Walx Wessex is a community of people who love exploring the great outdoors, meeting new friends and building their health and fitness whilst having fun.
We’re based in the Wiltshire end of the North Wessex Downs AONB and have access to some amazing countryside for our walks such as the Ridgeway, the Pewsey Vale, the Kennet and Avon canal and the ancient landscape of Avebury.
We offer primarily nordic walks but also some Open walks for those that want to experience our walks and friendly groups with or without poles.
If you are ready to give it a go then look for one of our Power of the Poles courses. A 90 minute session to introduce you to using the poles and getting the most from them. After this course you can join our nordic walks and practice and perfect the technique on the walks. We can also offer an optional advanced POP course to prefect your faster techniques and hill work.
We also offer outdoor fitness (Total Body WALX) using our poles or using other equipment such as Smoveys or fitness bands or just what we find on a walk.
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Take a peek at what you might get up to on one of our Walx
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In 2023 our group were lucky enough to visit the walkers from Nordic Walk n’Talk based in Bassano Del Grappa in April and October. We met their leader, Julie Frankland and some of the group at a WALX Purbeck festival back in 2021 and started to plan some visits. We had a wonderful time in the
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So why is February one of my favourite months? Well it is my birthday month but its the new signs of life that appear this month that make me smile. Snowdrops and green shoots start to appear on verges in woodlands and on many of our walks giving hope for the spring ahead. Today is […]
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Here at WALX Wessex we are based around Marlborough, Hungerford and Pewsey which is right in the middle of the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). now known as National Landscape (NL). The North Wessex Downs National Landscape is a designated protected landscape. It straddles the boundaries of Berkshire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire and […]
Role: WALX Master
Ashley Sandy is our WALX Master. She started as a nordic walking instructor in 2015 and then formed WALX Wessex in 2018. Ashley learned to nordic walk originally when living in Switzerland in 2007. After returning to UK she was keen to find a similar group to walk with but couldn’t find anything so she started her own group! Since 2015, Ashley had built up a friendly group who walk around the Marlborough Downs, Pewsey Vale and K&A canal. When not nordic walking Ashley loves to travel, cook and spending time with family and friends. Ashley loves to challenge herself and has run and nordic walked quite a few distance paths over the years. Look out for more challenges in 2022 with Thames Path, trip to Lake District in the summer and plans to take us further afield in 2023!
Role: WALX Master
Ashley Sandy is our WALX Master. She started as a nordic walking instructor in 2015 and then formed WALX Wessex in 2018. Ashley learned to nordic walk originally when living in Switzerland in 2007. After returning to UK she was keen to find a similar group to walk with but couldn’t find anything so she started her own group! Since 2015, Ashley had built up a friendly group who walk around the Marlborough Downs, Pewsey Vale and K&A canal. When not nordic walking Ashley loves to travel, cook and spending time with family and friends. Ashley loves to challenge herself and has run and nordic walked quite a few distance paths over the years. Look out for more challenges in 2022 with Thames Path, trip to Lake District in the summer and plans to take us further afield in 2023!
Role: WALX Guide Pewsey
Bev is an avid walker with 2 fabulous dogs, Buster and Milo she is always found walking on Salisbury Plain. Bev started nordic walking in January 2017 and quickly took to the technique to further improve her fitness and speed (she is pretty speedy without the poles too!). With her passion for nordic walking and her local knowledge of lots of walks around the Pewsey and Upavon area it was only a matter of time before Bev joined me as a WALX Guide. She leads some lovely walks around the Salisbury plain area and some new routes around Pewsey and Woodborough. When not nordic walking Bev makes fabulous traybake cakes and sells them to order, online and via food festivals. If you want a delicious cake for an occasion then contact Bev at https://www.apieceofcakebybev.net
Role: WALX (Social) Guide
Annie Bodenham has been a regular walker since 2016 when she moved to the area from London. She has got to know the area really well and since lockdown has worked on her routes and now has a great repertoire of walks local to Marlborough. Annie was a primary school teacher for many years and is a great guide who will make you feel welcome and included and always makes her walks fun and social. Annie knows all the best places for coffee around the area! Annie joins many of our Marlborough walks and helps me managing large group walks as well as running some of her own walks and covering for me when I am away.
Role: WALX (Spiritual) Guide
Donna Byatt has been a nordic walker for many years and as well as being a WALX guide also runs her fabulous shop Elements of Avebury Donna knows Avebury landscapes, history and myths really well and leads walks mostly in this area. She takes you on a journey around the ancient and mystical parts of Avebury as well as making sure you are safe and well on your walks. Join Donna on Thursday evenings or mornings to experience her special place. Donna also covers extra walks for me when I am away.
Role: WALX Guide (Swindon)
Sue has been walking with me for quite a few years. She found that in lockdown, it was walking most days with her poles that kept her positive and healthy. She found that challenging herself to use best walking technique her pace over time got faster and more fluid. Sue lives in Swindon and has found some amazing walks on her lockdown wanders. A relatively new WALX Guide, Sue wants to develop a regular Swindon group for walks a few times a month (including one for those faster walkers) and will also cover some of my walks when I am away. When not nordic walking Sue is a very successful (award winning) consultant for Captain Tortue – a french ladies clothing company.
Role: WALX (Local Knowledge) Guide
Sally joined us as a walker in 2018 and has been a regular on lots of our adventure walks every since. Sally volunteers for West Berkshire Wildlife Trust and is a great source of knowledge on local flora and fauna as well as historical facts about our walks. Sally lives near Hungerford and leads her favourite walks in the West Berkshire Downs as well as covering walks when Ashley isn’t available.