WELSH TV presenter, Iolo Williams, is crossing the border into Hereford to launch on May 31 a new passport' scheme aiming to build on the success of the long distance Wye Valley Walk.

The Builth Wells-born wildlife expert has close ties to walking in The Marches, living near Newtown, Powys, and having just completed Border Country', a BBC series following Offa's Dyke.

Walking is Britain's single most popular pursuit, with trips in England alone generating a spend of more than £6bn a year. As one of the most dramatic long distance walks in either England or Wales, the 136-mile-long Wye Valley Walk passes through the heart of Hereford City to link the source of Britain's fifth longest river at Plynlimon, Mid-Wales, with its mouth at Chepstow. Along the way it passes 10th Century Tintern Abbey, Kilvert's Bredwardine Church, Hereford Cathedral, at least six castles and a medieval longhouse as well as passing through two countries, four counties, and climbing to 1,600ft.

The idea to start a passport scheme with 14 stamping stations en route was spurred by the phenomenal success of the Hadrian's Wall passport, which is used by about 6,000 walkers a year, boosting business and visitor numbers to the region.

Other speakers at the Left Bank launch, hosted by the Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) Unit, will be David McGlade, National Trail Officer for Hadrian's Wall Heritage Ltd and blind walker, Chris Ottewell, who completed The Wye Valley Walk last year.

Now retired, Chris first encountered the Wye when he moved to Hay as a child. Armed with a tiny amount of peripheral vision and a considerable amount of determination, he tackled the walk in stages with team support from a strategist, driver and historian. Starting point was the very source of the river, in a remote side valley in the Cambrian Mountains.

"What better way to do the walk than from a little dribble where it starts to where it reaches the Severn," says Chris. You get to know where the water's come from - like watching the river evolve. The other great thing about walking the Wye is that it's real hunter-gatherer country, especially the Herefordshire part. Chestnuts, puffballs, cider apples everywhere."