10.02.10
Walkers
are Welcome Accolade for Corby
It's official! Corby has been accredited as members of the
National Walkers are Welcome community, the first such award in the
Midlands and East Anglia.
So what does this mean to the local population, the town and the
villages in the Borough? Already a link is on the Walkers are
Welcome web site, www.walkersarewelcome.org.uk
to the town's web site for walkers and others interested in health
and recreational outdoor pursuits, www.aroundcorby.co.uk. This
means that tourists interested in walking can access information
about Corby and its suitability as an authentic destination for a
walking weekend or even longer. Clearly, this has ramifications for
shops, cafés, pubs and restaurants, hotel and B&Bs who
genuinely make walkers welcome. Business should improve and
possibly jobs created.
But that's not all. It is hoped this will encourage the local
population to appreciate, as an ideal area for walkers and for
walking, the wonderful green spaces within Corby; Thoroughsale and
Hazelwood, Kingswood, West Glebe and East Carlton Parks; all
such marvellous jewels in the town's crown. Then there is the
surrounding countryside with its many footpaths and bridleways all
open to public access and ready for gentle strolls or more serious
walks.
Adding to the town's walking credentials and suitability as
members of the Walkers are Welcome network is the Around Corby
Walking festival to be held this year on May 1st,
2nd & 3rd.
Confirmation of the award was received after a great deal of
hard work by members of a steering committee that included
Councillors John McGhee and Eddie McGeown, Corby Borough Council
Rural Pride Officer, Suzanne Preston, Chris Eilbeck, a Corby based
member of Northamptonshire Ramblers and two keen local walkers,
John Dixon and Mel Jarvis.
To meet the criteria demanded by the award application the
committee's intense period of activity was to ensure public
footpaths and bridleways were in good condition and adequately way
marked, that the project had the support of the Borough Council and
the local community, which provided over five hundred signatures on
a petition. Additionally, it was imperative that a network of
walking routes were established and published. These are included
in the Around Corby book of walks, written and published by local
walker Mel Jarvis, which besides twenty five circular walks of
varying lengths, includes the thirty five mile long 'Around Corby'
route that passes through all the villages within the Borough.