Good news for Easter in Hardcastle Crags
Wednesday, 5 April 2017
906 bus runs again
The 906 bus which provides unique access to some of the best walking routes in the Heart of the Pennines. It runs from Hebden Bridge Station to Midgehole for Hardcastle Crags and Widdop for the Pennine Way.
The 906 route has been threatened with closure, but after local lobbying from National Trust and local walking groups, it has been reprieved. It will run on Easter Sunday and Monday and weekends from Spring Bank to October.
There is a walking guide for 12 great walks (ranging from an hour stroll to a full day (with maps and detailed directions).
The guide can be purchased for £1.50 from local visitor centres or on line at heartofthepennines.org.uk/shop
As an added bonus, bus users showing their ticket will be given a free hot drink at the Weaving Shed Café at Gibson Mill in Hardcastle Crags.
A version of the timetable specifically designed for walkers is on the Hebden Bridge Walkers Action website
A new path in the Crags
A new path has been constructed by CROWS (Community Rights of Way Service), a well-established volunteer group that carries out environmental tasks in the Upper Calder Valley.
The HebWeb understands that the intriguing new path is in the vicinity of Gibson Mill
Frank Harris from CROWS said, "The path presented several technical difficulties; soft slippery slopes, obstructive boulders, collapsed banks and an awkward network of tree roots. We have put in wooden steps, chiselled rock-steps and carried out widening to create a route that, without being totally sanitised, provides access to 'The Crag'.
"We hope that visitors and walkers get as much pleasure from using the path as CROWS did in building it. The task could not have been completed without the co-operation of the National Trust, the efforts of willing volunteers and the support of Calderdale Council Highways Department".
The National trust are delighted at these developments. “Regular visitors know that limited car parking space and narrow access along Midgehole Road is a huge problem at peak times, so we’re thrilled that the 906 bus service will continue to run this year and hope that many more visitors will take the opportunity to use it to explore different areas of Hardcastle Crags.
"It’s fantastic to have a new improved route up on to the Crags that rewards those who make the effort with panoramic views of the valley and surrounding moorland and this is the first of a number of access improvements planned for this year”.