After the disappointment of cancelling their May walking festival, Alton were delighted to be able to host a mini 7-day festival last week. Their Town Council handled the timetabling, publicity and bookings, and volunteer walk leaders supported a programme of daily walks of varying length from 3 to 17 miles.

Because the festival had the official backing of the Council they were able to have larger groups of walkers than their current limit of 6, but they capped the bookings at 15 per walk.
Most of the participants were local, but they had one visitor from a neighbouring Walkers are Welcome town (Whitchurch, Hampshire), as well as others from Portsmouth and Fleet. Everyone appreciated the chance to get outside for a walk with old friends and new faces, and to explore the countryside with the best that the Hampshire autumn had to offer.