Category: LDWA

And so the final day of LDWA Local Groups’ weekend was upon us (I’ll stress that we’ll be talking to groups and individuals more about what was discussed, this blog post is really more about Richard as I’m his chief publicity officer).

We started the Sunday morning (after breakfast of course) with an uplifting introduction from Phoebe Smith, the LDWA President.

And as a summary about the LDWA, it’s marvellous value for money, membership is £15 a year at the moment via direct debit and we have hundreds of challenge events that take place every year, alongside social walks and a website packed with information about long-distance trails. It’s also a way for people to be inspired by the travels of others, I like hearing about how brave other people have been and wondering if I can do the same.

Richard was considering all the exciting adventures that he could go on having been inspired by Phoebe. Phoebe has written numerous books and gone on endless adventures, I recommend her Instagram account at https://www.instagram.com/phoebersmith/.

The rest of the morning was spent in workshops which were very helpful and informative. It’s often the case that members can come up with great ideas that we just haven’t thought of before. Weekends like this are also really helpful because groups can share best practice with each other, learning from how things are done differently.

There was a really rather lovely lunch before we headed off home, the plaice goujons were very agreeable. Thanks to Woodland Grange for their really helpful staff and consistently good food, it’s much appreciated!

We managed to work out how to exit the car park.

And then it was time to head home, popping into a JD Wetherspoon en route, although I felt quite exhausted during the latter part of the drive. I obviously remained very brave. It was definitely worth the mad dash across mainland Europe to get back for the weekend.

The second day of the LDWA Groups’ Weekend (here’s more about day one) started with a hearty breakfast arrangement.

There were two walks laid on for members, with a 16-mile option and a 23-mile option. I opted for the shorter walk and everyone, other than Richard, was ready for the 09:00 start. There were calls to just leave him behind, but they were mostly from me.

Here we are, ready for action!

This is the River Avon, we crossed over on Hill Wootton Road, located just off of Kenilworth Road.

Richard and Madeleine discussing something important.

Richard working out where he was, which at this point was near to Hatton Park.

The series of locks at Hatton and I realised later on that this is near to where the Elephant, Bear and Bull touched on.

A dragonfly sculpture (or at least I think it’s a dragonfly).

The walk then went from Hatton into the outskirts of Warwick, this photo was taken near to Warwick Parkway railway station.

Richard demanded to be in another photo near to Budbrooke Industrial Estate.

And then into Warwick although we unfortunately didn’t have time to stop in any of the pubs. Fortunately, I’ve visited most of them already.

Richard needed a sit down and medical treatment. Fortunately, the ever tolerant Pam and Sarah were able to assist with this.

Madeleine is looking up at a leaking bridge, which feels sub-optimal as it’s from the canal above. The River Avon is on our right.

Getting towards the end of the walk now, this is near Old Milverton.

The light isn’t very good here, but this was a quick diversion to Saxon Mill.

St. James the Great church at Old Milverton.

This looked exciting, disc golf. Must add that to my list of things to try.

The board showed the evening’s entertainment. From my perspective, many thanks to Simon Pipe for producing such a professional video of the LDWA 100 and we were able to show a bit of a sneak preview of that. And also thanks to Andy for his introducing the expanding media team.

The evening meal included chicken and leek pie, one of my favourite things….

And some rather lovely looking desserts.

The NEC members present gave some talks, here’s Richard as he likes his photo being taken. Could I also mention here to check BBC iPlayer for Farm 999, series 1 and episode 14, where he makes his latest TV appearance. We’re very lucky in the LDWA to have this media talent.

With that, the day’s excitement came to an end with some lingering in the bar. I’m pleased to say that NEC Richard mostly recovered from his long walk and many thanks to Richard and Sally for their walk leading during the day. Thanks to everyone who attended the day, the feedback is always very useful and its great to see to many volunteers.

After a rail journey from Luton Airport, via London, I arrived into Leamington Spa and then walked to the Woodland Grange hotel. This is where the LDWA Groups’ weekend was taking place from Friday to Sunday.

The venue is one which the LDWA (I should note that this is the Long Distance Walkers Association) has used before and I recall the friendliness from the staff and the cleanliness of the hotel. It’s a lovely hotel and after an initial piece of confusion where they thought I was sharing a room with Richard, I was allocated a lovely private room.

Madeleine, the rather wonderful LDWA chair, also presented me with a chicken bake and that’s why she’s my favourite NEC member 🙂 I doubt any other NEC member will read this (other than Richard), so I’ll get away with that.

Here’s Penny, the Volunteer Support Officer, giving a talk about the weekend. Engagement with groups is important to the LDWA as we’re a volunteer led organisation and the NEC needs to get feedback from individual members and groups to properly deliver what the organisation needs.

I’d add that I won’t reveal any private discussions, but for those going, a report will be produced and all members will be able to see the various things that the LDWA is doing.

Everyone taking part got a free drink from the LDWA, which is rather lovely. I won’t name people individually as I’ll forget someone and that might annoy them, but it’s always lovely to see Chelle, Andy and Sarah from Norfolk & Suffolk LDWA. Richard was also there from the group in his national IT role.

It’s important to be well fed on these occasions and we weren’t let down by the venue.

And a little dessert to go with it (I didn’t have all of what’s in the photo).

And the highlight of the evening was the talk from the LDWA Vice-President Ken Falconer. He walked Lands End to John O’Groats fifty years ago and thought it would be a good idea to do it again fifty years later. It all led to one of the most entertaining talks that I’ve heard at an LDWA event, all really rather lovely.

I was rather pleased to actually get to Leamington Spa given the complexities of the travel arrangements, but this is an exciting and important weekend with the whole LDWA waiting to be surprised and delighted by the IT announcements.