Mark Richards, 

Experienced fellwalker and author Mark Richards gives an audio-visual guide to a three-day walking journey from the eastern edge of the Lakes to the Langdale valley. Called the Westmorland High Way, the DVD charts Mark’s progress along the route via Garnett Bridge, Sadgill, Kentmere, Troutbeck and Ambleside. The hour-long film has some great footage of the valleys and hills along the way, finishing with Mark’s ascent of the Langdale Pikes and Lingmoor Fell.

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Alfred Wainwright, 

Wainwright’s seven Lakeland classics, plus the extra Outlying Fells volume, are brought together in this boxed set. First compiled over half a century ago, these modest hardbacks still have iconic status. The versions here have all been revised by Wainwright’s former collaborator, Chris Jesty, who re-walked the paths in order to bring the information up to date.

Lakeside Walks and The High Fells
Carl Rogers and Steve Goodier, £4.99, Northern Eye, ISBN 978 0955355752/978 0955355783

Despite their diminutive pocket-size, these two volumes certainly pack a lot of detail. Each features 10 circular, thematic walks in the Lakes and includes impressive colour photos and maps. The lakeside walks are up to 13km/8 miles and the fell walks 18km/11 miles long. A smart and compact series.

Jonny Muir, £14.95, Cicerone, ISBN 978 1852846299

An engrossing book to delight hill-baggers and list-tickers everywhere, Jonny Muir’s round-up of 91 county tops ranges from Ben Nevis (1,344m/4,408ft) in Inverness-shire to the lowly Boring Field (80m/262ft) in Huntingdonshire. A there-and-back walking route to each ‘summit’ is described in words, photos and maps, charting the author’s three-month walking and cycling expedition to tackle them all. There’s familiar hills, such as Ben Lawers (Perthshire) and Slieve Donard (County Down), and lesser-known tops, such as Cold Overton Park (Rutland) and Milk Hill (Wiltshire). Andrew McCloy

I just encountered my first via ferrata on a walking holiday in the Dolomites and loved it! Are there any in Britain? Tony Murombe  

 Andrew McCloy: Via ferrata is Italian for ‘iron road’ and describes an adventurous, mountainous route with fixed ladders, bridges and cables. Although popular on the Continent, there are only a handful in Britain – the oldest being the Elie Chain Walk on the Fife Coastal Path. It consists of a series of eight chains strung along the lower slopes of a sea cliff, some almost vertical. And although only 500 metres long, it’s an exciting scramble, plus it’s free of charge and self-guided – unlike the two existing via ferratas in England. One at Honister in the Lake District follows the cliff-edge path once trod by slate miners across the steep slopes of Fleetwith Pike. Open year-round, it includes ladders and old mineshaft tunnels, and takes two-to-three hours to complete in a small led group (visit www.honister-slate-mine.co.uk). There’s also an instructor-led route at How Stean Gorge Outdoor Centre in Nidderdale, in the Yorkshire Dales, which involves scrambling and even abseiling through a narrow gorge via ladders and beams (visit www.howstean.co.uk).

I walk most days, but have developed plantar fasciitis, or policeman’s heel. What can I do to alleviate the condition? Philip Jefferies  

 Dr Helen Crawley: Plantar fasciitis is an inflammation of the ligament that joins your heel to the middle of your foot. It causes pain under the heel, which is often worse when you first get up or during a long walk. Fortunately, within a year it usually gets better by itself. In the meantime, rest your foot and take painkillers or rub non-steroidal anti-inflammatory gels on your heel. An ice pack wrapped in a towel held to your heel for 20 minutes might also relieve the pain. Do only short, gentle walks, and wear cushioned lace-up shoes. Your chemist or a chiropodist can recommend heel pads and arch supports, which should be worn in both shoes. Cut a hole in the heel pad at the site of your pain. Stretching exercises can also help (visit www.patient.co.uk/health/Plantar-Fasciitis.htm). If your problem doesn’t improve, consult your GP who may offer steroid injections, extracorporeal shock wave therapy, night-time splints, or surgery.

What advice can you give on walking with my dog over farmland where animals are grazing? How should I react if they approach or threaten to charge us? Mr and Mrs Smith  

 Emily Shaw: Walkers with dogs need to take particular caution when crossing through fields containing grazing animals. Section 1 of the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953 makes it an offence for a dog to be at large – defined as ‘not on a lead or otherwise under close control’ – in a field or enclosure containing sheep. The majority of attacks by livestock on walkers involve dogs or cows protecting their young, so make sure your dog is kept close to you, stick to the line of the path, and don’t get between a cow and its calf. Be prepared for cattle to approach; they will usually stop before reaching you. If not, just carry on quietly or try to find another way around, and do not run. Should a bull or cow come up very close, turn around to face it and take a couple of steps towards it, waving your arms and speak firmly. If you are charged or feel threatened, let the dog off the lead – it’s better that they go after your dog than you. You should report any incident of an attack to the landowner and the highway authority, and also the HSE (Health and Safety Executive), as well as the police if it’s serious.

I’m considering buying a Platypus. What sort would you recommend?  Rose Janes  

Minnie Burlton: Drinking small amounts, regularly, during longer walks will help to sustain your energy levels, so a Platypus is a good and convenient idea. Virtually all good daypacks now feature a storage sleeve with a route for a tube, making them compatible with the majority of hydration bladders on the market. The CamelBak Antidote or Source Widepac models work well. They’re made of materials with anti-microbial protection, which blocks bacterial growth, provides a purer plastic-free taste and requires less intensive cleaning. Both have a twist lock to prevent leakage, and are very easy to fill. You can also disconnect the hose from the bladder without leaking so you can top up without removing the tube from your pack.

All of the three-season boots you reviewed in the autumn edition have a waterproof lining, but I find it makes the boots smell terrible. Can you recommend any plain leather boots? Callum Johnston  

Minnie Burlton: I spoke to Richard Shepherd, footwear buyer at Ellis Brigham, who said: “Your feet can sweat about a pint a day. The stink caused by bacteria can be dealt with by drying properly after use, switching insoles regularly and by anti-bacterial sprays, but is no worse a problem in Gore-Tex lined boots than unlined leather boots. Using good Merino-based socks and changing them regularly can also help. You will need to treat unlined leather boots with a waterproofer, which can reduce the breathability anyway. However, the Meindl Borneo is a good unlined option.”

I sleep extremely badly after I’ve been out walking. I thought that spending the day out in the fresh air walking 10 miles would relax and tire me out. Should I be worried? Margaret Armitage  

 Dr Helen Crawley: A day spent walking in the fresh air often leads to a good night’s sleep and people who exercise regularly do sleep better. However, exercise-induced insomnia is a well-recognised problem. Your wakefulness could be caused by the excitement, exhilaration and physical stress of your walk. Excitement and stress lead to activation of the sympathetic nervous system and the production of chemicals within the body, which prepare the body and mind for action. Your heart pounds, your blood vessels dilate and energy is released for ‘fight or flight’. Try walking earlier in the day so that you’ve time to settle down before going to bed. Relaxation techniques can also help. Avoid caffeine, smoking and alcohol within six hours of bedtime and mentally demanding activities within 90 minutes. Your bedroom should only be used for sleep and sex so that your mind associates your bed with slumber. If you cannot get to sleep within 20-30 minutes, leave your bedroom and do something such as reading until you feel sleepy.

Send us your questions
Do you want an answer to a health, gear or legal question? Then write to us at walk, Ramblers, 2nd Floor, Camelford House, 87-90 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TW or email denise.noble@ramblers.org.uk with your name and address. Letters may be edited and may be included on this website. We are not able to acknowledge letters.

The writers of all letters published will win an Oasis Crewe top from Icebreaker, worth £52.95. This raglan long-sleeved top has a higher neck to trap in heat
and flat-sewn seams in the side gusset to keep you comfortable. Visit www.icebreaker.com.

Greatest Guides are lifestyle books, offering readers ‘simple, practical, and fun’ advice – in this case, about walking. Oh how I scoffed, at first, at the guide’s proliferation of photo-finish young beauties, grinning their way in hotpants up near-vertical hillsides. But by page three, I was a convert. The 12 chapters contain something simple, new and useful on every page, including a Beaufort chart, a guide to rucksack ‘litres’ and even a comparison of water purification methods. Ruth Somerville

This glossy collection of Cairngorms photos is the outcome of 20 years spent hiking and snapping away by the well-known outdoors writer. The 10-page introduction promises a blockbusting spectacle of a book. What follows is spectacular, but curiously downbeat, too. Townsend’s photographs are of scree slopes, granite, meltwater and turf; they play out in muted seasons, discernible only in the changing colour of grass (yellow to green) and sky (blue to grey). The result is intimate and subtle. Tristan Davison

Where would you wake up on your perfect day?
I’d wake up at home in Highbury, London, have a walk on Hampstead Heath, and then have an agreeable lunch with a dozen friends. In the evening, we’d go to the Emirates Stadium and watch football.

Who’s the perfect walking companion?
My wife and children are great companions, but there’s always a delay in getting started with them. Whereas my dogs, a West Highland white and terrier cross, are always raring to go – they’re such enthusiasts.

You’ve been president of the Woodland Trust since 2004. How did that happen?
I made some enthusiastic remarks about trees and supported the charity on TV, so the chief executive asked me to come on board in a more regular way. Making me president bound me with hoops of steel, but I’ve no great formal powers: I plant a tree and speak at the odd occasion.

I went to last year’s opening of Heartwood Forest near St Albans – the largest new forest of broadleaf trees in England. And there’s nothing better than five minutes of TV ribbing to raise the Trust’s profile, such as when Jo Brand announced on QI that she was president of ‘Shut Up About the Woodland Trust Trust’. Being made fun of – that’s my contribution.

Could conservation organisations do more to harness celebrity support?
Really, the issue should speak for itself, but you do need someone people have heard of to get media attention. Having Princess Anne as the patron of the Trust’s Jubilee Woods project means the proposed 60 woods get into the local papers.

What should happen to England’s publicly owned woodland?
I think the proposed sell-off was a rush job for the Government, with a broad brush of gain, but rather more to it in the details. If the Forestry Commission estate was a drain on the Government’s resources, then it will be a drain on whoever acquires it. The Woodland Trust took a balanced line. You can’t just double the woods a charity owns – you have to account for it – so we’re not chaining ourselves to every wood in the country. No doubt the Forestry Commission estates of quick-growing conifers drew protests at the time they were planted, and now there’s protest at change. The Woodland Trust champions native species, not conifers planted in inappropriate places.

Should Britain be planting 20 million trees a year, as the Trust suggests?
With figures above a million, nobody can really hold the numbers in their head. Doubling tree cover in Britain is a spectacularly high aim, but it would bring us up to the European average. It wouldn’t make the country overwhelmed by trees – it would be restoring the country to what it would be like if there wasn’t so much human activity.

What’s your favourite tree?
Our two native species of oak trees: Quercus robur and Quercus petraea. The Anderson clan has a badge with an oak tree on it, and our motto is ‘Stand sure’.

In the 1980s, how did you combine the day job as a criminal barrister with performing stand-up comedy?
I like having a balance. At first comedy was just a hobby – it took up no more time than playing golf. There was only really three years of juggling TV and a legal career. But then TV took off in a bigger way than I expected. I did think I would resume my legal career after five years, but it’s too late now!

You’ve had some memorable spats on your chat show with Jeffrey Archer, Piers Morgan and the Bee Gees’ Barry Gibb. What makes for a perfect interviewee?
I like responsive interviewees, so it’s like a tennis match, back and forth. Politicians are good because they’re combative. Ben Elton is good because he’s quite sharp and the audience has a mixed attitude to him. By offering interviewees criticism, I let them meet that criticism, so it’s not just: “Tell us about your manor house property.” But I want it to be a discussion; not too aggressive. And I do plenty of preparation: I always want to convey that I’ve read their book, done my homework. It’s treating them with respect.

Are you ever lost for words?
Yes – in interviews like this.

For more on the work of the Woodland Trust, visit www.woodlandtrust.org.uk

Bob Bridle (ed)
£25, Dorling Kindersley
ISBN 978 1405365598

Gosh, this book is a class act. A 360-page opus of quite breathtaking vision, it spans history, continents, art, geology, science and, of course, a gallery of mountaineers, to provide no less than a survey of mountains in the human psyche. Phew! You could lose a day in the art and science section alone, pottering through the (hilarious) diary extracts of the alpine-wandering, dragon-fearing early naturalists. But it’s in the stunning layout where the book really scores: panoramic maps, grizzled explorer mug-shots and lush mountain ranges sprawl out over every page, constantly evoking the harshness and glory of the subject itself. Stunning. Ruth Somerville