A FESTIVAL celebrating walking and books will this year welcome MP Alan Johnson to talk about his latest autobiographical book.

The Richmond Walking and Book Festival, which takes place in the Yorkshire Dales, will kick off on September 25.

One of the highlights of the book event will feature Alan Johnson, MP and author of two books, This Boy and Please Mr Postman, which he will speak about in conversation with Malcolm Warne, former editor of the Darlington and Stockton Times.

This Boy has won several awards and tells of Alan’s start in life in 1950s Notting Hill, where he lived in condemned housing in desperate poverty.

Please Mr Postman continues his story, when as a husband and father, working as a postman and set against a background of 1970s England, he chronicles the start of his involvement in the Union of Postal Workers and growing political awareness.

The festival takes place within Richmond and the surrounding area and runs from September 25 to October 4.

It also involves a variety of graded walks around the dales to choose, as well as talks from popular and emerging authors.

The full programme is available on the festival’s website at;

www.booksandboots.org. Events can be booked online or in person at the Castle Hill bookshop in Richmond.