Hello Everyone,
The end of term is drawing near and now we only have two more walks before the holidays.
- Sunday 30th November - Caerphilly Castle (A,1)
- Sunday 7th December - Pontardulais (B,2)
Sign up this week for Caerphilly Castle. This walk is quite short and gentle; it visits two castles, Coch and Caerphilly (a great medieval castle, 2nd largest in Britain). We will also start signing up for our last walk this week, Pontardulais. This is a new walk and should be a nice end to our first term of hiking.
Don't forget that tomorrow, Tuesday 25th November, we will be having our social at Waterfront Winterland. Our main activity will be ice skating but there are other things to do there too such as riding the big wheel and the mini rollercoaster. The ice skating will cost £5 with a student card. We will be meeting at Yates, in town, at 7pm aiming to leave at 7.30pm to make the 8pm ice skating session.
Hello everyone,
Hope that those who went on Sunday enjoyed our double walk. If you have any photographs either from snowy Pen y Fan or the Brecon Canal walk, and you would like them to appear on the website please contact the webmaster or ask at sign up. We already have some photographs from Pen y Fan up if you missed it and photos for the Cefn Bryn night hike on halloween that our reps Megan and Lesley led very well.
Our next walk is the Peak District Weekend Away, Friday 7th -> Sunday 9th November. The Peak District is a great part of England and I hope those who go have a great time. You can see some photographs from previous years here.
Our next social is tonight! Laser Zone... We will be meeting at Yates at 7pm then heading over to Laser Zone, behind Pizza hut, at 7.30pm. We should be playing 2 games and it will cost £7. Afterwards we will probably chill out and have a few drinks.
Our biggest social of the year, the Christmas Ball, is fast approaching! Thursday 4th December at the Oxwich Bay hotel, tickets are on sale now! It will cost £20 to provide for food, transport and a bottle of wine between two. We will have a copy of the menu for you to choose from at sign up and you can sign up over the next couple of weeks. Don't leave it too late though! We recommend that as many hikers attend as possible, it's not a social to be missed! Photographs from previous years are available here.
This week we will also start sign up for our following hike, Sugar Loaf and Abergavenny, Sunday 16th November. This walk is an A,2 and will cost £5.
We will be having an extra social this week: a meal together in Pub on the Pond, this Tuesday 28th. This nice pub next to uni and the boating lake has a 2 for £10 meal offer so it won't be too expensive! We will be meeting outside Fulton House at 6pm then walking over to the pub. After the meal (and probably some desserts and games of pool) we will decide what to do next!
There have been many photographs added to our gallery and you can view photos from our last 3 day walks and our weekend away to Elan Valley and Devil's Bridge. We also have some photographs from our socials, and the Christmas Dinner album is a good one to look at and as we prepare to sign up for this year's Christmas Dinner very soon. You can also view photographs from our night hikes and get some ideas to dress up for this one.
Hello Everyone,
Firstly we have two first year reps, Lesley Moore and Megan Jones, and an international rep Julia Fuss; congratulations to those three!
Our upcoming social is on halloween next week, Friday 31st October, Cefn Bryn Night Hike. Night hike's are always a fun and unique experience and on this one some of us will be dressing up! This is optional but there will be a prize for the best dressed. Just to make it clear saying that you have dressed up as a "hiker" doesn't count as a costume like our publicity secretary was planning to do... If you have a torch do bring it along (it's not necessary we won't be completely in the dark!), it's also good to take a thermos of your favourite hot drink. Make sure you have enough clothes to keep warm. We have a few places left and you sign up during tomorrow's walk or at sign up next Wednesday, it will cost £2.50.
Our next walks after tomorrow's Weobley Castle are Pen y Fan (C,3) and Brecon Canal (A,1). These walks are both in the same area so you can sign up for this walk and decide on the day wether you want the harder walk going up the highest mountain in Brecon Beacons National Park with spectacular views or a flat much easier stroll along the beautiful Brecon Canal. These walks will take place on Sunday 2nd November. Sign up after tomorrow's walk, or at the sign ups next week.
The date for the Christmas Dinner, our biggest social of the year, has been confirmed as Thursday 4th December. Check out photographs from our previous Christmas Dinner socials here. This will be a fantastic night and we will be begining sign up for this soon so watch your emails!
Hi everyone.
Our next social is this Tuesday (14th October) at Whitez Pool and Snooker Hall. We will be meeting at Uplands Tavern at 6.30pm and heading down to play pool at 7pm (you can meet us at Whitez from 7pm onwards). There are some photos from our previous pool social here. It promises to be good fun!
Our next hike is the Elan Valley Weekend Away, Friday 17th - Sunday 19th October. Elan Valley is in mid Wales and only a 2-3 hours drive away in the minibus. We will be staying in a nice bunk house and all you need to bring is your walking gear, clothes and food for Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday. We will also probably eat at a pub on Saturday evening but there are cooking facilities there. To see photographs from last years walk and a few photos of the accommodation (including Martin our Chairman climbling through the stairs, and some of us sliding on cusions down the stairs...) click here. This was the walk with the impressive reflections!
Our walk after that is Weobley Castle, on Saturday 25th October. This is in North Gower and features salt marshes, sand dunes, and a well preserved castle to look around. You can sign up for this walk from this Wednesday (15th October), on Friday or the two sign ups in the following week.
Our future social on Wednesday 22nd October is the First Year Rep Elections. We will be handing out two positions for first year reps and one international rep. This is a chance for first years in the club to get more involved, attend committee meetings and have some input. Any new members in the club can stand.
Hello everyone.
I hope those of you who came on the Amroth to Tenby hike last Saturday have recovered from the very wet walk. If anyone did manage to take any photos and would like them to appear on the website (or any photos from the first walk, Port Eynon to Rhossili), please email the webmaster. You can send the files by email or lend me a usb drive or cd with them on. Don't forget after every walk you can go to our Gallery and view the photographs people have taken.
Tomorrow evening (Tuesday 7th October), is our equipment trip social and remember that the Hiking Club rules regarding equipment (see news item below) are now in effect. Everyone has a good chance to buy what they need tomorrow (6pm in Field and Trek with an up to 70% discount just for us), or if you miss that there are plenty of outdoor shops in Swansea; Millets, Blacks, and Leisure Quest in the high street, Field and Trek in the centre, are just a few examples.
Our next walk, Sunday 12th October, is Offa's Dyke. Note that this walk is a C,3 (more than 12 miles long with 500m or more height gain), all grade information is found at the bottom of the Walks page. Offa's Dyke is the boundary between England and Wales, and the walk offers stunning views - if you have a camera bring it to this hike! To sign up for this walk you can come along to sign up in JC's, Wednesday or Friday 12.30-1.30pm, or sign up at the social tomorrow. If you can't make any of those times send us an email with your name and AU number and pay before walk.
Also the latest hiking newsletter, September 2008, is now online. You can view the pdf file here.
- ALL hikers MUST have boots which come up around the ankle bone with a good sole.
- Anyone wearing Jeans or similar heavy trousers WILL NOT BE ALLOWED to Hike. This is because as the weather gets colder and wetter these types of clothes pose a severe risk of hypothermia to the Hiker.
Unfortunately, if anyone turns up wearing unsuitable equipment we will have to turn you away. If you have any questions please come and see us in JCs on Wed or Friday (12.30-1.30, coffee shop side) Or in Field and Trek this Tuesday evening (6pm).
Firstly if you didn't join at fresher's fayre, but you're still interested, you can come along to our sign ups and become a member there. First one will be tomorrow (Friday 26th September) in JC's quiet side from 12.30-1.30pm, then every Wednesday and Friday of term at the same time and place, and you can join us any time in the year. Don't forget your AU card and £10.
Welcome to those of you who have joined us this year! There are still a very few places left for this sunday's introductory walk Port Eynon to Rhossili which costs £5. If you haven't already signed up you can come along tomorrow to our 12.30-1.30pm sign up in JC's. There is also our first social next Tuesday, 30th September, a BBQ and Beach Party costing £2 to cover for food, which you can sign up for Friday or after Sunday's walk. As well as those we have started signing up for our second walk, Amroth to Tenby (Pembrokeshire Coast), on Saturday 4th October. This is also £5 and you can sign up this Friday, after Sunday's walk, or next week at our two sign ups.
Don't forget you can check out our walks calender for the year here, and our socials calender here. You can also join our facebook group here. If you have any questions you can email us at info{at}uwshiking.org.uk, or email one of our committee members here.
Thank you for joining and we hope you all have a great year hiking with us.
To join the club you must first be a member of the AU (Athletics Union), which you can easily join online here and pick up your card from the fair (there will also probably be computers there if you're willing to queue!). With your AU card you can join us at Fresher's or if you miss it you can come to our regular sign ups, every wednesday and friday 12.30-1.30pm in JC's quiet side, and join then. Membership will cost £10.
We are an extremely active club with walks every Sunday and socials every week. We do a range of walks such as gentle strolls along the beautiful Gower, hiking along ridges, and walking along reservoirs and waterfalls. And being students of course we end each walk at a pub, allowing time for a drink, chat and a well deserved break! Whatever the walk or the weather we always have fun.
Hiking is a brilliant way to get some exercise, meet new people, and relax while visiting some of the great sites around the country. Check out the Walks Calender to see the walks planned for this year. If you need further convincing have a look at our Gallery with thousands of photos from previous walks and social events. If you have one you'll certainly want to bring your camera along to the walks. We hope to see you there!
Thanks to everyone who took part or sponsored Hikers for the Sponsored Walk back in April. We raised a total of £522 for the Central Beacons Mountain Rescue Team who do a great job in South Wales rescuing anything from sheep to walkers and are on call every day of the year.
If anyone has suggestions for a charity for this coming year's walk (provisionally on the 19th April 2009) please get in touch.
Hello everyone! Hope all those who went to the Lakes had a great time and enjoyed themselves, it was definately a good week. There are now some Lake District photos up on the website with hopefully more to follow; don't forget to get in touch if you want your photographs from the trip to appear. If you still have other photos from walks this year lying around that you would like to appear on the website get in touch as well!
Hope everybody has had a fantastic year hiking; if you won't be around next year try to stay in touch. Look forward to seeing most of you in September along with loads of new members. Have a great summer everyone!