Seven members of u3a Tod walked from Hebden Bridge centre to Gibson Mill in Hardcastle Crags on Saturday 8th June, with an eighth joining us at the Midgehole Road entrance to Hardcastle Crags. At the Gibson Mill cafe, we sat down and did a bit of informal planning of how this group would operate, before returning to Hebden Bridge by a slightly different route. The total distance was 6 miles, although the route was less undulating than most of our walks will turn out to be.

It was decided on a majority decision that of the weekend days, our outings would take place on a Saturday. Whilst it is helpful to some potential participants to do some walks on a Sunday, on balance it was felt important to keep to an easy to remember schedule. We were content to make the frequency monthly for the time being, and the regular slot would be the second Saturday, which is as near as we can get to half-way between the Tuesday walking group's outings.

We obtained two offers of walks for the next two months: one starting in Luddendenfoot, and another in Mytholmroyd. We will aim to offer one starting in the Todmorden area by September, although it should be noted that the first two are easily reachable by bus from Todmorden or Burnley. No-one came forward to act as convenor, but I indicated my willingness to do this for a few months, as this group doesn't have complexities like booking and paying for venues. I'll have to remember to take a picture or two on future walks.

Come and join us

As a new group, we're keen to expand our membership. We have over 20 in the Beacon membership list for the group, acquired from the survey about new groups that was carried out recently. Please contact me, Bill Black, as (temporary) convenor via the group website page (https://u3atod.org.uk/u3a_groups/walking-at-the-weekend/), where you'll also find details of forthcoming walks.

Bill Black