20th Anniversary Walk North
The 20th anniversary walk took the same route as the first walk by the club from Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire to Littleborough in Greater Manchester.
At the start of the day, most participants headed for Littleborough Station and caught the train to Hebden Bridge.
A special effort had been made for the occasion, as 19 people started on the climb from Hebden Bridge to the monument at Stoodley Pike. The walk was appropriately led by Martin, who has been one of the mainstays of the group. The number of participants was increased to 20 when Rebecca caught us up for lunch at Stoodley Pike. A case of 2020 vision with 20 people on the 20th anniversary walk.
Most importantly, there were two new Footprints members on the walk. These are the people needed to bring new ideas and enthusiasm to the club.
During the day, I chatted to most people on the walk - as you know we are a friendly bunch. There was no-one who had taken part in that first walk 20 years ago. However, four of us had joined the club in the late 1980's or early 1990's. The person on the anniversary walk to discover the club first was me at Glaramara in the Lake District in August 1988. The host for that Countrywide Holidays Association (CHA) week was Dave Goodacre and he introduced me to the CHA under 35's walking group. The name of the club has of course changed, but the ideals remain the same. I have maintained contact ever since and made some great friends along the way.
Anyway back to the walk, which was the main reason we were all there. The sun was shining as we left Stoodley Pike, but as the afternoon progressed it became more cloudy but remained fine. We followed the Pennine Way along the western edge of the Pennines passing the edge of Warland Reservoir and White Holme Reservoir. There were good views towards Manchester. We saw the Red Arrows fly across the Pennines - it was good of these flying aces to mark our special day.
We eventually reached the White House pub on the A58 Halifax-Littleborough road. There was a strong rumour that this pub closed at 3pm, which proved to be correct. If the pub had been open, I am sure we would have inspected the premises.
Many of us took the optional extension to visit the nearby trig point at Blackstone Edge. From there we descended to Littleborough railway station for our cars. Most people stayed for a curry in the evening to complete a really good day.
Here's to the next 20 years.
Malcolm Haigh
