The business of social walking is setting off into a largely

unexplored area of navigation. A community-based group in the wooded

hinterlands of southeast London has developed a system in which the

conventional map of coloured lines and contour patterns have been 【M1】__________

replaced by photographs of the way ahead.

An app created for the purpose leads walkers from starting point to

finish by means of a chain of photos, each image taken over from where 【M2】__________

the previous one leaves off. This means that in stroll of, say, two hours,【M3】__________

there will be between 20 and 40 guiding pictures. The group is called Go

Jointly and it is run by Hana Sutch and Steve Johnson, both of whom

have careers in interactive design; more importantly, both have young

children, what energy and curiosity they wanted to channel into an 【M4】__________

exploration of the outdoor world.

Started in April, the free app already claims to have between 450

and 500 monthly users, and about 4,000 downloads. Several users have

started attributing their own routes. A premium subscription of ￡1.99 a 【M5】__________

month gives access to 100% of the curated walks. While originally

perceived to appeal to young families, it has had a lot of interest from 【M6】__________

millennials and the recent retired. Walking organizations in Canada and 【M7】__________

Germany have also expressed their enthusiasm for the model.

“One of our main hope,” says Sutch, who lives in nearby Brockley, 【M8】__________

“is that the app will increase the social appeal of people walking

together, and coming up new routes in their own neighborhoods.” For 【M9】__________

her and her husband Liam Owen, who grew up in the fine walking

country of Northumberland and is also involved in the project, the habit

of walking regularly is much a necessity as a pleasure. 【M10】_________

【M1】