INTREPID charity walker Richard Farquhar will be in the region next week as he continues his epic effort to connect all 60 of Britain’s racecourses in a chain on foot.

Before racing starts at Thirsk on Monday night, August 10, he will be walking round the course to mark the end of the latest leg of his great journey.

The Londoner, a father-of-four, is walking 3,000 miles around the UK from racecourse to racecourse in an ambitious fundraising initiative called Walking The Courses.

He was inspired to undertake the challenge after losing his father in 2012 to pancreatic cancer.

And he is hoping that his marathon will raise a huge £1.4m to be split equally between two charities - Pancreatic Cancer UK and Racing Welfare.

Mr Farquhar, 52, is now almost half of the way through his charity pilgrimage in terms of racecourses visited, having ticked off 27 of the 60.

However there are still another 2,000 miles to go and he will spend the rest of August walking through Yorkshire, arriving at Beverley on August 13, York on August 20, and Catterick on August 26.

To find out more about Walking The Courses, to donate and to get involved, visit walkingthecourses.com.