I belonged to a hiking/climbing club in the 1980's and one thing insisted upon was that the group stay together. It was OK to spread out on the trail, but every hour the front-runners were expected to stop, wait for the rear guard to catch up and let the rear guard have their 5-minute break. Solo sidetrips were not allowed (usually at least one independent soul was kicked out every year for this reason). Group sidetrips were expected to ask the trip leader first.

On the other hand, there was a set time in the morning by which all members of the group were expected to be ready to start. Usually 8:30 am unless we had a long day ahead. On the last day of a trip, it was 7:30 am because of the 3-5-hour drive home.

Key item: did you ask the trip leader's permission before you took off? (S)he is the one responsible for the safety of the group.

I gather that this group wasn't as organized as a formal club, though.