THE fourth Settle Carlisle Walking Festival, Ride2Stride, takes place at the end of this month.

(April).

If this one is like last year’s, hundreds of people will be visiting for a week of walks, talks and music along the world famous Settle to Carlisle Railway.

All the walks are free and set off from a station along the line.

Walks are led by experienced leaders from well known organisations like Friends of the Settle Carlisle Line, Friends of Dales Rail and the Yorkshire Dales Society.

The longest is a challenging 17 mile circular from Ribblehead. The shortest is a short steep four mile hike around Settle.

As well as the walks there are guided tours of the shanty town at Ribblehead viaduct and of the restored Settle Water Tower.

At the end of each day musicians and singers will be performing live in a pub near the end of a walk.

A highlight of the 2015 Ride2stride is the chance for walkers to tackle each of the Yorkshire Three Peaks on consecutive days.

Diane Taylor, a walk leader with Friends of Dales Rail who is organising the Three Peaks walks said: “So often people either tackle all the peaks in one go as a fundraising or personal challenge or they are put off by the sheer difficulty.

“We’re taking walkers up Whernside, Ingleborough and Pen-y-ghent on May 2, 3 and 4 respectively. People can do one, two or all three of the walks and will get the chance to really enjoy our mountains in the company of an experienced guide.”

Over 900 people from as far afield as America and Australia as well as from all over the UK attended the 2014 festival.

Saltaire’s Chris Grogan, from the steering group that coordinates the programme, said: “We are hoping that we will have a good turn out this year too and that Ride2stride will be an introduction to the joys of walking in the Western Dales.”

In addition to the walks and music, there are talks exploring the history and landscape.

Archaeologist Dr David Johnson will guide walkers to decode the landscape and interpret the geology.

He will also look at historical roads and tracks and there will be a guided tour of a converted water tower.

One of the highlights will be a heritage tour of the famous Ribblehead Viaduct with its 24 arches spanning Batty Moss over 100ft below.

There are archaeological sites to explore and an extended visit to the Force Gill aquaduct.

Nature lovers are also catered for.

Join conservationist David Tayler, farmer Anthony Bradley and RSPB expert Adrian Shepherd on a walk that visits Mearbeck Farm, home to the famous Blue Pig Company, views the managed habitat of wading birds along the Ribble valley and returns through Cleatop Park Wood Nature Reserve.

John Burland gives a dramatic presentation of the life and works of Alfred Wainwright from his humble upbringing in Blackburn through his life-changing visit to the Lake District in 1930 to the years spent writing his Pictorial Guides. His guides changed the walking map forever.

Festival walks are graded from easy to strenuous.

Join Colin Speakman on a moderately easy walk to the rarely visited Hoffman Kiln to the north of Settle.

This is an extraordinary example of a large industrial lime kiln with echoing tunnels to explore (bring a torch). The circular walk will also visit Stainforth and return along the banks of the river Ribble on the route of A Dales High Way.

For those who enjoy an extra challenge, this year’s Ride2stride offers the opportunity to climb the Yorkshire Three Peaks on three consecutive days.

The first walk leaves Dent station and climbs Whernside via Whernside Tarns, finishing at Ribblehead. You can climb Ingleborough from Ribblehead, returning to Horton-in-Ribblesdale. The third of the Three Peaks, Pen-y-ghent will be accessed from Horton-in-Ribblesdale before returning to Settle.

Ride2stride could not happen without the hard work of the dozens of volunteers involved in every part of the festival.

All walks start and finish at a station.

Start times generally correspond with the arrival of a train from Leeds or Carlisle Ride2stride 2015 runs from Tuesday, April 28, to Bank Holiday Monday, May 4.

Printed programmes are available on railway stations and at tourist Information centres along the line or can be downloaded from the website www.ride2stride.org.uk.