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At the beginning of 2006, some friends in the Godalming & Haslemere Ramblers Association walking group started an independent unofficial group designed to attract younger walkers.
They called it the South West Surrey Walkers with the aim of running walks and social activities aimed mainly at walkers below retirement age, with the entry age of the group generally between 35-59, although existing members of SWSW are not excluded when they go over this age.
SWSW is run as an informal group of friends who share a love of walking. There are no real rules and there is no membership fee. The group is loosely based around the Godalming & Haslemere area with walks usually in South West Surrey, or adjacent parts of West Sussex or Hampshire, although our members come from a much wider area. The group is run almost entirely by email and this web site. To join, just
to be put onto our mailing list and you will receive a weekly newsletter informing you of everything that is happening.
The regular activities of the group are a monthly morning walk, held on the first Sunday of every month, and a monthly "figure of eight" walk, held on the third Sunday of every month. The "figure of eight" concept means that you can walk in the morning, the afternoon or all day. We usually try and get together to eat lunch in a pub wherever possible.
The morning walks are normally 5-7 miles and the "figure of eights" 4-5 miles in the morning and another 4-5 miles in the afternoon. Everyone is welcome, but you must be reasonably fit, and enjoy walking in good company.
In addition to the walks there is a regular monthly social evening at The Good Intent, Puttenham. This is held on the first Friday of every month and we reserve 3 tables for the group. Many of us eat, but some just meet up for a glass of wine or beer - and of course, the social chat!
If you want to come on a walk there is no need to telephone beforehand, just turn up at the start point, where you could find anything from a dozen to two dozen or more people. If you want advice before walking with us just telephone the leader of the walk for that day. There is no need to make a commitment to the group, you can do just one, or any number of walks in the year, on any Sunday you choose. Come alone, or with your friend or partner, we'll make you very welcome!
We are not a "singles" walking club, but there are a large number of single people in the group - probably because walking with a friendly group is a good way to make new friends. But if you are married or have a partner, don't let that put you off - we have plenty of couples as well.
In June 2007 we had our first weekend break on the Isle of Wight, and this year have held a full week's holiday in mid-Wales and a weekend in the Cotswolds. For 2009 we are in the early stages of planning a weekend in Dorset, a full week in the Peak District and another weekend in a different part of the Cotswolds. Details of all these holidays will be available shortly.
SWSW is an independent walking group but we do support the Ramblers Association and we encourage our members to join the RA individually, which has additional benefits - you can quite often get discounts off purchases from retailers with your membership card and many people say this quite often saves their membership fee each year!
On the weekends where we don't have our own walk, we will be advertising the Godalming & Haslemere RA walks as a useful alternative. However, if you walk regularly with Godalming & Haslemere you will need to join the Ramblers Association and specify Godalming as your local group.
This is our main web site - but we also have a Facebook site with a discussion board - click here to join Facebook:
https://register.facebook.com/r.php
Then go to search, look for SWSW and click on the link to ask to join our group on Facebook.
We look forward to hearing from you!
Dave Martin & Judy Sharpe
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