Marches Group LDWA Home Page We are a local Group of the national Long Distance Walkers Association serving members of the LDWA living in Shropshire and Herefordshire, these being the Marches of the border with Wales. Any new member joining the Association will automatically become a member of our group in a sort of post code lottery. We do not levy a subscription and therefore do not incur the costs of mailing a newsletter so this web site is the source of information about Group activities although our walk programme is published in the Group news section of the national magazine, the Strider. Updated 1 August 2010 for future events			The Stiperstones from Nipstone
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The Long Distance Walkers Association was founded in 1972 and is recognised by Sport UK as the governing body of the sport of long distance walking, though the sport is one that  is a personal challenge to a individual and therefore not competitive. The mission of the organisation is to promote challenge walking, develop new routes, and disseminate  related information to it's members and the general public. Three times each year a magazine, the Strider, is published and posted to all members to keep then informed of national and national matters of interest to walkers and this includes the calendar of all local group social and challenge walks across the UK. The Organisation also maintains a national database of long distance footpaths and trails that now contains more than 600 entries and is available on line or as a book(LDPs). Further information about the organisation and all it's services and activities can be obtained from it's web site. Working at the coal face( forgive the cliché) are the autonomous local groups of which there are 40 and we are one. Founded in 1978 we have a strong commitment to organising challenge walks that meet the definition of a long distance walk being one in excess of 20 miles. We started with the Mortimer Forest Marathon(MFM), and continued with Summer Time on Abdon(SOA), the Mortimer Trail Hike(MTH), the Berwyn Mountain Walk(BMW), the Wem Winter Wonderland (WWW), and Tinsel Trail in Telford(TTT) but there are others that met the requirement of 20 miles and a three figure alliterative acronym. We used to organise social walks but after years of effort with little result we asked our members for their views and they replied that could open their front door onto fine open country and did not need to make a social occasion of it. But they did like a challenge walk and these we have provided; up to 5 a year. Our SSC in late February  that has an entry capped at 200 is often full by early December. Each year the national committee arranges for an ultimate challenge walk of 100 miles to take place somewhere in the UK at a different location on each occasion. The task is delegated to a local group and there is a keen competition to take on the task though heaven knows why. The event has 500 entrants, nearly 200 marshals, a budget generated from entry fees of at least £20 000 and it is continuous over 48 hours, day and night, over a cross country route with approximately 15 manned check points. Our Group has organised three of such 100s, in 1990, 1995, 2007 and now we have another in the planning process, the Housman 100 for 2011. We hold a social/business meeting on the first Tuesday of a month starting at 8pm in the Three Fishes by the side of the A49 in Bayston Hill. All are welcome. For further information please email the secretary