I refer Members to my register of interest and my honorary role as vice-president of Ramblers Cymru. Last weekend, as if we hadn’t all done enough walking during the local elections, I and Suzy Davies AM attended the Ramblers Cymru Big Welsh Walk, also known as ‘the “Hinterland” challenge’, located as it was near Devil’s Bridge. Using as our base the lovely Tynrhyd Retreat, an exemplar of rural diversification, ramblers from all around the UK set off on walks of different lengths, from two miles to a more strenuous 15 miles, uphill and down dale, across the most glorious moorland and heathland, crags and wooded valleys and gentle lowland pastureland with rivers glistening in the sunshine. But before I come over too poetical, let me also be practical.

The walks also demonstrated the incredible work of Ramblers Cymru volunteers, working with landowners and local authorities to maintain existing rights of way, and even to create new walking routes. It demonstrated the benefits to tourism and the local economy of being a walker-friendly town and county, connecting people to the places in which they live, introducing people to places they would not otherwise have seen, and it demonstrated the clear health and well-being benefits of something as simple as regular walking. As Ramblers Cymru states, by joining up communities, connecting people to their local landscapes, unveiling new places to discover and continuing to maintain our world-class network of paths, we can make Wales the best walking country in the world, not just for us but for future generations to come. That ambition is surely worth stepping out for. [Assembly Members: ‘Hear, hear’.]