A heated discussion took place in the BMC’s Manchester office yesterday. This is not unusual; our West Didsbury headquarters is often abuzz with vigorous debates on important topics like access, climbing ethics, conservation, the future of the countryside, and other vital issues of the day.

Yesterday it was of a slightly different sort.  What colour should the avatar for our new hill walking Twitter be?

Some said brown, arguing it conveyed the earthiness of walking and a connection with the land. Some said vibrant yellow, arguing that it communicated the idea of openness and was evocative of sunshine.  Some said blue, positing it conveyed tranquillity and was also reminiscent of open skies.

Eventually we settled on purple, because it looked nice.

And so the BMC’s new hillwalking Twitter feed was born. This new feed joins the already existing specialist feeds for access (@access_bmc) and competitions (@BMC_Comps) to supplement the main BMC feed (@Team_BMC), which contains a cross section of the BMC’s work.

The main purpose of ‘Walk Talk’ (as it was coined after another animated discussion) will be to provide information and updates on the essential work the BMC does for hill walkers. We feel this is an important service to provide to the 62% of BMC members who list hill walking as their primary mountain activity, as well as spread the word to the wider world about the things we do that benefit hill walkers. A perception still exists that the BMC is mainly an organisation for climbers. Walk Talk will provide 140 character updates on why it is a home for hill walkers too.

But we also want to create a feed that serves as a focus for discussion and debate on walking-related topics, hence the catchy name. Twitter is a great way to stimulate dialogue and interaction among large numbers of people, and we want to take advantage of this to start debate and canvass opinion on the range of issues that affect us as hillgoers.

And as an added incentive, all new followers will be entered into a prize draw at the end of the month to win all 15 of our British Mountain Maps that we produce in conjunction with specialist mapping company Harvey (just one of the services we provide to hill walkers.) So get following us at @BMC_Walk.

And if we ever decide to change the colour of the avatar, rest assured you’ll be the first to be consulted. A debate will surely follow.

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