Hello Everybody - a few alerts and items of news

Upcoming Social Walks

Please see full details re parking etc on group websites

Weds 4th March 8.00am Denby Dale Library (Joint with the Irregulars), 18 miles, Skelmanthorpe area. Led by Di Baldwin.

Sat 7th March, The Hebden, 22 miles with shorter alternative. Led by Sandy Gee

Sat 28th March, Baildon Boundary Way, 14 miles. Led by Neil Midgley

We are always looking for volunteers to lead walks. If you feel able to do so please get in touch.

And by our neighbouring groups ......

25 February, East Lancashire Haigh Hall Hop, 13.5 miles

22 March, South Pennine and West Yorks, Whalley to Earby (NEW DATE)

Next Open Committee Meeting

Weds 11th March, 7.00pm, The Drop Inn, Elland. Everybody welcome, it would be great to see you.

Challenge Events

I would like to give a shout out to members who complete Challenge Events but might only be able do so if you let me know!

Firstly, congratulations to Sandy Gee who completed the 50 mile Winter Poppyline last weekend in a time of 15 hours 13 mins. There were nearly 130 finishers from all over the country with times ranging from 8 hours 25 mins to 20 hours 7 mins. A qualifier for the 2026 Hunneypot 100, the Norfolk and Suffolk group describe the event  as a tough walk in winter conditions with a significant amount of night navigation. The route covered undulating coastal and rural landscape from the shingly Sheringham beach to Beacon Hill, the Norfolk County Top, at all of 338 feet asl.

Coming up we have

21 February -Tom Airlie, Paul Coates, Kathryn Finn and Susan Hodgson doing the Cracoe Cracker.

11 April - Noel O'Connor and Shaun Mabey doing the 35 mile option on the Calderdale Hike

Good luck to all.

New Members

A welcome to the following who have joined us as Primary group members since the start of the year.

Stephanie Dickinson

Alyson Hale

Kathryn de Ferrer

Carl Peel

Nathan Mattock

Ian Pilkington

We look forward to meeting you on one of the walks 

Chris Allan and Strider Collection

Health issues have forced an early group member, Chris Allan (LDWA number 1235), to hang up his boots after 50 years with the Association. He has passed me his Strider collection (Number 12, August 1975 to number 162, August 2025) in the hope that they may be of value to another member. If anyone would like these, or I suppose, individual copies to complete their own collection, please get in touch with me.

Over the years Chris has walked extensively in these Isles and in Europe including summitting all the 4,000ft peaks of Scotland, the 3,000ft peaks of England, Wales and Ireland and the County Tops. He has logged visits to almost a thousand O.S. columns. Many other mountains have been conquered in Europe, including in Spain, Switzerland, Italy and Portugal.

He has walked all the National Trails except the Southern Uplands Way and about a quarter of the South West Coast Path, as well as many other long distance routes from the LDWA data base. In one year he clocked up over 1,500 miles.

A more unusual target has been to try to do a walk of at least 10 miles on each of the O.S. Landranger sheets. He managed "most of England and Wales but Scotland proved too much".

We wish him well.

Neil MIdgley, C & K  Group Secretary