APPROPRIATELY for someone who writes about walking for a living, Julie Royle walked to our offices in Worcester for this interview. All four-and-a-half miles of the journey from her little cottage down a windy lane in the village of Lower Broadheath. Then when we’d finished, she walked all the way back again.

It was a half-decent day, but I got the impression she’d have done exactly the same if it had been pouring. “I haven’t got a car,” she explained. “I’m an environmentalist and I’m very anti-car. I’ve been on demonstrations against new road building because I think it is destroying the countryside.  I walk all over the place or if the journeys are longer I use public transport, trains or buses.”

I asked whether she owned a bike, because that’s considered pretty “green” and a lot quicker than footing it. “Oh no,” she replied.“ I’d be too frightened to cycle. There are too many fast cars on the road.”

However Julie’s dedication to walking has proved a boon to readers of this newspaper, because for several years she has been contributing a highly popular and informative weekly walk column, a ramble of anything between four to 12 miles across some of the most beautiful parts of Worcestershire and its adjoining counties.

Aimed at the amateur walker rather than the professional, who loves striding from fell top to fell top, they have given a lot of folk something to do at the weekend.

Two years ago we turned 50 of Julie’s walks into an attractive and very colourful stiff-backed book called Julie Royle’s Worcestershire Walks and it sold like hot cakes. Now comes the follow-up, unsurprisingly called Julie Royle’s Worcestershire Walks Vol 2.It costs £4.99 and is available either by calling into our office in Hylton Road, Worcester or by completing the order form on the right.

The walking routes cover Worcestershire from top to bottom and occasionally veer off into neighbouring Warwickshire Shropshire, Gloucestershire and Herefordshire.

Compiling them and the detailed information that accompanies each has been a considerable feat, but one which Julie is swift to point out comes with a proviso.

“The routes were all carefully checked before the date of their original publication,” she said, “but it’s important to bear in mind things do change in the countryside and it is possible that some of the route descriptions are no longer correct in every detail.

“Stiles may have been replaced by gates, for example, and there can sometimes be diversions, although these are usually adequately waymarked and rarely cause any problems.

“More seriously, some rights of way may have become neglected or even deliberately obstructed.

Although illegal, sadly this is not uncommon and can happen at any time, so it is quite possible some routes may have deteriorated since I originally compiled them.”

One of Julie’s hallmarks is the amount of detail she manages to pack into her route instructions.

Indeed one keen walker among my fellow journos here is known to ask his walking partner: “Is this a Julie route or not?”

If so, he strides ahead with confidence; if not, he starts looking for trouble.

Because not all walking guides are as comprehensive as this.

“I always try to include a pub or village shop somewhere along the way,” Julie explained, “because I think it’s important to support local businesses.If you are enjoying the countryside,Ifeel you should be helping the people who live there and keep it going.”

Where possible she tries to use pasture fields rather than arable and all the routes are picked to avoid the roughest terrain.

“The biggest problem in wet conditions would be mud,” she added. “But if you dress sensibly and chose adequate footwear – and I don’t mean professional walking boots – you should be fine.”

Her latest batch of routes covers some of the lesser-known footpaths in the county, around villages such as Feckenham, Inkberrow, Cutnall Green, Wichenford and Astley.

With a nod to her own politics, Julie designs each so the start and finish points (if the route isn’t circular) can be reached by public transport.

Another bonus is the quite stunning photography which proliferates throughout. Julie took all the images herself and the results confirm what a beautiful county Worcestershire is.

A live-wire character who says she has been walking since the age of 12 months, when she went for a jaunt around her parents’ sitting room, Julie packed her rucksack at the end of our chat and set off along Hylton Road.

Surely the speed camera flashing must have been a coincidence?