All paths lead to Otley as town aims to put itself on the map

Otley is famous for the elegant Jubilee Clock in its market place, a bustling livestock mart, an annual carnival, and something called The Chevin, a sprawling gritstone escarpment that takes its name from the Celtic word for ridge.

Otley Chevin presides over the town like the eponymous Moor does over Ilkley yet compared with its illustrious Wharfedale neighbour, says Michael Bartholomew, the Chevin is still "terra incognito" to many local people. "Even with that great landscape visible from most people's windows, somehow Otley never really thought of itself as a walking centre like Ilkley, or for that matter like Skipton with its Gateway to the Dales promotion. Those towns already seemed to have the walkers sewn up."

But that attitude has changed. Next weekend Otley starts what will be its 10th Walking Festival, and Michael Bartholomew – one of the organisers – expects some of the rucksacked participants will come from beyond Yorkshire.

It started with just a group of keen walkers putting on a week of walks. This led to the formation of a local group, Otley Walkers, the driving force behind the annual festival.

Over nine days there are 39 walks to choose from ranging from 25 to 1.5 miles in length. Many routes illustrate a theme, such as a mid-summer herb walk with local herbalist Bel Charlesworth and a stroll round the town's numerous allotments.

There are walks to explore local ghost stories, one to watch bats, another billed as a "Chevin Safari" to view the area's wildlife, and one to look at local rocks and stones led by Dr Neil Aitkenhead of Leeds Geological Association.

And since Otley is said to be the English town with the most pubs per head of population, it's not surprising that one walk is named "Boots 'n' Booze" while another, "The Waygoose Weave" is basically a pub crawl with a morris dance team in tow.

This year's centrepiece – to be launched by Nidderdale resident and veteran rambler, Janet Street-Porter – is a new 38-mile walk called The Six Dales Trail, linking Otley with the old town of Middleham. It will be walked in two stages next weekend, with the provision of return transport back to Otley.

The trail starts in Wharfedale and takes in four other dales – Washburndale, Nidderdale, Colsterdale and Coverdale – before finishing in Wensleydale.

Each dale has its own distinctive character, according to the author of the official guidebook to the trail, John Sparshatt.

"There is not a dull patch on the trail," he writes in the introduction. "It has no major physical hazards: it goes over no high mountains, and it does not go close to dangerous, sheer edges. But it does traverse some remote moorland, and it is sometimes rough and wet underfoot. Only the super-fit will attempt the 38-mile trail in one go: most people will want a more leisurely pace and will break the route down into shorter stages."

Much of the route is on little-used paths through the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. John's book breaks up the trail into 14 sections, varying in length between 1.2 miles and 4.9 miles.

Although the lengthiest route, the festival's longest one-day outing this year is a 25-mile circular trek around the town on a route appropriately named the "Otley Ringway". But the programme also offers

plenty of walks for the less-able, including a Toddlers' Woodland Walk and a Push Chair Walk for Babies.

Says Michael Bartholomew: "Some years back we put out a leaflet describing local walks, then joined the Walkers are Welcome scheme, a nationwide campaign with signs in

local shops and on footpaths to show that walking is

taken seriously by the community. It has given the town a clear image as a walking centre."

When the festival is over, the Otley Walkers group will maintain the momentum with several walks arranged every week, each one

graded between "easy" and "hard".

Michael says: "These walks are ideal for people who

are nervous about going into the countryside by themselves. They come along, make new friends and a whole new social life opens up to them. Plus, they get fitter too."

CONTACTS

Otley Walking Festival Office is on 01943 851166. n The programme can be viewed by clicking the link on www.chevintrek.co.uk or www.walkersare welcome.org.uk

Otley Walkers programme phone 01943 875995 email otleywalkers @talktalk.net

Information about the Six Dales Trail www.sixdales trail.org.uk

CW 19/6/10