A JOURNEY of discovery which brings the curriculum to life offers a magical end to the summer holidays for Craven children.

Former Bentham teacher Kay Piper is reviving her walks, which are familiar to generations of schoolchildren.

Youngsters aged five and above can join her latest expedition, which sets off from the Looking Well today (Friday).

Armed with a picnic, children can step out on the five mile circular route following footpaths around Bentham and find out a little more about their home town through local history, flora and fauna - all free of charge.

Mrs Piper, who taught for 25 years at High Bentham Primary School, devised the walks after the cost of end-of-term trips escalated. They soon became popular with both pupils and parents.

From 1989 up until her retirement seven years ago, the walks became a major part of school life, with a summer term's work revolving around the discoveries pupils made on the expeditions.

Teaming up with Len Moody, of Bentham Footpath Group, Mrs Piper devised the routes to cover every aspect of the curriculum, including English and maths.

The walks also helped the children bring history to life as they learned about buildings such as Bentham's silk mill, founded by the Quakers in the early 1900s.

Mrs Piper recalls: "They thought it was a day out, but the amount of information they absorbed was incredible.

"I always asked for 10 parents to come along and help and the response was wonderful. Sometimes there were as many adults as children."

Pupils completed four walks a term in the five years before Mrs Piper retired and each one was unique, following themes such as woodland, rivers, compass points, moorland or meadows.

Alison Jones, of Bentham Looking Well, heard about Mrs Piper's walks and asked if she would revive them for the school holidays.

Returning to the footpaths Mrs Piper, who vets every route, was surprised to see how overgrown many of the routes had become.

She said: "With foot and mouth last year no-one could get out on the footpaths and I was surprised to see how the countryside has reinvigorated itself. It was only because we knew where one stile was that we could actually find it and had to cut everything back to ensure we could get through."

As a member of Bentham Footpath Group Mrs Piper is now proposing to set up a working group to set about restoring the footpaths. She is also planning to run more walks on Saturdays so working parents can take part with their children. The dates will be publicised nearer the time.

Anyone wanting to join today's walk should turn up at the Looking Well at 10am. Children must be accompanied by an adult.