The Secret Signs Of Marsden

I had a walk up above the Wessenden Valley and reservoirs at the weekend and noticed a new (to me) sign on some of the stiles. Bright yellow and clearly just applied with a stencil. And some of the posts that punctuated the wire-topped dry stone field boundaries also sported fresh yellow caps. Hmm. They were obviously marking out a route but I wasn’t sure which. The mystery (for me anyway) was solved via a Facebook discussion later that day. Turns out to be a refresh of the waymarkers for the Colne Valley Circular Walk.

The’re obviously not secret but the lack of text on the ‘logo’ meant I didn’t realise which walk was being waymarked or which group / society was supporting / funding / maintaining it.

And it got me thinking about all the different groups that do just that in any area: maintain footpaths, raise funds, promote walking etc. So to play my small part in helping them with awareness and maybe also helping inquisitive visitors to this little patch of the world, I’ve added  a new page to the blog : ‘Marsden Area‘.

It mentions groups like the Marsden Walkers Are Welcome initiative, the Colne Valley Tree Society and The National Trust. I don’t as yet have a working link to the Colne Valley Society. I’m guessing they are till active, hence the new waymarkers but they don’t (unusually) have a Facebook page or a website. If you know anything of them drop me a line.

In the meantime, Brodie Dog and I had a good yomp about the Heritage Trail area and down around and about the eastern side of the Wessenden Valley. The autumnal colours of the moors and woods around Butterley and Blakeley reservoirs were beautiful.