The 4th Annual Haltwhistle Challenge starts Saturday, 19th May in Haltwhistle's Market Square. Walkers start at 8.00a.m. and runners set off later at 10.00a.m.

The Haltwhistle Challenge is a cross country marathon over some of the most beautiful and wild countryside in England.

The route uses public rights of way with traditional signposts and waymarkers. At key points there will be route marshals and extra route signs in places. Basic navigational skills are necessary. At registration an outline route map with grid references will be provided and a control card that must be punched at compulsory control points. Participants will need to carry their own copy of Ordnance Survey (1: 25000 Explorer map OL43) and a compass.

The 19th Haltwhistle Walking Festival got underway last weekend, despite the weather forecast. 31 walkers completed the 13 mile Crags and Loughs walk and 21 went on the 7mile Wonders South of Haltwhistle. The rain held off all day and it was sunny and bright. Conditions underfoot were very wet, to be expected after the recent heavy rains.

On Sunday 21 walkers tackled Crags and Loughs, Day 2, another 13 mile walk. The north easterly wind was strong and bitterly cold, so the walkers had to keep up a brisk pace throughout the walk to keep warm. They enjoyed views of 4 loughs (Crag, Broomlee, Halleypike and Greenlee) and Folly Lake and walked on Dove, Kings, Queens and Crow Crags. Rain and a little hail arrived in the early afternoon and helped the walkers to keep up the pace, completing the whole walk in 6 hours.

The bookings for the 2012 Haltwhistle Spring Walking Festval are going very well and the event is already looking to be extremely successful. With just less than amonth to go there have been more than 500 bookings for the walks and events.

There are still places on many of the walks so it is not too late to book.

For those with a musical interest the Drumming Walk on Saturday May 7th could be both interesting and exciting event.

This walk starts in Haltwhistle Market Place and participants will learn a variety of rhythms which they will then practice as they walk beside Haltwhistle Burn. After a picnic lunch they will return to town and make their own instruments from recycled materials. Later in the day members of the walk will have a chance to play their creations aswell as large percussion instruments also made from recycled materials.

The leader for the day is freelance musician Michael Freeman.This walk is sponsored by Haltwhistle's 'Craftwrite Environmental Community Arts Ltd' and is aimed at families.

The cost is only £3 and is for 8 year olds and above. Pre booking is essential because there are only 20 places.

As part of this years Haltwhistle Spring Walking Festival and in conjuction with
Cicerone Press there will be a talk entitled 'Hadrian's Wall as a Landscape Community ' given by outdoor author & illustrator Mark Richards.

The event will take place in Haltwhistle Library on Monday 30th April between
7pm - 8pm

Mark Richards is an author of many walking guides including 'The
Hadrian's Wall Path' and 'Spirit of Hadrian's Wall'.

It is hoped that those taking part in the walking festival will come along to relax and take the weight off their feet after a hard day's walking, but anyone interested will most welcome.

Refreshments will be available at the event. Tickets cost £2 per session & must be paid for and collected beforehand.

Haltwhistle Walking Festival looks set to be a great success if the early bookings are anything to go by. Already 5 of the walks are fully booked, with the rest of the bookings looking very healthy indeed.

One of the organisers, Marjorie Baillie, said "We are delighted that so many people want to come to our Spring Walking Festival. Most of the people booking have been before, a sure sign that the formula for the festival is working; there is also a good representation of new walkers this time. One man is coming from Chicago for the whole festival and others are coming from Scotland, Wales and all over England."

It is clearly a sign that people enjoy getting out into the countryside and walking. It's a great way to exercise because you see different places, chat to new people and hardly notice your tired feet.

The popularity of endurance and challenge events is definitely growing with new ones being organised every month, all over the UK and the rest of the world.

However, you don't have to go too far to take part in the Haltwhistle Challenge which is now in its fourth year.

On Saturday 19th May the 26 mile route, starts and finishes in Haltwhistle.

Whether walking or running the Challenge, the participants can enjoy some of the best of the local countryside. From Haltwhistle they will go through the beautiful Haltwhistle Burn before joining Hadrian's Wall Trail at Cawfields Quarry. The route loops around north of the Wall, before turning west towards Greenhead. Here there will be soup and drinks available and the chance for a short lunch break at the 12 mile point.

Situated in the heart of the Roman Wall country, Haltwhistle is an ideal location for 'off road' distance runners and walkers who like a challenge in outstanding landscapes.

The Haltwhistle Challenge is a 26 mile cross country event which takes place on Saturday 19th May. The Challenge for walkers is to complete the course within 11 hours whilst runners will be hand-timed. There are no prizes for the fastest finishers.

The challenge starts and finishes in Haltwhistle and takes advantage of the varied scenery to the north and south of the town. It includes a section along the Hadrian's Wall footpath, an exposed moorland section of the Pennine Way, a crossing of the much photographed Lambley Viaduct before a low level return past Featherstone Castle along the South Tyne valley. The event takes place during lambing time, so no dogs are allowed.

The route uses public rights of way with traditional signposts and way markers. At key points there will be route marshals and extra route signs. Basic navigational skills are necessary and all Starters will be provided with route descriptions and a control card that must be punched at compulsory control points.

The full programme of walks and events for the 2012 Haltwhistle Spring Walking Fesival is now all online.

The Festival runs between 28th April and 7th May and the times and dates for all 29 walks (and the social evening) have now been published on the Walking Festival website on www.haltwhistlewalkingfestival.org.

By visiting the site those interested in this established walking festival can also read full descriptions for all of the walks so that they choose walks that they can both physically manage as well as finding something of particular interest to themselves.

The cost for most of the walks remains at £6 but where they run over a series of days or where additional costs are incurred, such as transport or food (like an afternoon tea) then prices are higher.

Birds, alpacas, beer, singing and drumming are just some of the themes available in the prgramme for this spring.

Bookings for the walks can also be made through the website so people can plan their Walking Festival visit in the comfort of their own homes.

Christmas is over, 2012 has started and we are all getting back into our routines as though nothing has happened.

But amidst all of this the organising committee for the Haltwhistle Waking Festival is putting the final touches to the Spring Walking Festival which is scheduled to run from Saturday 28th April to Monday 7th May.

There are 28 proposed walks in all of varying grades of difficulty and interest, as well as a social eveing. All of the finalised walks and social events will be fully described on their website before February and also booking will be available for online.

Spring brings a renewed freshness to this area which is both wild and rugged as well as very beautiful, and the walks provide a great opportunity to see the best of this area in good company. The headline long walks this spring will be the Burns and Crags over the first weekend and the 3 day Hexham to Haltwhistle via Burn Tongues over the second weekend. There will be something of interest to everyone as Real Ale, Bird watching, Drumming, Singing, Conservation, Alpacas and much more have all been included in the programme.

Make a day of it in Western Tynedale and visit the 25th Annual Art & Craft Fair in Haltwhistle.

The Masonic Hall in Haltwhistle is not far from the Main Street in Haltwhistle. It is a comfortable, modernised hall with good disabled access and will be well sign posted on the day.

The fair has attracted a varied range of different crafts both from local producers and from across the region. There will be different types and styles of high quality wood products, Metal Products, Knitwear, Candles, Quilting, Digital Art, Cards, Floral Arrangements, Nail Art, Pencil Drawings, Photographs, Embroidery, Stained and Painted Glass, various styles of Jewellery, Paintings, Festive Products and much, much more.

Of particular interest there are two new stall holders who travelling some distance to attend and they are bringing hand crafted leather goods and items made from silk screen printed fabric.