FIFTY children from Moorland School in Clitheroe cast off the memories of foot and mouth in the area by stepping out for a 20-mile walk in aid of diabetic research.

The walk, usually an annual affair, had to be cancelled last year due to the foot and mouth crisis, but pupils and four adults made up for it this year, by walking the circuit around the Ribble Valley in force.

The walk took in many of the Ribble Valley's historic sights - starting at the school and taking country roads through local villages Waddington and Whitewell to the 'heart of the kingdom' at Dunsop Bridge, completing the circle via Newton and the Moorcock Inn, to finish back at the school.

The walk has a long history, after the first was organised to help starving children in the Biafran crisis of the early 1970s.

Diabetic research was chosen as one walker, 16-year-old pupil Katie Johnston, is diabetic. Organisers at the independent school are still counting up the sponsorship money, but are hoping they can beat the total from two years ago of £1,000.

The first walkers completed the 20 miles in just five hours, while others took just over seven hours.