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.

Timetable:
Saturday November 5th 2011
The bonfire will be lit at about 6:30pm
There will, weather permitting, be a remote control kite display over the bottom of the Sele courtesy of Stanegate Flyers soon after.
The fireworks will start at about 7pm.

Bonfire Online You can you can follow Bonfire Building progress on the November 5th on Facebook and Twitter (@hexhambonfire). We'll be posting pictures throughout the day direct from the Sele. Full details are on our website

Entry is free A collection is held on the gates, please give generously - all proceeds go back to local tynedale charities, the Annual Bonfire is a community event and needs your support to continue to make it the a highlight of the Annual Hexham Town Calendar

Getting here Please get to the Sele early to avoid the traffic. Full details and directions are available to download and print from the Hexham Round Table website

Safety Please do not to bring sparklers onto the Sele. These are dangerous in crowds and the discarded wires are lethal to children and pets if hidden in the grass afterwards.

Over the first weekend, the weather was atrocious and people's waterproof clothing and boots were put through their stiffest challenge. Despite this, the atmosphere on the walks was buoyant, and a strong sense of camaraderie developed between those who had braved the conditions. As the week progressed the weather improved, although conditions underfoot were slower to change. There was more "plodging in clarts" then many had ever experienced! But by the weekend walkers were able to discard their coats and enjoy the sunshine.

The 18th Walking Festival attracted more than 400 bookings. Walkers came from as far afield as Bradford and Belfast, Lincoln, Luton and London, Dumfries and Durham, Warrington and York, and of course from Northumberland and Cumbria. A few visitors stayed with friends and family, but many were booked in the B & Bs, hotels and hostels in the Haltwhistle area.

The challenge for the North East film makers was to produce a music video from a choice of three songs recorded by up and coming bands in the region. The makers of the video judged to be the best would have the opportunity to produce a music video for Domino Records' solo artist Bill Ryder-Jones, formerly the ex-lead guitarist of The Coral.

The film makers were given just two weeks to make the music videos from the date that the music tracks were made available.

Flashlight films entry for Middlesbrough band Toyger with their song Karl's Diary was selected as one of the finalists shown at an event at the Cluny in Newcastle on 29th September.

It wasn't a smooth process for Flashlight Films as the original plan put together by Matthew Brown was set in outside locations and unfortunately the filming days coincided with the arrival of hurricane weather and at the last minute a new indoor set was hastily found and a new plan put into action.

The event takes place in the Masonic Hall on Banks Terrace in Haltwhistle on Saturday 5th November, between 10.00 a.m. and 4.00 p.m. and is set to be just as big as the hall will take.

The venue for the event and is not far from the Main Street in Haltwhistle. It is a comfortable, modernised hall with good disabled access.

The fair is continuing to attract stall holders from near and far and a wide range of cards, jewellery, hand crafted leather goods,stained glass, screen printed fabric goods, photography, wood products, candles, photography, pencil drawings, hand made Christmas decorations and everything you might want to consider as a special present for someone this Christmas.

Bookings for the walks have been coming in steadily and some walks are full or nearing capacity; however there are still plenty of spaces available on a wide range of walks.

New visitors to the festival will gain a real feel for the town and area if they try the 'The Best of Haltwhistle', which begins at a 'Coffee Morning' held in the Methodist church hall and then tours the main natural features and historical landmarks around Haltwhistle.

Another walk with spaces available is the 'Halton Lea Gate Circular'. It is a short moderate walk, with a few ascents. It follows a short section of the 'Pennine Way' over open moorland towards Hartley Burn before continuing to the small hamlet of Kellah. It works its way through farms, fields and open moorland before skirting the small village of Midgeholme to arrive back at Halton Lea Gate.

But amidst all of this the organising committee for the Haltwhistle Walking Festival has put the final touches on Spring Festival which is scheduled to run from Saturday 30th April to Sunday 8th May.

Haltwhistle sits in the middle of excellent walking country. There are walks in the Northumberland National Park, the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and "on and off" the Hadrian's Wall Trail.

"We are very conscious of the current economic climate, so we have continued to keep walks' fees as low as possible" said Colin Mills, one of the directors of Haltwhistle Walking Festival Ltd. "If we have to use a coach we have subsidised the costs. If possible, we use public transport to reach the start of walks outside Haltwhistle and the timing of walks is arranged to allow people to travel into Haltwhistle by bus or train. We want as many people as possible to come and enjoy the festival walks with us". The basic walk fee for the Festival is £6, and with a maximum of £10 if transport or refreshments are included.

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