A Walking Trek Across Northern England

ATTENTION: The Walking Trek Program has reached its maximum compliment. A new advisory note as to a follow-on program will be posted next year.

To visit the 2008 Trek's archive page, click here.

Overview

Arguably one of the most magnificent large-scale intensively managed landscapes in the world exists in northern England. Long distance hiking trails cross this beautiful landscape, linking ancient walker rights-of-way between villages and hamlets. The trail route for this Study Abroad runs the length of one of England's most famous landscape regions and parks: the Lake District. The class will also spend a day in the city Manchester to experience one of the world’s premier urban renewal programs. Unlike in America, England's National Parks are large-scale working landscapes almost exclusively in private ownership with numerous villages, commercial forests, and widespread agriculture. The management of these areas constitutes some of the most rigorous and sophisticated land planning, cultural heritage and trail management systems in the world, highly integrated into a sustainability framework for rural communities.

The 60 mile walking trek undertaken in this Study Abroad is a ready-made living laboratory for American planners, landscape architects, and other professionals engaged in rural development and outdoor recreation. It is a ramble filled with lessons, examples, ideas, and visual images that will last a lifetime of professional practice.

Accommodation and Meals

Participants will spend all of their nights in youth hostels in villages and hamlets along the way. Nightly accommodations are included in the trip cost. All meals will be provided (dinner, breakfast, and bag lunch for the next day's hike) at the youth hostels and are included in the price of the trip. There are four occasions where students will need to purchase their own lunch or dinner while on the trip.

Cost

The cost charged for the trip for VT students is projected to be $840. Any left over funds will be rebated back to registered students. The trip cost includes 10 nights of accommodations, the meals indicated above, admission to scheduled museums, and in country transfers. Airfare is not included in the price of this study abroad. This is done to provide flexibility for students who desire to choose their departure location. The majority of participants have chosen to arrive on the same flight from Roanoke on prior trips, flying into and out of Manchester, England. The trip leaders will coordinate rendezvous details. See the trip itinerary for details. As a rough guideline students should figure that they will incur approximately $860 more in incurred expenses for airfare and modest spending money, and for those meals not included in the trip charge noted above.

Course Credit

The class is conducted as a one-credit course. It is associated with a second, one-credit course module offered in the Spring semester where readings and lectures will be provided during a single Saturday session to prepare students for the trip. During the trip, instruction is largely limited to informal briefings and discussion. Students who cannot take the one credit course module may still participate in the study abroad with leader approval.

How to Sign Up

Due to limited accommodations on the hike, we reserve beds early and need to confirm commitments six months in advance. Expressions of interest and applications are due no later than October 1st. Early applications will be accepted and acted upon as they arrive. Once the desired number of participants have been selected, the trip registration will be closed. If your application is accepted, you will be notified, and a deposit of $400 will be shortly required - placed on your student account. The balance of payment is due in December. Deposits and balance of payments are generally non refundable due to the fact that costs are incurred to reserve the rooms and pay for other services. If a suitable replacement can be found for your position in the case of a cancellation, refunds may be provided. For further information or to have contact: Donald Chance at dochance@vt.edu.

Directors

Dr. Donald Chance, Professor in Practice in the Department of Urban Affairs and Planning will lead the program. He will be assisted by a number of other faculty.

Eligibility

First preference is given to graduate students and recent graduates in the planning and environmental management fields. Undergraduates at the Junior and Senior levels in the UAP planning programs, landscape architecture, rural development, outdoor recreation, or similar programs are also encouraged to apply. On some trips working professionals engaged in continuing education also participate. Interested spouses and planning faculty are, of course, welcome. Each Trek is generally limited to about 25-30 participants. All participants must be registered for VT standard academic or continuing education credits.

Format and Difficulty

This is a moderately rigorous walking trek of over 60 miles. Participants must be able to hike long distances of up to 18 miles a day (although most days are significantly shorter) with light to moderate weight packs of approximately 17 pounds or less. You must also be prepared to occasionally endure hardships, fatigue and severe weather with a smile. Pre-trip preparation and advice will be provided. The trek contains two lay-over days for exploring or day hiking. Previous back-packing/hiking experience is helpful but not necessary. Participants will also be trained to read the detailed maps that are required to navigate the route, and thus will have opportunities to hike on their own with one other partner.

Contact for Information

Donald Chance - dochance@vt.edu

For a two page pamphlet containing the information presented above, click here.