Altberg walking boots have been featured recently in a number of national publications - Trail magazine, the Great Outdoors and most recently Adventure Travel. From time to time magazines carry out walking boot reviews. These walking boot reviews are a useful resource for customers visiting the walking shops all over the country. Many peolpe who visit the walking shops to buy walking boots are faced with a wide choice of different styles of walking boots - from fully stiffened mountain boots to flexible eay to wear hiking boot and walking boots.

Normally in the walking shop the staff are very knowledgeable and will be experienced walkers or members of the Ramblers association. The walking shopstaff will choose from a number of leading brands of walking boots. Scarpa, Miendl, Contour, Salomon and Merrell are some of the best and are sold by leading walking shops such as Blacks Leisure, Field & Trek, Ellis Brigham and Tiso - other outdoor shops such as Yeomans also sell boots and clothing. Yeomans offer excellent value at the budget end of the walking boot market and for many people starting to take up the walking habit in the great outdoors for the first time - Yeomans is an excellent starting point in getting "kitted out" without having to spend too much on your walking boots and clothing.Yeomans used to be an "army and navy" store, however in more recect times they have changed and now Yeomans stock a good range of camping equipment, walking boots and walking gear. Boy scouts and Girl guides - young people who are having to buy walking boots, outdoor clothing and camping equipment on a tight budget will normally find what they require at Yeoman Outdoor.

Some of the shops who cater to the more general outdoor clothing and walking boot market are Blacks Leisure, Cotswold Camping, Ellis Brigham and Field & Trek. These outdoor shops have branches nationwide and train their staff to a high standard so that good advice can be given on outdoor clothing and walking boots. Field & Trek is based in the south of England and the Field & Trek shops also specialise in mail order and selling outdoor clothing and walking boots via the internet. The Field & Trek catalogue which they publish twicw a year contains Miendl boots, Scarpa and Contour boots as well as Teva sandals, Merrell and Salomon boots and sandals. Periodically Field & Trek will offer discounts as they clear end of season stocks of walking boots and outdoor clothing. It is worth going onto the Field & Trek mailing list to be kept apace of these offers. As with all outdoor shops and walking shops - the best bargains soon sell out.

Blacks Leisure is also based in the south of England. Those of us old enough to remember will recall the blacks mountain tent. Blacks Leisure is descended from this pedigree but now offers a much wider range of outdoor equipment. Generally speaking, Blacks Leisure will be more experienced than Yeomans Outdoor but much of the outdoor equipment they sell is more technologically advanced and aimed at the more "serious end" of the market. On outdoor clothing they really do offer a comprehensive range and the same is true with their walking boots and walking sandals. Miendl, Scarpa and Contour boots are among some of the walking boots they offer - Merrell, Salomon and Teva are among the walking sandals they offer - at Blacks Leisure stores nationwide. Blacks Leisure also do mail order and their catalogue of outdoor clothing is also a virtual bible of walking boots and outdoor equipment. Blacks Leisure offers a similar level of quality outdoor clothing and walking boots as Field & Trek and Cotswold camping, all do mail order, and are situated in the south of England. Yeomans Leisure is more "budget end" but they offer good wlaking boots and outdoor clothing at "value for money" prices.

Cotswold Camping as the name suggests were always a leading outdoor retailer in the camping and leisure markets however Cotswold Camping have also expanded the range of what they offer and they do good walking boots - Miendl, Scarpa and Contour boots. They also do some military boots, Danver boots, Lowa boots and special orders on high tech magnum boots. Cotswold have walking shops all over England ond Wales, they do good walking boot fitting service and Cotswold Camping walking boot fitters understand the fittings of the various boots that they stock.

Cotswold Camping, Blacks Leisure, Field & Trek, Tiso and Ellis Brigham would all understand the different walking boot width and volumes. For example, Scarpa boots - the ranger boot is a wide, high volume fitting, the Miendl boot - the borneo is also a wider fitting - however, Scarpa boots also do some narrower fitting walking boots. the Contour boots are a medium fitting - Scarpa are one of the oldest walking boot companies and they have extensive expertise in making walking boots that fit well. The same can be said of Miendl boots and Zamberlan boots - more recent are the Contour boots - however they are made by Scarpa boots who have their factory near Asolo in Italy. Cotswold Camping is a good reliable place to shop for outdoor clothing and of course walking boots.

Further north is Ellis Brigham - originally from the north west, Ellis Brigham are another outdoor shop that specialise in walking boots and outdoor clothing and camping equipment. Ellis Brigham also produce a catalogue and their shop in Manchester has an excellent reputation for fitting walking boots. The staff at Ellis Brigham are very knowledgeable in outdoor clothing and they supply some of the very best brands of walking boots and gear. Zamberlan boots which can be purchased at Ellis Brigham come in a range of different volumes - from wide fitting walking boots to walking boots with narrower heels and wide forefeet. Scarpa and Zamberlan were two of the first walking boot companies to recognise the need for a different fitting for ladies walking boots.The ladies walking boots have a narrower heel and the collar design will often allow more room for achilles flex. Many Ellis Brigham walking boot fitters have been trained at the superfeet footbed academy - on the Phil Oren walking boot fitting course. The Ellis Brigham boot fitters have a good knowledge of different types of feet and the best way to match them to the most appropriate walking boots be it Scarpa, Zamberlan, Miendl, Contour or Salomon boots.

An alternative for many to the larger chains of walking shops is the specialist independent outdoor clothing retailer. In the North Yorkshire area we have the Walking Shop of Leyburn. At the Walking Shop they sell a good range of outdoor clothing and a short time ago the Walking Shop of Leyburn expanded its premises to increase the range of walking boots it supplies. Some of the main brands supplied by the Walking Shop of Leyburn are Brasher boots, Miendl boots, Contour boots and Scarpa boots. Like many independent outdoor retailers the Walking Shop of Leyburn pride themselves on excellent service. the owner has attended thefirst part of the superfeet footbed, PhilOren walking boot fitting course and hikers who purchase their boots from the Walking Shop of Leyburn will have their feet measured in a brannok device and the walker will receive advice on walking boot sizing as well as the appropriate superfeet footbeds. The Walking Shop of Leyburn sells Smartwool base layers, Smartwool socks, Superfeet footbeds and when these are combined with Brasher boots, Miendl boots or Scarpa boots the combination is satisfactory for the majority of hill walkers. Leyburn is an ideal place for a holiday break nad during the summer the Walking shop of Leyburn is busy fitting walking boots and selling outdoor clothing. The Walking Shop of Leyburn has a web site and will sell walking boots and outdoor clothing to hill walkiers by mail order.

Alt berg has been a long time supporter of the Ramblers association. The founder of Altberg - the walking bootmakers has always been a keen hill walker - in Swaledale and the Yorkshire Dales. He made his first walking boots for himself and through his connection with the Ramblers Association he finds out about many hill walks and Ramblers Association walking groups. Shortly after foot and mouth - Altberg the walking boot makers became involved nationally with the Ramblers Association to highlight the need for improvements to the network of walking paths in North Yorkshire. The Ramblers Association has always been active in promoting the rights of hillwalkers to have access to the footpath network and to the high moorlands. The Ramblers Association is in many ways the Hillwalkers union and will support the need for better footpath signage and more clearly defined footpath maps. The core strength of the Ramblers Association is its nationwide network of Ramblers groups. Every weekend throughout the year, they meet and either with a leader or just as friends they walk the footpaths of North Yorkshire, the Shires and England. In more recent times the Ramblers Association has managed and led walks and holiday adventures all over europe and the rest of the world.The influence of the Ramblers Association in supporting English hillwalkers is now worldwide. People of all ages join the Ramblers Association, as a charity they rely very much on the membership to support the excellent work they do.

The Ramblers Association publishes a year book which gives full details of all their walking groups and where they may be contacted. If you are interested in hill walking contact a Ramblers Association walking group - there is certain to be one in your area.

Another "jewel in the crown" of the British outdoor industry is the YHA, or the Youth Hostel Association. Like the Ramblers Association it is a charitable organisation with hostels all over the country where budget accommodation can be found - especially for those on long hikes - like the Coast to Coast walk. The Y.H.A. has Youth Hostels all along the coast to coast walk footpath. In North Yorkshire the coast to coast walk travels down Swaledale past Keld and Grinton - both of which have youth Hostels run by th YHA. Recently the future of the YHA youth hostel at Keld has been under threat of closure. The YHA have had a youth hostel at this midway point on the Coast to coast walk for many years. If the YHA do eventually decide to close this Youth Hostel then it will be a sad day for the Coast to Coast walk and Swaledale.

The Ramblers Association and the YHA are valued facilities for UK ramblers and hikers. Whether its the Coast to Coast walk or just a day out in the Yorkshire Dales membership of both the YHA and the Ramblers Association is a worthwhile investment.

The Altberg Factory shop sells many makes of walking boots other than the walking boots that they manufacture. They sell Scarpa boots, Miendl boots, Salomon and Zamberlan boots and of course Brasher boots. The factory walking shop also sells sandals - Merrell sandals, Teva sandals and Salomon. The Altberg Walking shop is also a premier Paramo retailer and sells the full range of Paramo clothing. Paramo is without question the leading non-goretex outdoor clothing in the UK.Paramo is an offshoot of Nikwax and is sourced through their office in Durgates, Surrey. Paramo outdoor clothing was first launched thirteen years ago at a time when most outdoor clothing sold in walking shops was goretex or membrane based. Paramo outdoor clothing revolutionised this - Paramo outdoor clothing is sold mainly through independent walking shops and is backed up by an excellent Nikwax clothing care treatment. Paramo clothing is the only outdoor clothing sold in walking shops that carries a lifetime guarantee. Altberg get many walkers at their factory walking shop and many walkers members of the YHA or Ramblers Association, planning for example the coast to coast walk, will completely kit themselves out - Brasher or Scarpa boots, Smartwool baselayer, Smartwool socks and of course Paramo outdoor clothing.

England is lucky that it has such a varied great outdoors and such a good network of footpaths - supported by the Ramblers Association and the YHA. England has many long distance walks of which the Caost to Coast is one of the most popular. Next time that you visit the Yorkshire dales take time out to visit Richmond, Yorkshire and get yourself to the Altberg Walking Shop or the Walking Shop, Leyburn sign up to the Ramblers Association or join the YHA - buy some walking boots - some Paramo outdoor clothing and take to the hills. If you've got good walking boots and good outdoor clothing then you need never worry about the weather.