Accommodation for Walkers

They say that great oaks from little acorns grow. This is certainly true of Bestwalks which, from humble beginnings around 6 years ago, has grown to become one of the foremost resources for walkers on the world wide web.

The site (www.bestwalks.com) was originally conceived as a marketing aid for books on walking in the West Midlands counties by author Roger Seedhouse who, at that time, was a full time Chartered Surveyor. Health problems forced him to retire in 2002 and from then on it’s a classic case of a hobby turning into a vocation. With more time on his hands Roger began to expand the site to provide a resource for people to purchase practically any book in print on walking throughout the whole of the UK. More recently a price comparison facility has been added which allows visitors to compare prices for books and maps between several leading online retailers. The same facility is now in place for books on walking in France (through sister site www.bestwalksfrance.co.uk), Italy and Spain with coverage of further countries planned for the future.

Building on this foundation, the site has been developed to offer a wide range of services for walkers including sections on walker-friendly accommodation in the most popular walking areas, walking holidays, festivals and other events and the full spectrum of walking gear. Details of walking events can be listed free of charge with particular emphasis on charities for which there is a dedicated page for listing fund raising events that involve walking in some form.

Ideas for further development have not stopped here. A major project is currently in progress to collate and present in a simple to follow graded format all (well as many as possible) of the free downloadable walks available out on the internet, again covering the whole of the UK. For instance, if you are planning to spend a few days walking in, say, the Lake District, instead of trying to comb through the numerous sites on the web which offer free walks in the area, you will be able to go to the appropriate page on Bestwalks to find them all listed there and graded from easy to challenging, with direct links to the external source where the walks can be downloaded. This is not a new concept but in the proposed format it will be more comprehensive and informative than other existing services of this type. The great advantage will be the availability of a large number of free walks accessible from one spot which will save walkers a lot of searching time. For those who walk frequently in different areas and don’t want to spend money on lots of printed publications, it will be particularly valuable. Roger also anticipates the service being useful to accommodation providers who will be able to offer their guests a large selection of walks in the vicinity of the property. Certain groups, such as the disabled or partially disabled who are keen to get out into the fresh air and countryside may also benefit.

This is a huge project which, hopefully, will be completed by the end of the year but, in the meantime, pilots are available on the site for Dartmoor, the Cairngorms and Snowdonia. Just visit www.bestwalks.com and follow the ‘feature’ links on the homepage.