Welcome to walk leading! Initially it can be a bit daunting to lead a walk – hopefully these ideas will help. Have fun and remember to lead a walk you will need to be a member of the Ramblers.
Beforehand
You can find a route in a book, follow a marked footpath, take one off a map or follow a route you already know.
Walk recce
Before you list your walk it is important to ‘recce’ the route to check the paths are not overgrown or roads closed etc. This needn’t be a solo activity, many a friendship has been cemented by helping each other check out a new route! Indeed walk leading itself may be done jointly if you wish.
There are also experienced Walk Leaders who would be happy to give advice and could come on recces or support you during the walk. If you would like to have some support and someone to recce with then please contact us via the Contact us page or just speak with one of Walk Leaders.
Submit your walk
Once you have your walk, you’re ready to list it on our Meetup page. This should include a brief description and travel details. If you’re not ready to do that, we can do it for you, just let us know via the Contact us page.
We operate rolling four week walk programme, so please plan your dates to fit in with our current advertised walk programme. We welcome walks as far ahead as possible, as it give us the flexibility to put on extra walks as soon as they’re confirmed.
If you are suddenly unable to lead your walk please try and find a substitute leader. We don’t want to have to cancel any walks.
Introducing the walk
Please introduce yourself at the start of the walk and give a bit of detail about the walk itself (e.g. terrain, places of interest, lunch stop, toilet facilities).
We usually have several new people on each walk so please give some more general information about Hike Norfolk and let new members know they can go on 3 walks for free before they need to join the Ramblers. If there are a small number you are free to do this during the walk if you prefer not to keep talking in front of everyone.
It would be very helpful if you could check the walk’s MeetUp event and mark anyone who didn’t attend as a no-show. This will help us root out fake accounts/serial pests.
Before setting off
Count the number of people you have (recount occasionally during the walk to check you have everyone).
If there is a large turn-out, it may be a good idea to appoint a ‘backmarker’ so that you don’t lose anyone from the back of the group. This doesn’t need to be someone who is familiar with the route – just ask for a volunteer at the start of the walk. Don’t forget to wait for your backmarker, particularly when you reach a junction.
During the walk
There may be a range of abilities on a walk – please take note of this when setting the pace. Try not to lose anyone! Allow people time to catch up if needed.
Lunch: it’s best to advise people to bring a packed lunch, it you plan to stop.
After the walk
Check you have everyone.
We need to keep track of how many people are walking, if there were any issues or if you have any comments, if so, please let us know via the Contact us page.
Finally, make sure you enjoy a well-deserved drink!
Thanks for leading the walk! You’re making a valuable contribution to the group.