About Walk 4 Life

1. How do I find a walk?

You can use the site to find a walk without signing up - this may be the easiest place to start. If you go to www.walk4life.info you will see the home page with a box showing a search - called "find a walk now".

Type your postcode into the box (the text inside will disappear) - either just the first half of your postcode or the full postcode and press 'search'. Hopefully you will now have a list of walks. If you don't see any walks select the tab "Search for a Walk" in the menu or press "Extend my search" from the home page. This way you can search a wider area - you can select up to 50 miles radius.

If you are not having any success try putting in a different place to see what you find, try Halifax as an example. The computer uses like an index at the back of a book to search through all those place names. It may find a couple of places in its index that match your search word, so it may ask you to specify which of its guesses you mean. This way you should find local walks.

2. My fitness is showing as zero - how does that work ?

The fitness test only works if you have completed a fitness test route and entered your time and pulse rate. It doesn't calculate your fitness on how far or how often you walk - so even if you have completed a lot of walks unless you have taken a walking fitness test your result will show as zero. More information is on the fitness test route pages.

3. Where can I find a walk suitable for my pushchair or wheelchair?

Many of the walks will be suitable for all users, including people with pushchairs or wheelchairs. If you search for walks in an area, then select the "Search for a Walk" tab in the menu and look specifically for walks which are barrier free, or flat, and also see those where potential hazards such as busy roads or flights of steps, have been identified. We have also started to identify routes which are suitable for trampers (see below for more information).

4. What is a "tramper route"?

A tramper is an all-terrain wheelchair with rugged wheels and a low centre of gravity. Trampers have even scaled Snowdon! So, gradients or surfaces aren't always the challenge for people with a tramper. Neither is distance such a problem because the batteries tend to have a good range. However, any restricted widths (narrow gate), steps, stiles (obviously), narrow bridges or a chicane would or could be a barrier. Having wheelchair accessible toilets (or knowing other such facts before you go) is a big help for tramper users.

Some country parks, National Trust properties, nature reserves, National Parks and National Trails have trampers available locally to hire. At the same time they are now creating walks especially for trampers and disabled people who like a variety of countryside types and a bit of an adventure! Often a tramper route is also suitable for people with a rugged-type pushchair as well.

People with their own trampers need to be able to transport them to the start of the walk, which would mean a parking spot with enough room for a trailer as well. The disabled ramblers organises regular social rambles across the country on routes which have been checked beforehand.

Trampers are manufactured by Beamer Ltd although there are other similar machines on the market, for instance the TGA Breeze and the Horizon off-road scooters as this BBC discussion forum shows!

5. I have added a walk in the wrong place, or made a mistake - how can I edit / delete it?

• Editing: 

When you add a route you need to double click to finish the route. Sometimes in trying to complete a route you can end up drawing your walk in the wrong place. If this happens and you save the walk at that moment, don't worry you will be able to edit it. When you are logged in and looking at the walk, along the top of the map, you should see a green "Edit" button (between "Share" and "Upload Image"). Just click on it and then the editing tools will appear. You can move the nodes about using the mouse to drag and drop. You can delete wrong nodes simply by hovering over them with the mouse and pressing "delete" on your keyboard. You can scrap the whole route and start again using the map tools on the left-hand side of the map. If you need more help on how to create / edit your routes, please go to this tutorial page.

• Deleting: 

If you are not happy at all with the route you created and would rather erase it completely, you have to get in touch with us. To do so, we have added a "delete form" that you will find under the "Edit" button located on top of the route you created. Hover your mouse over the "Edit" button (between "Share" and "Upload Image") and you will find "delete". Just click on it and the form will appear. You can then let us know why you want this route being deleted.

6. Can I take my dog on the walks ? 

Dogs are allowed on all pavements and public rights of way, as long as they are under close control, so you should have no problem taking your dog on the majority of the walks on the site. If a walk is on land where dogs are not allowed there should be a note to explain this. Please poop-scoop responsibly!

7. I can’t set up an account – can you send me details through the post?

The walk4life project is very much web-based. We don't have any materials we can send you through the post. If you have access to the internet you should be able to use the site and to sign up. If you are having problems please make a note of what the problem is, and send us an email to websupport@walkengland.org.uk. If possible please tell us what internet browser you are using, and send a screen shot or say what error messages you can see.

8. I’ve looked on your site and there aren’t any walks in my area!

We're sorry that you didn't find walks in your area. Walk England and our supporters have been adding routes in as many places as possible, but inevitably there are some areas which have yet to have walks added.

Try search a wider area - you can now search over a 50 mile area which should be enough to find you a walk. New walks are being added every day. You can add your own too of course, or encourage other people to! Please be patient and have another look in a few weeks.

The Walk4Life mapping doesn't cover Northern Ireland. If you live in Wales or Scotland you will probably find a few walks added by other people, but Walk England aren't actively promoting the website there (although it is great that people there have found it and started using it!)

9. Is there a legend or key to the map used on the website?

At the bottom of the map is a "map legend" button which opens up with information about the 1:25,000 scale mapping and the 1:50,000 scale mapping.  

All the maps are uploaded directly from the Ordnance Survey website and by default don't contain any key. However you can download the different legends from the Ordnance Survey (Look at the bottom of the page under "Map symbol sheets" or use the menu on the left-hand side).

The closest two rungs on the Walk4Life mapping zoom ladder are called "Street View" and its legend is available to download from a different place on the Ordnance Survey website.

10. Can I use copies of the printed maps in my own walks leaflet?

WalkEngland have a licence agreement with Ordnance Survey (OS) for every map tile viewed and the copyright text prints on the top-right hand corner of all the maps. Firstly, you need to ask yourself who are your leaflets being funded by? Walk4Health (Natural England)? The local Council? Another organisation?

All these bodies will probably have OS licence agreements of their own. Ordnance Survey prefers people to use the relevant local licence in any printed material. If you are being asked to produce leaflets for your health group or for your council or similar, then this is generally considered to be a fair use of their licence. It is this one you should use in your leaflets.

The local organisation may ask you to sign a licence agreement to become a "sub contractor" - but that is generally a formality and quite normal. As a result, you will then have permission to write that organisation's copyright text in the corner of your leaflet map. Part of that text is the licence number with the year. Exactly what to write is generally included in the licence agreement you will be asked to sign. Another thing to consider is that the map in any of these leaflets has to be smaller than A4 to fit within these rules, otherwise the copyright text is much longer and bigger!

If there is difficulty getting through to the right person in this organisation and asking the right questions they you may need to ask to speak to a GIS officer or an OS liaison officer. If there is still difficulty we may be able to help you! So in brief, provided the walks leaflet is what that local organisation supports, it is fairly likely that you will get permission to their OS licence number.

11. I can see a mistake on the base map, what should I do?

The mapping is from Ordnance Survey, you need to let them know, their email address is customerservices@ordnancesurvey.co.uk and you may like to attach a screen shot to help them.  OS reprint their paper maps every 4-5 years, but if there are big changes in a certain area (e.g. a housing development) they may bring this forward.  There is no specific number of changes they wait for before organising an update to the base map. 

12. Can I use your logo? 

The actual walk4life logo (made out of jelly men bending over) belongs to Change4Life / Department for Health. It is best to contact Change4Life to ask about that logo.  You need to register with them and agree to their branding guidelines.  

If you mean the "want to know where to walk" logo or "looking for somewhere to walk" logo then contact us, with some details about what you'd like to use it on!  

13. How long will the project last?

Walk England have funding to run the website until the end of March 2013. We hope to be able to carry on for much longer than that, as we believe the site will grow in size and popularity. We have every hope of continuing for at least the next 5 years and indeed will be working hard to make sure this is the case!

14. Are there gradient limits on Walk4Life Miles?

We haven't set gradient limits for Walk4Life Miles. Walk4Life Miles should be as accessible to as many people as possible - so we'd prefer not to have any really steep ones, or ones with flights of steps on. We know that in some places it is simply not possible to find flat routes - so we are happy to accept Walk4Life miles which have gradients. We trust our supporters to use their judgement and not to add routes which will put people off trying a walk for the first time. If you do add a Walk4Life Mile to the website which has a steep section, please mention this in the 'notes' box. Fitness test routes need to be flat, because people will be timing themselves and taking their pulse at the end!

15. Have you got a step converter for walks which aren't already plotted?

As of October 2011, yes you can!  You need to log in, go to "track my progress" and then click the blue ' input your activity button' on the left hand side of the page.

16. Is it possible to upload walks from a GPS kit?  

The website doesn't have the facility to upload walks from a GPS kit.  The website was developed to encouarage non-walkers to walk.  During the initial research, the desire for this tool was never raised, as non-walkers are unlikely to be using GPS kits!  The website has evolved since the initial research and a few people have asked this question. There are no plans to add a GPS-upload tool at the moment, but we do have an app available!   This lets you map a walk simply by walking along the route with the app active on your phone.  To find out more about the app, go here.

17. What is the connection between Walk4Life and Walking for Health? 

Walking for Health is a national scheme running led walks to encourage people to be more active. Walk4Life offers information and encouragement to be more active, mainly through providing walk information. There are close links between Walk4Life and Walking for Health, but the schemes are run by different organisations.  Also on the Walk4Life website, people can add their own independent walks, track the miles they have walked, and set themselves a target to stay motivated.  

In March 2012 it was announced that Walking for Health will be moving host from Natural England to The Ramblers Association / Macmillan Cancer Support.  This change for Walking for Health doesn't affect this website, Walk4Life, at all.  We will continute to support groups and work with whovever takes on running the project.

18. I see you are also working in Wales and Scotland - how come? 

Health matters are different in Wales and Scotland of course.  But the agreement we have with Ordnance Survey means that the maps work for the whole of Britain.  So it would seem crazy not to let Welsh people and Scottish people know about the website!  Sorry but the maps don't work for people in Northern Ireland - where both health matters and ordnance survey are different.  

19. Is there a date for the National Walk4Life Day 2012?

The Department of Healthare committed to Walk4Life and are planning to hold another Walk4Life dayin the autumn.  For the past two years it has been towards the end of September.  The date for 2012 has not yet been released - for more information contact malcolm.fawcett@dh.gsi.gov.uk

20. Supporting the project - How can my organisation get involved with the project?

The best way for you to get involved is to become an authorised supporter of the project. Contact Abi on websupport@walkengland.org.uk for a username and password. As soon as you have your username you can sign up to www.walk4life.info as a supporter and add your routes and events to the site. There is now a dedicated section for our supporters on the website.

Supporters can :

• make a note about a walk that stays visible at all times
• use the tick boxes to say if a route is flat, barrier free, etc
• create Walk4Life Miles
• add events

Supporters are also kept in touch with regular communication from us.