Welcome
Welcome to the web site of the Thames Valley LDWA. Our Group was founded in 1976 and is a friendly, active local walking group covering a large area west of London. New members are most welcome - please see the membership information on the Contacts page.
We have a fine selection of social walks throughout the year. Most are in Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, or Berkshire, though we occasionally stray further afield. Naturally, the River Thames and the Chiltern Hills feature in many of our walks, which we aim to make friendly and enjoyable outings with a leader to guide us through the day. On most of our walks, unless it says otherwise in the programme, you should bring food and drink for lunch and snacks. If the leader has planned for the group to eat lunch in a pub this will be clearly stated in the programme.
You will find our walks programme on this website, and it's also published in the LDWA national magazine, "Strider".
The Journal is our rolling Newsletter where you will find articles and photos by Group members. If you're not (yet) a member it will give you some idea of what we do.
The Forum is a discussion board for anything and everything of interest. It's open to members and non-members alike.
You can keep up to date with anything new on the website either by subscribing to the RSS news feed using the icon at the top of the page, or by signing up to the email alert mailing list.
Oxon 40/20
We organise an annual challenge event called the Oxon 40/20. Both walkers and runners are welcome. It offers a choice of two distances - 40 miles or 20 miles - and follows a different route each year. The 40 mile route is good preparation for the annual LDWA "100" mile event and the 20-mile is an ideal introduction to any of the Marathon challenge events in the LDWA calendar.
We were lucky again with the weather this year. It was sunnier and warmer than forecast - the temperature reached 20°C in the early afternoon and in the hazy sunshine it felt quite a bit warmer. It stayed dry all day. The bluebells were at their best, and anyone not seeing several red kites must have been looking at their shoelaces for the whole of the walk! 299 entrants took part, a record for the event. See the Oxon 40/20 page for full details and results.
Join the Thames Valley Group
New and prospective members are very welcome. If you'd like to join us - or are just thinking about it - please see the membership information on the Contacts page
The Long Distance Walkers Association
The LDWA is the national organisation for Long Distance Walking. Please see the Association's website for more information, including its objectives and aims.
