New path from Hebden to to Hardcastle Craggs (June 2012)

This is a long standing issue HBWA has done work on in the past. We have now identified a possible source of funding, so are consulting interested parties to see whether they are interested in forming a consortium to make a bid.

Med per Uomo

The future of Calderdale Countryside Service (June 2012)

At the end of May Calderdale Council called a meeting of staff, volunteers and oter interested groups to discuss future priorities and issue. The session was very well attended and in July we expect to have sight of any proposals that emerge from the meeting.

The future of Calderdale Countryside Service (April 2012)

Rumours abound, first that it was to be abolished, then it was reprieved, then it was to be handed over to another organisation, then Amey were going to do all the work. The current news from the volunteers is

• The budget for 2012-3 is the same as last year
• £1500 has been allocated to upgrading the worst bits of the Calderdale way
• No decision has been made about the long term future (wait until after the election perhaps?)

New season of Calderdale Heritage walks (April 2012)

Walks for 2012 have just been published. There are leaflets in Toursist Information Centres and other outlets or you can download the details from the Calderdale Heritage Walks website.

Pennine Horizon E-Trails (April 2012)

Following the two pilot e-Trails done in 2010, Pennine Horizons have funding to produce a dozen more. Agreed topics so far are Cragg Valley, yeomans Housing in Barkisland and Norland, Geology, Trees, The Fielden family. If anyone is interested in helping develop new E-trails, contact Pennine Horizons.

National Trail in Hebden Bridge (March 2012)

We all know that the Pennine Way passes through close to Hebden bridge, but did you know that there are a number of National Trails off the Pennine Way? One of them is the Hebden Bridge Round – a 12km circular walk.

On line Ordinance Survey (March 2012)

You can access OS maps for Calderdale on Calderdale Council’s website. There is the facility for zooming in on a particular area. If you have a smart phone bookmark the site in case you get lost!

Gentle walking (March 2012)

Hebden Bridge Walkers Action’s Gentle Walking leaflet rapidly went out of print. We have now got a reprint under way (thank you to the town council for grant support for this).

Two more walk leaflets (Feb 2012)

These are for a walk in the Cragg Vale valley and the footpaths in Eaves Wood, Mytholm. These are available from Hebden Bridge Visitor Centre and other local outlets.

Our three waymarked trails from Hebden Bridge are proving popular. Two maps/information boards have been erected, at Hebden Bridge station and in the centre of Hebden Bridge. Each waymarked walk is featured on this website. A guide is also available (price 50p) from the Tourist Information Centre, Book Case, Mountain Wild and Alternative Technology Centre Green Shop.

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The Stepping Out photographic project run by HB Walkers’ Action in 2007 resulted in a fantastic photomosaic of over 800 photographs, the bulk of which are now on display on this website.. A news report is available on the HB community website. Full details of the project are on this website.

The Walkers are Welcome initiative in Hebden Bridge has won Hebden Bridge Walkers’ Action the 2007 Award from the Action for Market Town for the best project demonstrating partnership and strategic development in Yorkshire, and we were pleased to welcome members of the Market Towns Initiative to Hebden Bridge in April 2008. Press coverage.

Calderdale MBC have recently produced their Rights of Way Improvement Plan. Our own Submission made in response to their original draft Plan is also available.

We highlighted in Spring 2007 the case of the much-loved paths in Eaves Wood, in the Colden valley near Hebden Bridge, which although walked by the public for generations were not legal rights of way. We are now battling with Calderdale MBC to include them on the definitive map. We have a leaflet about Eaves Wood now out.

The dose of the drug should be reduced gradually when stopping treatment or reducing the daily dose. Despite the fact that there are no systematically collected data to support a specific discontinuation regimen, it is recommended to reduce the daily dose of the drug by no more than 0.5 mg every 3 days. Some patients may need to reduce the dosage even more slowly. Read more about this at https://tattargahealthclinics.com/xanax/.

We have worked with HB Local History Society to produce a new Town Trail booklet for Hebden Bridge. This is now out and available locally.

Another HB Walkers’ Action initiative has been the new marketing leaflet, Get out for a walk in Hebden Bridge! 25,000 copies of the leaflet have been distributed in the Yorkshire and Lancashire areas.

A full report of our Walkers’ Day event on Sunday February 18th 2007 which marked the launch of Hebden Bridge as Britain’s first Walkers are Welcometown remains available on this website.

Our thanks to…

We’re delighted to acknowledge the support of Hebden Royd Town Council, who have endorsed the initiative as well as making a significant grant available towards the initial costs. We’re also very pleased to be able to announce that Erringden Parish Council, Heptonstall Parish Council and Blackshaw Parish Council have also endorsed the initiative, and are making financial support available. The waymarking initiatives have been funded by Calderdale MBC, and we are very grateful for the support of Calderdale’s officers in this work.

We have also had considerable support from the local business community. We particularly want to thank Mountain Wild, the locally run outdoor equipment shop in Crown Street, for their generous support in becoming our first Business Patron. We also acknowledge gratefully the support of our Key Business Sponsors, the Albert Inn, Innovation, the Fox and Goose Inn, Mytholm House B&B, and of our Business Sponsors Organic House/Rubyshoesday, Stubbing Wharf pub, The Bookcase, P Mamtora opticians, Riverdene House B&B, The Shoulder of Mutton pub. We also acknowledge donations from Higher Clough Foot Barn self-catering, Badger Fields Farm B&B.

The Rambers has made a generous donation towards the development of the Walkers are Welcomeinitiative. The Ramblers’ West Riding area has also give financial support.

The Stepping Out photographic project, and a follow-up Stepping Out – All Yar Round! initiative, were funded from Awards for All (Big Lottery Fund).

Media reports on our work

Recent press coverage includes a lengthy news report in TGO (The Great Outdoors), in walk magazine, and widespread reporting in both the Halifax Courier and the Hebden Bridge Times. Articles available on-line include the following:

Halifax Courier, 19th June 2007, New Walking Group for Community

Halifax Courier, 19th February 2007, Town is first in UK to be officially ‘walker friendly’

Halifax Courier, 12th January 2007, Hebden Bridge is hosting a walkers’ festival

Halifax Courier, 12th October 2006, It’s a walking first for Hebden

Halifax Courier, 13th September 2006, We’ll keep a welcome in the dale

Hebden Bridge Times, 24th September 2007 New routes launched

Hebden Bridge Times, 3rd July 2007, More than 600 photographs of steps

Hebden Bridge Times, 28th June 2007 Walking status wins award

Hebden Bridge Times, 11 June 2007 Three new routes widen access

Hebden Bridge Times, 14th June 2007, Three new routes widen access

Hebden Bridge Times, 8th March 2007, We’ve more footpaths than anyone

Hebden Bridge Times, 22nd February 2007 Ramblers celebrate

Hebden Bridge Times, 11th January 2007, Festival celebrates walking milestone

Hebden Bridge Times, 12th October 2006, National First for Local Walks

Hebden Bridge Times, 24th August 2006, Help us make walkers welcome, says action group

Countryside Service reorganisation (July 2013)

The new structure of the Countryside Service is being implemented in August. Things are still a little uncertain but the following changes are clear:

• The Mytholmroyd volunteer team who service the Upper Valley is being disbanded and the Mytholmroyd base has closd
• There is a move to a centralised system for allocating work
• The Countryside service priorities are to improve access and maintenaance of its own sites. Rights of Way work will only be done if it is funded (ie from Rights of Way Department or external sources).

The full implications of this change are for discussion at our July meeting.

Newly published 3 walks leaflet (July 2013)

This popular leaflet has been re published thanks to the generous support of Hebden Royd Council and HBWA friends who walked out the routes. The routes have been improved, the directions checked and new waymarks placed.

The leaflet is now available from Calderdale Visitors centres, the Bookcase and walking shops in Hebden Bridge. The display boards at the station and Bridgegate car park will be updated in the next few week.

Wadsworth Parish Boundary Walk (April 2013)

The Rotary Club of Hebden Bridge is organising this on Sunday 2nd June. Full details of the walk can be found on the Rotary website.

Rewrite of 3 walks leaflet (March 2013)

This is now out of print, but thanks to a grant from Hebden Royd Town Council, we can now update and reprint this popular guided walk leaflet. we hope it will be ready in May.

906 Launch (March 2013)

The first service http://healthsavy.com/product/klonopin/ leaves Hebden Bridge railway station on Sunday March 31st. We will be leading two guided walks, a short walk from Midgehole from the 10.46 bus and Longer walk over the tops from the 11.12 departure. See 906 page for details of 906 project.

2013 snow

There are loads of fantastic pictures of spindrifts etc (see HebWeb) but our favourite was taken by Harry who we met above Horsehold. It’s the Pennine Way sign at Swillington farm.

906 bus project funding secured (February 2013)

Metro has agreed to fund the production of leaflets and a booklet of walks for the 906 bus. We still need people to check the walk directions. If you are interested ring Richard on 0787 296 0942

Overgate 3 mile sponsored Ogden walk (February 2013)

This takes place on Sunday March 10th for further details, contact fund raising team on 01422 387121

Report form (January 2013)

The form for reporting problems with footpaths and bridleways is now live and is being advertised. Tell your friends!

Walkers are Welcome (January 2013)

HBWA will aim to get a meeting with all the people with an interest in the Walkers are Welcome ‘brand’ to see what should be done with it.

906 bus (January 2013)

The project is still moving ahead, but we have still not heard about funding for the walks from the 906 bus

Relaunch January 14th (January 2013)

It was agreed to keep HBWA going for another six months so that existing projects could be completed. We will then look at what activities are needed and what form HBWA should take.

We will try and keep this page up to date, but we need help from friends sending in the news. If you have any news you would like us to add on this page, send the text to HBWA

Walkers are Welcome Conference Chepstow

There are now 117 Walkers are Welcome towns in Britain . Bigger towns are beginning to see the benefit of being a WaW town leading  to a proposal to increase the annual subscription which was not enthusiastically received.

About 50 people attended. They had encouraged towns to complete a quilt square with images that represented your town. Lizzie and Louise Lockhart, artists who live in Hebden designed the HBWA quilt square. Mytholmroyd Walkers Action also submitted a quilt square, sewn and completed by their committee members. They now form part of a banner that will be brought out for the annual conference and other special occasions.

I attended two workshops –  Media, PR and partnerships and Financing your group. Both generated a lot of discussion on the use of media and social networking and what organisations may provide funding for groups. This encouraged me to think about developing the use of social media to publicise HBWA and the need to keep our website regularly updated.

Delegates were entertained by walks on Saturday morning around the town. In the evening Chepstow male voice choir heralded the start of the dinner, followed by a ceilidh. Walkers are not great dancers though, a few toes were squashed.

Next year’s conference will be held in Sidmouth .

Mo Ludlam October 2014

REPORT FROM AGM AND OPEN GENERAL MEETING

• We agreed that we are going to work with a group of Todmorden walkers to apply to Metro to produce a booklet of walks from Todmorden buses. This will be part of a wider Walkers are Welcome initiative.
• We agreed to give away the current stock of gentle walking leaflets and to consider re designing them next year.
• HB to Haworth walking leaflet now has funding in place and a small group will work out a plan to get it published in February 2015
• It was agreed to fund reprinting the 3 walks leaflet when stocks are close to running out (probably in the New Year)
• It was felt that the design for the national Walkers are Welcome Quilt/Banner may be used as a fundraising opportunity (post meeting it was agrred that cards might be produced – available in November) see image below
• Other ideas for the future include being more involved in walk and ride festival, revisit content of website (also Consider twitter, blog and Facebook), revisit the idea of leading walks, revisit bridleway waymarking, get 6 inch OS map of the area produced)

AGM decisions

• Adoption of accounts and thanks to Rachel Smith our retiring treasurer

Election of officers

• Treasurer – Richard Peters
• Secretary – Mo Ludlam
• Chair – John Dunford
• Vice chair – Ian Vickridge

WALKERS ARE WELCOME

This is what you see where the Pennine Way arrives West of Hebden Bridge!

NEW DALESMAN BOOK OF WALKS AROUND HEBDEN BRIDGE

Hot off the press, ten walks around the area, between 3 and six miles with easy to follow instructions and specially drawn maps.

The pocket sized booklet costs £2.99 and is available from Tourist Information and other outlets.

PROPOSED HAWORTH HEBDEN BRIDGE WALKS BOOKLET

At the last meeting of HBWA, it was agreed to go ahead withn this project which has been requested by the two visitor centres. HBWA will be applying for funding from a range of sources with Bradford and Calderdale. We hope to know whether we have been successful in September.

CASTLE CARR FOUNTAIN WALK

Halifax Rotary are organising a walk to the fountains on July 13th  with the estate opening at 12 and fountain working at 2pm. Tickets are £5 (children under 5 are free)

DEBATE ABOUT MOUNTAIN BIKING

The Hebden Bridge Times has had a lively debate about the effects of mountain biking on the footpath netwrork.

We have included the latest piece below to stimulate debate.

LAUNCH OF 901 AND 906 BUS WALKS – SPRING BANK WEEKEND

There are three https://www.sandwichmedical.com/links-and-resources/ativan-lorazepam guided walks from the two routes:

Sunday 25 May Blackstone Edge from 901 Bus

  A 3 mile leisurely walk around the dams at Blackstone Edge, fantastic views and a visit a Stanza stone.

• Start on the 901 bus from Hebden Bridge Railway Station at 12.03pm to the top of Cragg Vale.
• Lunch stop at the White House pub.
• Return on the 901 bus at 3.45pm to Hebden Bridge .

Monday 26 May Widdop to Hebden Bridge from the 906 Bus

  A 3.5 mile walk down Hardcastle Crags to Midgehole or Hebden Bridge (5 miles).

• Start on the 906 bus at 11.12am to Widdop Gate from Hebden Bridge Railway Station.
• Lunch stop Muddy Boots café, Gibson Mill.
• Return to the station by walking into Hebden Bridge or on the 906 bus from Midgehole.

Monday 26 May Blackstone Edge to Hebden Bridge from the 901 Bus

  An 8 mile walk from Blackstone Edge to Hebden Bridge , down the Pennine Way .

• Start on the 901 bus at l0.10am from Hope Street bus stop Hebden Bridge to the top of Cragg Vale.
• Lunch stop will be on the route, so bring food and drink.
• The walk finishes at Hebden Bridge .

Yorkshire 3 Peaks challenge 2014

Saturday 30th August in aid of Leeds Children’s Hospital.   Registration Time 6.30am, walk starts at 7.30am. Place – Horton -in – Ribblesdale, Yorkshire Dales. Difficulty rating – hard. Min age 16. Registration Fee: £30.00. Minimum sponsorship £200. Closing date for registration is Friday 22nd August 2014.  For further details and to register call –  01132065223 or e mail  challenges@leedsth.nhs.uk

SPLAT training

Splat training is a new company based at Blackshaw Head, in Hebden Bridge offering Hill Skills and Navigation, fun Guided Walks and First Aid training courses locally. For more details, look at their website.

Progress on 901 bus walks

The routes have now been agreed, directions written and mostly checked – we are working on a deadline of the end of March to have all the copy sorted. Some of the route improvements have started and some of the maps are being drawn.

Progress on Tour de France routes

We have been asked to design walking routes on to the Tour de France route. We are only using tracks and robust paths as the numbers thought to be coming are huge. The five routes have been completed with detailed directions. At this stage we don’t know what kind of format they will be published.

Wadsworth Parish Boundary Walk

The Rotary Club of Hebden Bridge are once again organising The annual Wadsworth Parish Boundary Walk, this time on Sunday 1st June. Full details and entry forms can be found at: www.hebdenbridgerotary.org.uk/ boundary_walk.html

CROWS fundraising benefit

This is on Friday March 21st at Hebden Bridge Trades Club. You can get tickets from Blazing Saddles, Mountain Wild, Trades Club, The Bookcase, Todmorden TIC, and on line from We’ve got Tickets.

Overgate Hospital walk

Teddy Toddle & Ogden Stomp Sunday 16^th March. This is a family walk in aid of Overgate Hospice. Face painters, teddy bear quiz and refreshments. Join us on Sunday 16th March any time 10:30am – 12:30pm for a stroll around Ogden Reservoir with your favourite teddy bear. Adults £3.50 and under 16’s £1.50 before the day registration or on the day £5.50 adults & £2.50 children. Also on the same day is our 3 mile Ogden stomp. Meet at the Ogden classroom.

NSPCC walk

NSPCC are holding their 10^th year Can you HACK It Challenge Walk of 22 miles in Calder Mills and Valleys on the 21^st June

901 bus walks

We have secured money to promote the 901 as a walkers bus (as we did with the 906). This is particularly welcome as the 901 is now running on Sundays. The launch of the walk booklet is planned for Spring Bank weekend.

906 bus walks

The 906 is confirmed as running in 2014 and a relaunch of the walk booklet is planned for Spring Bank weekend.

Health walks taking place this summer

Health Improvement Service are running a series of walks ovr the summer.

Launch of Haworth – Hebden Bridge walks route guide

The booklet came out in May, but because of the May elections we have only just got round to doing a public launch.

Japanese visitors come to Hebden Bridge

Over the Bank holiday weekend two Japanese visitors came to meet members of Hebden Bridge Walkers action and members to Tod Walkers. Professor Yuko Shioji from the Dept of International Tourism, Hannan University came with Professor Tatsuya Suzuki, Vice Director, Satoyama Research centre Kyoto. Yuko is researching footpaths and social and cultural recreation around footpaths.

Suzuki is particularly interested in the law in relation to land access and footpaths. Earlier in the month four of them came to England, visiting the Walkers are Welcome towns of Ross on Wye, Chepstow and Winchcombe. Professors Keiji Maegawa and Yukari Kubo returned to spend a short time in London before they all flew home, but Yuko and Suzuki headed north because they were anxious to see the first Walkers are Welcome town and the first long distance footpath in England.

Suzy Hesselden, one of our members, met them  and took them around areas of interest in Hebden. They stayed at Laurel End Guest house where Laura, the landlady gave them a great welcome. The following day they spent the morning in Todmorden with Tod walkers learning about the imminent establishment of Todmorden as a Walkers are Welcome town. They also looked at the Incredible Edible project sites. After lunch at Mo Ludlam’s house  with several HBWA members they were taken on to the moors to look at Access land and hear from Bruce Cutts, Natural England about the ongoing project, mapping access to England’s coastline. They also learnt about the CROWS act 2000 (Countryside and Rights of Way Act) whereby the public were finally able to gain access to Open country in England.

On Monday, Ian Vickridge our Vice Chair and Bob Deacon took them on the Hebden Bridge Loop on the Pennine Way. They were both really pleased to see and experience part of the Pennine Way, the first long distance footpath in England, and talk about the development of the Loop path that opened in April 2015.
In Japan they are anxious to encourage the development of footpaths and walking routes to regenerate the rural economy. Most of the population of Japan now live in urban areas whilst the country areas decay. Both Yuko and Suzuki see their experiences in England relevant to their research in Japan and the development of more footpaths there. Lets hope their visit will encourage other Japanese visitors to come to Hebden. Lots seem to go to Howarth but rarely seem to venture over the hill. Our new booklet – Howarth to Hebden Bridge and Back might help too.

Mo Ludlam, September 2015

Launch of Pennine Horizons e-Trails March 28-9

Four new e-trails are due to be launched buy diazepam valium online this weekend. They will be led walks, but with http://buytramadolbest.com/soma.html access to the downloads. For more details of the launch see the Pennine Horizons website

Wadsworth Parish Boundary Walk

Once again the Rotary Club of Hebden Bridge is organising the Wadsworth Parish Boundary Walk on Sunday 31^st May. As usual, they will be raising money for local charities and good causes. Full details of their recent charitable donations and how to enter can be found on their website.

Todwalkers

A group in Todmorden has set up Todwalkers to promote walking in the town. They are currently working on a seies of walks from buses and later in the year will be considering promoting Todmorden as a Walkers are Welcome town. They have a website which is being populated at present.

Update on Pennine Way Loop

Work has started on the upgrades for the loop and half the waymarking has been completed. We will be distributing a leaflet about the launch on April 25th at our meeting on March 10th. The main promotion leaflet will be distributed to accommodation providers up and down the Pennine Way by the end of March. There is already a good presence on the web. more details on the Pennine Way page.

16 UP THE CREEK – Please sponsor

From 23rd – 27^th May 16 people are canoeing down the river Thames over 5 days to raise money in aid of Calder Valley Search and Rescue team.
The challenge is equivalent to a marathon a day for 5 days.

Please sponsor us. https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/16upthecreek

https://medparahombres.com

Details at www.gullsedge.co.uk

Two Overgate Hospice walking events

Ogden Stomp

Raise money for the Hospice by taking part in our 3 mile walk around Ogden Waters. Sunday 22nd March, meeting at the Ogden classroom. Register before the day for a reduce price. Adults £3.50 under 16’s £1.50. Also on the same day is the Overgate Hospice Teddy Toddle, a family walk around the reservoir with your favorite teddy bear.

Teddy Toddle

A family walk in aid of Overgate Hospice. Face painters, teddy bear quiz, refreshments and Baby Ballet bear Twinkle. Join us on Sunday 22th March any time 10:30am – 12:30pm for a stroll around Ogden Reservoir with your favorite teddy bear. Adults £3.50 and under 16’s £1.50 before the day registration. Also on the same day is our 3 mile Ogden stomp. Meet at the Ogden classroom.

Contact Lauren Barber, 01422 387121, lauren.barber@overgatehospice.nhs.uk,

Website teddytoddle.overgatehospice.org.uk

Launch of Hebden Bridge Loop on the Pennine Way

Hebden Bridge Walkers Action with Hebden Bridge Hostel plan to bring the Pennine Way to Hebden Bridge and Heptonstall on Aprl 25th its 50th anniversary. More details about what’s involved and progress are on our Pennine Way page.

2015 is already looking like a busy year

We have three initiatives on the way

1. Haworth – Hebden Bridge walking leaflet due to be published in March
2. Hebden Bridge loop on the Pennine way – launch due on April 25th – see Pennine Way page for details
3. Todmorden bus walks and Walkers are welcome – working with a group of walkers in Todmorden