Monday, 28 July 2025
Hebden Bridge to host Freedom to Roam conference
Town Hall, 25 Nov, 2-5.30pm
The conference will provide an occasion to consider how a new Labour government can be persuaded to fill in the gaps in countryside access that, even with the Countryside and Rights of Way Act, still remain in England and Wales.
With a Green Paper on access from the government anticipated this Autumn, there will be plenty to discuss.
Passed by Parliament in 2000, The Countryside and Rights of Way Act was a landmark piece of legislation. It followed more than a century of hard-fought campaigning for the right to roam England and Wales's beautiful moorlands and mountains.
The Act received its Royal Assent at the end of November 2000. The conference, at Hebden Bridge Town Hall, exactly 25 years later, is an opportunity to celebrate the access rights which the Act gave us.
The conference will also be an opportunity to broaden the discussion about the rights and freedoms we should have to enjoy and appreciate our countryside. Despite the 2000 Act, so much of our land still remains unavailable to the public. Beautiful woodlands continue to boast 'keep out' signs. Our river banks are too often out of bounds. Even some designated access land can't actually be reached without trespassing. The countryside remains a place that often feels private, where many people feel out of place and unwelcomed.
What's planned for the conference?
The conference will take place from 2pm to 5.15pm, Saturday 25 November, in the Waterfront Hall, in Hebden Bridge's impressive community-run Town Hall building.
The programme will include contributions from some of those most engaged in leading the battle for improved access rights. Organisers will be welcoming author and activist Amy-Jane Beer from the Right to Roam campaign, Kate Ashbrook of the Open Spaces Society (who's been a lifelong thorn in the side of those who would like to keep our countryside private!), and Jack Cornish from the Ramblers, the organisation which for generations has led the access movement and which helped bring the Countryside and Rights of Way Act to the statute book.
We'll also be welcoming the Labour MP Phil Brickell from across the Pennine moors in Lancashire and his colleague Andy Macnae, both active in the recently established All-Party Parliamentary Committee for outdoor recreation and access.
There will also be ample time for workshops. There'll be an opportunity to discuss exactly what access rights we should be claiming. Can we emulate the full countryside access rights now enjoyed in Scotland (after, it should be said, an equally long battle there for these rights)? What can we learn from the right to roam enjoyed in many Scandinavian countries? How can we work successfully with enlightened landowners and farmers to open up the countryside for responsible access? And how do we lobby the present Labour government so that, 25 years after CRoW, another landmark piece of legislation on countryside access can be brought to the statute book?
The conference will include a bookstall from co-operative publishers Gritstone and stalls from campaigning groups which you will be free to browse before and after the conference and during the tea break.
Why Hebden Bridge?
Just to the north of Hebden Bridge, in the Calder valley in West Yorkshire, are the beautiful moorlands which stretch up to the county boundary with Lancashire close to the summit of Boulsworth Hill.
The moors are important natural habitats, breeding grounds for curlews and lapwings and also one of the last homes in Britain of the twite, the Pennine finch. The importance of these moors has been recognised by their designation as a Site of Special Scientific Interest, a Special Area of Conservation and a Special Protection Area. The moors have traditionally been managed for grouse shooting.
Until the Countryside and Rights of Way Act, these moors were almost entirely out of bounds. Ramblers' organisations had tried in the 1950s to get access but had lost their legal action, knocked back by the combined pressure of the landowners and the water companies. 'Keep out' signs were in place alongside the main country road across the moors.
In the 1990s, local activists tried again, launching the Access to Boulsworth Campaign. The timing couldn't have been better. After the 1997 Labour election victory, as Parliament began debating what was to become the CRoW Act, Access to Boulsworth Campaign was able to play a significant role in the lobbying and campaigning work. Labour MPs, including the Environment Secretary Michael Meacher, were brought up to these moors to see at first hand why legislation was needed – and sometimes to be taken across the moors and hills for a little technical trespassing.
Thanks to the Countryside and Rights of Way Act, access to Boulsworth and the moors around was secured and the Access to Boulsworth Campaign dissolved. But now, to celebrate the 25 th anniversary of the Act, several of those most actively involved in Access to Boulsworth Campaign have come together again to organise this event. Come and join us!
What are the arrangements for the morning walk?
It would be a shame to visit our part of the South Pennines without getting out into our countryside!
In the morning before the conference, we are arranging a led walk across the moorlands south of Boulsworth from Clough Foot (Widdop) to Heather Hill. You'll be walking on lands where once you'd have risked an angry encounter with a gamekeeper – but where now, thanks to the Countryside and Rights of Way Act, access can be freely enjoyed. That's worth celebrating, surely!
We are restricting the numbers on the walk to forty, so unfortunately not everyone attending the conference will be able to take part. It's strictly first come, first served.
The walk will be approximately five miles in length, and will be primarily on moorland tracks. No yomping or tackling rough stuff will be required. However, this is relatively remote countryside and, given the time of year, come prepared for potentially winter weather. In very poor weather conditions, we will alter arrangements to choose a lower-level walk.
To avoid parking problems, we are arranging for three community transport minibuses to take all participants to the start of the walk. The minibuses will leave from outside Hebden Bridge Town Hall promptly at 9.10am. You will be brought back to Hebden Bridge no later than 1pm (the conference begins at 2pm). There'll then be the chance to have lunch in the Town Hall café or in one of Hebden Bridge's numerous other cafes.
How do I book?