Best foot forward!
Walking groups are now a popular part of life in retirement developments
VISIT a modern retirement village and you are likely to find a state of the art fitness centre, gym classes and even an Olympic-size swimming pool.
Yet the most popular form of exercise for most residents is still walking. Across the country, groups of elderly people are striding out on regular hikes — and feeling a lot healthier as a result.
‘Our walks are now an integral part of the social calendar,’ says Will Parry at Renaissance Villages ( renaissancevillages.co.uk).
‘The walking club at Durrants Village in Horsham, West Sussex, follows paths through our own woodland.’
There are considerable benefits for putting one foot in front of the other. A report by the Ramblers and Macmillan Cancer Support titled Walking Works found that walks amounting to about 150 minutes a week could save 37,000 lives a year and lead to 300,000 fewer cases of type 2 diabetes.
Scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California found that brisk walking reduces the risk of heart disease more effectively than running.
Participants aged between 18 and 80 were observed over a sixyear period. Walking reduced the risk of heart disease by 9.3 per cent and running by 4.5 per cent.
It is not only residents at retirement villages in the countryside who form walking
groups. At McCarthy & Stone’s recently opened development, Cardamom Court in Bexleyheath, Kent, owners enjoy the buzz of being near the town centre ( mccarthyandstone.co.uk).
Residents are just a short stroll from the Broadway where there are cafes and shops,’ says house manager, Ashley Holsgrove. ‘It’s traffic-free and some are already thinking of selling their cars because they can get everything they need on foot.’
Holsgrove says the development is also near Hall Place, an interesting Tudor house, and Danson Park, where they can watch cricket and football matches.
Clearly, one advantage of walking over other activities is that it is easy to get started.ed
At Wadswick Green, Wiltshire, ( wadswickgreen. co. uk) two walking groups have been set up by Jenny Gray, who used to live in East Anglia and has also walked Alfred Wainwright’s 200-mile coast to coast path in only ten days.
‘We have a group for strollers and another for those able to do three or four miles,’ says Jenny, 68, who used to work as head of operations for a publishing company.
Apart from being physically good for people, walking is also thought to be psychologically beneficial. A 30-minute walk, five days a week helped participants sleep better during research tests at Oregon State University. As William Wordsworth and the other English romantic poets understood, it also helps people connect with nature. Green Exercise — the Essex University research team that has been studying the benefits of walking in green spaces — found that it reduces stress levels, improves mood, enhances psychological well- being and improves attention and concentration.
Going on organised walks is also a great way to break the ice socially — a huge benefit to new arrivals in a retirement village.
‘Our village is still being built and new people arrive all the time,’ says John Hayman, 79, who has been at Durrants Village for three years. ‘It’s far easier to chat with people on a walk than it is in a structured social setting.
‘So we’ll do our three or four miles, then we’ll stop at a pub or a cafe for a drink and a natter. We’d be lost without our walks.’
FRED REDWOOD