Great news! At a recent meeting of the Around Corby Walking Festival working group, the dates for next years Festival were confirmed as April 30th, May 1st and May 2nd.

There's a great deal to organise but briefly, the format will be slightly different so the enjoyment of both walkers and the local community can be enhanced.

Watch this space as they say.

BUT that doesn't mean you can not walk Around Corby at any time. The surrounding countryside is fabulous with a terrific selection of established walks on public footpaths and bridleways. I'm told there is to soon be a walk all around Northamptonshire, part of which will come through the Borough, and don't forget that Jurassic Way goes right through the north of the Borough too.

Did about nine miles yesterday starting in the rain but finished in sunshine. Not before time.

I tramped across many fields knee high and above with wet crops so I got very wet. Farmers are supposed to remark public footpaths within two weeks of cultivation. To be fair, many do and very well too but others simply ignore it

This means, of course, that walkers are left with no option but to trample in all directions over the crops until the way out of the field can be identified. What is the point? We are told farming is a difficult job and money is hard. So why do they let crops be damaged? The cost of running a tractor across the field in the direction of the path takes no time or money and keeping a path clear again isn't really hard surely?

Many farmers do it and do it very well. Why do the others let the agricultural community and walkers down?

Where has the time gone this year? In 2010 my three walking companions and I had walked several hundred miles in training for the Pennine Way. This year we've all been very busy so it hasn't happened in the same way. Oh well, we have just fifty miles and about 7,000 feet of accent over just three days so hopefully we'll all be okay and get to the finish in one piece. I certainly do not want the injury that meant I had to withdraw with only three days to go last year. 

What hasn't helped is that my wife and I have been away for three weeks on a cruise with Fred Olsen along the Mediterranean and up the Aegean to Venice. Absolutely fantastic and neither of us put on any weight even though the food was terrific. We exercised though. Five times around the deck was one mile so we each did up to four miles during the mornings at sea then to the gym in the afternoon for up to four miles on the walking machine. So, with all the stairs we had to climb (never used the lifts once) we are fitter than when we left.

I see that Ramblers World Wide Holidays and Fred Olsen have teamed up to do cruises with walks at each of the ports of call. Think we are very interested for next year.

An excuse, no proper reason I'm afraid.

I'll keep up with the Blog in future. Too many other things to do I guess.

On holiday now for three weels. Cruising, not walking but I'll make up for it when back.

A lot of hard work went in to the Around Corby Walking festival, held locally at East Carlton Park on the opening day and all around the town on the same day and the two following days. Hard work from all sorts of organisations including Corby Borough Council, the PCT, Northamptonshire County Council and a whole raft of volunteers.

We had walkers from Northamptnshire generally, including a few it must be said, from Corby. We had visitors from Cambrideshire, Worcestershire, Shropshire and Warwickshire, Bedfordshire, Leicestershire and elsewhere. But where were the masses from Corby?

Even if actually going out and walking was not an interest at least the free exhibition and display area in East Carlton Park on the Saturday should have been worth visiting. Let's face it, the park is well worth visiting anyway let alone what was in it on that day.

And there can not be an excuse, "I didn't know". Details and the dates have been in all the local free magazines plus the Evening Telegraph, Herald and Post, Corby Radio, BBC Radio Northampton and there were dozens of posters up in various places throughout the town. There was even a free bus paid for by Northants County Council.

What else can we do? A day out in the sort of weather we had during the weekend of the Festival is always well worth while. Fresh air, countryside, suburb views and villages, excellent pubs and cafés plus, if in a walking group, good company.

Come on Corby! Get out and enjoy what is not only free but right on your doorstep. 

So Corby is now 'officially' a Walkers are Welcome community. Truth is, walkers and anyone else for that matter have always been welcome in the town and the villages in the Borough :- Gretton, Cottingham, Middleton, Rockingham, Great Oakley, Stanion and Weldon. The people around here are friendly and - as you'd expect, welcoming. When my family and I moved here from the home counties in 1983, I think we knew more people within 24 hours than we had got to know over all the previous years.

Friendly and generous too. My Rotary club, the Rotary Club of Corby Phoenix, is often in and around the town collecting for all sorts of things such as McMillan Nurses, the Rotary Shelterbox Charity and others plus local charities and 'good causes'. We know how the population here react to our pleas for help and usually money be it pennies or more is forthcoming.

Now, if you are looking for a place to come to walk for a day, a weekend or more, Corby and the surrounding area is a place to seriously consider. The whole area is a mass of good public footpaths and bridleways leading to and from the modern, bustling town and the pretty surrounding villages. Walking conditions are not what could be called challenging. Okay, there are gradients. The Welland Valley, just to the north of the town has steep sides but not so steep that they are impossible, certainly if you are used to some walking.

However, should it be just a relaxing stroll or you are a serious walker, there are lots of walks to do from just a few miles up to 18 should you wish to have a go at the 'Around Corby' walking route.

What ever your reason, you are very welcome Around Corby, especially should you be a walker. Our Walking Festival in May is a good time to visit and try us and our walks.

Pennine Way Completion Certificate Will be Mine at Last

My three walking buddies, the two Johns plus Joe have kindly agreed to join me in June so I can complete the Pennine Way. We four attempted this gruelling path in mid 2009 but I had to pull out on day fourteen with just three days to go.

If you've experienced shin splints, you'll sympathise with how I was. I could hardly walk so I just hung around each day whilst they walked on and I went forward with the transport to meet them each night. Congratulations to the three of them, but I need to complete it. As many will know, you get a certificate at the Border Hotel, which is the traditional end of the 'Way' at Kirk Yetholm just over the Border into Scotland. With a mix of pleasure and disappointment, I watched them receive theirs.

Soon, all things being equal, it will be my turn. We leave on June 17th and will walk the 18th, 19th & 20th returning on the 21st. (It's a long way north don't yer know?).

My heartfelt thanks to the three of them for giving me this opportunity. I might have had a go on my own but it is pretty lonely up there and probably easy to get lost so I am glad I shan't be on my own.

My thanks also to all of those that sponsored me for Parkinson's Research. Your faith in me and patience is appreciated and will, later this year, be rewarded.

When Will This Awful Weather Change?

Pretty well every time I attempt to get out for a decent walk it rains or snows. Funnily enough enough, every second Monday since the new year has been sunny, including one morning when we walked in deep snow to the south of Corby. It was magical but a really cold -5 degrees C.

Don't get me wrong, I am not just a fair weather waker, though I do certainly prefer it when it's dry. Believe me, I've experienced it when it has been torrential and it's not comfortable. When with my three waking friends John Baldwin, John Dixon and Joe Grun we waked the Coast to Coast in 2007 it rained on six of the days three of them continuously. We were all soaked in spite of good gear.

Still, spring is around the corner so I'll be out more especially as most of the Festival organisation is completed.

Are Walkers Really a Hazard?

     Saw this sign between Exton and Fort Henry up in Rutland.

    Are we really a danger to everyone? Or maybe there is another reason?

     Certainly motorists on the tracks where we were walking kept a wide berth.

I'll Finish the Pennine Way This Time

Sadly, and painfully, I had to pull out of the Pennine Way 'adventure' last year due to shin splints contracted on day 14. So my three tough buddies, John Baldwin, John 'Dixey' Dixon and Joe Grun went to the end with me going on each day with the baggage. "Fitting", you might say.

Now, thanks to their support, I shall finish it in June and in their company.

All is organised, logistics, accommodation, the lot. Just hope the weather is as good as it was last year and not like the days of torrential rain we experienced on the Coast to Coast in 2006.

In total, we've raised approaching £5,000 for Parkinson's Research. Many thanks to all our sponsors whose generosity will go toward finding out what causes this terrible affliction and what can be done to help those who have it.