YESTERDAY'S Great North Walk was a magnificent advertisement for many things, with sun lotion topping the list.

The event underlined the benefits of healthy living across the region, with more than 4,000 men, women and children walking ten miles, a fair proportion of them uphill.

It demonstrated the strength of partnerships, with The Northern Echo, Wear Valley District Council, the Durham Dales Primary Care Trust and Northumbrian Water coming together under the banner of "A Chance To Live" - our campaign aimed at reducing heart disease.

And it promoted the breathtaking beauty of Weardale as a secret waiting to be truly discovered.

Our principal interest in getting behind the Great North Walk was to extend our heart campaign beyond the political debates and financial wrangling of the National Health Service.

Despite the progress which has been made, the political pressure to reduce the waiting time for heart bypass surgery in this country must be maintained.

But we also believe passionately in delivering the message that every single one of us can play our part by looking after our own health more effectively.

Wear Valley has some of the most depressing health statistics in the country and by linking up with the local council and primary care trust for a year of health promotion initiatives, we have helped boost participation levels significantly.

But the value of the Great North Walk - the flagship of those initiatives - goes much further than health promotion.

Thousands took part in the walk from every corner of the North-East and further afield. And every one of them witnessed Weardale in its full, sun-drenched glory from high on the hills above Wolsingham.

It is a wonderful sight and one which must not be underestimated. Wear Valley is in the midst of an economic crisis, with job losses apparently never-ending and replacements difficult to find.

But the answer was clarified by the Great North Walk yesterday. They came, they walked, they admired, and they spent their money in local shops.

We hope the Great North Walk comes back to Weardale again in 2004 and for many years to come. Let's make it "the home of the Great North Walk" and build on that foundation.

So far, Weardale has only tinkered with tourism. Let this be the beginning of a healthier future for Wear Valley - in more ways than one.