The Long Distance Walkers Association

The Long Distance Walkers Association (LDWA) is an organisation of individuals with the shared interest of walking for extremely long distances in mountainous, rural and high ground areas. The organisation promotes planned challenge walks, initiates new walking paths and publicises information on all kinds of non-competitive walking. The Long Distance Walkers Association is known by the Sports Council as the organisation for the interest in long distance walking. People seldom ask the organisation, ’what is a long distance,’. The Long Distance Walkers Association’s now identifies a long distance walk as a long walk in a rural area, specifically one that goes beyond 20 miles in distance.

The organisation was formed by two walkers, Chris Steer and Alan Blatchford, whose paths crossed when they walked through the Surrey hills in the 1970s. They talked about their mutual passion for walking and decided to organise a long walk in the rural area around Tanner Hatch Youth Hostel, next to Dorking in Surrey. The two were motivated by the positive reaction and organised more walking events. By 1972, the reception was positive and Steer and Blatchford decided to create the Long Distance Walkers Association. The original idea was to compare information on every organised long distance walk and challenge walk in the nation. The organisation printed information in a newsletter. By the end of 1972, the total members of the organisation were 355; as of now, numbers are still rapidly increasing and there are approximately 7000 members.

The LDWA has become well known and now has more than 40 groups in Britain. Members of the organisation receive a copy of ‘Strider’, LDWA’s journal, three times a year.