The National Trust is celebrating the great outdoors by encouraging the whole of the UK to venture outside, get closer to nature and start walking.
Almost every National Trust site in the Midlands will be taking part in the week long Walking Festival which starts on 22 October.
There will be over 100 different walks to choose from during the week taking in stunning stretches of countryside and never more than 40 minutes away from where you live.
Fiona Reynolds, National Trust Director General, said: “For too long it’s felt that outdoor spaces have been the Trust’s best kept secret. We want to play our part in helping to reconnect the nation with our amazing countryside.”
Beccy Speight, Director for the Midlands, said: “We hope that this first ever Walking Festival will inspire everyone to get out there and enjoy the great outdoors. From long rambles to little ambles there’s a walk for everyone to enjoy.”
Thousands are expected to take part in the festival nationally, which includes a mixture of organised walks and self-led walks available to download in advance.
To celebrate the Walking Festival, Attingham Park, near Shrewsbury, will be opening a new estate walk on Saturday 22 October. Attingham already has two walks popular with visitors, the Mile Walk and Deer Park Walk, and the new ‘Woodland Walk’ will take visitors through a part of the park they may not have explored before.
Bob Thurston, Countryside Parks and Garden Manager said: “Our new Woodland Walk is a great opportunity for visitors to take a ‘peak into the park.’ The route takes visitors through what was part of the original Deer Park over 120 years ago, before becoming woodland.”
There will be guided walks along the new route over the weekend of 22 and 23 October at 11am and 2pm each day. Standard grounds admission charges apply, National Trust members and under 5s free.
At Carding Mill Valley, Church Stretton, there will also be a number of walks on offer during the week. On 24 October visitors can go on a ramble across to Batch Valley with Assistant Ranger Nick Robinson; and on 25 October visitors can head out with Learning Officer Chris Stratton to discover the story of Reverend Carr.
Chris will be leading a more leisurely walk on 26 October, to take in the stunning scenery of Carding Mill Valley; and on 27 October, Nick will be leading a walk to the valley’s waterfall. Countryside Manager Peter Carty will be leading a walk to the top of the Long Mynd on the 30 October.
All walks cost £3 per person and they all start from the Chalet Pavilion in Carding Mill Valley.
Learning Officer, Chris Stratton says: “We are hoping that lots of people will want to get out and about and join in on these walks, they are a great opportunity to see the countryside and to discover more about this special place from the people that work here.”
Colourful time for family walk
THE National Trust celebrates its first Walking Festival this year, just in time for October half-term.
Properties across the country will showcase the best walks to enjoy with family and friends, either under your own steam, or with the guidance of staff, from October 22 to 30.
From walks with rangers to self-guided rambles, there is plenty to help you to get outdoors and enjoying the delights of the countryside. October is, of course, also the best month to experience glorious autumn leaf and berry colour.
Many of the Walking Festival’s organised walks are ideal for families to take part in together. Morgaston Woods at The Vyne at Sherborne St John is a very special place of ancient woodland and wildlife-rich wetlands, home to hundreds of plant and animal species, from roe, fallow and muntjac deer, to exotic fungi, orchids and wading birds.
A downloadable walking route (just over two miles) is already available online, but the woods are also the venue for a new orienteering trail.
The course offers an enjoyable and stimulating new way of exploring the countryside. Designed by Basingstoke Andover District Orienteers (BADO), it is suitable for a wide range of fitness levels and ages, with a 2.3k introductory course available for first time map readers, as well as a more challenging 2.9k route. Find out more at the launch weekend on Saturday and Sunday from 11am to 4pm.
If you like doing your own thing, the National Trust has also created many new downloadable walks and way-marked trails. Many of the houses and gardens sit within extensive country estates of parkland, meadows and woodland, so it can be worth taking walking boots when you next visit one of the Trust’s properties.
There are now more than 250 walking trails available to download on the National Trust’s website or you can ask for walking information at the properties you visit.
A few short steps to help bring local area to life
A one-mile walk doesn’t sound much – it’s the equivalent of strolling the length of just 16 football pitches, a journey which will take the average person 2,000 steps – but it’s well worth the effort if only because walking one single mile a day is reckoned to burn off half a stone of body fat over a year.
Which is one of the healthy reasons why the National Trust is launching 101 short walks across the South West as part of its nationwide walking festival.
The charity is adopting the idea that walking – no matter how far or short – is good for people’s health. For example, scientists have now calculated that one minute of walking can extend the average person’s life by 1.5 to 2 minutes – which isn’t surprising when you learn that every step we take requires no fewer than 200 muscles.
So trust staff have put together 101 walks in the region under the name National Trust One – an internet downloadable series which comes with details on the flora and fauna, history, geography and geology – all designed to “bring the local area to life”.
The trust’s south west director, Mark Harold, said the aim was not only to get people out into the healthy fresh air, but to help them appreciate what there is to see and do on their doorstep.
“You don’t have to be a serious walker or super fit and you don’t need special walking gear,” said Mr Harold. “The 101 walks have been designed so that absolutely anyone can come and enjoy a little bit of the environment in any way they choose.”
To help people decide which short walks are suitable for them, the trust has devised a special grading system for the one-mile hikes.
Cornish routes include short hikes at Holywell Bay and Cotehele. Devon’s one milers include strolls at Bigbury and Branscombe.
Source: This is Plymouth - 19th October 2011
National Trust launches its first Walking Festival
Hundreds of members of National Trust staff and volunteers across the county will stop work tomorrow to take part in a mass walk-out.
The event, being launched at Wimpole Hall, will mark the trust’s first ever Walking Festival, which will run from Saturday until Sunday, October 31.
Since it was founded in 1895 by Victorian philanthropists, the trust has accrued 33,500 acres of land and 50 miles of coastline in the East of England yet just 20 per cent of people are unaware of the its commitment to the outdoors.
Richard Powell, director for the National Trust in the East of England has also pledged to walk every day of the festival. He said: “Being born and bred in East Anglia I have always enjoyed getting outside and enjoying the abundance that nature has to offer. I have never taken for granted the wildlife, fresh air and stunning views that surround us. I hope that our festival will inspire everyone to get out there and enjoy the outdoors.”
Upload your walking photos onto the National Trust Facebook page and use the tag #gonewalking on Twitter.
Source: Royston News - 20th October 2011
Hatfield Forest staff in mass walk-out
NATIONAL Trust staff staged a mass walk-out from Hatfield Forest this morning (Friday, October 21) - to celebrate the organisation’s first ever Walking Festival from October 22 to 30.
Eddie the Eagle, Colchester United’s mascot, joined the woodland team at the medieval hunting ground.
With more than 100 different walks to choose from during the week long nationwide event, thousands of members of the public are expected to take part in the festival, which will include little ambles, jolly rambles and big challenges – from organised and guided walks to those that can be downloaded in advance.
Source: Herts and Essex Observer - 21st October 2011
Joys of the great outdoors
Hundreds of workers staged a walk-out yesterday to persuade the public to enjoy the great outdoors.
The National Trust’s first-ever Walking Festival runs until Sunday, October 30 and its staff got their walking shoes on to help publicise it.
More than 100 walks have been mapped out on the trust’s properties, ranging from what the charity calls “ambles and rambles” to “big challenges”.
Richard Powell, director for the National Trust in the East of England, said people tended to think of the trust as a custodian of buildings, but not always of land. He said: “Amazingly in a recent survey, only 20 per cent of people realised that we cared for the outdoors. We’re staging the festival to raise the profile of what the charity cares for, and encourage people to re-connect to the benefits of going for a walk. Health benefits, time with the family, getting closer to nature or just looking at a breath-taking view are all offered in the festival. All sorts of walks are on offer, from little ambles, jolly rambles to big challenges, organised and guided walks, and those that can be downloaded in advance.”
Giant portrait-style frames have been erected on some trust land, through which visitors can photograph favourite views and then upload them on to the National Trust Facebook site. Twitter users can tweet where they are walking using the hash tag #gonewalking.
Dr Jo Barton, an exercise specialist backing the walks, said: “The effects of exercising outdoors in natural surroundings can be life-changing. “This is because of the effect it has on your mood and levels of self-esteem. Research implies this is true regardless of the weather conditions. Even a five-minute walk outside to escape your work can restore your mental fatigue.”
Source: Cambridge News - 21st October 2011
Official Website: http://beta.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/activities/walking/walking-festival
See More: http://walkingfestivals.blogspot.com/2011/01/national-trust-walking-festival.html
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