The Harrogate Group of the Ramblers Association

........Harrogate Group ........

Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, UK.

The Rambler's Association is Britain's biggest organisation working for walkers. A registered charity with 139,000 members across the UK, we've been looking after Britain's footpaths and defending its beautiful countryside for more than 65 years. The Association is a democratic, voluntary organisation, registered as a charity (no. 1093577) and as a company limited by guarantee (registered in England and Wales, no. 4458492).

To join the ramblers... http://www.ramblers.org.uk/membership/categories_rates.html

Harrogate to Ripley Bridleway
A Bridleway Creation Order has been made and objections received. This means the order cannot be confirmed at the moment and will have to go to a public inquiry. This new route will be over the old Bilton Viaduct and on the line of the dismantled railway, for walkers, cyclists, horseriders and the disabled. The route is one of 79 schemes throughout the UK to be funded by Sustrans from a Big Lottery grant of £50 million.

HBC have now allocated funds towards this project and the Bridleway Creation Order should go forward to appeal in March and the Public Inquiry be held later in 2010. When the order is confirmed the landowners can claim compensation.

To sign a petition supporting the project, click here

To contact the Harrogate Group Chairman, email Delia Wells Or to contact the webmaster and Footpath Officer, email Andrew Willoughby

The Harrogate Group organise a walk each
Saturday of around ten miles, usually starting at 9am.

On the last Thursday of each month there is a five mile walk.

Our next Saturday walk is...

SATURDAY 13 FEBRUARY
09.00 am PETER AND DELIA WELLS 01423 886186 10 miles
Meet at Trinity Road, Harrogate, and drive to Bramhope. Park in CP adjacent to The Fox and Hounds Inn GR SE 248433 Otley Chevin, Otley, Staircase Lane.
Our next shorter walk is ...

THURSDAY 25 FEBRUARY
ANDREW WILLOUGHBY 07885 543453 5-6 miles
Meet for a 10am start by The Parish Church at Hampsthwaite. A walk beside The River Nidd.

Phone the leader if you need further information

Scroll down the page for the list of walks

WALKS BOOKS

The Ramblers Association West Riding Area have two books of walks "Country Walks Around Harrogate" volumes 1 and 2, by Douglas Cossar. These have details of twenty walks each, to the east and west of Harrogate with distances from 3 to 9 miles. Priced from £4.99 the books are available from local book shops and Tourist Information centres.

To contact the Harrogate Group Chairman, email Delia Wells

Or to contact the webmaster and Footpath Secretary, email Andrew Willoughby

The Harrogate Group secretary is Peter Hindle. 01423 567774 peterjohnhindle@aol.co.uk

The Harrogate Group was formed in 1969 and is part of the West Riding Area. We cover Nidderdale from Great Whernside to Green Hammerton, extending northward to Burton Leonard and south to North Rigton. This area includes 62 parishes and 550 miles of footpaths and bridleways. Our area includes much of the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).
We check planning applications and extinguishment or diversion proposals.

Reporting path problems.
Problems should be reported to NYCC by emailing paths@northyorks.gov
Problems in the Harrogate and Knaresborough area should be emailed to Judy.Smith@harrogate.gov.uk

And all problems can be reported to the Ramblers Association Harrogate Group by emailing and@willouby.demon.co.uk

18th August 2007.
Our Group enjoying a brief rest on Roseberry Topping.

Roseberry Topping. Newton-under-Roseberry, North Yorkshire.
A spur of the Cleveland Way National Trail runs to the summit.

Building a bridge on the Hampsthwaite Felliscliffe border.

In the past our volunteers have helped to repair footpaths. We met on Tuesdays or Wednesdays most weeks within a few miles of Harrogate and enjoyed a day in the countryside. At the moment NYCC will not co-operate so we are not working. Ring Andrew on 01423 866987.

We monitor the growth of crops obstructing footpaths throughout our area, and we report problems to North Yorkshire County Council. Whilst not all problems have been solved, we are seeing improvements and are very grateful to NYCC staff for this.

Freedom to Roam Guides

There are four Freedom to Roam Guides covering the new access areas in The North of England. The series editor, Andrew Bibby, was responsible for writing two of the guides, one covering Wharfedale and Nidderdale the other concerned with Wensleydale and Swaledale.

Harrogate Group, Walks 2010

Newcomers are welcome to sample a few walks with us before they formally join the Ramblers Association.

We generally have a break, so please bring food and drink.

Check with the leader in advance if you want to bring a dog, which must be kept on a lead at all times.

SATURDAY 13 FEBRUARY
09.00 am    PETER AND DELIA WELLS 01423 886186    10 miles
Meet at Trinity Road, Harrogate, and drive to Bramhope. Park in CP adjacent to The Fox and Hounds Inn GR SE 248433 Otley Chevin, Otley, Staircase Lane.

SATURDAY 20 FEBRUARY
09.00 am    KEITH WADD 01423 872268    10 miles
Meet at Trinity Road, Harrogate, and drive to Millington Wood CP near Pocklington GR SE 838530 Millington, Great Givendale, Bishop Wilton, Deepdale.

THURSDAY 25 FEBRUARY
ANDREW WILLOUGHBY 07885 543453    5-6 miles
Meet for a 10am start by The Parish Church at Hampsthwaite. A walk beside The River Nidd.

SATURDAY 27 FEBRUARY
09.00am    LAURENCE MYERS 01423 881892    9 miles
Meet at Trinity Road, Harrogate, and drive to Pateley Bridge Riverside CP. Glasshouses, Bewerley, Mosscar Bottom, Wath.

Click here for reports of some walks.

Promoted Walks
We have three leaflets available to guide you on the following three walks. Guides cost 30p each, send payment and an SAE to... 20 Pannal Ash Grove, Harrogate HG2 0HZ.

On completion of each walk a cloth badge can be purchased for £1.50 from the same address..

Harrogate Dalesway
20 miles from Valley Gardens, Harrogate to Bolton Abbey.

Harrogate Ringway
21 mile circular trail around this spa town, starting from Pannal via Knaresborough in easy stages with public transport connections.

Knaresborough Round
20 mile circular walk around this ancient town, in 2 stages with bus connections.

70th Anniversary Walk
Washburn Valley, 2005

On Saturday 24th September we had an excellent turnout of 22 walkers who enjoyed uninterrupted sunshine throughout the 9 mile circular walk from the Sun Inn at Norwood to visit the RA seat in Haverah Park. The seat was unveiled 20 years ago on the RA 50th Anniversary Walk. As well as commemorating the founding of the RA in 1935, the seat is also in memory of Corrie Gaunt, a local footpath campaigner who died in 1984.