Clustered outside a tube station, 20 or so Londoners were preparing to roam around Tufnell Park, which is not actually a park, in their role as part of a Ramblers group, who do not, by the most rigid definition, ramble. (That typically requires a roam through the countryside.) They huddled under street lamps for the customary introduction to the night’s event: a three-mile loop around a residential stretch of the city, culminating with a trip to the pub.
The Inner London chapter of the Ramblers is a coalition of 10 walking groups scattered throughout the city. This particular offshoot, the Metropolitan Walkers, is geared at people in their 20s and 30s, though they are not very strict about the age cutoff. On this Thursday night, some members came straight from the office with backpacks slung over their shoulders; one took off dress shoes and slipped into sneakers. Heading out, they charged up and down car-lined hills, walked in single file to traverse a narrow slip of sidewalk and waited impatiently for the rest of the group to finish crossing the street before taking off again. They passed a crosswalk barrier covered in graffiti, neon VAPE signs glinting in store windows and an endless parade of double-decker buses.
These scenes might seem incompatible with the idea of rambling, a treasured Britishism that evokes sunny strolls through the fields. But members of the group argue that you can ramble anywhere if you’ve got the right attitude.
“If people enjoy it, the walk’s a good one,” said Phil Bennett, 41, who led the Thursday night expedition.