EVERY lunchtime my dad goes out for a walk.

He heads down the village high street and along the lane into the countryside, walking about a mile before turning around and strolling home again.

He has done this for as far back as I can remember, and it has helped to keep him fit and healthy.

He did suffer a mild heart attack about a decade ago, but after surgery he was up and back on his midday walking schedule, and has had no further problems.

I have inherited my dad’s need to have a walk every day, and try to at least go around my local neighbourhood.

His love of walking in general - which continues as he approaches 80 - has also been passed down.

When I was growing up my mum would make packed lunches and my two siblings and I would climb into the car, the boot rammed to the gunnels with anoraks, boots, rucksacks and thumbsticks. We would drive into the North York Moors, park at some godforsaken spot and trudge for hours across hill and dale.

If my dad said it was three miles we knew it would be six. I can’t say I particularly enjoyed it, and was often shouted at for lagging behind. If I’m honest, I thought it was tedious in the extreme. I particularly hated walks to moorland crosses. Trekking for miles across windswept, stony tracks to see a lump of stone held less interest than a double maths lesson.

But, now I am older, I remember those walks, in lovely places like Bilsdale, Farndale and Eskdale. Dad would point things out along the route, and clearly some of it lodged in my reluctant child’s brain: the romantic tale behind Beggar’s Bridge, the history of iron mining in Rosedale and the reason why the village of Commondale is mainly built of brick.

On holidays in the Lake District, we often did not return to the car until dusk.

As a parent, I also inherited my parents’ love of family walks. My daughters protested in the same way that I did as a child, as my husband and I coaxed and cajoled them along our chosen routes in both rural and urban areas..

As they grew older, we would bribe them with the promise of a visit to a cafe for hot chocolate and cake; indeed the first question my youngest daughter asked before agreeing to go was “Is there a tea room?”

May is National Walking Month, a campaign to promote the benefits of walking and to get everyone on their feet, no matter what your level of fitness is. Walking is free and one of the easiest ways to be more active, lose weight and become healthier. Going out in the fresh air and having a walk, however brief, definitely relieves stress.

National Walking Month is spearheaded by Living Streets, the national charity for everyday walking that campaigns on issues such as reversing the fall in the number of children walking to school and helping older people overcome barriers to walking.

Sadly, Bradford came bottom of a poll by the charity to find the most walker-friendly cities in UK. Almost half of Bradfords interviewed said they did not feel safe walking in their city and more than half said they rated the quality of the streets as poor, or very poor.

Councillor Val Slater (Lab, Royds), disagreed, saying much had been done to create a good, walker-friendly district.

The charity’s website livingstreets.org is asking for people to share experiences on their walks. So pull on your boots and get out there to prove or disprove these findings - and hopefully enjoy a walk.