RAIN failed to dampen the spirits of those who stepped out to support Herefordshire Wildlife Trust (HWT).

The Walk for Wildlife attracted 70 hardy souls who completed the 12.5-mile ramble through the Lower Lugg Valley.

It was the first every fundraising walk for the HWT and saw people aged from 11 to 80 take part.

The group set out from Lugg Meadow on the edge of Hereford and crossed riverside pastures, followed old drover’s roads and footpaths, looped though farmland, took in the villages of Sutton St Nicholas, Marden and Bodenham and finally ran through Dinmore Woods to finish at the Queenswood Country Park.

The walk raised just under £1,000 through registration fees, sponsorship and donations which will all go towards supporting the work that the Wildlife Trust carries out on its 55 nature reserves across Herefordshire.

The walk also aimed to showcase the work that has been taking place as part of the Lugg Living Landscape and Lugg Wetland Gem projects to protect the river from erosion and pollution and create habitats allowing wildlife to thrive.

Sophie Cowling, from HWT, said: “The walk was a great way to explain how landscape-scale conservation works.”