Step this way to celebrate the Yorkshire Wolds Way turning 40, with the help of a brand-new guide, Fab at Forty,packed with top tips and favourite spots suggested by visitors.
This year marks a major milestone for the 79-mile Yorkshire Wolds Way National Trail that stretches from the Humber estuary, along wooded slopes, and tranquil valleys to Filey Brigg on the Yorkshire coast.
It opened on 2 October 1982, creating a route that winds through chalk landscapes with hidden dry valleys, offering walkers stunning field top views, big skies and an abundance of wildlife, as well as thriving market towns and ancient villages.
To mark the 40th anniversary, Visit East Yorkshire has created a special section on its website for this landmark year with details of events and activities as well as showcasing some of the most scenic routes.
And new for 2022, is the Fab at Forty brochure, compiled with the help of walkers and visitors who sent in their own suggestions for their Yorkshire Wolds favourites to help celebrate the Trail turning 40.
Of course, the guide features great walks, but it also highlights everything from favourite tearooms and best places to visit on, or near, the trail, to some of the great experiences on offer.
Among suggestions are seeing majestic Red Kites over Londesborough, a landscaped park of pasture woodland and a lake on the south-west edge of the Yorkshire Wolds; and watching the sun rise over the Humber.
It can be accessed online and as a printed brochure available at Beverley and Bridlington TICs and other outlets on the route in North and East Yorkshire.
Meanwhile, for the National Trail’s anniversary itself, on Sunday 2 October, a big birthday bash is set to see a mass walk by more than 200 people.
Splitting the trail into seven equal sections, walkers are being invited to join the celebrations by tackling one leg of this iconic trail in a combined effort to walk the entire 79 miles in one day, with each section covering roughly 11 miles of the national trail.
The mass event – with 30 places available for each section – will be the culmination of a series of ‘Fab at 40’ birthday events during the year. Booking is essential, with a charge of £5 per person to cover coach transport (https://bit.ly/3PIU4sH).
More chances to take an anniversary trek are also available as part of the Walking East Yorkshire festival. Celebrating the ‘Great Outdoors’ in all its glory, this year’s festival will offer a packed programme of events from 10 to 23 September aimed, not only at walkers, but also cyclists, horse riders, nature lovers and even history enthusiasts.
Also, as part of the celebrations, artists Ian and Stef Mitchell are taking inspiration from the landscape to create a major art exhibition celebrating the Yorkshire Wolds and the National Trail, which will be staged at the Bridlington Spa and The Treasure House, in Beverley, from September.
Details of events and activities around the 40th anniversary, as well as the downloadable Fab at Forty brochure, can be found on Visit East Yorkshire’s National Trail anniversary website at https://bit.ly/3HfY133.
For general tourist information on East Yorkshire as a destination: www.visiteastyorkshire.co.uk.
