Try A Trail And Win Prizes

Go for a northern walk, answer a question and win a seven-night guided walking holiday for up to four people for free - sounds okay to us...

And that's the prospect from the nice people in a promotion recently launched by the Countryside Agency to promote the northern National Trails. They're giving away free a special Try a Trail pack containing five day-walks based on each of the five northern National Trails.

That's the Yorkshire Wolds Way, Hadrian's Wall Path, Cleveland Way, Pennine Bridleway and Pennine Way. Walks leaflets are entitled "Thixendale Round" (8 miles on the Yorkshire Wolds Way), "Housesteads to Cawfield" (6 miles on Hadrian's Wall Path), "Ravenscar Round" (6 miles on the Cleveland Way), "Settle Loop" (10 miles on the Pennine Bridleway) and "Kirk Yetholm Round" (8 and a half miles on the Pennine Way).

On each of the walks there's a mystery photograph along with an accompanying question, the answer to which is somewhere on that walk. If you answer three of the five questions correctly, you get one free entry into a prize draw. If you answer four correctly, you'll have two entries and all five gets you three entries.

They're nice leaflets anyway but the allure of illicit winnings should tempt the odd walker out... First prize is a seven-night self-guided walking holiday for up to four people, worth up to £1500, on a northern National Trail of the winner's choice.

Second prize is a Paramo Cascada jacket worth £180.  Third prize is Memory Map digital mapping software for either the Pennine Way or Hadrian's Wall Path. Fourth prize is a set of official guidebooks published by Aurum Press for all five of the northern National Trails and fifth prize is a set of Harveys Maps covering Hadrian's Wall Path, the Pennine Way and the Pennine Bridleway. So not bad then...

You can order the free Try a Trail pack at www.nationaltrail.co.uk. Oh, and no need to panic, the competition closes on 30 November.