Northumberland shepherd Jon Monks has harnessed his passion for walking with his knowledge of computers to launch an internet business selling rambling route packs.

The routes vary in difficulty from the short family ramble to the highest peak hike. Now Jon has enlisted the help of Defra to give the new venture a boost.

Mr Monks, 32, who shepherds 1,500 black-faced sheep on a farm near Rothbury, gets 200 hits a day on his web site www.shepherdswalks.co.uk.

With the help of Defra's Rural Development Service North-East, he successfully signed up to the Rural Enterprise Scheme, which enabled him to market his new venture and go for quick growth.

The Defra funding helped to cover the costs of producing a range of business marketing stationery and literature and an expansion into postal sales.

Mr Monks, who lives near Morpeth with his wife, Jane, and their two children Lois, four, and Harry one, said: "As a keen walker, I have always noticed the lack of walks in this area so, as a hobby, I started to write down my walks as I actually walked them and then researched them on the internet and at local libraries.

"I'm also interested in computers and created a small web site in November 1999 when there were just five walks in the Rothbury area on it.

"After the web site was mentioned in Radio Times I realised it had business potential and, after securing funding, a new web site was launched in February 2001 with walks covering the whole of Northumberland to broaden our customer base.

"Unfortunately, foot-and-mouth hit the business for six months but, with the help of Defra, we expanded to postal sales in July last year.

"So far this year we have printed 10,000 promotional leaflets for distribution throughout the area and this part of the business has increased our sales by more than 100pc and enabled Shepherd's Walks to reach new customers."

Each of the 16 routes has been researched and documented by Mr Monks himself and put together as a complete pack, with comprehensive instructions for the walk, local history, points of interest and a detailed route map, all in a waterproof booklet.

Clients contact the web site from as far afield as the USA and New Zealand. Last year the company won the North-East round of the Travel and Leisure section of the e-commerce awards and, as sales continue to grow, Mr Monks now employs a part-time secretary.

He is planning to expand by including walks from other parts of the country