A committee of volunteers in St Dominick is working away at an initiative to improve and make more of the ancient walks, footpaths and trails around the village.

The St Dominica Heritage Trails scheme was a winner in the Tesco Bags for Help sponsorship scheme earlier this year, where funding comes from the 5p charge for carrier bags.

The thousands of pounds netted as a result is being used to enhance trails linking up with the National Trust’s Cotehele House and the historic hamlets of Ashton, Halton Quay and Bohetherick. The aim of the St Dominica Heritage Trails Working Group is to join forces with the National Trust, Ramblers, and Tamar Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) to waymark paths and there will be a new information board and walks guides.

It is hoped this will bring more visitors to the area to support local businesses, and provide learning opportunities for exploring the parish’s history.

The plan is to launch the scheme fully in April of next year.

However, these plans took some big steps forward in October when a 20-strong group of volunteers spent a Sunday in Nanie Rowe’s Woods, near the meeting point of the Radland and Morden streams in the valley near Cotehele, creating a much-needed set of steps for a popular walking route on a sloping section of the woodland. They also levelled a lengthy adjoining path.