Totnes

We are a small, friendly and active group. All our walks take advantage of our fabulous position here in the South Hams with easy access to the countryside, the South West Coast Path and Dartmoor – see photos from some of our walks under the ‘Photo Album’ tab

Our extensive walks programme is designed to provide a choice between short (4-7 miles) and intermediate (8-10+ miles) walks. We offer short walks every Wednesday and Sunday, an intermediate walk every Wednesday with an additional intermediate Sunday walk every month. This equates to over 13 walks a month to choose from and you can see the current programme under the ‘Walks Programme’ tab

 At present we have some Covid related measures in place. These include pre-walk safety assessments and the taking of a register of the names of everyone joining one of our walks. In addition, for a few walks, it will be necessary to pre-book by telephoning the walk leaders, and numbers may be restricted.

We send our members a comprehensive newsletter covering past, present and future activities 2 or 3 times a year and complement this with regular updates by email. We have a popular and wide-ranging social programme, organised by and for members, including holidays, short breaks, day trips and group meals. This programme is shown under the ‘Social Events’ tab.

One of our aims is to keep local footpaths open and clear of obstructions/vegetation for the benefit of all users. We are also keen to improve and add to the footpath network locally, with a number of our group volunteering as part of the national ‘Don’t Lose Your Way’ project which is trying to restore ‘lost’ paths all over the country. If you want to know more about this initiative then please contact our Footpath Officer (see ‘Contact us’ tab).

If you are looking for a new walking route, there are over 3000 independent routes on the Ramblers website or app. Anyone who is walking in more remote areas that are local to them, is asked to stay well within their limits, to avoid any need to call on mountain rescue or other emergency services.

As a group, we were fortunate to have been left a legacy by a former, long standing member, which is being used to set up and maintain local routes such as the Franklin Totnes Trail, the Dartmoor Way, stretches of the SW Coast Path, paths around the Dartington Estate and others (see the ‘Franklin Legacy’ and ‘Walks Found Around Totnes’ tabs for more details).Recently a new Measured Mile has been installed with way markers running from the Plains to Longmarsh in Totnes, details for which can be found on the information board at the Plains.

Dartmoor Way Launch - walking festival

As you will have read in our last Newsletter, an extensive programme has been planned to celebrate the launch of the Dartmoor Way over the bank holiday weekend from Saturday 29 April to Monday 2 May. There will be 18 walks of various lengths, plus 2 special family friendly walks, a family cycle ride and a walk led by the wheelchair access group - see attached pdf.

There will be a booking system for all these events and the information has now been placed on the Dartmoor Way website at https://www.dartmoorway.co.uk/ww/index.php As part of the festival Totnes Ramblers are offering 2 walks on Monday 2 May from Ivybridge. I hope lots of you will be able to join one or more of these walks. Any questions just contact Trevor Walker or Michael Owen.

Launch - Walking Festival.pdf

If you are thinking of joining us, please see the ‘membership’ types and associated benefits on https://www.ramblers.org.uk/get-involved/join-the-ramblers.aspx  You are more than welcome to join us on a few walks, get to know us and hopefully see that we offer friendly company, fun and rewarding days out walking. We look forward to seeing you!

Please note that unless stated otherwise in our programme, only Registered Assistance Dogs are permitted on our walks. If permitted all dog owners must follow the walking etiquette.

Totnes Walk & Talk offer shorter walks. For further details see their website www.walkingforhealth.org.uk/walkfinder/walk-talk-totnes