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Bury St Edmunds Walking Routes
Explore different walking routes around Bury St Edmunds and discover the benefits of taking regular walks.
Google Maps is a really useful tool that can help you design a walking route. It makes designing a route from start to finish very simple.
Click on each of the routes below to reveal more information:
01
Walking Meetings
"All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking." - Friedrich Nietzsche
Meetings don't always need to talk place in a room. By taking a meeting outdoors the change in environment can prompt greater creativity and provide employees with a physical boost during the working day. It also does away with the need for a meeting room!
The benefits of walking meetings include:
- physical activity that fits into the day
- energised and more alert participants
- different environments to inspire new ideas
- time outdoors with fresh air and light
- walking and talking side by side cuts through hierarchy and status distinctions, and sets people at ease
- meetings that no longer feel like a waste of time
- problem solving can be enhanced by the physical activity of walking (thinking on your feet) creativity is enhanced when people are physically active, and stimulated by variety in events and senses
- relationships are developed while walking, and team building occurs while involved in informal activities. (The spontaneous mixing that occurs on a walk can enhance interactions)
- walking meetings help to prepare for decision making and can result in more options for consideration
Consider the points below before you proceed with a walking meeting:
- Attendees - Keep to a manageable number
- Time - Confirm for how long you expect attendees to be out of the office
- Objectives - Provide an agenda for the meeting and make sure you keep to it
- Benefits - Highlight the benefits of walking meetings
- Calendars - Make sure that these are kept up to date
- Route - Take a circular, relatively flat route, which avoids heavily trafficked areas if possible. Ensure that the route has wide footways and designated crossing points if needed. (For circular walking routes, enter your postcode into Walkit.com)
- Note taker - Nominate somebody to take notes
02
20 Minute Pre Work Walk - Town Centre - Route 3
Our third and final walk of the week during our trio of "Pre-Work Walks" saw the Mayor of Bury St Edmunds, Patrick Chung, attend.Following this route before work most definitely got all our walkers active and ready to start the day.
The weather was brilliant, and getting involved in #Try20 which links with the launch of the Year of Walking was definitely a bonus
.This route, like our other 2, began and ended at the same location on 59 Abbeygate Street.
All 3 routes used can be found on Google Maps, where you can also create your own walking routes from this destination.
03
20 Minute Pre Work Walk - Town Centre - Route 2
The second of 3 walks in Bury St Edmunds town centre consisted of a route through Abbey Gardens.
Starting and finishing again in the same places, however this time taking a slightly different, more greener, route through Abbey Gardens.
This brisk 20 minute stroll began at 8:25am and finished just before 9am - which allowed those who start work at 9am to get there in plenty of time.
On this walk, we have many more businesses from Bury St Edmunds join us, and ever more walkers from the first day had returned as they said they'd noticed such a difference within their working day, with just starting their morning with a brisk 20 minute walk.
Alternatively, you can use the start and end position but create your own walk in between?
04
20 Minute Pre Work Walk - Town Centre - Route 1
In May 2016, Bury Local Links set up 3 pre-work walks in Bury St Edmunds town centre to take place across 1 week.
We had a great turnout of businesses in Bury St Edmunds, and wanted to introduce a brisk Spring walk before the working day.
Networking and walking before the start of the day helped relieve stress, and the feedback from fellow walkers was extremely positive.The walk took approximately 20 minutes.
Or you could create your own circular pre-work or lunchtime walk.You can use your mobile to follow the directions, as Google Maps allows the directions to be sent directly to you, making the route simple to follow as you walk.
05
15 Minute Circular Route - Bury St Edmunds Cathedral
Why not try a similar route starting and finishing in the same place as our pre-work walks?
Try our slightly greener walk which takes you around the Cathedral and then back into the town centre. Brilliant for lunch breaks or even before work.
06
Map My Walk
Take a look at map my walk website where you can choose a variety of pre-chosen walks around Bury St Edmunds.
You are able to choose what distance you would prefer and it even specifies the style of walk.
07
What are the benefits of taking regular walks?
We're advised to walk 10,000 steps per day, and a lot of us who are sat at their desks and drive to work barely cover 5000.
So just walking to work, or part of the way there if you're unable to do the full journey, will increase your daily recommended steps and improve your fitness.
Or you could even try and get a walking group together in your workplace. Either before work or during a lunch break.
A 20 minute brisk walk will give you time away from your desk and help to get you re-energised for the afternoon.
The benefits of walking include:
- It promotes heart health
- Walk has tremendous benefits for the heart, as well as lowering blood pressure, regulating blood sugar and lowering cholesterol
- It improves brain function
- Walking improves concentration, attention span and focusIt can ease depression
- Endorphins are released when walking
- It improves bone health
- Weight bearing exercises (such as walking) are brilliant for the body, and are one of the ways to improve bone healthIt burns calories
- A 10 minute brisk walk can burn 50 calories!
- It helps you breathe easier
- Regular walking increases lung capacity which makes it easier to breatheIt can increase mindfulnessWalking helps with awareness and to clear the mind
- It can improve balance
- Our foot and legs strengthen while walking, and this makes up the foundation of improvement of our balance
Let us know how you get on
We want to know your thoughts on our walking routes, so send us some photos whilst on the walk and we'll be sure to display them on our Twitter page.
Send us your photos by:
tweeting us @TWTGSuffolk
emailing thewaytogosuffolk@suffolk.gov.uk