let’s celebrate autumn walking! · and when the train arrived in appleby we were greeted by the...

THE WEST RIDING

Journal of the West Riding Area of the Ramblers’ Association

No 155 | Oct 2018

www.facebook.com/RamblersYorkshire www.ramblersyorkshire.org [email protected]

COVER PHOTO: Autumn woodland at Hardcastle Crags (near Hebden Bridge)

Let’s celebrate Autumn Walking!

Yorkshire is a fantastic county to explore on foot, all year round. Whilst the days are shorter and the weather getting a little colder, you will still find many people out and about in countryside. Our winter program will give choice all through the season and offer the chance to experience the most beautiful of places in the autumn and winter months. We suggest some of our own personal favourites inside this edition, but we would love to know yours too!

It’s been a good summer for walking…

...with much to celebrate! 40 years since the Calderdale Way was established and the Silver Jubilee of the Brighouse Boundary

Walk, created by Peter Davies; we’ve also seen the launch of the Wakefield Way, festivals aplenty and a packed programme of walks offering a broad choice for all members and newcomers in the region. The long, hot summer may seem a long time ago now but perhaps it did entice some novice walkers to take their first steps in the great outdoors.

The Ramblers Association continues to face declining membership numbers and “competition” from other walking clubs and groups, but let’s be thankful that the RA is still alive and well; able to campaign and protect our rights of way. After all, if we didn’t do it, who would? Let’s keep broadcasting our message and campaigning our causes. Above all, let’s keep on walking!

With regards to the RA’s average age profile, member Stephanie Blythe contributes a very valid and interesting perspective on the matter— the RA needs to keep attracting new members, so does it really matter if new members are of retirement age?

I’m an active retired sixty-something and often hear groups I belong to lamenting their age profile. One organisation I belong to even seems to avoid showing pictures of ‘oldies’ in its magazine. But an interest popular with older people - like jazz for example - will keep going as long as new participants replace those who pass on.

Shouldn’t we embrace the fact that, as Jim Vickery says in his article: “it is not too surprising that retired people... are the most likely to find time to do some serious walking?” Doesn’t it follow that we should concentrate on those people when we are trying to attract new members? There will always be newly retired people looking for sociable and healthy activities to take up.

Stephanie Blythe

In the next edition we hope to feature some winter walks for you to consider in the New Year. Please send in your suggestions, ideally with photographs, to [email protected]

Blackmoorfoot Reservoir, Huddersfield by Caroline Spalding

The West Riding Rambler No 155 | October 2018

Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Calderdale Way! 2018 marks the 40th anniversary of the creation of the Calderdale Way, which runs 50 miles through this beautiful patch of West Yorkshire. Created in 1978 by local civic trusts and societies to establish a connection between the districts in the newly created Calderdale borough, throughout the spring and summer Calderdale Ramblers have been walking the entire route in stages, finishing the final section on September 23.

From the lush beauty of wisteria and laburnum shrubs surrounding Shibden Park, Halifax in May, to the sweltering moorland heights during the summer heatwave; Calderdale Ramblers have traversed the valleys, cloughs and packhorse routes, passing many a remnant of Calderdale’s industrial past to celebrate and enjoy this magnificent region!

Collaborative AchievementsThis Summer Huddersfield Ramblers have held a couple of path maintenance days in conjunction with the Kirklees Countryside Volunteers. In June I joined them in Kirkheaton, Kirklees, to lay hardcore onto a bridleway that had been reported as too boggy. An enjoyable morning’s work and a great example of the achievements the Ramblers can make when we collaborate with other likeminded groups across the region.

Later, in August, Huddersfield Ramblers, supported by KCV, visited Meltham to reclaim unusable paths. They constructed a flight of steps up a bank along path Meltham 49 as well as clearing head-high gorse and brambles from Meltham 48. Oliver Taylor, of Huddersfield Ramblers, said: “We find this work genuinely rewarding and would encourage other groups to work with their local authority to find out about opportunities to help their local footpath network in this way.”

Caroline Spalding

News in Brief—What’s happening in the West Riding Area?

Main photo: The repaired Kirkheaton bridleway in June.

Inset: Meltham path 49 and the newly constructed staircase thanks to Huddersfield Ramblers

Tuesday November 6th - Calderdale 7pm Oddfellows Meeting Hall, Halifax HX1 2JF

Wednesday November 7th - Ripon 10am Old Deanery Hotel, Ripon

Thursday November 8th - Craven 7pm at the Glusburn Institute, Keighley BD20 8PR

Saturday November 17th - Harrogate Wesley Centre, Harrogate

Wednesday November 21st - North Kirklees 7.30pm Black Bull,Birstall

Saturday November 24th - Bradford 4.30pm Bingley Bowl Club, Crossflatts, BD16 2DF. Preceded by short walk commencing 2pm (same venue) and followed by a meal at Busfields Arms, East Morton, BD 20 5SP 6.30pm. Please book your meal attendance with Muriel 07981 106 470

Saturday November 24th - Take A Hike 2pm Victoria Hotel, Great George Street, Leeds, LS1 3DL

Sunday January 6th - Wakefield 3.30pm Castleford United Reform Church. Preceded by a 5-mile walk commencing 1pm from the Fairburn Ings RSPB Reserve CP near Castleford

Group AGMs—Notice to members


Crimsworth Dean

Close to Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, atop which sits Abel Cross (above) is a wonderful spot for an autumn/winter walk following the mostly tarmac bridleway from Hardcastle Crags National Trust Midgehole CP HX7 7AA up the slope of the valley then descending to Lumb Hole Waterfall SD 992 314 - a photograph of which inspired Ted Hughes to write the poem ‘Six Young Men’ just before the First World War. The beech tree leaves turn to a coppery-gold colour in the autumn on the woodland return, which can prove boggy in the depths of the winter.

Nidd Gorge A rewarding place for an autumn walk As the name suggests, this is a steep-sided valley, with broadleaf woodland covering the south side of the River Nidd. There is a variety of trees to admire in their late-season foliage, especially sycamore, oak, beech and rowan. On the north side of the river, conifers proliferate.

Access is easy from several directions, but the newly-improved main car park is at 331584, 1.5 miles west from Knaresborough on the B6165, where there is a large information board. There are many good footpaths, with a footbridge plus boardwalks over boggy patches; the main path south of the river is part of the Harrogate Ringway. At the north-west limit of the gorge the restored Nidd Viaduct joins up with a fine multi-use track leading directly to Harrogate or Ripley, offering easy walks in either direction.

Climbing to the top of the bank gives excellent views of the extensive woodland. The whole site encompasses 114 acres,

and includes five separately-identifiable woods: Gates Wood, Scotton Banks, Spring Wood, Bilton Banks and Coalpits Wood. Nidd Gorge is famous for its flora and birdlife, and at this time of year fungi are abundant; it even boasts an Iron Age hill fort at Gates Hill, near the car park.

Nidd Gorge is well worth a visit at any time of year, but autumn on the south side may be the best of all.

A Walk Above DentdaleWRR readers may not be aware that there is now a useful 0748 departure of the Leeds-Carlisle train on Mondays to Saturdays, and also, on Saturdays only, Western Dales Bus is running its connecting S1 bus service from Dent Station at 0935, to meet the 0915 arrival from Leeds. By taking this bus to Sedbergh (arrival 10.07) it is possible to walk back to Dent Station along the north (Garsdale) side of the ridge wall that includes Aye Gill Pike and Rise Hill. The route looks daunting on the OS map, as there is no marked path beyond 694898; but in fact some years ago a series of stiles were installed over the cross walls, facilitating this splendid high-level walk

Seating at Nidd Gorge, photo by Dorian Speakman

Clear skies, golden leaves and crisp airWhere we love to walk in Autumn!

Colourful Autumn WalksYorkshire Dales National Park along the Dales Way between Bolton Abbey and Burnsall.

Leeds Harewood Park and Golden Acre

Bradford Middleton Woods, north of Ilkley. The St Ives Estate & Country Park in Bingley comprises moorland, woodland and meadows; with adventure playground for children. Perhaps a way to encourage the youngsters to get walking!

Wakefield Newmillerdam Country Park (car park: WF2 6QQ charges apply) lake surrounded by coniferous woodland.

Kirklees Holme Valley. The Fleece Inn, Holme, allows walkers to park in their pub car park on condition that you return for a rewarding beverage after your walk! Inside you can collect a pamphlet of local walks compiled by a regular to the pub which are fantastic.

Calderdale Crimsworth Dean, Hardcastle Crags, Cragg Vale.

Abel Cross, photo by Caroline Spalding


How the West Riding Ramblers led the way to save the Settle-Carlisle lineGeoff Grange, former West Riding RA Rambles Secretary, recalls the pioneering work by West Riding Ramblers which led to the saving of the Settle-Carlisle line, one of the most popular railway lines serving walkers in any National Park in the UK or mainland Europe.

June 9th, 2019 will mark the 45th anniversary of the running of a special charter train which was organised by Geoff Grange on behalf of the West Riding Area of the Ramblers Association. This was only after a prolonged debate by Area EC [expand initials?], with the decision to go ahead only with the casting vote of our then Chairman, Harry Smith.

The train, which set out from Leeds, Bradford, Shipley, Bingley, Keighley and Skipton carried a total of 578 passengers, was heading for Appleby and special consent had also been given to use the closed stations at Garsdale and Kirkby Stephen, for at that time on the Settle to Carlisle railway only Settle and Appleby stations remained open.

Several guided walks took place from each of the three stations and when the train arrived in Appleby we were greeted by the local brass band and the town’s Mayor at a time soon after the abolition of the County of Westmoreland of which Appleby was the principal town, with Courts of Assize located there. Appleby was also very busy that day for it was the weekend of the annual Horse Fair.

The huge success of this train prompted the newly established Yorkshire Dales National Park Committee to introduce the Dales Rail service which led to the re-opening of many more of the stations on the line. This service was so popular that a Lancashire portion was added with the two trains joining up at Hellifield. This continues to the present day as the Lancashire Dales Rail service.

The financial risk taken by West Riding Ramblers had proved worthwhile as did the ensuing long negotiations with Midland Region of British Rail to get the additional local stations at Horton, Ribblehead, Garsdale, Dent, Kirkby Stephen, Langwathby, Lazonby & Kirkoswald and Armathwaite reopened for use by walkers, before full regular passenger services were eventually restored.

Many people believe that this special Ramblers train run on 9th June 1974 was directly instrumental in saving the line from imminent closure.

Now very many more people were able to enjoy what the line had to offer, but the threat of closure remained high with British Rail saying it would cost £7 million to restore the famous viaduct at Ribblehead. Friends of Settle Carlisle did a survey of their own which showed that only a few hundred thousand pounds would be the most that would be needed. When the viaduct eventually came to be restored it cost more than FoSCL had claimed, but only a small fraction of the original BR figure.

When the line’s future was debated in Parliament, the MP for Penrith said that if the line were to close, both a wonderful asset for local communities and for walkers and a great piece of British Heritage would be lost forever.

Thankfully, in May 1989, it was eventually announced that the line would remain open because of its importance to the local communities of the Yorkshire Dales and Eden Valley, both as a local transport lifeline and as an immensely important heritage and tourism asset. But the major contribution of the West Riding Ramblers to the saving of the line should never be forgotten.

The story of West Riding RA’s involvement in charter trains didn’t end there. Working closely with British Rail In 1974 and 1975 Geoff Grange and the late Eric Barker organised special trains from Leeds to Windermere and Barrow in Furness for walks in the Lake District, and in 1976 to Whitby and, memorably, along what is now the Wensleydale Railway line from Bradford to Redmire. Another forgotten hero of the excellent programme of walks from these trains was the late Jim McDermid, a postman from Pudsey, who used his extensive knowledge of footpaths in the Dales to arrange many of the very well supported walks.

Geoff Grange

Buses at Garsdale Station summer 1975 Dales Rail Appleby c1976


One delight of living in West Yorkshire is that despite usual grumbles, we still have an excellent network of local bus and train services to enable walkers to get out into the countryside. So, whether it’s because you don’t have access to car or want to do linear “point to point” walks along the Calderdale Way, Dales Way, Wakefield Way or Leeds Country Way, a local bus or train can get you out there and bring you back from somewhere different at the end of day’s hike.

Especially useful for walkers are local rail lines like the Calder Valley line, the Settle Carlisle, and if you love steam, the Worth Valley Railway between Keighley, Haworth and Oxenhope which operates most weekends. The autumn colours of mid and upper Wharfedale are accessible every Sunday all year (Saturdays till end of October) with Dalesbus 874 from Leeds, Otley, Ilkley and Skipton (www.dalesbus.org). Services to Malham and into Swaledale and Wensleydale continue until the end of October. But how many walkers know of the Bronte Bus network from Keighley, including the amazing B3 bus which links Keighley and Haworth over Cock Hill to Hebden Bridge – a brilliant way to gain height for great walks into Crimsworth Dean or even Hardcastle Crags. And how about the 900/901 which links Huddersfield and Hebden Bridge via Cragg Vale or the 596 up to Heptonstall and Blackshaw Head which runs hourly even on

Sundays, whilst over in the east there’s great walking off the 36 between Leeds, Harrogate and Ripon, not forgetting the 24 Nidderdale branch between Harrogate and Pateley Bridge which has a Sunday service this winter.

These are just some of the services there for walkers to use. There are bargain day tickets to be had on most services. But if you are lucky enough to have a Senior Bus Pass it’s amazing what trips you can make and walks you can do - with enough money saved to enjoy a pot of tea or something stronger whilst waiting for your bus home at the end of a walk.

Colin Speakman

Getting out and about this Autumn the greener way

Keighley Worth Valley train arriving at Oxenhope

B3 Bus waiting at Hebden Bridge Station


Access to the countryside for the people of West and North Yorkshire has never been more vital – for our health, well-being and increasingly, as a tourist asset, to help maintain our economic prosperity. West Riding Ramblers, at both Area and Group level, but also as individuals, need to be aware of many changes in how our countryside is managed. We need to respond and react to these changes.

The biggest single factor is continuing ‘austerity’ policies which mean an ever-reducing role for local and central Government in maintaining our footpath network and ensuring precious access to open countryside is maintained. Loss of professional staff from town halls, cuts in funding for equipment and materials, loss of grants for footpath maintenance and improvements schemes, mean that standards will continue to fall. How will hard pressed legal officers be able to deal with recalcitrant landowners who block stiles or plough public rights of way?

For the rich and privileged in our Society, living within their country estates, this may not make much difference. Indeed, lack of action to keep footpaths open may be something they will welcome – footpaths and access legislation will quickly be undermined if there is no one there to enforce the law and repair stiles, gates and signs. Developers, eyeing our precious Green Belts, for new ‘executive home’ housing estates, will be delighted if they can build over suburban or even rural footpaths with impunity.

But to those of us who live in the crowded suburbs of town and cities, loss of green space, blocked footpaths and barbed wire will be a personal tragedy, a threat to so much that we value.

So how do we respond as Ramblers to these huge changes and challenges ahead? The Ramblers are a citizen-action group. Working together we can act as a collective watchdog – highlighting, to the wider community, problems on footpaths and threats to green space. We can help ensure that even cash-strapped local authorities are forced to take action. We can also, through our excellent Local Group structure – plus several excellent active Walkers are Welcome Groups in West Riding Area - take direct action ourselves in terms

of working with local authorities and more enlightened landowners in clearing paths, repairing stiles and gates, and popularising use of local paths. Our Local Groups were mainly founded in the 1970s when resources were also slender. There was a time when more militant RA members always carried a pair of wire cutters in their rucksack to deal with brambles, illegal barbed wire or even fencing structures that impeded a right of way.

We need to work with other kindred organisations who care equally about their local environment – CPRE, whose West Riding and Craven branches are doing great work to defend our Green Belts and nearby countryside, Civic Trusts and village societies who again can liaise closely with local RA Groups to resist major Green Belt infringements and loss of access. The local media – both press and local radio - can prove highly effective in alerting the wider community to threats to local amenity.

Above all, West Riding Area needs to start recruiting new, younger activists. We need to get away from our too cosy image of middle aged, even elderly walkers out for social gatherings – important as such events are. We need younger professionals, who can provide the next generation of leaders to show us the way ahead. Having had the privilege of accepting an invitation this summer to walk two stages of The Dales Way with our splendid West Riding Area Take A Hike group, I have no doubt that such outstanding people exist, when we can persuade them to lead us on the crucial campaigning work that we need to cope with the challenges that lie ahead. Where, for example, is the bright young lawyer, well informed on footpath and access matters, we can turn to in times of crisis? Fifty years ago, we recruited just such an individual – Jerry Pearlman. Somewhere, we need to find another Jerry, and he or increasingly likely she, may already be a member of the West Riding Ramblers.

I am sure no one voted to see our local Government services decimated in the way they have been over the last decade. Access to the countryside is no longer a priority for Government resources, locally or nationally. The Ramblers need to reinvent itself, even rediscover its old militancy, for some tough battles to come.

Colin Speakman

Yorkshire Three Peaks Route GuideFor anyone walking Yorkshire’s Three Peaks this handy map and guide published by Skyware press provides all the information you need at 1:25,000 scale, and at just £1.99 is excellent value - saves carrying bulky OS maps. Available in local shops or direct from Skyware - www.skyware.co.uk

Access to the West Riding’s countryside in times of austerity

Jack Madden and Eric Barker of Leeds Group lead a protest walk near Aberford along a public right of way planted with potatoes, June 1974 (Yorkshire Post)


In a county as diverse as West Yorkshire, let alone one as huge as the West Riding, I find it impossible to select one favourite walk. But from at least half a dozen, I have chosen a walk, which begins at Wike Lane, Leeds

and strikes west through the grounds of Harewood House. The 36 Leeds to Harrogate bus drops me at the gates of the estate (OS GR 325431). Past the gates, I am in a totally different world from Chapel Allerton where I joined the bus. Harewood House stands out to the north, appearing more attractive than close to. Between the path and the house is a large expanse of parkland. It is mostly grass but with clumps of trees apparently planted at random. Both bullocks and sheep were grazing when I last went this way.

On reaching the valley floor, grass gives way to bushes and trees and a stream with a waterfall, which is about as close to the picturesque as can be seen on this walk. The waterfall and bridge is still part of the Harewood estate, which continues for about a mile yet.

Now the way is uphill, but sheltered from sun and wind by trees. At the top, (GR 303438) the path heads south past Emmerdale village. It is truly remarkable that a village was created here solely for television viewers to be entertained. I now head (at GR 303434) south-westwards towards Eccup. In this section, crops are grown and there is grass margin set aside; whether this will survive Brexit remains to be seen. After a boggy section, fields of grass, grazed by either sheep or cattle are visible to the right of the footpath.

At Eccup there is a most welcome seat where I eat my lunch oblivious to traffic passing on the road to nowhere. From Eccup, I would, until recently, have made my way southwards to join the Meanwood Valley Trail walking through Adel Beck gorge, past

Adel Crag and then by an aqueduct to eventually reach Meanwood Municipal Park. This total distance of about eight miles has become too much for comfort. But this is the best way if you are fit.

Now, though, I go past Thorn Bush Farm, along the often busy Eccup Lane to the junction with Black Hill Lane (GR 284422). After a short distance on this lane I cut south-westwards through Eccup Whin wood to join the very busy King Lane. Heading north-westwards, I soon reach a footpath that takes me into Golden Acre Park. This was created by Frank Thompson as a pleasure park, and remnants of a miniature railway can still be seen. There is a café and a duck pond where I sit to eat the last of my sandwiches. I then make my way to a bus stop outside an hotel where I catch the X84 bus to Headingley.

Anthony Silson

Picnic in the Park On 15th August a group from the Wakefield Ramblers took part in Picnic in the Park, held in Pontefract. Rob, Joyce and Derek from the Group set up a stall and engaged with the picnic participants, handing out many a leaflet as well as balloons and badges. Whilst most people spoke of walking for a purpose, i.e. to the shops or with the dog, one couple talked of taking their two small children up Snowdon and were keen to learn more about the Ramblers. Another chap ran a walking group for disabled people.

It is just this type of event that will help to spread the word about the RA and the role it plays in protecting our rights of way. As this event demonstrates; people do like to walk and are interested in what we do; so my thanks to these three for the time they volunteered and I hope that the books they sold and the leaflets they distributed might bring a few new faces to the next Wakefield walk!

My thanks to Derek Lowery for his contribution of this story.

A Favourite West Riding of Yorkshire Walk Along part of Leeds Country Way

Harewood House seen from the south east by Sirenuk, licensed under Creative Commons

Eccup Village

The Ramblers’ Association is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales, Company Registration No 4458492 Registered Charity in England and Wales No 1093577 Registered Office 2nd Floor Camelford House 87-90 Albert Embankment London SE1 7TW

The West Riding Rambler is a magazine for you. We would like to know more about the topics you wish to read about, whether it is walk suggestions, celebrations, current campaigns or matters arising in your area.

The Ramblers is first and foremost an organisation dedicated to protecting and preserving our rights of way. Let’s talk about this, both at a local and national level. We know we have problems with declining and ageing membership and we must find a practical way to attract younger generations to our cause but ways of tackling this immediate problem are better solved with a pool of thoughts and opinions—not just by those in charge. Share your thoughts, share your ideas; perhaps just share a photograph of a beauty spot close to you. We want, above all, to write a magazine that appeals to you. Please do send any suggestions or contributions to [email protected] We welcome all contributions, however cannot promise to publish everything which we receive.

Book ReviewsHidden Histories: a Spotter’s Guide to the British Landscape, by Mary-Ann Ochota

How much do we really notice when out walking in the countryside? This impressive book provides an overview of how the natural and built environment has evolved to shape the way the landscape looks today.

Nearly 300 information-packed pages, with numerous supporting photographs and illustrations, reveal the history of various aspects of the countryside including field-patterns, tracks and mounds, going back to the Stone Age. The chapters on villages and churches will be of particular interest to those interested in social history. Several of the Yorkshire examples are quite well known, such as the Ilkley Moor swastika stone, Norber erratics and Thornborough henges. Others may come as more of a surprise: the narrow lane between Muker and Askrigg was once a major north-south drove road; a cairn on Beamsley Beacon “almost certainly contains at least one Bronze Age burial”; Herleshow village was demolished by nearby Fountains Abbey, and now appears merely as “earthworks” on the OS map.

As well as being a good read this guide can serve as a reference work to elucidate future encounters in the great outdoors. The book was first published in 2016 and is now available as a paperback; it may be possible to find it online at less than the stated cover price. Hidden Histories: a Spotter’s Guide to the British Landscape, by Mary-Ann Ochota. Published by Frances Lincoln, 2018. ISBN 978-0-7112-3693-6. £16.99 paperback.

Jim Vickery

Guide to North Yorkshire Pub Walks by Keith WaddWhether you love Yorkshire country pubs or rambling through stunning landscape in England’s largest county, Keith’s latest guidebook offering 20 great North Yorkshire walks each starting and finishing at an outstanding pub will delighted connoisseurs of both. The book is truly pocket sized and will fit easily into an anorak or rucksack pocket. There are concise walking directions, and very useful maps (which of course must be used in conjunction with the appropriate Explorer Map) and details of things to see on or close to the walk. Attractive, full colour photographs and maps illustrate each walk making it exceptional value.

I have one grumble. Like so many authors and publishers who really should know better, Keith sadly ignores the 25% of the population who don’t have access to a car. Parking instruction great, but no reference to any bus or train services, even - amazingly - on the walk starting at Ribblehead on the Settle-Carlisle line or others on frequent or even good Sunday bus services. Yet each and every one of these – even Thixendale from Wharram-le-Street – can be reached by bus or train. Which is probably a very good idea indeed if you are calling in the pub for a pint (or two!) of excellent local ale and therefore should not be driving. And public transport users also buy books – so why ignore such an important segment of your market?

So once again we bus and train users simply must do our own research. Otherwise a highly recommended little guidebook, available in local shops (ISBN 978 1 4674 3573) for £5.95 or direct from the publishers at www.countrysidebooks.couk.

Colin Speakman

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