Ulverston WalkFest charts new paths to success

Walkers trekked to the South Lakes from across the UK and further afield to talk part in this year's Ulverston WalkFest.

Thirty two walks spaced out over 10 days laid bare the beauty and diversity the Southern tip of Cumbria has to offer.

In its 18th year the festival organisers were buoyed by the fair weather that walkers were treated during the event, some of which travelled to the South Lakes from hundreds of miles away.

This year saw walkers from Finland and the Netherlands lace up the boots and head for the hills.

The true spirit of the community festival came to the fore when one of the Finnish walkers found themselves in need of some equipment.

WalkFest committee member Linda Marshall said: "WalkFest organisers pride themselves on providing a personal service wherever possible and this was demonstrated when a call came for help with the hiring of walking poles from a woman from Helsinki who couldn't fit her poles into her suitcase."

Read the thoughts of the WalkFest committee as they prepared for this year's big event

The most well-attended walk of this year's festival was the herb walk, with Sarah Atkinson from The Medicine Garden in Ulverston.

Themed walks formed a large part of this year's festival as organisers aimed to make it the most inclusive yet. A historical walk through Ulverston and a tour of some of the historical mining areas of the Lakes were just a few of the walks on offer.

This year the festival attracted more visitors than ever. Its organisers partly put this to their desire to make the festival as affordable as possible.

Over the years sponsors such as The Townlands Trust, Cumbria County Council, the Mary Portas Fund and Ulverston Town Council have contributed to the festival, to make sure it is open to all.

Planning is already under way for next year's festival, which has been pencilled in to run between April 27 and May 7.

To see a gallery of some of the fantastic images collected from this year's event, click here.