Background
Our group is wonderfully balanced; some join walks regularly, others less frequently. To help the 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 version here

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 date below. 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.

Post Covid-19 lockdown: in addition to our normal risk assessment for each walk (as recorded by our Details sheet) we have completed a general risk assessment of our group's activity under Covid-19 conditions. This can be viewed here.

Walks coming up
Our full programme of walks in 2020 is shown in the Members' System ('Beacon'). The link is here. Log in then look up 'Schedule'. Add the dates to your diary now! The near term walks are also highlighted below. A week or so before the specific walk date, we'll make available the full walk details (including the meeting point) on this web page.

Please sign up individually below for each walk you plan to join. You can sign by clicking on the walk date (when sign-up is open the date is in blue), then a Sign-up Form will open. To drop out of a walk, please return to the form, and enter your details again but with a 'No' instead of a 'Yes'.

Unfortunately these walks are suspended, again, due to Covid-19 restrictions. We will start them as soon as Government guidance allows this sort of activity.

Friday 15 January — suspended
Thursday 21 January  — suspended
Wednesday 27 January — details to follow

Our fortnightly Zoom calls will also carry on throughout January.

Lookahead provisional schedule 2021:
February    Tuesday 2, Friday 12, Thursday 18, Wednesday 24   
March    Tuesday 2, Friday 12, Thursday 18, Wednesday 24, Tuesday 30   
April    Friday 9, Thursday 15, Wednesday 21, Tuesday 27,
May    Tuesday 4, Friday 14, Thursday 20, Wednesday 26   
June    Tuesday 01, Friday 11, Thursday 17, Wednesday 23, Tuesday 29

18 to 21 June, Extended Walk 2021 — for 2021 we are going to the popular destination of Alnmouth in Northumberland. If you want to book your place now please register here. Preliminary details for this visit are available here.

Photo Gallery and Walk Map
Launching new features: you can now see many of our photos from our photo library. Click on the year you want below. They will scroll through automatically and you can see the walk number and title at the bottom.

• 2017
• 2018
• 2019
  

If you want to find photos from a particular walk you can click on the year below then select from the thumbnails the one you want then click on it:

• 2017 specifics
• 2018 specifics
• 2019 specifics (to date)
  

Also if you want to see on a map where we have walked (and have selected a particular walk's details) then click here.

Useful Information
Travel link — if you are going on a walk outside the Freedom Pass areas, here is a link to help decide which station to buy your ticket from online: Freedom Pass Map  If you need to figure out what train line we are going on then this overall map can help: Rail Map.

Discounts — if you are buying from Cotswold at the Angel, say you are with iU3A (Longer Walks group) and you'll get 10% discount. 

Ticks — there have been reports of increased population of ticks in the UK. If you are worried about catching a tick bite while out walking, for more information see here.

Jo-Anne has provided two useful walk guides. You can view them here:

• New River
• Clerkenwell Walks

Recent Walks
Limehouse & Regents Canal: as a largish group we had to move on from H&I to Hackney Wick and get started with the walk so we could spread out. We were lucky (again) with the weather. The rain from the previous day had moved on giving us a nice clear day for our Christmas social. We were a bit more restrained this year with our Christmas bubbles or even Santa hats being kept hidden or just peaking out. Patrick as Leader kept us feed with 'Interesting Facts' along the way with a bit of addition (or intrusion) from Derek. We observed the level of development around the Olympic Park with old and new development blending together. We picked up the Limehouse Cut that took us to the river then turned into the Regents Canal and followed this to the Victoria Park. Unfortunately our planned lunch stop at the Royal in the Park was unexpectedly closed. Which meant we had to split between the park cafe and another local pub. Afte lunch we made our way back along the Regents Canal to Islington. A more restrained Christmas Social due to circumstances this year but still time to enjoy a good walk with good company. Details here.

Toward Trewin: this was our 300th walk, wey hey! It was Link 5 of the Hertfordshire Chain Walk. We walked out of Hertford picking up the Cole Green disused railway line until reaching the junction of Link 4 and 5. Last week we had turned south to do Link 4, this week we turned right to start Link 5. We had more luck this week — with the weather and finding a good place for our outdoor picnic. Seating provided. A cracking pace meant that we completed this 10 miles walk way ahead of schedule ensuring Celia could not only make her concert in the evening but with with time to recover as well. Details here.


Bayford & Hertford North: hurrah, back walking again! Unfortunately while many were keen to get out and on a proper walk again the weather forecast was poor. And on the day only eight of us braved the continuous rain. It was a good test of who had the best gear to cope with the weather. There wasn't even a warm pub to dry out a bit over lunch (due to Covid restrictions). Instead it was a quick damp picnic snack. The walk was 10 miles covering Link 4 of the Hertfordshire Chain Walk with a bit more to and from Bayford. We were all glad of the exercise but also glad to get back on a dry train. Details here.


Colne Valley: This walk was squeezed in before our second lockdown. We've walked this way quite a few times but it's still a popular nine mile walk. Heavy overnight rain had created many puddles on the towpath but the skies had cleared and there were glimpses of sun. We had reverted to our original base route taking us past the Coy Carp (which still holds our record of the slowest lunch service). These days we leave the valley and climb up the hill to the Old Orchard. Great view again from here over the whole valley — and a buzzard and a kestrel visited as we sat outside for our lunch (mixed households not being allowed indoors). That made for rather chilly alfresco dining so we were all keen to get going again. Back down and along the canal-side was more sheltered but a brisk pace was maintained. Unfortunately it was the wrong day of the week for a stop at Fran's tea shop (only open Wednesday to Sundays). But this did mean that we reached Uxbridge quite early and jumped straight on the waiting Met. line back to King's Cross. Details here.

Manningtree to Wrabness: the prospect of rain all day didn’t deter the 13 hardy souls who joined the train for the hour long ride to Manningtree. It was a short step up to join the Essex Way at St Mary’s in Lawford and a couple of miles from there into the old town of Manningtree, and along the waterfront into Mistley for an early lunch. Spirits remained surprisingly high in spite of the raindrops falling in our soup although envy of the two of our party allowed inside reared its ugly head. The leader’s attempt to pair off two of the group to join them failed as judged to be a ‘senior moment’. A brief highlight of the second section to Bradfield was passing Old Knobbly — almost as old as the combined ages of the group, and then through some muddy fields on to the wide open skies, autumn colours and wading birds of the Stour Estuary nature reserve — well let’s just say the colours were muted! Up through Wrabness with the route culminating at Grayson Perry's fantasy, A House for Essex — his gingerbread ‘Taj Mahal of the River Stour’, and dedicated to the mythical Essex everywoman, Julie, which encouraged a range of reactions — pro and con. Smiley faces to all who braved the weather. Details here.

Ponders End to Hackney Wick: this was a straightforward nine mile walk along the Lee Valley, which kept us within the Tier 2 Covid restrictions and minimised our travel. We had done sections of the Lee Valley Walk before but hadn't started previously from Ponders End. It was a good spot to pick up the trail, being close to the station. We left the canal for a detour through Walthamstow Wetlands reserve and a bit of Hackney Marshes (through low bridge for walkers) before rejoining the canal to take us to the Lea Bridge Road and the Princess of Wales pub for a very good lunch. Most of the walk was in the morning: the afternoon was a further section down the canal then branching off just before the Olympic park for Hackney Wick station. Details here.




Watford and Sarratt: twelve of us met at King's Cross for an easy hour on the underground to Watford to start our circular walk in Cassiobury Park. The sun came out and the park was truly lovely and already showing some great autumn colours. Particularly nice were the trees laden with red berries and a rather thinned out but still magnificent Lebanese Cedar. In the morning we walked through the rather wonderful Whippendel Wood to the old village of Sarratt where we enjoyed an excellent lunch in a traditional English country pub The Boot, dating from 1739, sitting in their marquee. Most of us had Fish & Chips and a half pint of draught beer. The walk itself was relatively flat and over mostly good paths on fields, rural tracks between farms and occasionally small roads. The views were probably best in the afternoon towards the Chess Valley before walking through some beautiful wood which kept us reasonably dry even during the unexpected rainfall after a sunny morning; or should the surprising weather be the other way around? Half the group was seduced by the thought of large mugs of tea and a jumbo Jaffa cake in the cafe in Cassiobury Park instead of going home. This proved an excellent decision since there was a hiccup on the line home but this was resolved the moment the late tea party arrived at Watford Station as luck would have it. A great day out. Details here.



Berkhamsted: last walked over a year ago, this was an 8½ mile autumnal walk through forest and common land of the Ashridge Estate. A socially distanced lunch was had at the outdoor café next to the Bridgewater Monument. Then we followed a canal towpath back to the station. Details here.






Harpenden to St Albans: this was another Hertfordshire walk slightly further north than previous walks in the area. It was a rather wet day from start to finish but eight brave souls ventured out over the 11 miles. The morning highlight was the Woodland Trust's brand-new forest called Heartwood (previously all arable land and now with 350,000 new trees). We were glad of the pub lunch and a chance to dry out a bit, but not so glad to go back out into it after lunch. However, Patrick's sweets kept us going. The afternoon took us through the pretty Childwickbury country estate, with views also out to another estate, Gorehambury. The final highlight was then the city of St Albans (and the tea and cake stop!). See the video here. Full details here.

Welwyn Garden City: this was an easy circular walk through attractive Hertfordshire countryside. We passed several grand houses and crossed several grand golf courses. As 50% of the attendance was Walk Leaders a cracking pace was set throughout. Entering Ayot St Lawrence we passed Shaw House, once home to George Bernard Shaw, to reach a delightful pub just as the rain came on. Service was a bit slow which was just as well, because by the time we came out the rain had stopped. We did the official presentation of our annual 'Star Walker' here — this year the award going to Jo-Ann Kennedy. We all enjoyed this walk of just over 11 miles, last done in June 2018: there were no hills to speak of. Our luck held out and it stayed dry until we were just getting to the station when the rain started again. Excellent timing. See the video here. Walk details here.


Past Walks
We are now in our eighth year.
To see details of our seventh year (October 2019 - Sept 2020) look here.
To see details of our sixth year (October 2018 - Sept 2019) look here.
To see details of our fifth year (October 2017 - Sept 2018) look here.
To see the details for walks in the previous year (Oct 2016 - Sept 2017) look here.
If you want to see details of the walks we completed in our third year (Oct 2015 - Sept 2016) then look here.