Julia tells of her joy for the great outdoors

Saddleworth Festival, Julia Bradbury ( second from right ) at the Civic Hall, Uppermill with Geoff Roberts, Brenda Roberts and Andrew Dixon

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BUCKETFULS of enthusiasm and an infectious zeal for the outdoors revealed just how Julia Bradbury helps to draw in millions of watchers to the popular TV shows she presents.

The mum-to-be said she would be hoisting a papoose on to her back and getting back to presenting Countryfile in quick step after the birth of her baby — whatever sex it might be.

And that kind of determination perhaps underpins how Julia made the meteoric rise to TV personality in a screen career dating back 15 years, and which started as a newsreader under the leadership of the imposing Janet Street-Porter, where less than perfect performance was simply not tolerated.

Julia’s love of the countryside and global adventures she says she owes to her father, who had her out walking the hills from the age of six.

The passion, she said, comes from her Greek mother, who shunned the thought of wind and rain, but who had an unparalleled passion and drive for everything she did.

“Exhilarating, eerie, exciting, foreboding, awe-inspiring, incredible, emotional and wonderful” were all words that tripped from her fast-speaking mouth as she spoke about one of the best jobs in the world which has taken her from the heights of beautiful Lake District mountains, the volcanoes, geysers and glaciers of Iceland, and the terrors of scaling a 220ft high sea stack, The Old Man of Storr to the immaculately maintained footpaths of Germany and the wonders of Zambia, India and South Africa to name but a few.

It was in this last place she heard the saying: “You feel the soul of a country through the soles of your feet,” and she urged the packed out audience to “maintain an open mind and go for it.”

“One of the best things in life is to keep enjoying it and keep on going,” she said.

“The great thing about my job is that next year I can’t say for sure what I will be doing, but I know it will be exciting.”

Julia let a the secret out of the bag — she has a hopeless sense of direction and needs to constantly check her map to make sure she is on the right path.

Having done around 50 TV walk shows, the most popular of which are some of the Wainwrights, Julia said her aim was to provide inspiration for people and families to get out of their homes every weekend to find their own walks and their own adventures, whatever they might be.


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