New look to the Honiara Commonwealth Walkway unveiled with medal plinths
Source: gov.uk (2025-03-10)

The Honiara Commonwealth Walkway is a 7-kilometre route with points of interest along its path, including museums, galleries, memorials, places of Worship and monuments.

Ever heard of the Honiara Commonwealth Walkway? Well, it exists, and this is your chance to discover this historic walkway which goes through the heart of Honiara.

The Honiara Commonwealth Walkway (https://commonwealthwalkway.info/the-walks/honiara-commonwealth-walkway/) is a 7-kilometre route with points of interest along its path, including the Solomon Islands National Museum, the National Art Gallery, the National Parliament of Solomon Islands, the Guadalcanal Memorial, the Holy Cross Cathedral, Lawson Tama Stadium, St Barnabas Anglican Cathedral, the Honiara Central Market and the Solomon Scouts and Coast Watchers monument at Commonwealth Street.

Each Commonwealth country has a Commonwealth Walkway in its capital city; the Walkway connects every nation in the Commonwealth, covering a third of the world’s population. It is designed to link and engage people in their shared history and tradition and to promote the Commonwealth principles and values of diversity, equality and friendship and keep people active.

On Sunday 9 March 2025, the British High Commission together with the Solomon Islands Scouts and Guides walked part of the Honiara Commonwealth Walkway.

Starting at the Commonwealth Street, the Scouts and Girl Guides walked to Art Gallery and the National Museum. They then head on to the Holy Cross Cathedral and St Barnabas Church. At each of these points of interest, they unveiled brass medals installed onto concrete plinths to mark the Commonwealth Walkway.

The medals are hand casted gunmetal-bronze medals and Her Late Majesty The Queen, as Head of The Commonwealth, had kindly given permission for her personal EIIR cypher and crown to be included in the design.

British High Commissioner to Solomon Islands, His Excellency Paul Turner witnessed each medal as it was unveiled along the Walkway. He also officiated a small flag raising ceremony to commemorate Commonwealth Day on Monday 10 March.

This year’s theme for Commonwealth Day is ‘Together We Thrive’, celebrating the enduring spirit of the Commonwealth family – 56 independent member countries united by shared values enshrined in the Commonwealth Charter (https://thecommonwealth.org/charter).

Rooted in the principles of family, unity and peace, the theme highlights the importance of fostering strong and connected communities that support and empower their members, enabling meaningful progress.

Hugo Vickers DL, Chairman of the Commonwealth Walkway (https://commonwealthwalkway.info/) initiative and has been a champion of city walkways since 1977, said:

We are excited to welcome this latest Commonwealth Walkway in the Solomon Islands and hope that many will enjoy walking it in the years to come, as other have in so many other Commonwealth countries and Overseas Territories.

The Honiara Commonwealth Walkway is part of the Pacific walks including Australia, Christmas Island, Cocos Keeling Islands, Cooks Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Norfolk Islands, Papua New Guinea, Pitcairn Islands, Samoa, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.