How to submit a walk

You want to submit a walk? That’s great, thank you very much!

Before you start

  • You need to be registered as a walk leader for Ramblers, and specifically for our group. If you haven’t already done so, complete our “volunteer to be a walk leader” form and wait for this to be processed. Since May 2024, new walk leaders also need to complete mandatory online training. 
  • You’ll need to use your Ramblers Single Sign On details to log into Walks Manager. (If you joined online, as most people now do, you’ll have created your account then.)
  • Check that your contact sharing preferences are correct: it’s important that you are contactable by at least one of email or (mobile) phone, and that people can see who is leading the walk.
  • Once you are logged in, go to Create (the big yellow button at the top right of your screen) and click on Add a walk.

Step 1 of 5 (Basic information):

  • Enter your walk title. If you wish to limit numbers, please append “(BOOKING REQUIRED)” to the title (you can specify the number in the next step).
  • Enter the date (as agreed with the Walks Coordinator) and start time.
  • Select “Berkshire Walkers (Group)” if you have multiple options for walking group.
  • Select yourself and any additional leader(s) in the list of walk leaders.
  • If you need different contact details to display from those which are automatically picked up by Walks Manager (first name + initial of last name, primary Ramblers phone number and/or email according to your preferences), use the “Alternative Contact Details” section at the bottom of the page. (You have to do this each time you submit a walk.)
    Do not enter anyone else’s details here without their permission.
  • Click “Save and continue”

Step 2 of 5 (Description):

  • You can use this template to help you complete the “description” and “additional details” fields in our usual group style. This will help ensure you don’t miss anything, and reduce the amount of re-formatting the Walks Coordinator needs to do.
  • Alternatively, if you want to enter your details directly, please try to match the usual format of our listings.
    • In the “Description field”, please enter:
      • a sentence / short paragraph describing your walk;
      • whether booking is required, and if so the number of spaces (including the leader);
      • the intended pace (gentle / medium / fast).
    • In the “Additional details” field, please enter a more comprehensive description of your walk including the following headings:
      • Walk details: one or more paragraphs describing your walk and its significant features.
      • Travel details
        • By public transport: how to get to the walk by public transport if possible (or point people to Facebook/Meetup to arrange car-sharing if not).
        • By car: where to park if coming by car (don’t forget to explain how to get between your car and the other end of the walk if it’s linear).
      • Dogs: please indicate which option from our dogs policy applies.
      • Notes: bullet list of additional notes / reminders, regarding e.g. packed lunch, water, mud etc.
    • If there is already a Meetup placeholder for your walk, please paste its URL into the “website link” field, otherwise leave this blank for the Walks Coordinator to fill in.
    • Tick the relevant facilities, transport and accessibility options. The following are particularly often relevant to our walks: refreshments (pub/café), accessible by public transport, car parking available, no car needed, and dog friendly, but feel free to tick any others that you consider applicable.
    • Upload any images that you have to accompany your walk, for example photographs taken on your recce.
      • Note that the image you upload first will be the “primary” one that appears in the list of walks; it’s difficult to re-order them afterwards.
      • You’ll need to enter some “alternative text” to represent each image for e.g. those who are visually impaired.
      • If the images are not your own, please ensure that you are using them with the copyright holder’s permission. (In particular, if attribution is required for re-use, please ensure that this is present either in the image itself or the walk description.)
    • Click “Save and continue”

Step 3 of 5 (Location):

  • Select whether your walk is linear or circular.
  • Search for your starting location and ensure the pin is in the correct location (including being on the correct side/entrance of a station, for instance).
  • If you know a postcode that’s better for finding the location than the one chosen automatically, please edit this.
  • Please enter a brief description of where to meet in the “location details” box, e.g. “Meet outside the main (south) entrance of Reading station, next to the Three Guineas.” (For stations with multiple entrances, please make clear which one is the meeting point!)
  • If your walk is linear, do the same for your finishing location on the other tab.
  • Click “Save and continue”

Step 4 of 5 (Grading):

  • Choose the appropriate grade for your walk. The vast majority of our group’s walks should be graded either Leisurely or Moderate.
    • These are standard Ramblers grades. If you’re used to our old group-specific grading, “leisurely” includes what we used to call “easy” or “easy/moderate”, while  “moderate” includes most of what we used to call “moderate” up to “challenging”.
    • Almost nothing we do locally would qualify for the Ramblers “strenuous” grade, although some walks on our more remote/mountainous trips away would.
    • Likewise, few of our walks are all on well enough surfaced paths for the Ramblers “easy” grade (implying suitable for pushchairs etc.), but occasionally this might be appropriate.
  • Enter the length of your walk, and the total ascent if known.
  • Enter the estimated finishing time of your walk, being generous and erring on the side of it taking longer than you expect, accounting for any lunch/café/pub stops etc. Group pace is often slower than recce pace, even if nothing goes wrong – estimating this based on an overall pace, including stops, of about 2mph is a good rule of thumb unless you’re specifically advertising a “fast” walk.
  • Click “Save and continue”

Step 5 of 5 (Preview):

  • Check the preview of your walk, and either go back and make any corrections or click “Submit for checking” to forward it on to the Walks Coordinator for publication.
    Do not click “publish” yourself even if you have this level of access, without the go-ahead from the Walks Coordinator.

After submitting your walk

Once the Walks Coordinator has approved your walk, it will be published on the BW website, the BW Meetup group, and the Ramblers website and app.

Please email the Walks Coordinator to let them know that you’ve submitted your walk, as unfortunately the system does not send automatic notifications.