MAXINE GORDON introduces Jonathan Smith who will be sharing his passion for the outdoors in weekly walks for readers

JONATHAN Smith has the great outdoors literally on his doorstep. "I pop out the front door, turn left and walk into the Dales. Within a couple of minutes I am walking by a stream."

But it wasn't always so. He is a city boy and grew up in the suburbs of Newcastle. He took a geography-based degree – development studies – in Norwich at the University of East Anglia and ended up working in London for a travel company.

"I worked in London for four years and can't say I warmed to it," begins Jonathan, who is in his 50s and married with two teenage daughters. "I was desperate to move back north. You just could not get anywhere at the weekend, I never felt properly outdoors. Sometimes, on a Friday night, I took the overnight sleeper to Scotland and would return for 8am on the Monday. I'd walk back into the office with my backpack, have a shower, then change into my suit."

It was on regular trips to Scotland that Jonathan did his "Munro bagging" – climbing mountains over over 3000ft. There are 282 Munros and Jonathan has "bagged" them all – some feat, of which he is rightly proud. "I completed them on my 40th birthday."

He has his parents to thank for introducing him to nature. "They always took us on holiday to the Lake District: to Threlkeld near Keswick. My mother had been evacuated there during the war and had lived with a family. On holiday, Dad used to take me and my two brothers walking in the hills."

Do his teenage daughters enjoy hill waking with him, I wonder. Jonathan laughs and as if to say "what do you think?", before qualifying with: "People don't want to go out, but once they are there, they quite enjoy it."

For the past ten years Jonathan has helped many people get more enjoyment from the outdoors through his business Where2Walk.

He offers training days and weekends where people learn to read maps and compasses as well as organising guided tours and walking holidays. He has also written a book, Dales 30, (£12.95) which describes the highest mountains in the Dales (find out more from: Where2walk.co.uk).

Jonathan encourages people to think about safety when they go out walking. "At least someone in the party should be able to read a map and use a compass," he says.

"There is a danger if people go out unprepared. People can get lost on the moors. It doesn't take long to teach those skills and it is fun to learn and makes it so much more enjoyable."

Jonathan's favourite place to walk is in the limestone Dales – the three peaks country. "I did a walk recently from Malham to Littondale and it was a lovely walk. Littondale is probably my favourite valley and the little villages there are what the Dales are all about."

So what can readers expect every week?

"There will be a different walk every week, with interesting facts about the area," explains Jonathan. "The routes will vary, some weeks it might be ten or 11 miles, and some might be shorter at two to three miles in length."

There will be walks in the Dales as well as the North York Moors and Wolds. "One of my favourite places is Osmotherley and walking out from Stokesley is just lovely."