The walks that we do are in the range of 4 to 6 miles, and we take things at a more leisurely pace than the Long Walkers group. Many of the people who walk with this group used to walk with the Long Walkers but came to the point where they found them too strenuous. Many of us also walk in both groups and even all three (Long Walkers, Amblers and Strollers).
We do morning walks, and we are usually back in time for lunch (albeit a slightly late one, sometimes). We sometimes stop at a café for elevensies, whilst at other times we bring a drink (and biscuit/cake if desired). If we are going to do the former, this is stated in the walk description on this website. Similarly, we sometimes have lunch together at a pub afterwards, and this is also usually stated on the website if this is going to be the case, though not everyone chooses to join us for this.
Some who may be walking with us may be regaining their fitness, and so we place no expectations on how fast people walk, whatever the reason. We always wait for anyone who gets behind and give them a chance to recover if needed. This is especially true for people who struggle with hills, and we do try to minimise the amount of hill climbing on these walks. However, this can be quite difficult to achieve, given the terrain in this part of the country.
Like with all the groups, we place a strong emphasis on the social aspect, and we enjoy the positive conversations with each other as we walk. No-one takes things too seriously, and we look after one another.
Whilst this is one of the more popular groups, numbers vary, and we rarely get more than 16 walkers (though usually less). Even with the larger numbers, we like to feel we have good group cohesion and a strong sense of camaraderie. We avoid bad weather and will cancel if things are too unpleasant, which will be announced via the website blog (which triggers e-mails to subscribers).
Walking boots are recommended, especially in winter when it can get muddy. Many of us also bring sticks to help us if the path is tricky. We follow public footpaths for the most part, but even they can sometimes have awkward sections.
We welcome well-behaved dogs on our walks with this group. We do not have any insistence with respect to leads, but we do request that people follow the code regarding livestock, which we often encounter. We also need to bear in mind that some of our walkers are not dog people and may not be used to them, though this is typically not a problem.