Oxenhope Online

 Image: Oxenhope from the wind turbine (near Haworth) Image: Crowds at the Bay Horse during the Straw Race 2002 Image: The stream running through the Millennium Green

  



 

NEW BOOK Exploring Oxenhope by Reg Hindley.  NEW BOOK  

                  Price  £9.99 + P&P

The last full book devoted entirely to Oxenhope and its historic development.

SOLD OUT

For sales order of new book or enquires the author can be contacted at reg-hindley@Oxenhope.fsnet.co.uk

Overseas Orders possible with appropiate Postage & Packing.



        


Reg Hindley:  Exploring Oxenhope

Reg Hindley: 'Exploring Oxenhope: where to go and what to see.' Oxenhope 2006. 220 printed pages including 14 maps and 21 photo illustrations including 2 in colour. Paperback, £9.99, (large) pocket size.
 On sale at Reids' Bookshop,  Haworth Tourist Info. Centre, Oxenhope post office, fisheries and newsagent, and from the author at Thorn Villa (tel 643087).
 
This book is the author's second  on Oxenhope, his 'Oxenhope, the making of a Pennine community' having now sold out.  The new print-run is similar, just above 600. If the first book was essentially historical in its approach, the new one guides us round the village, its upper valley and moors along nine selected routes which cover almost everywhere if approached on foot but can be sampled readily by bike, on horseback or even by car, using any of the roads which cross the high moorland boundary and are more plentiful on the lowlands. Most of the routes start at the station as a convenient centre, but it is easy to start somewhere else, using the clear maps. All but the boundary walk (11 or more miles) demand no more than half a day or a summer evening, and suitable detours are suggested to shorten routes - or to extend them for enthusiasts. Strong footwear and waterproof clothing are usually essential for Oxenhope conditions: or a firm decision to stay home if the outlook is nasty!
 
Emphasis is on what there is to see at as many as 170 stopping or turning points. 25 pages of Preface and Introduction set the general scene, including the basic underlying geology and glaciation which determine much of the landscape and most of the building stone. Reg also stresses the things which have disappeared but leave traces to search for:  such as 'lost' farms, mills, chapels and schools, as well as the ice sheet which melted with the last great 'global warming'. Place names also receive attention, as they give character to the district - especially those which baffled or shocked the Ordnance Survey map-makers.
 
Each walk has its own map, which serves as an index by numbering every stopping place, which is then printed in bold in the text to aid locating it. A description is given for most stops and often a more general 'district' description of what to look for round a series of stops - as on the Black Moor, round Sawood, at Lowertown,  round Dike Nook, on Marsh, or up Stairs. Stops include prominent viewpoints, and it is not often realised that vistas on Oxenhope Moor extend to the Three Peaks, Holme Moss, well up Wharfedale, and across the Vale of York: if you pick your weather! Reg argues that for loneliness and long views it is difficult to beat so near to Bradford and Halifax, but the valley slopes and bottoms have more variety if the interest is traditional Pennine architecture or industrial archaeology.
 
Given proximity to Haworth and the worldwide interest in the Bronte family, Oxenhope has been very scantily 'written up'. Reg has long been working to remedy this. His new book attempts to distil forty years of  leading his 'Worth Valley Walks' for Keighley W.E.A.,  to  reflect the pleasure he has derived from walking Oxenhope's streets, fields and moors, and to convey it to his readers.