IT'S top hats all the way for two intrepid walkers and descendants of the great Charles Dickens who called into Petersfield on Wednesday morning.

Great-great-grandsons Ian and Gerald Dickens are re-enacting the walk that Nicholas Nickleby and Smike made from Golden Square in London to Portsmouth in the author's famous novel The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby.

They hope to to raise awareness and funds for the statue of Charles Dickens which is due to be sighted close to his birthplace in Portsmouth next year.

So far, £70,000 has been raised toward the cost of the statue and another £50,000 is needed to complete the project.

For full story, see this week's Petersfield Herald.