Ross-on-Wye Walking Festival saw more people attending this year than ever in the festival’s history.

Along with hundreds of walkers and more than a thousand miles walked, television crews also made an appearance.

A BBC film crew arrived in Ross for a programme that celebrates rivers and how people use and enjoy them.

The programme is being made for BBC2 with Paul Whitehouse and is due to be screened in spring next year.

The River Wye is one of Paul’s favourite rivers and the crew spotted the Walking Festival so got in touch. The programme will look at a number of UK rivers, talking to locals about how they are valued and used, but also looking at the impact of pollution.

The film crew met and chatted to various people from the Walking Festival and Walkers are Welcome group, in particular the leader of the Photography Festival Walk on the Saturday morning.

In addition, a group of wild swimmers were gathered along with some “wonderful” children with their families to be interviewed and filmed; and on the Monday, the crew returned to meet with the Junior section of Ross Rowing Club.

The whole process took a long time, but the weather was great, the wildlife abundant and lots of action taking place around the riverside.

Hopefully this will be a great boost to tourism for Ross, raising the profile of the town and the activities that are part of our riverside life.

More than 300 festival tickets were sold, a 50 per cent increase on the average over the past 10 decade, which makes it the most successful walking festival in Ross with over 1,600 total miles covered.