Stepping into the future
Ramblers Cymru is taking walking into the 21st century with a pioneering project to provide online walking routes to encourage more young people to take up the healthy activity. Called e-trails, the digital routes can be downloaded on to any GPS-enabled mobile phone or laptop, and feature
audio and video clips with historical and cultural highlights.
Developed in partnership with Google, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston, USA, and Glasgow University, the first e-trail from St David’s to Newgale in the Pembrokeshire National Park was trialled last month (see the Routemaster on p49), which included podcasts from a national park ranger and the Bishop of St Davids Cathedral. Eventually, the route will be viewable online using Google Earth, and there are plans to explore liaisons with MySpace.
Robert Hanna, Ramblers Cymru’s project leader for web development initiatives, says: “The internet and other mobile technologies are a huge opportunity for the Ramblers to serve up its vast quantity of data concerning the walking environment to a new and IT-savvy audience. Look out for news of more developments soon.”
