Walking Forum
Main Boards => Welcome => Topic started by: Latestarter on 21:26:20, 29/12/20
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Hi
As my username suggests, I’m new to adventure walking/hiking but it’s something that I would very much like to start doing. Now that the kids have flown the nest, I’m enjoying doing things just for me, things that I have been putting off for too long. Walking is one of those things. Is there ever a point at which it’s too late to start?
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Hi and welcome to the forum.
Where are you based and where are you planning to walk.
In answer to your question, no it's never too late to start.
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Hi. I’m in Shropshire and ultimately, I’d like to trek to Machu Picchu but given that international travel is off the menu right now, I’m looking for ideas for manageable walks in the U.K.
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Welcome, enjoy the group.
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Thank you :)
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Welcome to the forum from the southern edge of the Lake District :)
In answer to your question - as long as you can put one foot in front of the other, then no, never too late. Just gradually build up the distances.
PS - when I regularly did Parkruns in Orkney a couple of years ago, we had a participant in the 85-90 age group.
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Thanks Richard.
I’m not quite that late at starting but it’s good to know that I still have plenty of time to get going.
I really fancy walking Hadrian’s Wall. I’m told it’s mostly accessible with a reasonable level of fitness and since it’s well signposted, I’m less likely to get lost ::)
I don’t run but I do walk an average of around six miles a day (on level ground). Park run is on my ‘to-do list’ once things return to normal.
What is the best time of year to tackle HW?
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Welcome from Lincolnshire.
Have a great time testing yourself on Hadrians Wall.
Just, as its your first biggun for a while, don't bite off more than you can chew. The thing about distance walking is that even the fittest of people can struggle with their heads after a while.
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Hi Latecomer and Welcome from a fellow Salopian. I suppose I was a latecomer 20 or so years ago, though I did have decade of mountaineering/rock climbing as grounding from my early life, this gave me an insight to the variety of walking potential in our county, plenty of ways to build up skills from the terrain on our doorstep and become familiar with your abilities before committing to far off challenges.
Where in Shropshire are you, I grew up in the shadow of Haughmond Hill, have lived on the Stiperstones and am now in the county town once called Salop.
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I’m quite near to Haughmond Hill and often walk the dog there but I’m relatively new to the area and therefore not familiar with other walks nearby. My inability to read a map also hampers my ambitions somewhat :D
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Then you are in an excellent area to learn to read a map, most important part of a walk is interpreting the route you have walked afterwards, I call it my debrief, the more you do this, the more familiar you will become with the information the map is giving you.
An easy way to start is to pinch screen shots off line and print them, try and find Queen Eleanor's Bower on Haughmond. If you don't already know it, sadly it is no longer the beautiful place it was 60 years ago, but there is enough there to understand how the terrain gave it such a romantic name.
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Challenge accepted, I’ll give it a go O0
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Welcome to the forum from Aberdeenshire
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Hello I have just started myself welcome and enjoy.
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Thank you both x
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And welcome from Liverpool
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Greetings from North Cheshire .
There are great walks starting from Whitchurch .
Shropshire Union canal towpath .
And going Into Cheshire .
South Cheshire Way .
And one of the Best and well known walks .
The Sandstone Trail .
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I’ll look those up, thank you :)
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Welcome from Suffolk. You are certainly not too late. We did a bit of walking before kids, none really while they were at home and then took it up again once they’d left! ;D We did our first long distance walk back in 2009 in our early 50’s (Dales way) and have since done 6 more including the Pennine way, and the national 3 peaks (not in 24 hours I hasten to add). It becomes addictive! Just get the right gear, map and compass, and train for what you want to do, building up the mileage and hills ( that will be easier for you in Shropshire than us in Suffolk!). We are hoping to do the Cleveland way next year. Hadrian’s Wall will be a good one for you to start with and it is well marked. Don’t under estimate all the ups and downs in the middle section though O0
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That sounds really encouraging, thank you. It’s amazing what opportunities open up once the kids leave home ! ;D
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Welcome from Devon :)
Another one here who progressed from dog walking to backpacking when my daughter went off to Uni and I no longer needed to be home for supper.
Enjoy your freedom - before you're called up for grandparent duties ;D
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Thanks Richard.
I’m not quite that late at starting but it’s good to know that I still have plenty of time to get going.
I really fancy walking Hadrian’s Wall. I’m told it’s mostly accessible with a reasonable level of fitness and since it’s well signposted, I’m less likely to get lost ::)
I don’t run but I do walk an average of around six miles a day (on level ground). Park run is on my ‘to-do list’ once things return to normal.
What is the best time of year to tackle HW?
If you are walking 6 miles a day then you should be pretty fit - just start fitting in a few longer walks. Can't answer your question about HW, but in general I think that late spring is one of the best times for walking.
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Enjoy your freedom - before your called up for grandparent duties ;D
:o :D
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Greetings from Northumberland :)
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Well latecomer you seem to be getting plenty of advice and encouragement. Sadly we have just gone into Tier 3 and I am having to rack my brains, where to take Mrs BWW for our next walk, probably have to be Lee Brockhurst, which suits my diminishing stamina. Sifting through these thoughts the Cliffe, Hopton Hill, Nescliffe area has well signed rights of way with many other trails and a sufficiently well defined an area to explore at will without become disorientated, ideal to familiarize with a map. The car park off the Great Ness - Hopton Lane is quite spacious, here (https://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=338908&y=319854&z=115&sv=338908,319854&st=4&ar=y&mapp=map.srf&searchp=ids.srf&dn=516&ax=338908&ay=319854&lm=0). Hopefully the link will open up in the 1:25 scale OS map.
This enclosed area is particularly well connected to its surrounding countryside, so as familiarity develops it is a good area to plan and follow routes out of it. It will have another advantage as it is geographically well suited to be part of the framework of a number of linear routes, ideal training ground for time / distance a necessary skill in linear walking.
Also it is on sandstone, lighter feet in winter, ;) fortunately Wenlock is a bit out my Tier 3 area, terrible heavy clay under the Edge.
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That’s great, thank you. Enjoy your walk!
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Welcome from south Manchester :)
It's never too late to get into walking. Hadrian's Wall is a good easy trail (I did it last year here (https://v-g.me.uk/Trips/G0119/G0119.htm)), the main thing was the need for good underfoot cushioning in footwear due to quite a lot of hard surface walking on the route.
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I spend a fair bit of time in Manchester. Thank you for the welcome :)