South Devon Walking Festival

walking in south devon

The dates for the South Devon Walking Festival have now been announced as the 25th September - 3rd October 2010.

Just like their Northern cousins the South Devon Walking Festival is also celebrating a big anniversary. 2010 marks 50 years of the South Devon AONB so we can be sure of some exciting walks hopefully guided by staff from the AONB.

This years walks haven't been confirmed yet but looking back at the 2009 programme I am sure we will see plenty of opportunity to explore the coastline of south Devon on the South West Coast Path. Last year the avid walker could have walked 76 miles of the SWCP in 6 days.

Also sur to return are the ever popular photography walks. So many of us would love to be able to capture the beauty of walking in Devon but our photography skills let us down and we are unable to photograph the landscape to it's best advantage. These popular walks offer not only a pleasant guide walk but also expert advice on landscape photography, which is a real skill.

With the festival taking place in early autumn I would also expect to see a return of the wild foods walks. These walks offer the chance to identify and collect a variety of tasty wild foods like blackberries, sloes and mushrooms. In particular a good understanding of mushroom identification is vital for safe enjoyment of these wild foods and there's no better way to learn this than at first hand with an experienced guide in the field.

Finally I would hope that more of South Devon's history is on display similar to the walks last year that revealed fascinating details about Agatha Christie's estate, the setting of Jane Austen's Sense & Sensibility and the county's role in WWII.

Walking in South Devon is a rich experience and this festival is the ideal introduction to the best walks Devon has to offer.

For more information visit http://www.southdevonwalkingfestival.co.uk/