Take up the footpath challenge this Bank Holiday
[4 May 2007]
Forget traffic jams and crowds this May Bank Holiday – head
for the great outdoors and join the big push to complete the
Ramblers’ Association’s (RA)
Use Your Paths Challenge.
The national walking charity is challenging the public to walk
every footpath in England and Wales - a staggering 140,000 miles
– by September 2007.
Time is running out to complete the challenge, which was
launched in 2006. Already 100,000 miles of paths have been
walked and now the RA is asking everyone to help complete the
challenge over the next few months. The Bank Holiday weekend is
the perfect chance to get involved as well as getting some fresh
air and exercise.
Anyone can take part in the bite-sized challenge, which is
suitable for all ages and easy to fit into a family weekend. You
don’t even need to travel far from home - you could discover new
walking routes on your doorstep you never knew existed. It’s
easy to take part using a specially created website at
www.useyourpaths.info. Simply choose a grid square on the OS Map
in your chosen area (the interactive map shows which squares
have already been walked), walk all the paths in that square,
then record your achievements on the website.
Your input will help the RA to get a clear picture of the
popularity and condition of footpaths in England and Wales. The
national walking charity is asking everyone who takes part to
record and report any footpath problems they encounter – details
of how to report problems are on the website.
Adrian Morris, Head of Footpath Campaigns at the RA said: “We’ve
been amazed by the success of the Use Your Paths Challenge so
far, but with less than six months to go we’re focusing more
than ever on getting all the squares completed. We’re urging
everyone to check our website or give us a call to find a square
to complete over this Bank Holiday.”