Not Better, Not Worse

Beer and chips in the Flying Duck

Dales Way Association members come from all over the country and one of the highlights of the year is our annual meeting. As a constituted small charity we have a legal obligation to hold an AGM but that section of the day has always been the least important bit for me.  Every autumn members travel to Ilkley from as far afield as Essex and Northumberland, some of them booking overnight accommodation and some spending a few days in the Dales. We have a morning walk together followed by a chips and sandwiches lunch in the Flying Duck, a short business meeting and lots of chat and laughter. Over the 10 years I've been secretary I'm proud to call these people friends. So it was with a very heavy heart we contemplated cancelling the 2020 meeting. Even without the rule of 6 and the ban on meeting indoors (Ilkley is in the Bradford District and has had local restrictions in place for most of the last 3 months) we couldn't ask members to leave home and travel across the country in current circumstances. What to do instead? Zoom was out of the question with over 300 members and several of the committee less than enthusiastic. Postponing felt a bit like a cop out and cancelling altogether would be letting down our members.

So last week we compiled all the reports we normally present at our AGM into an Autumn Newsletter packed with information about the year's activities. We sent it out with a voting slip asking members whether they accepted the Annual Report, Accounts etc. and waited. I was blown away by the response. A huge number of people replied. Members of the committee got involved, responding to the comments and questions about their area of responsibility and I compiled the votes and emails into a set of minutes. We very much hope we'll be back together again next year, walking and talking on the Dales Way and enjoying our chips but I'll look back on our virtual AGM with pride. It's been hard work but a real pleasure to be in touch with so many supporters and to know that they appreciate the efforts of our small voluntary committee. 

The annual walk

 

Men at Work

This week I've been out on the Dales Way twice. Once to take a look at a section of riverbank that is going to be replanted and the other to photograph some men at work.

The first trip was to walk a stretch between Hebden suspension bridge and Howgill Beck. Local anglers are planning to replant the eroded bank and replace the dying trees - a project I very much support. They are however proposing a kilometre long permanent fence between the Dales Way footpath and the water with gates to allow anglers through. No thought seems to have been given to the impact of the fence visually on one of the most beautiful sections of the Wharfe nor of fencing the public away from a river they currently enjoy. On the day I was there children were playing at the waters' edge, families were picnicing and dog walkers were taking their pets down to drink and cool off.

My 2nd trip was to say hello to a group of Yorkshire Dales National Park volunteers who were hard at work resurfacing the path just north of the George at Hubberholme. The stone was paid for by the Dales Way Association using a generous donation from a member. 

Two trips, two sections of the Dales Way, two projects. One is for the good of everyone and the other mainly benefits anglers. Come on Appletreewick, Barden & Burnsall Angling Club, do the right thing and build gates for everyone not just for anglers.

There's more info at https://daleswaynews.wordpress.com and 

http://www.dalesway.org/downloads/Hebden-fencing-report.pdf

Mud, mud, not so glorious mud

Nine Standards

When two or more Coast to Coast walkers are gathered together the talk always turns to the notorious quagmire just beyond the huge cairns on Nine Standards Rigg. 

Bad old days

Stories of crossing - or sinking into - the ever widening bog are rife. 

But now almost 400 metres of stone flagging has been laid across the worst sections. On a glorious spring day the path was officially opened this weekend. Around 30 supporters and sponsers (including, we're proud to say, Skyware Press) gathered to toast the occasion and plant sphagnum moss around the stones. 

Testing out the new path

The total cost of over £30,000 was raised through a crowdfunding scheme set up by the North Pennines AONB and supported by the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority. There were generous donations from the British Mountaineering Council, HF Holidays, Tesco, the Wainwright Society and many others including local businesses and individual walkers.

So fear no more - the only interuption on the trail from Kirkby Stephen to Keld is a stop at Ravenseat for one of Amanda Own's famous scones.

For information about walking the Coast to Coast see www.coastto.co.uk

My Dales Way Week

This week has been largely devoted to the Dales Way. 

I'm on the committee of the Dales Way Association, a small charity set up almost 25 years ago to promote and support the Dales Way long distance path. The route was created in 1969 by Colin Speakman and the late Tom Wilcock just four years after the launch of the Pennine Way, and like Wainwright's Coast to Coast Path (1972), has attracted walkers from all over the world ever since. Unlike the Pennine Way neither the Dales Way or Coast to Coast are National Trails so receive no funding or support from the government. Instead they are both designated Regional Recreational Routes and each section is the responsibility of the local authority it passes through. In the case of the Dales Way, travelling east to west, this is Bradford District Council, North Yorkshire County Council, Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, Cumbria County Council and the Lake District National Park. 

The existence of the Dales Way Association means that there is a single body that can be contacted by anyone interested in the route and liaise between walkers and the numerous authorities. On Wednesday 4 members of our small committee attended our annual meeting with the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority. This is an opportunity to meet with the rangers who are responsible for the path on the ground and share problems, ideas and successes.

A new section of path to keep walkers off the road outside Sedbergh

Three days later we were all together again, this time in Ilkley for the Association's Autumn Walk and Annual General Meeting.  Most of the committee, including Colin Speakman, who led the walk and chaired the meeting, were there. It was great to meet members and a tribute to their commitment that so many travel so far to join us for the day, including from Essex and Shropshire.

Colin greets walkers in Ilkley

Heading for Addingham

Finally on Monday I walked a section of the Dales Way, the climb over Cam Fell. I was with my sister-in-law, a walking newbie, who is walking the 80 miles from Ilkley to Bowness in bite sized chunks. The Dales Way is an ideal beginners long distance route, with its easy to follow riverside paths, the many villages offering refreshment and accommodation and the possibility of accessing sections by public transport. 

The river Wharfe near Burnsall

This summer we have walked from Ilkley to Buckden, catching the bus up and down Wharfedale, until this last leg over Cam required a lift to Nethergill Farm and the train home from Ribblehead. 

This section of the Dales Way is often the most daunting for walkers, including as it does the climb over wet and boggy fell to the highest point on the entire route at 520m. 

Told you it was boggy!

It is also one of the most rewarding as the watershed of England is reached and you get your first glimpse of Ingleborough, followed quickly by Pen-y-ghent, Whernside and the mighty Ribblehead viaduct.

Whernside and Ribblehead viaduct from the forestry road

I wonder what next week will bring.