Peaks and Valleys

This is Tick Alert Week, 7 to 13 May, 2007, and is a campaign which aims to raise awareness of tick-borne disease. After mosquitoes, ticks are the most serious insect for carrying disease to humans and their numbers are on the increase in the European countryside, including the UK.

Tick Borne Encephalitis (TBE) is endemic in 27 countries across mainland Europe, with 10,000 cases a year, and in the UK there were 684 cases of Lyme disease last year. TBE attacks the nervous system and can result in serious meningitis, brain inflammation and even death.

Anyone visiting the countryside is at risk from tick bites, but you can also be at risk when spending time in public spaces including beer gardens, picnic spots, parkland and open gardens. People taking part in outdoor activities and adventure pursuits such as camping, hiking, trekking, cycling and climbing are at particularly high risk.

To avoid tick bites, use a suitable insect repellent; keep all skin covered and tuck trousers into socks. Inspect skin for ticks and remove as soon as possible.
Detailed information and practical advice is available from MASTA.

Labels: Europe, Lyme Disease, outdoor, TBE, Tick Borne Encephalitis, Ticks, UK, walking

The Cotswold Way officially opens as a National Trail on the 24 May, 2007.
It joins a network of 15 walking trails throughout the UK, some of which have sections accessible for cyclists and horse-riders.

Information and news about the trails, including information about charity walks, is available from the National Trails website.

Labels: National Trails, UK

Dalby Forest is located on the southern slopes of the North York Moors National Park and they boast a newly opened Visitor Centre, constructed in natural materials and designed to be as sustainable as possible. It is situated just past the village of Low Dalby and incorporates a shop/information point, exhibition area, toilets, Education Room and a restaurant, which will be open in May 2007.

The centre is the focus of a £4.3m regeneration project for the area which also includes art and craft workshops, bike hire and 55 km of bike trails. An interesting trail is the Moor to Sea cycle trail. This is an 80 mile trail, linking Pickering, Whitby and Scarborough using forest roads, bridleways and quiet roads.
There are also some nice waymarked walks in Dalby Forest offering great views of the outstanding landscape.

Labels: Dalby Forest, England, Moor to Sea cycle trail, mountain biking, UK, walking

Thirty years after last being held in Scotland, Edinburgh is to stage the World Cross-country Championships in 2008. The event, on March 30, will be run in Holyrood Park, where the European Cross-country Championship was staged in 2003.

The 2007 championships are to be held in Mombasa, Kenya on Saturday 24, March.

The 2007 Adventure Racing World Championships is to be held in Scotland, 24th May to 2nd June, 2007. The UK's premier expedition adventure race, Wilderness ARC, which is held in the Western Highlands of the Lochaber region, where the terrain is rugged, the weather unpredictable and the views wild, unspoilt and epic, will become the 2007 Adventure Racing World Championships. While the course will be kept a closely guarded secret until the eve of the race, it will begin from an event base at Fort William.

The ARWC2006 in Sweden and Norway concluded with Team Nike PowerBlast, captained by Ian Adamson crowned ARWC Champions; Nike PowerBlast is a joint New Zealand, USA team.

The Adventure Racing World Championship will be held August 16-23, 2006, in the land of the Sami people and the midnight sun. The race starts at Hemavan/Tärnaby in Sweden, a ski resort in the north west of Sweden and will pass Mo i Rana in Norway.

This area is famous for its wild nature. Breathtaking views, strikingly beautiful fjords in the North Sea, fed from untamed white-water rivers originating at the base of spectacular glaciers. The warm Gulf Stream current in the Atlantic runs close to the Scandinavian Peninsula and provides very moderate weather; in August, the snow is generally gone in the mountains and snow levels on the glaciers are at their lowest. What is unique to this part of the world is that it enjoys nearly 22 hours of summer daylight!

33 mixed teams of four, are assembling in Hermavan, Sweden for the event, including a strong New Zealand contingent. Kiwi racers have been world leaders in the sport since its emergence and are regarded as competition favourites.

UK walkers will find that Walking in the National Forest has become easier, thanks to initiatives such as the Forest Walk packs, published by the National Forest Company.

Conceived in the late 1980's, The National Forest is 200 square miles spanning three counties, Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Staffordshire, in the English Midlands; it is a forest in the making that will link two ancient Forests, Charnwood on its Eastern fringe with Needwood Forest to its West. No such forest has been created in the UK on this scale for one thousand years.

A magnet for walkers, cyclist, birdwatchers and wildlife lovers, the National Forest also features craft and visitor centres. It enjoys increasing popularity as a venue for open-air summer concerts and there is a busy schedule of events, from classical to rock. On 7-9 July, 2006, the National Forest Folk Festival is putting on an impressive line-up of performers, which include top band, The Levellers, highly acclaimed Cara Dillon and the exciting Shooglenifty.

There are 17 documented and waymarked, circular walks spread throughout the National Forest, 6 are classified as a short walk (3 to 7 miles) and there are 4 walks which are more than 11 miles (including a 22 mile hike).

Skylark Holidays are introducing a series of walking holidays and breaks in the National Forest.