I’ve been aiming to start this project for a while now, but have kept putting it off for various reasons – there always seems to be a better adventure to be had someplace else than your doorstep. For me particularly, I really enjoy the Dales, Lakes and North Wales so staying in West Yorkshire to write a hiking guidebook seems a bit crazy.

So why bother? There are tons of walking guidebooks already published so why add another one to the pile? Why not just head to the mountains instead and work towards other projects (I have stacks of them on the go and accumulated in waiting lists).

Truth be told, after looking at many, hopefully all, of the current guidebooks available to West Yorkshire, not a single one of them quite satisfied my particular outdoor and interest goals. The series that comes closest is Christopher Goddard’s magisterial hand-drawn work on the area, and it’s an impressive achievement which I cannot equal, let alone surpass. However, my addition to the pile on offer will be different in quite a few ways but you’ll have to stay tuned to find out how…

What I can say now is that there will be a selection of 30 walks, and that these will all connect to courses I shall be offering locally in navigation and early career planning for aspiring outdoor instructors. It won’t be ready this Summer though, but by 2023 I aim to be well on the way to completion. Let’s see if that’s the case in a year! I will post with a few teaser pictures to each one after each walk just to keep you all posted 🙂