VOLUNTEER countryside ranger Steve Shippen leads a bracing Boxing Day walk to help shake off the festive excesses on Thursday (December 26).

But he warns that the 10.5-mile countryside trek in north-west Durham, Waskerley: A Station on a Hill Top, will be “hard and long”, estimated to take up to five-and-a-half hours to complete.

Walkers should meet at Rowley Station Picnic Area, off Waskerley Way, just off the A68 south of Castleside, at 10am.

There is a £4 charge per walker.