Phone on, walk off

Ramblers Cymru has been pioneering new technology that turns your mobile phone into a state-of-the-art walking guide, and aims to get 10% more people walking in Wales over the next four years. Andrew McCloy takes a look at the future of walking with eTrails…

Like them or loathe them, mobile phones are taking their place beside a map and compass as essential rucksack items. Until now it’s been about personal safety and making calls, but for a new generation of walkers, mobiles are becoming a source of information – even when out walking. And a groundbreaking project by Ramblers Cymru is showing how this new technology is set to change people’s approach to walking in the future.

“A mobile is no longer just a phone, ” says Rob Hanna, Ramblers Cymru’s senior development and promotion officer. “Think of it as a portable computer serving up data. ” Rob and his colleagues at Ramblers Cymru are behind a project called Activate, which is developing a software application that will make masses of information available via the phone in your hand. In simple terms, if you have the latest type of mobile phone – a so-called ‘smartphone’ with high-speed internet access, such as an iPhone – you will be able to bring up not just text and images but also video and audio information about a location. You can even use it to follow a specific walking route, or what’s being called an eTrail.

“An eTrail is like a virtual guidebook on your mobile phone, ” explains Rob. “It’s not meant to replace a printed map or guidebook, but it will be better than a simple leaflet. We’re aiming it at individuals and very small groups where the information can be easily used and shared. ”

Ramblers Cymru has identified around 130 different organisations across Wales that put on guided or led walks, including local authorities, national parks and charities such as the RSPB. The idea behind the Activate ‘app’ (short for application) is that for the first time all this information will be brought together in one place – specific to your location and downloadable to your phone – doing away with the arduous task of trawling through numerous websites or visiting libraries and information centres. So, if you’re walking in the Black Mountains or the Cardiff area, you will be able to find out who is leading what walk and where at the click of a button, in both English and Welsh.

The process of collating all this data is likely to reveal some interesting results in terms of the prevalence of walking information in Wales and where the gaps are. But it will also provide the opportunity to prise out information from many varied and interesting places, so much so Rob enthusiastically describes it as “the mass trespass of the virtual environment! ”

In the long run, Activate meets the need for sustainability, too. Not only will it be a paper-free resource, but it aims to be financially self-supporting. Maintenance costs will be light and mostly met by the price of the app, plus a small fee that other organisations will be invited to pay to upload their information and establish web links. The project has received the support of the Welsh Assembly, and was launched at the Eisteddfod in Ebbw Vale in August. A wide range of partners is involved, including Visit Wales, Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, and the National Museum of Wales. But its success also reflects the young and innovative team at Ramblers Cymru, typified by 23-year-old Activate researcher Sammy Milston. “Lots of people are into this sort of technology, particularly from my own age group, ” she says. “It’s reckoned that there will be more than 40 million smartphones in use in the UK by 2012, and without doubt it’s one way for us to communicate with and incentivise a younger audience. It’s important for the future of the Ramblers. ”

New technology, new audiences
Smartphones will soon make up the lion’s share of mobile phones in Britain and they’re already popular with travellers and outdoor enthusiasts, not least because they have a built-in global positioning system (GPS) facility, allowing you to pinpoint your exact location. And since you can combine this with an app offering detailed Ordnance Survey mapping, it’s easy to see why a mobile is indispensable for a growing number of people. Even patchy mobile coverage in rural areas is not a barrier for an app like Activate – you simply download it before you set off or go out of range and then bring it up on screen when necessary.

Sammy and her colleagues are convinced that this new technology will be at the heart of walking in the future, where a podcast (a downloadable audio program) on a mobile phone will be as familiar as the page of a printed guidebook. But they also see it as an important part of the solution in tackling growing inactivity and obesity levels in Wales, since one of the project’s aims is to get 10% more people walking within four years.

An eTrail network
If all this talk of apps and smartphones is a little bewildering, it’s worth bearing in mind that it’s essentially just communicating the same message, but in a more modern way to reach new audiences. Getting people out walking is still the core aim, and community and heritage are at the heart of each walk developed as an eTrail. Llantwit Major in South Wales provided the pilot eTrail, after Ramblers Cymru teamed up with the town council, Local History Society, and Rights of Way and Heritage Coast officers to develop a series of short local routes. For the most part these have been modelled on existing trails for which leaflets are now out of date or unavailable. They include a Blue Plaque town trail looking at historic buildings, wildlife walks along the Heritage Coast, and a poetry trail in St Illtyd.

When complete, the Llantwit Major eTrails won’t just include maps and advice on where to go; there will be, for instance, audio sections where you can listen to local historians talking about a heritage attraction you’re standing in front of. In many ways it moves the walking guidebook into a whole new dimension. “By establishing a series of local eTrails, a process has been developed that directly involves the community, ” explains Rob Hanna. “Our facilitator works closely with local people so that they learn the necessary skills to explore themes such as nature, history and culture, through local walking routes. At the same time, the Ramblers raises its profile and perhaps gets some new members, while leaving a worthwhile legacy for the local community. ”

Eddie Williams, a Llantwit Major town councillor, says that overall it’s been a worthwhile experience. “The project has brought together many different local groups and organisations,” he says, “and hopefully we can continue to build on these links with future eTrails. ” Indeed, minds are already turning to how eTrails can be rolled out in other communities, and how the knowledge and expertise within local Ramblers groups can be used to further the project. With a process or ‘toolkit’ taking shape, local Ramblers can be trained to develop eTrails with new communities.

It seems ironic that despite being a ‘virtual’ project, eTrails is destined to make such a lasting contribution to enhancing local heritage – not least because it will form part of a national initiative called the People’s Collection Wales. Funded by the Welsh Assembly, the vast archive aims to preserve and promote Wales’s cultural heritage by gathering digital content from a wide range of places – not just museums and libraries, but local groups, individuals and community-led projects like eTrails, too. Eventually you’ll be able to search online for any aspect of Welsh life in the form of documents, photographs and films, with the chance to view virtual artefacts in 3D and even explore animated, reconstructions of historical sites. It’s cutting edge stuff, and pioneering projects such as the Ramblers’ eTrails are showing how new technology can deliver stunning interactive content at the click of a button. Forget the term ‘next generation phones’ – this is next generation walking.

Going Mobile: Walking apps and sites for your smartphone

Apps
RouteBuddy – www.routebuddy.com
Turns your iPhone into a handheld GPS unit with detailed Ordnance Survey mapping available, including all 15 national parks.
Peaks – http://peaks.augmented-outdoors.com
Point your phone’s camera at any one of more than 500,000 hills worldwide and this app will tell you its name, location and altitude.
Midge Forecast – http://2010.midgeforecast.co.uk
A Scottish-based national midge forecast that warns you where the beasties are biting.
www.GPSmyCity.com
One of many self-guided walking apps with maps and route description for cities worldwide.
Activate – due late-2010.

Podcasts
Peak District – www.moorsforthefuture.org.uk/mftf/audiotrails.htm
The Peak District‘s award-winning audio guide, including maps, images and GPS co-ordinates.

Wainwright – www.golakes.co.uk/downloads/podcasts/wainwright.aspx
Listen to Alfred Wainwright guiding you around Helm Crag, Grasmere.

Ramblers

Twitter – follow the Ramblers (twitter.com/RamblersGB), its campaigns (twitter.com/HeartofWalking), or this magazine (twitter.com/walkmagazine) for brief updates on the world of walking.
Facebook – meet and discuss walking with others at the Ramblers’ (tinyurl.com/ramblersfb) and walk magazine’s (tinyurl.com/walkfb) Facebook pages.
E-newsletters – www.ramblers.org. uk/newsletter Subscribe, manage and receive e-newsletters from the Ramblers on walk magazine, volunteering and Get Walking Keep Walking.
Group walks finder – www.ramblers. co.uk/map Search thousands of Ramblers-led walks using the improved search facility, with OS mapping.