A NEW exhibition highlighting Bradford's green spaces and parks aims to get the district walking.

Walk the Walk: Born in Bradford, held at the city's Cathedral, includes work from photographer Ian Beesley, poet Ian McMillan and Born in Bradford's Ann Barratt.

They have spent the previous few weeks scouring the district's landscapes to add to the collection at the Stott Hill site.

Its organisers hope the free exhibition will inspire visitors to get out of their armchairs and get active.

Eight photographs of everyday people strolling around the city are also included in the display which opened yesterday.

It features a photograph of people walking in Centenary Square with the poem 'Walking is thinking on your feet'.

Three men were also pictured in Lister Park, while another man is captured strolling in the countryside at a site in the district.

The poem, 'Walking is swimming on the ground' accompanies an image of Morecambe Bay Sands Walk.

Eight yellow pedestrian signs from across Bradford are pictured with the poem, 'I take every day in my stride' and 'I measure the day in feet. Moving feet' in another image.

A striking black and white picture shows several people's footprints. It is accompanied by the poem, 'Walking reduces your carbon footprint to shadows like these that fade away'.

In light of Walk the Walk, Born in Bradford has been measuring how much time mothers and children spend walking.

They asked mothers when they were pregnant how long they walked for in bouts of ten or more minutes in the last week.

Two thirds had walked for more than 60 minutes, but almost one in ten had not walked at all for more than ten minutes at a time that week.

The study also found 40 per cent of two-year-olds walked for less than 15 minutes and 25 per cent for more than 30 minutes a day.

Meanwhile, 30 per cent of three-year-olds walked for less than 15 minutes and 30 per cent walked for more than 30 minutes each day.

Dr Sally Barber, the project's principal research fellow, talks about the benefits of walking to people, young and old, in Bradford.

She said: "Walking is a natural medicine for the body. It can prevent disease and help us to stay healthy.

"In our modern society where vehicles transport us from place to place, where we sit at desks to learn or work, where our leisure time is often spent in front of the screen, it is important to make time to use our legs and walk."

Mr Beesley says people rely on motorised transport to get around rather than walking.

He added: "In Bradford, like so many other cities, fewer people walk because they are no longer obliged to.

"Walking in urban areas has sometimes been viewed in a negative light.

"It is seen as an indication that you can't afford a car or your bus fare.

"Once a necessity, walking has now become an organised leisure activity, part of a healthy lifestyle."

Born in Bradford is a project tracking the lives of 13,500 babies born at Bradford Royal Infirmary since 2007 to find out more about the causes of childhood illness by studying children from all cultures and backgrounds as their lives unfold.

The group's researchers are currently designing and testing new ways to support children and families to be active and walk more by getting involved with schools, one of those ideas is looking at playground lay-out and improving walking routes to schools.

Mr McMillan is an English poet, journalist, playwright, and broadcaster.

He is known for his strong and distinctive Barnsley-area accent and his characteristic manner of speech.

He went to Bowling Park Primary School, New Cross Street, West Bowling, last month where a class of 30 children aged eight learned more about science and the carbon footprint.

The session, run by Born in Bradford, was run to make science more visual for children. The visit also saw Mr McMillan joined by Mr Beesley ahead of the Walk the Walk exhibition.

The exhibition runs until Saturday, September 5, and is open from 9am to 4.30pm between Monday and Saturday and from 11.45am and 4pm on Sunday.