1. The Calderdale Way (1979)

Length : 50 miles

Started : 8 Sept 1979

Finished : 31 Oct 1979

Companions (in full) Michael Smithson; (in part) Stephen Meehan

Guide; The Calderdale Way (West Yorkshire MCC) 1978

I suppose this was always likely to be the first given that I lived just a mile or so outside the Calderdale boundary. The Pennine Way was even nearer but that was an unattainable goal to a 14 year old. This one was feasible despite the messy public transport options at the far end. The route was launched in 1978 with a guidebook produced by West Yorkshire County Council costing 45p and I probably purchased it that Christmas. Compared with the noisy death (and pseudo-resurrection) of the GLC the old metropolitan county councils succumbed quietly and are little remembered so it's worth noting that the two in my neck of the woods West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester were both pretty strong on the environment and launched some worthwhile projects such as this one.

The spur was a chance meeting on a summer walk but first a bit of context. By 1975, due to basic incompatibilities in interests and what I now realise were my mother's struggles with the menoopause, family holidays had come to a halt. In 1977 after two years of compensation by day trips I was encouraged to sign up to the school youth hostelling holiday. I had never done any walking before so I joined Littleborough Civic Trust that January because they organised ( and still do) fortnightly walks on a Sunday and as we already knew someone in the group that was an ideal training ground. Soon after - 6th March 1977- they organised a modest train trip to Hebden Bridge which incorporated a slide show at the tourist information centre. This opened my eyes to the fact that there was a lot worth seeing close to home and at 12 I was old enough to explore it without my parents.

From that day on a walk, bus or train trip became the default Saturday morning activity for me and my small circle of mates. In April 1979 we were augmented by another lad joining the Civic Trust to walk ( Michael Smithson) but he'd only been on one trip before they were disrupted by bad weather and holiday commitments and as he went to a different school we lost touch. Then on the first day of the 1979 summer holidays I went for a walk with a neighbour along the Pennine Way to Stoodley Pike and we met Michael camping en route. That re-established him in our group (soon to be formally, and in hindsight unwisely, christened the Travelling Society) and by the end of the holidays we had decided to walk The Calderdale Way.

The Way itself is a 50 mile circular starting and finishing at Clay House, West Vale, a suburb of Halifax. It generally sticks to the high ground although avoiding the wild trackless moorland in the south western corner of the borough. We went with the guidebook, heading west on our first section from Clay House to Ripponden (5.5 miles). Getting to West Vale entailed two buses but there were no problems from then on the waymarking and directions both being excellent on a very attractive stretch taking in Norland Moor.

We were more ambitious for the second stage the following week, tackling the toughest stretch from Ripponden to Todmorden (11 miles). This time we were 3, Stephen Meehan joining us, and his transistor livened up the early stages on a glorious sunny day. I heard "Video Killed the Radio Star" for the first time that day although the only other song I remember is ,strangely enough ,Barry Manilow's "Copacabana". After lunch he found Michael's pace difficult (he was more of a tourist while Michael was a keen hiker, me being somewhere in the middle) and became quite fractious on the climb up to Withen's Gate. He cheered up on the home strait into Todmorden but I'd seen the first signs of fissure in a friendship that would barely survive into the 80s.

The next week for Stage 3 Todmorden to Heptonstall (8.5 miles) it was just me and Michael again. This was another good stretch although we had our first navigational wobble near Todmorden Edge Farm. I was a bit apprehensive about a reputedly aggressive dog near Hippins Farm but there was no sign of it that day.

Michael and I resumed with Stage Four (Heptonstall to Brockholes 9 miles ) on 27 October . This stage saw the crossing over to the less attractive eastern half of the borough. It went OK , Michael obligingly asking the farmer at Saltonstall to take his barking dog inside before I passed through the farmyard (which of course entailed braving the dog himself). We were also, for no obvious reason, given a packet of custard creams by a nice old lady as we waited for the bus home at Halifax Bus Station .

That was the start of half term and we were going to finish the walk on consecutive days during the week. The lion's share (Brockholes to Brighouse 11 miles) was done on the Tuesday. Surprisingly Stephen opted back in at this point despite the unpromising weather. Things had moved on in the intervening weeks and his primary interest now was the Mod Revival and its music and fashion. Nothing inherently wrong with that but he was now a difficult companion, petulant and deliberately needling at times.

It didn't help that we hadn't brought enough food between us and there was a long stretch before the first shop at Norwood Green. Still, he turned up for the finale the following day (Brighouse to Clay House 4.5 miles) despite a moan about the amount of bus travelling involved which was absolutely unavoidable. Despite that ,a drenching and an embarrassing wrong turn on the final anti-climactic road section which prolonged the walk by at least a mile we were all happy to get to the finishing line and enjoyed a stop off at Piece Hall, Halifax before returning home where the Calderdale Way badge could take its place on my rucksack.

I think I'd have to nominate this one as my favourite for all the nostalgia bound up with it. Those last two sections were effectively the last walks with Stephen and Michael and I were also spent as a walking partnership by the end of 1981. Objectively it is a good walk with plenty of scenic contrast and excellent transport links.