Look up at the Sky has taken Gemma from Hampton Court towards the Thames Barrier with the intention of exploring the peace and the pauses around London.

Gemma says: ‘Each walk is an informal stroll and everyone is encouraged to take in the journey at their own pace – with a notebook, a camera, a paintbrush, a basket to fill with flowers, or maybe just a map. We’re a small group of poets, writers, photographers and artists and others who have felt inspired to join.’

For more information visit www.lookupatthesky.co.uk, where you can contact Gemma directly.

Image by Mathew Hanratty

All the walks are at an easy pace and are suitable for people who are just starting out in walking, and as well as those who just want to slow down and enjoy what is good about our varied city.

The walks are led by experienced volunteers, and all ages walk with them. The London Strollers have a Saturday Stroll every week and organise weekday strolls too. Examples of recent walks include a Wimbledon circular, a city of London tour, a stroll around Brixton. as well as the popular Wednesday evening waterway walks along canals and the Thames. The London Strollers are looking to increase their membership and expand the number of walks they offer every week.

The London Strollers are part of the national Ramblers, who campaign to protect footpaths in the UK. The London Strollers would welcome fellow Slow Down Londoners on their walks. If you would like to join them please see their website at www.londonstrollers.org.uk where you can see details of their next few walks and how to join.

If you want more information please e-mail londonstrollers@gmail.com to join their mailing list.

Alex Mannings

If you’ll be organising it, you’ll need to buy resources by 19 March. If it’s not you, let the right person know, whether it’s your Head of Human Resources or Environmental Officer.

There is everything from posters and leaflets to pedometers, footcare kits and shoebags – perfect for letting people know about the Week and creating some healthy competition in and around the workplace.

The Week centres around our free online tool where you can register your workplace and then start encouraging individuals to sign up. During the Week, all you need to do is make an extra effort to walk and log what walking you do. You’ll be able to see how far you’ve walked, how many calories you’ve burned, compare your workplace results with other workplaces and even write Twitter-style ‘updates’ to let everyone know how you’re getting on.

Visit www.walkingworks.org.uk for more information.

Forget the hustle and bustle of travelling high speed around the Capital. It’s only when you take the time to wander round an area that you start to notice all the places that you usually rush past in a hurry.

Golders Green was London’s first Tube-created suburb and these walks are part of London Transport Museum’s exploration of the myth and identity of London’s suburbs.

During March 2010 London Transport Museum is inviting you to slow down and explore Golders Green on foot.

Local residents will guide you around and let you in on the suburb’s secrets.

There are three walks to choose from, allowing you to take time out to taste local delights, ramble in luscious green spaces or reflect in spiritual places.

The walks are free but tickets need to be pre-booked online via this link.

You can also see the exhibition Suburbia at our Covent Garden-based museum until 31 March 2010 - for further details visit London Transport Museum

Jane Audas / London Transport Museum

As the stroll reached its conclusion (at Angel tube station) its tired but happy participants were left to reflect on an afternoon spent making new friends and discovering hidden gems such as the New River Path and Canonbury Square.

Tessa Watt, Director of Slow Down London, said: “Walking at a slow pace brings our body and mind back into sync. The walk today felt natural and healthy and in keeping with what Slow Down London is all about – looking around us and appreciating our world.”

Only a quarter of the participants on the walk were members of Metropolitan Walkers – a reflection of the great strides made by Slow Down London in attracting members of the public to its relaxed, unhurried perspective.

“The fact that most of the people here today came solely for the Slow Down London event speaks volumes for the movement,” said the leader of the walk Phil Marson. Slow Down London, which was formed as a response to the stresses of city life, began its fortnight of activities with a ‘slow walk’ over Waterloo Bridge during rush hour on 24th April.

Reflecting on the festival, Watt, a former BBC Producer and self-confessed workaholic, said: “We get into habitual patterns. Events of this kind take us out of our everyday environment and experiences.”

Michael Isaac
Image by Jessica Scott

The crowd gathered at Embankment Gardens by the Thames at 5pm and were handed t-shirts and placards for the walk.
Speaking over a megaphone, one of the walk leaders Jane Ward told people to simply enjoy the experience and appreciate the changing views as they passed over the bridge.
The group then slowly made their way across the bridge in a narrow procession, flanked by news cameras and hurried passersby.

Strangers chatted to each other as they walked in the afternoon sunshine. “I’ve met so many people,” said Ruth Smith from west London. “When you’re buzzing along you aren’t really listening to other people, but when you slow down, suddenly everyone feels more comfortable just talking to each other.”

Others welcomed the chance to soak up the views of London at a slower pace. “You forget how beautiful London is when you’re rushing around,” said Philip Darby, a charity fundraiser from Surrey. “Walking slowly across the bridge makes you remember there is actually light and space in London, you just need to seek it out.”

Not everyone was taking the Slow approach across town. “Is this Slow Down London?” asked one woman as she hurried past towards Waterloo Station. “You really need to speed up.”

The walk ended outside the South Bank Centre,where the crowd listened to London singer Annalie Wilson in the last of the sun.

“It’s been a very calming and enjoyable experience,” said Slow Down London director Tessa Watt, who led the walkers over the bridge. “Just taking the time to enjoy the river and the views can have a powerful effect – they make you slow down and appreciate where you are.”

The Slow festivities continued at the National Portrait Gallery with live jazz and a talk on timekeeping by David Rooney from London’s Royal Observatory in Greenwich.

Chris Cox

Visit the Big Slow Walk photo gallery.

Watch a video of the Big Slow Walk on YouTube by Zelda Moehring.

Image by Richard Woolley

Met walkers

The Ramblers and the Metropolitan Walkers (a Ramblers group for Londoners in their 20s & 30s) will be organising a series of ‘slow down’ walks where Londoners of all ages can explore the greener and more tranquil parts of their city.

These free walks will take place every afternoon over the weekend of 25-26 April 2009 and the Bank Holiday weekend, and in the evenings on Tuesday 28th April 2009 and Thursday 30th April 2009.  For more information, click on the relevant date, or visit www.metropolitan-walkers.org.uk

Post Office © Fernando Carmona González

Post Offices are a good place to practise patience. I usually find that I think of the Post Office as somewhere I’ll just pop into quickly on the way somewhere else, so it’s a terrible shock to discover that the queue rivals Alton Towers on a bank holiday.

The best time to maximise on this painful lesson is around 5:15 on a Monday, when you have something for Special Delivery. It may seem like torture, but it can just bring you to have a sense of humour about yourself and your life-and-death missions, because you just have to let them go. Once you do, it’s a great place to people-watch. It’s like a more open version of the tube – we don’t want to be there, but we are, and we have something in common: the wait.

Of course there are some who withdraw into a stupor of resignation, but among the more adventurous a sort of queuing community can develop where there is space for interaction, if only about the price of bubble-wrap.

Metropolitan Walkers on a London bridge

As part of the series of ‘slow down’ walks during the 2009 Festival, join the Metropolitan Walkers for a 3 mile stroll along the Thames Path, ending at a pub near Borough tube station. We’ll enjoy views of some of London’s most famous landmarks.

Following a pace used in slow forms of ‘walking meditation’, we expect it will take each person about half an hour to cross the bridge. As we walk we’ll take in views of the London Eye, the Houses of Parliament, St. Pauls cathedral and the river.

Meet in Embankment Gardens at the east end, nearest to Waterloo Bridge. Wear white and/or blue if possible.

Image by David Merrigan.