The LDWA 50th Anniversary Event
As you may already be aware 2022 is the 50th Anniversary of the creation of the LDWA and as part of national celebrations we will be undertaking a 50 mile walk in May and June of this year. Most Groups will also be holding events throughout the year but specifically on the weekend of 18th and 19th of June – the mass walk with as many members as possible all walking that weekend.
Our dates are already in the diary and have been published on the walks programme. These are
Tuesday 31 May 2022. Day 1 from Hurst Green to Downham via Whalley and Pendle Hill – 13.5 miles.
Tuesday 7 June. Day 2 from Downham to Newton-in Bowland via Sawley, Grindleton, and Slaidburn – 12 miles.
Tuesday 14 June 2022. Day 3 from Newton to Chipping via Dunsop Bridge, Langden Beck, Fiensdale Head, Fair Snape Fell and Parlick – 14 miles.
Sunday 19 June 2022. Day 4 of our 50 mile walk to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the LDWA. Chipping to Hurst Green via Longridge Fell, the River Hodder and Stoneyhurst – 11.5 miles.
The route is based upon part of the Central Loop of the Lancashire Way and full details can now be found on-line at www.lancashireway.com/50-mile-route. It is a beautiful walk taking in the best of Lancashire including favourites such as Pendle Hill above. This will allow you to see if the walk is for you and also if you are not able to walk on any of the above dates then you could do so at your own leisure before or afterwards.
We will be following the final walk on Sunday 19th June with a Jacobs join buffet to be held in the Memorial Hall in Hurst Green. The Hall will be available from 2pm until 6pm. We also hope to have some displays or similar covering some of past events of the Group over the last 40+ years and it will be a great opportunity to meet old acquaintances again, especially those who do not walk with us very often.
I know it is a long time off but, as you can see, the route is a linear one so we are looking at providing transport at the beginning or end of the day so we really need to have an idea on numbers. You do not have to walk everyone of the four days. You could just join us for the Sunday walk or even just for the festivities afterwards or any combination. Can you please e mail westlancsldwa@gmail.com with your dates – you will not be held to these and we will be confirming actual numbers nearer the time.
Finally, I am hoping that some members will walk the full 50 miles over that weekend finishing mid afternoon on the Sunday to join the other walkers in the Hall. This will be in the true spirit of LDWA and its initial ambitions set out fifty years ago. In order to finish by 3pm we will probably have to complete as a single walk overnight beginning mid to late afternoon on Saturday although we could begin very early on the Sunday after staying overnight on the Saturday. I appreciate that it is the Hundred two weeks earlier so there might not be a great demand for this but if you are interested then please e mail me at neilharwo@aol.com and we can look at the detailed logistics of completing this.
I personally am very much looking forward to this event and hopefully it will be a great and enjoyable occasion for all.
