A FESTIVAL which brings together reading with the great outdoors has announced this year’s tickets are now on sale.

The Richmond Walking and Book Festival, from September 22 to 30, has a wide programme of events including 40 walks organised by Swaledale Outdoor Club, and a range of talks and workshops organised by Castle Hill Bookshop and the festival committee.

Carol Watson from Castle Hill Bookshop said this year’s events would appear to many different people, both festival regulars and newcomers.

She said: “We are really pleased with our programme this year. Every year we wonder how we can do one better but I do feel like this year is exciting.

“Some of our highlights include a talk by Helen Pankhurst, great-granddaughter of Suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst. Lots will know her by her surname, and we are very proud to include her in the festival.

“She has a book out at the moment call Deeds Not Words, about the history of equality, reflecting on the suffragist movement and looking at how women’s rights have changed.

“I’m particularly excited about our Ordinance Survey event, because it links the walking and the book side of the festival. We will have regional engineers from OS to come and tell us how often they update maps and how they do it.

“Following that talk, author Jonathan Smith will talk about his book, the Dales 30, which details 30 walks up hills in the Yorkshire and Cumbrian Dales. “

President of the festival Peter Robinson, best-known for his series of crime novels set in Yorkshire featuring Inspector Alan Banks, is taking part in two events.

The first is a book club event, which allows the group to read a book before discussing it with the writer, and the book will be Before The Poison, by Mr Robinson.

The second is a double act at the Georgian Theatre Royal with folk musician Martin Carthy.

Ms Watson said: “This will be such a fun event. They have already performed a couple of events together with Peter reading a story and Martin complementing it with music. They go between each other and bounce off each other.

“That will be something different for festival regulars.”

This year for the first time the festival is holding children’s events, including Harry and his Bucketful of Dinosaurs story event for three to seven year-olds; and storyteller Rhoda Fraser will hold an Alice in Wonderland themed workshop. Both events at Richmond Library.

Additional events include talks by Swaledale Mountain Rescue; James Herriot's daughter, Rosie Page; and Green Howards Museum's evening on Herbert Read.

For tickets visit http://www.booksandboots.org/ or Castle Hill Bookshop.