Festival 2022

A selection of photographs and testimonials 

Photographs

Click on the image below to view some memories from our 2022 festival

What you said about the 2022 festival

“I only attended one walk but found the website clear and easy to use. The details of the walk were very helpful when selecting which to join. The greeting at the village hall was a nice surprise and the information during the walk very interesting.

Thank you for the effort everyone has put in to organising the event and will definitely come again!”. Anita

“A big thank you to everyone involved in the massive amount of work and preparation that clearly had to be done to run the festival.

Web page and booking system good as always and worked well for us
Antony LOVED the Bredon Belter, thrilled to have a group walk taken at a reasonable pace over more varied terrain; a 6–7-mile version of this would have been first choice of walks for Angie if available.

2 walks we did were Evesham battlefield walk and the Tewkesbury walk – both enjoyable in themselves with interesting talks/info, but the walking itself was very gentle and too slow and stop/start for our taste on walks

We would sign up for more of the half-day ERC walks if some of them were designated as more challenging in terms of speed and terrain, since obviously any group walk has to go at the pace of the slowest and support those at the back of the pack – whereas we view group walking for ourselves as an opportunity to feel stretched by others and get a good leg stretch and a bit of a cardio workout rather than a gentle ‘painless’ stroll.  This probably all means really that we are not good natural group walkers and maybe should just stick to walking as a pair, although we do really enjoy the social aspects and company of ERC folk!

With best wishes to all and thanks once again for all the hard work put in by the organisers.” Angie and Antony

“‘THANK YOU’ for hosting the Evesham Walking Festival. Due to work commitments, I could only attend 1 walk, on the Sunday, although I would have liked to do more

I found the booking system excellent and very easy to use, the walk itself was well organised and took in some wonderful countryside, which, although local to me, took me on some new paths.

The leader, back marker and helpers were all fabulous and made us all feel very welcome
The get together and BBQ at the end was great too- fabulous views with drink in hand 👍
I was unaware that there was a Rambling club, I always assumed that it was the “Ramblers”, With such a modest joining fee I shall definitely be enrolling and look forward to many more walks in the future

It was the banner by Pershore Leisure Centre that caught my eye, so keep up with hard marketing ( banners and leaflets) for next year’s event.

I shall spread the word to my friends too”. Cathy

First of all, a big thank you to the organisers of this year’s Evesham Walkfest (Evesham Rambling Club), such a great initiative, I thoroughly enjoyed the walk I attended.

The website was very clear and helpful (e.g., length and level of difficulty), with all the information I needed (timings, where to park etc) and was easy to use.

The booking system worked perfectly and was quick, not too involved!

The walk itself was well organised (with a good number of helpers in addition to the leader) and the pace nicely relaxed, with regular pauses to keep the group together. It was also good to have the added historical info at different stops. For future (similar walks) maybe the person from the Battle Society could have held his map up and come armed with a pointer to improve the explanation of the various battle sites! This is in no way a criticism and I thank him for his time and knowledge but it might be useful feedback.

I had not walked with this group before so it was really nice to have a friendly welcome from members of the Evesham Rambling Club – and a lovely touch to be given a badge“. Cheryl

Dear Festival Team, my partner and myself joined you for the walk from the Field Barn, Cleeve Prior.  The website and booking system were excellent along with the walk and information provided on route.  We thoroughly enjoyed it and learnt a lot:  lovely tea and cake afterwards, what more could you ask for.  Well Done!”. Christine.

“Website – I found this easy to use and gave me the information I needed about each of the walks.
Booking system – okay.

Walks – I did the Cleeve Prior walk Thursday 30th which was excellent, the organisers and leaders were well organised, friendly, welcoming, and well informed about the route and local area so able to give us information which was interesting and added to my enjoyment of the walk. Ben from the Vale Landscape Trust talked us through their work and what wildlife we could see in the ridge and furrow field – added to the enjoyment of the walk and I learnt about plants and insects which I will look out for when out walking on my own. Coffee and cakes at the end very welcome!!

I also did the Badsey/Aldington walk on the 1st July which again was excellent. We had a talk at the beginning by Terry Sparrow from Badsey Historical Society which gave us an over view of market gardening in the vale. The organisers and leaders were well organised, friendly and welcoming. They didn’t know so much about the route and local area but had some written information to hand which was shared at relevant points. There was someone at St Johns Church in Wickhamford who chatted to us about the points of interest – I’m not sure if she was there by arrangement or accident but would be a good idea to repeat next year.

Other – I think the walks that I did were really good value. I particularly enjoyed learning about the local area, environment and wildlife – added enjoyment for me and (from what was said on the day) for the others in the group”. Chris

“Website – easy to use
Booking system – easy to use
Walks – would be nice to have evening option and maybe shorter walks with historic / information maybe 4 – 5 miles.    Otherwise enjoyed the walks that I attended.  I wanted to book on Broadway walk but sold out & Daylesford Organic Shop.
Other – could you send a booking email a couple of days before with the contact details of the walk leader.  Just in case can’t find the location / unable to attend / running late etc”. Elaine

“I only managed to come on one walk but here are my comments.

I thought the website was excellent.  I find the descriptions of the rambling club’s walks is always clear and useful, and the layout of the festival walks was bright, very simple and appealing.
Equally, booking was straightforward.

The one walk I went on the Cleeve Prior walk on the 30th June, led by Trevor and Lesley.  I thought it was wonderful and have been meaning to write a note to Trevor and Lesley to thank them again for such a great afternoon.  The first thing that was lovely was that, not having been out with the club for some time, I had a very friendly welcome when I turned up. It is of course a lovely area and the route was varied and easy to walk.  Trevor had done some research on various points along the way, Alan and others were also able to shed light on other details and we were fortunate to have someone from Vale Heritage Trust with us who told us lots of interesting information about the management of Windmill Hill, market gardening and the hovel project.  Then, back at Cleeve Prior Field Barn – where we had tea and cake in a lovely setting – we were told more about the hovel project and taken to see Edgar Wheeler’s hovel, extraordinary.  It really was an excellent event and I would thoroughly encourage anyone to join in.

It was also very well organised.  Pauline was standing on the roadside wearing a high vis jacket to direct cars to the site.  This was very useful as the entrance is not immediately obvious.  Trevor and Lesley both wore high vis jackets too, with Trevor leading and Lesley following at the back to make sure we were all okay and staying together”.  Anne

“Having seen a poster reminding me of the festival, I found the website easy enough to book a walk. I very much enjoyed the   Sunday walk around the Lenches.  The local club where we started and finished offered a lovely setting and excellent hospitality. The post walk barbecue and convivial atmosphere was a bonus”. Jon

“I was very pleased to take part in the festival this year and my experience exceeded my expectations.

The website, posters and leaflets were very helpful, attractive and gave all the information needed.

Booking was straightforward for me on this occasion. I had no difficulty using the online service.

The two walks I attended were very enjoyable and manageable. I hope anyone attending would have felt enthused and welcomed by leaders and volunteers.

The conversations and feedback during walks from non-members I heard were entirely positive. Walkers asked lots of questions about the club and about membership.

Thank you again for the hard work and organising”

I look forward to seeing the reviews. Hsyril

“I took part in the walk from Daylesford last Friday. It was clear a lot of work had gone into organising it!

The sheepdog demonstration was very interesting and the shepherd highly entertaining (it is what made me book this walk). The walk leader did a really good job of knowing when to move on, so that we would finish on time. It would have been very easy to overrun.
The information about the doom painting, church and Jane Austen connection, sculpture and the really informative talk to start the day off from a member of Daylesford team made this one of the best, most interesting walks I have ever done at any walking festival – anywhere! And, bonus, we finished a bit early which allowed time for coffee and a potter round Daylesford.

Right number of leaders on this walk too, it was popular and fully booked.

It was easy to book. Website clear and easy to use. Only family commitments stopped me walking on other days of the festival.

Thank you very much for a really enjoyable day”. Lynn

“Excellent walk last Thursday pm – the Orchid walk from Cleeve Prior barn to the Littletons and back; including stops to visit the preserved tithe barn, and the beautiful meadows with their pyramidal, common green -and a solitary bee orchid – not to mention the other meadow flowers and insects, birds etc that love them. Good length, good commentary on what we were seeing, and tea and cake at the end. Thank you”. Jane

“Website was still dormant during February, when I was itching to book walks.

Booking process seemed easier this year

Evesham walk fascinating and excellent, some unexpected content, Tewkesbury walk really good, especially the Saxon church with the 13th century frescoes.

Daylesford organic farm.  Loved the sheep dog demonstration.   Bought some ham, strawberry jam, and single Gloucester cheese. Ham was melt in the mouth delicious; I haven’t opened the cheese yet as I have been away. I gave the jam to a friend for her birthday.  All were very expensive

Always seems a very friendly group, some local people, and others like me who were/are city dwellers.  I had a lovely 4 days in the vale, and unfortunately had to miss the BBQ, which I hope went well.

Thanks very much for all the guides, as well as those who made sure us walkers suffered little from stings and scratches”. Lis

“Well run and easy to pick and book walks. We enjoyed both walks that we attended many thanks”. Sean and Helen

“I attended 2 walks with Graham and be enjoyed both immensely. I do have some feedback:

Website – it did a brilliant job. Also, the leaflet, which was attractive.

Booking system – also easy to use. It’s my fault I couldn’t find the tickets on my phone easily! I think this is a problem when you book many tickets online – trying to remember which ticket system sent the booking confirmation and ticket. Maybe it is worth mentioning somewhere in the booking process that you will receive an email from Evesham Walking Festival 202x with your tickets – that way you can search on your phone for it.

The walks – we went on 2.  The Round Evesham walk took longer than scheduled as you know. This wasn’t a problem but I was very hungry at the end of it as I’d assumed we’d be back in time for lunch in town and had only brought one energy bar with me. My fault of course! So generally, I would say that in future it would be good to schedule a 10–15-minute break at say half way so people can sit down and have a snack, and let people know this at the start of the walk and in the blurb. This comment applies equally to the Adlestrop walk. The Adelstrop walk was wonderfully interesting (especially the talks/sheepdog at Daylesford) and definitely worth doing, but I would really have liked a short rest half way round. I was very pleased there were no dogs on the walks.

Looking forward to next year’s festival and we’ll try to do more than 2 walks”. Mary

“Website
Very easy to use and very informative

Booking system
Couldn’t be simpler, with quick confirmation too

Walks
Great variety of lengths to suit all walking ability

Other
I felt well looked after from the initial greeting, throughout the walk, and the summing up at the end”. David

“Dear organisers,
I joined your festival for two walks. The Hanbury Circular and The Queen of the Castle. You have asked for feedback so here are my comments: I very much enjoyed the walks; they were well organised and very friendly. I can’t comment on the website as I’m not a big internet user. I asked my son to book the walks for me, I don’t think he had any difficulty. I was very grateful for the leaflet advertising the walks which I picked up in the local shop in South Littleton. I wouldn’t have been aware of the festival without it. Leaflet was very well laid out and explicit. I was sad that the Steam train from Broadway was full up. Maybe you could extend the numbers another year? I wasn’t able to make the final Lenches walk but thought it was a nice idea to finish with a BBQ. I am considering joining your rambling group, so I think it was a job well done! Thank you”. Susan

“Hi, thank you for such a great festival.

Website
Clear, colourful, inviting, detailed, well laid out, very impressed by it and user friendly

Booking system
Easy to use and very effective, did exactly what it needed to do

Walks
Did two walks, (wish I could have done more), well organised, friendly, knowledgeable leaders. Wonderful routes and well maintained, friendly group of fellow walkers. Liked the choice of different distances.

Really enjoyed the whole experience, hadn’t know of the club or of the festival until I saw a flyer advertising it. Had the opportunity to join two walks and will be joining the group. Enabled me to discover my local area more.

Thank you for all the work and effort that everyone put into the event”.  Vanessa



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