Walking Hadrian's Wall Path by Mark Richards. £14.95.

Those of you who have any of Mark Richards' Lakeland Fell Ranger guides will concur that they are truly excellent walking books.

They are a valuable companion to have when you strike out for a day of high adventure and I always pop the relevant one into my rucksack whenever I hit the hills.

With my challenge of completing all the Wainwright fells almost at an end, I am looking for a new rambling challenge. This book has whetted my appetite to tackle the 84-mile Hadrian's Wall Path National Trail from Bowness-on-Solway to Wallsend, near Newcastle.

Hadrian's Wall is the best preserved of all the Roman Empire's frontiers and is a World Heritage Site. Along its length are fascinating archaeological remains like Birdoswald, Housesteads and Vindolanda.

The trail normally takes a week to walk but is presented here in a more leisurely 10-stage format. But this book is more than just a walking guide, it is a rich source of information on sites of interest along the route.

But what really makes it for me is a compact booklet at the back showing the whole route on 1:25,000 scale maps in a clear PVC sleeve. Not only innovative but quite brilliant.