| Status: | Active, open to new members |
| Coordinator: | |
| When: | Fortnightly on Friday all day |
The Friday Walkabouts group was set up to sit between the existing Casual Striders and Friday Walkers groups, with the aim am to improve everyone’s walking experience by coordinating our programs.
We aim to have walks of 6 miles but obviously not all walks will be this exact distance. Walks that include more climbing the distance should be reduced to about 5 miles, but very flat walks could stretch perhaps up to 7 miles.
Walks will usually be on the first and third Fridays of each month.
If you are considering joining the group, you should first read the U3A Risk Guidance for walking groups. If you are going to be leading a walk, it might be wise to read Risk Assessment FAQ, both on the Furness U3A Documents page.
The most convenient place to meet up for car sharing, is the dead end of Victoria Road, Ulverston. We share the location with Friday Walkers, so we will meet at 9:45, otherwise walkers may find themselves on the wrong event.
Many of us who are already members of other walking groups, carry cards with emergency contact details, but we hope they never need to be used. I should have a supply of these on our walks.
For those who meet at Victoria Road, we will operate a car sharing scheme not only for environmental purposes, but also to reduce the number of cars at our final destination, which may have restricted parking area. To balance the cost between passenger and the drivers, we request that the passengers makes a donation to the driver usually equivalent to about £1 per 10 miles. The recommended figure will be given with the walk information.
For those who are new to the Walking group, the general principles we like to follow are at the meeting place. Everyone takes a few moments to put on boots, gators and general prepare for the walk. Each walk usually has three sections - from the start we will walk for approximately an hour and have a coffee break. We then walk on until an appropriate area is found for the lunch stop. The final section is back to the starting point, where a local pub is descended upon for refreshments.
We are all at the mercy of the weather and our Lakes do not make themselves. The Walk leader and myself may consider it would be ill-advised to continue with the walk, and it may be cancelled on Thursday evening or even very early on Friday morning. So, always check before leaving home that the walk has not been cancelled. In these circumstances we would like to meet for a coffee and chat to get to know each other better.
If you are interested in joining our group and would like more information, Contact Ken Shaw for further information.