SEVERAL hundred people took part in a walking festival which was dedicated to the memory of a co-organiser.

Michael Pascal, who was more popularly known by his nickname Muppett, had been heavily involved in arranging Keighley Walking Festival and was due to lead several of the walks.

The popular community figure died suddenly in August, just weeks before the fortnight-long event was scheduled to get underway.

Fellow organisers Keighley Town Council and Keighley Social Enterprise Town decided to go-ahead with the festival in his honour.

Chris Johnson, of North of England Activities and Training, and Stew Towers – a volunteer with Well Together Walks group the Aire and Worth Valley Wanderers – stepped in to cover routes that Muppett was to lead.

In total, around 40 guided walks were held – with 27 different leaders from community groups, organisations and social enterprises.

Navigation training was provided by Martin Sadler, of Move2Change, and 10 people completed NHS walk leader Level 2 training with Mr Johnson.

Walks varied in theme, location, length and difficulty.

Amongst those on offer were foraging, bat and photography walks, plus a 'light up the night' event, which included an art workshop led by Carole Griffith and hosted by Keighley Creative.

Keighley town mayor, Councillor Gulfraz Hussain, says: "We're delighted by the success of Keighley Walking Festival and pleased that so many people enjoyed the huge variety of guided walks on offer.

"I joined the Active Travel Social Prescribing Urban Walk, which was fantastic and showed me a new route in Keighley I’d never walked before. I hope everyone who took part has also discovered the beauty of Keighley and its surrounding areas.

"Thank you to all the groups that led walks and the organisations which delivered training, and thank you too to our staff team and events and community development committee for supporting the project."

Shaun O’Hare, of Keighley Social Enterprise Town, added his praise.

He said: "Keighley Walking Festival was a great success and a lot of that was down to the knowledgeable walk guides, many of whom were drawn from enterprises and projects active in the town. They supported walkers to explore and learn, and meet like-minded people. The festival was enjoyed by many and was a fitting tribute to Muppett, who played a big part in organising the event."

Details of self-guided walks Muppett produced for the festival are available to download from keighley.gov.uk/our-services/our-community/walking-festival-2024/self-guided-walks