues 16, Wednes 24
April Thurs 1 (SH), Frid 9, Thurs 15 (DMH), Wednes 21, Tues 27
May Mond 3, Tues 11 (SH), Wednes 19, Wednes 26 (DMH)
June Frid 4, Thurs 10 (SH), Wednes 16 (DMH), Tues 22, Mond 28
July Tues 6 (SH), Wed 14 DMH, Frid 23, Thurs 29
Friday 3rd September 2027, Exmoor (sign-up open), 4 days Extended Walking Weekend. We've a booking already for 25 places. Deposits are now due.
Other Information
The Long Walks group is wonderfully balanced; some join walks regularly, others less frequently. To help the Walk 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 Guidelines to be observed.
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 above. 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.
If you want to look up any of our previous walks you can view our main LW Register. Quote the walk number to Derek and he can send you the relevant Walk Details sheet. To see reports from some of our previous walks have a look in our archive: LW Archive.
We are part of the u3a Walking Exchange. When you visit anywhere else in the UK, you can request the local u3a if you can join one/ some of their walks. You can view the map here: Walking Exchange - Home - u3a Subject Advisers and Subject Networks You should be able to zoom in using the + at the bottom of the map. Click on the pins to locate a u3a in the area you are visiting.