Well, the beginning of September has arrived and with it, the start of Guildford Walkfest.
Waking up to an overcast sky and then torrential showers at about 9am, the omens were not good! However, the situation improved and, as you can see from the picture above, we were able to hold the opening ceremony outside and without waterproofs.
The Community Engagement Team at The Hive really went all out to help with things - ranging from refreshments to car parking duties - so a big 'Thank You' to all of them. Naturally, another enormous 'Thank You' to Sallie Barker - the Deputy Mayor of Guildford who performed the traditional ribbon cutting and clearly she thoroughly enjoyed it!
We were then joined by some additional walkers and led by local historian, David Rose, we headed off for the first walk of Walkfest 2023. Less than five minutes into the walk, the heavens opened! Fortunately, after sheltering for a few minutes under trees by a local bus stop, the rain stopped again and we were able to continue. It must have been the weather gods just reminding us that they were there because the rest of the walk was dry - if muggy.
As always, David provided lots of information about local history as we progressed across the University grounds and out to Pinks Hill and Broadstreet Common. I always come home from one of David's walks having learned loads of new and interesting things about the local area.
I've been involved with Walkfest for a number of years and it is always gratifying to see how many new faces join the walks. It certainly seems that we are doing our part to get people walking for pleasure and, often, helping them to discover new parts of Guildford borough. It was especially pleasing to have the Deputy Mayor walking with us for the entire route. Not only did it give her a chance to explore along with the rest of us but also for us to tell her a bit more about Walkfest and the various organisations that take part.
Thank you to everyone involved - either in organising the event or walking on the day. If you missed it, there are plenty more walks to come throughout the month so take a look at the programme and join in.
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