A ROUTE taken by the Leeds Pals will feature in this year's Otley Walking Festival.

The 2016 festival runs from June 25 to July 3 and, as always, will feature a wide variety of themed walks designed to cater for differing abilities.

New this year, though, will be a trek that has been organised to tie in with this summer's 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme.

The 1916 battle was one of the bloodiest the world has seen, and during it, most of the Leeds Pals – and many members of the hundreds of other 'pals' regiments taking part – were massacred.

Otley Walking Festival will let people follow in in the Footsteps of the Pals on July 2. The guided walk will trace the route the troops took as they were marched from the old railway station at Masham to their training grounds at the Colsterdale Camp, out on the moors.

Participants will also hear stories about the Pals and their lives, and see where they carried out their training before being shipped out to fight in the First World War.

Coach transport to and from the walk is included in the £11 ticket price and places must be booked. E-mail otleywalkingfestival@mail.com or visit otleywalkingfestival.co.uk for more details.