THE adventure is out there. That's the message from Coast Alive, which is challenging Great Yarmouth Library users to enjoy the coast and countryside on their doorstep.

THE adventure is out there. That's the message from Coast Alive, which is challenging Great Yarmouth Library users to enjoy the coast and countryside on their doorstep.

And since this might be an audience inclined to seek adventure through the pages of a book, free copies of the Coast Alive-backed Great Yarmouth health walks booklet are available.

Carrie Kerry, health walks project officer, said: “These are colourful, attractive booklets that are fun to browse and great to take home. Once they have been dipped into, I'm confident that many readers will want to get out there and try some of these excellent and fascinating walks.”

Coast Alive is an EU-funded North Sea Region Programme which contributed to the production of the walks booklet by Norfolk County Council in a bid to encourage more people to walk regularly as part of a healthy lifestyle.

The guide features a total of 11 circular walks from one to five and a half miles in length, highlighting the fascinating natural and man made landscape along the east coast of Norfolk.

Each walk is accompanied by an attractive, colourful and easy-to-follow map, along with walk directions and interesting facts about local heritage and wildlife.

Carrie added: “The walks really are a journey of discovery in the Great Yarmouth area.

“There is so much to enjoy, from the historic riverside areas of Yarmouth to the seaside pleasure areas such as the Victorian Gorleston seafront.

“Away from the urban neighbourhood the countryside is a stunning combination of wide open skies, flat lands and windmills, rivers, sand dunes and beaches.

“There really is something for everyone and regular walking is a free, easy and enjoyable way to improve and maintain good health and fitness. If you increase your pace enough to feel a little warmer, breathe a little heavier and raise your heart rate, the benefits of walking are even greater. It's a great way to relax, unwind and escape the pressure of daily life."

As well as Yarmouth library, the booklet of walks is also available, free, from the libraries at Gorleston, Caister and Martham.