GREENSWOOD Patient Group – Walks

Introduction

As you will know our GPs here actively encourage ‘healthy living’. As our contribution the Patients Group have prepared a series of walks in the fresh air that we hope you will with time to both enjoy and improve your wellbeing.

The Basics – nothing too demanding! Fresh air beats the gym any day. Always wear good walking shoes or boots with good treads – they don’t have to be expensive just comfortable. One (or two) walking poles will come in useful. Be prepared for a change in the weather – it could improve (or get worse). Always take water with you – it has no calories but keeps you hydrated. Always let someone know where and the direction you are going (e.g. clockwise or anticlockwise for a circular walk.) Remember mobile phone coverage is not always available ‘out of town’. For example on Walk 001 mobile phone coverage in the ‘dip’ is non-existent.

If you are just starting out on these walks to improve your wellbeing don’t aim for the moon! Take a day off to give your muscles a recovery time. As you progress you will find little by little that your modest slope becomes a gentle slope becomes a flat surface. A useful device – and relatively cheap - is a wrist ‘Heart Rate Monitor’ (HRM). With this you will be able to check how you respond to the effort put into, for example, climbing a slope. The doctor will let you know the maximum rate for you – the important issue is how quickly your heart rate returns to normal – with time you will see this change from several minutes to less than two – now you are getting somewhere. As a general rule your maximum heart rate should not exceed 220 less your age – example 60 yrs of age then the maximum heart rate is 160 beats per minute. A good working rate is 80% of this which you can sustain as long as you are comfortable so for the above example 128 bpm.

Give yourself a little objective each time you take a walk – for example on a clear day and with binoculars how many ships can you see? Which birds of prey are flying? What has changed since you last came this way? There is rarely a day goes by without some change in the surroundings whether the farmer has cut the hedgerows or have the sheep been moved and so on. Listen to the sound of the wind, sea and birds. Take a camera – no day is the same.

Enjoy

Greenswood Walks

Walk Reference 001

Notes for this walk:

Free Car Park SX	Open Views to South	Mild Gradients	Mixed Ground
Open to South & West	Seats	3 Gates	Bluebell Bank
Distance 1 km	Ascent/Descent 28/28 metres	Max Slope 20% 1 in 5 old money	2000 paces 25 mins <100 kcal

Greenswood Walks

Walk 002

Free Car Park SX	Open Views to North & South	Moderate Gradients	Mixed Ground but mainly stone/firm
Open to North East & South	Seats	2 Gates
Distance 1.5 km	Ascent/Descent 65/65 metres	Max Slope 25% 1 in 4 old money	3000 paces 40 mins 120 kcal

Greenswood Walks

Walk 003

Free Car Park SX	Open Views to North East	Moderate Gradients 113 Steep Steps	Ground mainly stone/firm + sand
Open to North East Winds	Seats	2 Gates
Distance 2.2 km	Ascent/Descent 93/93 metres	Max Slope 25% 1 in 4 old money	4000 paces 60 mins 180 kcal