This site is to reference information on all sorts of subjects relevant to our background and interests. Much of it will be information for reference purposes and some will simply be pure novelty with no real value. The name xnomads comes from our student days when we became members of the nomads walking club at the University of Portsmouth. Those days are long gone now, but from it came good friendships amongst like minded people who enjoy life outdoors with everything it has to offer such as walking, camping, backpacking, cycling, exercising, photography and a host of other interests.

One enduring and binding past time is Real Ale and visiting traditional and often tucked away pubs and hostelries. As members have developed careers and found financial freedom, they have been able to indulge in many past times and interests which previously couldn’t be undertaken at such a premium and possibly indulgent level.

Nomads history

The Nomads were the University of Portsmouth Walking Club during the 80’s, 90’s and 00’s. Heading out on a walk every Sunday come rain or shine which was usually fairly local such as the South Downs or around Petersfield. No matter what we got up to the night before, we would be ready to leave at 9:00am by train. Occasionally on some Sundays we hired a minibus to travel further afield, such as Durdle Door, Avebury, Stonehenge, Arundel, Corfe Castle or the New Forest.

Anyone could undertake our local walks as we catered for all abilities and there was no pressure to keep up; we went at the pace of the slowest person. The Sunday walks were typically about 8 or 10 miles long – a few people thought this sounded a lot but it only involved walking for about 2 hours each side of lunch – usually taken at a quality real ale pub.

The Weekend trips were suitable for more experienced hikers and were based on longer or more challenging fell-walks, with lunch being eaten en route. Typical destinations included Dartmoor, Exmoor, Yorkshire and Wales. Later in the year we even undertook a 24-hour sponsored walk for the really keen and determined members.

Xnomads MeWe Group

We now have a group on a social media site called MeWe which provides privacy and respect for it’s users. Learn more…