Slow Ways autumn swarm and get-together – in pictures

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During our autumn Slow Ways swarm, we collectively shared almost a thousand miles of route reviews – that’s the equivalent of walking from Lizard to John o’Groats!

Last month, as part of our autumn Slow Ways National Swarm, people from across Great Britain collectively shared 1,581km (982 miles) of Slow Ways route reviews, which is precisely the equivalent of collectively walking from Lizard in Cornwall to John o’Groats in Caithness (1,581km!). (That’s Lys Ardh in Cornish, to Taigh Iain Ghròt in Scottish Gaelic, incidentally!)

We’re so thankful to everyone who took part, walked, checked and reviewed routes – from Ilfracombe and Margate, to Bingley and Coventry. Each route walked and reviewed helps us to get so much closer to reaching our goal of having a fully verified national walking network that connects all the towns and cities and thousands of villages across Great Britain!

Leicester basecamp

The Slow Ways team set up basecamp at the beautiful medieval Guildhall in Leicester on the Saturday to welcome walkers from the local area and further afield. We had an eventful afternoon of story-sharing, with members of the public drawing out routes they’d walked and trading wandering tales. The evening saw a programme of talks, including an introduction to Slow Ways by founder Dan, a tech run-through by chief technologist Darren and stories of epic adventuring from volunteers and walk leaders Smith and Lynn.

Throughout the day we also hosted an exhibition of colourful striking risographs created by artists and inspired by Slow Ways journeys undertaken in different parts of Great Britain. Slow Ways’ guided walks also took place throughout the day ending at the Guildhall. It was a joy to welcome our pioneering volunteers as well as lots of new faces, including members of community groups Muslim Hikers and We Go Outside Too.

We’d like to thank everyone who took part and who came along to our special get-together in Leicester! We’d like to say a special thank you to walk leaders Marlon (We Go Outside Too), Zahra (Muslim Hikers), Lynn and Kelly, to all our dedicated volunteers who have walked and reviewed hundreds of miles of routes and to our hosts Prana Cafe and the Guildhall Leicester! And to Roxanna Barry who took these lovely photos.

We look forward to seeing you at our next swarm event.

Slow Ways
Slow Ways is an initiative to create a national network of walking routes connecting all of Great Britain’s towns and cities as well as thousands of villages. It’s designed to make it easier for people to imagine, plan and go on walking journeys, walking further and for more purposes.