It's National Use Your Paths Week?

In a completely rubbish way, we've totally missed one of the Ramblers' Association's biggest events of the year, the Use Your Paths Week, which kicked off on Saturday 18 June and runs until this Friday 24 June.

The idea of the week is 'to spotlight both the importance and value of Britain's intricate web of footpaths', it says here. In particular it aims to draw attention to the government's estimate that in England a quarter of paths are still 'difficult to use' while in Wales the figure is reckoned to be closer to 50 per-cent.

You can use the RA's organised walks finder to track down organised walks in your area by the way. Other than those though, we've not really seen much evidence of Use Your Paths Week. The RA itself has issued a press release saying that 'footpaths are Britain's most visited gym' and generate £6 billion for the rural economy every year.

Finally, there's a dedicated Use Your Paths web site at www.useyourpaths.info which includes basic information on footpath use and the law along with an online petition aimed at encouraging investment in rights of way by local authorities.

It's easy to be a bit cynical about the Ramblers and dismiss them as fuddy duddy old red-socks, but the reality is that the organisation does a lot of positive work to the benefit of all walkers. End of lecture ;-)