Pictured above: Julia Bradbury gets to grips with the mobile
high ropes course at the launch day of the Peak District &
Derbyshire Walking & Outdoors Festivals 2011, along with Bobby
Hallam of Edale (right), helped by Adam Hicks (left) and Adam
Rutter (back, centre) of Peak Pursuits
Warm spring sunshine, the promise of a fun family day out and
the chance to meet popular television presenter and lifelong Peak
District fan Julia Bradbury brought thousands of people to Buxton
for the launch of the Peak District & Derbyshire's Walking
& Outdoors Festivals 2011.
Julia - presenter of BBC 1 prime time outdoors programme
Countryfile - tried her hand at a variety of activities, including
an exciting mobile high ropes course supplied by
Staffordshire-based activity providers Peak Pursuits, to get the
Festivals off to a flying start at the Pavilion Gardens.
She took time out from her busy filming schedule to join the
crowds that flocked to the town for a day of free displays and
entertainment to mark the start of five festivals, co-ordinated by
official tourist board Visit Peak District & Derbyshire, for
people of all ages and abilities during the spring and autumn.
As well as sizing up the high ropes, Julia - who is also
President of the charity Friends of the Peak District - met ponies
from Ladybooth Equestrian Centre in Edale and birds of prey from
the Kingsley Bird & Falconry Centre in the Staffordshire
Moorlands.
She also lent her support to some of the GoYomp team exhibiting
at the launch. GoYomp is a new on-line based business with its own
social network YompShare - designed to make the outdoors fun,
fashionable and accessible.
"We were thrilled that Julia was able to join us at the launch,
as a brilliant ambassador for both the Peak District and
Derbyshire, and the outdoor life," said David James, Chief
Executive of Visit Peak District & Derbyshire.
"She was clearly delighted to be among the crowds on the day,
and I've never seen the Pavilion Gardens so buzzing and so busy -
it was great to see so many people out enjoying the area, which was
looking at its very best.
"But the fun has only really just started - for the second
Festival in the series - The Peak District's Historic Border
Country Walking Festival is about to start, and three others are
waiting in the wings to encourage both visitors and residents to
make the most of the wealth of walks and outdoor activities the
area has to offer throughout the year."
More than 230 themed walks and outdoor activities - ranging from
challenging hikes across open countryside to relaxed city, town and
village strolls - are on offer during this year's Festivals, which
began with The Peak District Walking & Outdoors Festival from
April 23 to May 8.
Lovers of the outdoor life can get into their stride for:
• The Peak District's Historic Border Country Walking
Festival, May 14 - 22
• The National Forest Walking Festival, Footsteps in the
Forest, May 21 - June 1
• Amber Valley & Erewash Walking Festival, Autumn
Footprints, September 10 - 25
• Derby Walking Festival, September 17 - October 15
An electronic copy of the Walking & Outdoors Festivals 2011
brochure can be browsed and downloaded from the tourist board's
website, while hard copies can either be ordered on-line or picked
up from Tourist Information Centres in and around the area.
Tickets for The Peak District's Historic Border Country Walking
Festival can be booked online at www.visitpeakdistrict.com/hbwf
or by telephoning 01246 345777/8.
Tickets for The National Forest Walking Festival can be booked
by telephoning 01283 222848 or at
www.thenationalforestwalkingfestival.org.uk. Tickets for Amber
Valley & Erewash Walking Festival, Autumn Footprints can be
booked by telephoning Call Derbyshire on 08456 058 058. Tickets for
Derby Walking Festival can be booked online at www.visitpeakdistrict.com/dwf
or by telephoning 01332 255802.
The Walking & Outdoors Festivals 2011 are sponsored by
Buxton Water, The Camping and Caravanning Club, Lafarge Cement UK's
Hope Works, Peak Pursuits, The Pavilion Gardens, and Yeomans.