Natural England

Horse riders, mountain bikers and walkers are set to benefit from a new 17-mile link to the Pennine Bridleway National Trail which officially opened at St Ives Estate near Bingley, West Yorkshire today (June 26).

The official opening of the new Calder Aire link route was marked with a walk, horse ride and cycle along part of the route. Representatives from Bradford Council, Calderdale MBC, and Natural England attended an opening ceremony at St Ives along with members of local user groups and landowners.

The Calder Aire link passes through a variety of landscapes including woodland, moorland, sheep pasture and ancient lanes. It is hilly in places offering panoramic views. The trail is mainly off road on a mixture of surfaces including grass, bare earth, crushed stone, grassed over tracks, stone pitching and some tarmac lanes.

The route starts at St Ives Estate near Bingley where a new car park has been built with an area for horsebox parking, a corral, information panel and a mounting ramp. Toilets and a café are available elsewhere on the estate. For those wishing to access the route by public transport there is a train station at Bingley (on the Airedale line) near to St Ives estate.

The route passes from St Ives through Harden, Wilsden, via Hallas Bridge, towards Cullingworth, over the A629, where a new Pegasus equestrian crossing has been built. It then continues towards Sawood, across Thornton and Oxenhope moors, across Hebden Bridge road and on to Haworth Old Road to Shackleton Knoll and on to Walshaw to join the main Pennine Bridleway route at Widdop Road.

Colin Maddison, Regional Advocacy and Partnership Manager, North West region of Natural England said:
“We are delighted that the Calder Aire is the first of the three key linking routes to the Pennine Bridleway to be opened. This route will enable riders and walkers to explore their local area and also allow them to venture further afield on to the Pennine Bridleway National Trail, opening up miles of wonderful riding and walking opportunities."

“The Pennine Bridleway is one of the most important access projects being carried out by Natural England. 120 miles of the National Trail are already open from Derbyshire to the Mary Towneley Loop where the Calder Aire meets the Trail. The open section is already well used by locals and visitors to the area."

“The rest of the Pennine Bridleway is still under construction and when complete will extend for 350 miles from Middleton Top in Derbyshire through Lancashire, the Yorkshire Dales and Cumbria to Byrness in Northumberland. We are delighted with this opening and hope that many riders, cyclist and walkers will enjoy the route”.

The work on the route has been organised by Calderdale and Bradford Councils and includes a car park at St Ives, an equestrian crossing at the A629, signing and waymarking the route, easy to use gates, drainage and resurfacing (e.g. Kennel Lane, Stairs Lane, Nook), and improving the approaches to Hallas Bridge.

Kath Windett, Bradford Council's Rights of Way Manager, said:
"It is great news that the Calder Aire link is to be opened. We have so much for people to explore in our district and by opening up this route we hope that cyclists, riders and walkers will enjoy exploring this and using this new route. “Partnership working has been at the heart of developing this link route. Through coming together and focusing on a common goal, this has enabled us to achieve far more working together than working alone. This has resulted in benefits both strategically, in terms of allowing services to be delivered in a joined up way and operationally in terms of pooling resources”.

The creation of the link route has been made possible through financial support from Natural England (formerly the Countryside Agency), a Sport England award of £1.8 million towards the National Trail and three link routes plus funding from Bradford Council and Calderdale MBC. Landowners have also played a large part in dedicating new sections of bridleway required to create it.

Two additional link routes are under construction and expected to be completed by 2009 – the 42- mile West Pennine Link from Bolton through Darwen and Accrington joining the Pennine Bridleway at Clowbridge in Rossendale and the 22-mile Dark Peak link bringing in users from Barnsley and Kirklees to join the main Trail in Oldham.

A basic map and guide for the Calder Aire link is available on the Bradford Council website or via a link from the Pennine Bridleway website (www.nationaltrail.co.uk/penninebridleway). Further information about the open sections of the Pennine Bridleway National Trail can also be found at the national trail website above.

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Notes to editors

1. The Pennine Bridleway National Trail is one of the family of 15 National Trails in England and Wales, and is the first to have been planned from the outset with horse riders and off road cyclists in mind. Following an interesting mix of old pack horse routes and drove roads (often sensitively refurbished and upgraded), linked with newly created stretches of bridleway, the Trail will be around 350 miles when completed. From south to north, the Trail starts in Derbyshire, skirts around the east of Manchester up through the South Pennines to Cumbria and finally finishes at Byrness in Northumberland. The Trail takes in some of the best scenery of the North of England and passes through the Peak District, Yorkshire Dales and Northumberland National Parks.

2. 130 miles of Pennine Bridleway Trail are already open – the Mary Towneley Loop which is a 47- mile circuit passing through Lancashire, Rochdale and Calderdale; the Southern Section from Middleton Top in Derbyshire up to the Mary Towneley Loop (73 miles); and the 10-mile Settle Loop in the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

3. Natural England works for people, places and nature to conserve and enhance biodiversity, landscapes and wildlife in rural, urban, coastal and marine areas. We conserve and enhance the natural environment for its intrinsic value, the wellbeing and enjoyment of people, and the economic prosperity it brings. We increase opportunities to make the natural environment an enriching part of people's everyday lives, and improve its long term security by contributing to the sustainable management of our natural resources.

For further information contact Susan Clark at Natural England 01270 754120 Issued on behalf of Natural England by the Government News Network, Yorkshire and the Humber, tel 0113 341 3180