WALKERS will once more have the opportunity to walk the ancient ?way of the dead? this September, when Dartmoor Rescue Group hosts the annual Lych Way Walk.

The walk, on Sunday September 21, follows a route from Bellever to Lydford and is approximately 14-miles long, as the crow flies.

A DRG spokesman said: ?The Lych way is the way of the dead ? the route along which the coffin was carried to Lydford Church. The Forest of Dartmoor lays wholly within the parish of Lydford and up to 1260, the deceased of farms and villages from up to 16 miles away would be accompanied by relatives and friends on the day of their funeral.

?The body would have to be borne from the place of residents to the parish churchyard. The route we follow today is compromise, but try to imagine a quicker way when you have to carry a corpse and its heavy wooden overcoat!?

The walk starts at Bellever car park at 9am. Teams will be given grid references for the check points on the way, with teams planning their own route from the information given. The aim is to arrive at the Lydford House Hotel before the sun sets.

The Plymouth section of the Dartmoor Rescue Group will man the check points and provide ?safety sweep teams? and the start and finish personnel.

Teams from clubs, schools, organisations or individuals wishing to enter the 5th annual Lych Way need to submit entries by Monday August 11. The entry fee is £3.50 per person ? special commemorative cloth badges are available at £1.50 each.

All proceeds from the event will go to the Dartmoor Rescue Group ? a registered charity providing trained personnel who are on call 24-hours a day, 365 days a year to help rescue missing or injured people on moorland or open areas.

The DRG will be holding a moorland skills weekend on November 22/23, in response to walkers? requests for greater knowledge of safe enjoyment of Dartmoor.

Sue Britten, secretary of the Plymouth section of the DRG, said: ?This two-day course is aimed at all levels of experience in navigation, map work, first aid and includes two walks, one of which will be after dark.

?The course can be attended on a daily basis or accommodation can be provided if required.?

The course will be held at the Plume of Feathers in Princetown and costs £30 with bunkhouse accommodation, £25 without.

Profits from the course will help fund DRG equipment and running costs.

Anyone interested in entering a team in the Lych Way Walk or attending the moorland skills weekend can go to the DRG website at http://www.dartmoor-rescue.org">www.dartmoor-rescue.org or contact Sue Britten on 01752 518669 or write to 88 Charfield Drive, Eggbuckland, Plymouth PL6 5PS enclosing a stamped addressed envelope.