Leave Station car park 9.00am. Start at Rukins Farm Car Park (GR: NY 892 012, What3Words: ///attending.sonic.drag) at 10.00am. 6 Miles. Moderate. £7

The Dales can be as enchanting as they are treacherous. Over the years, Swaledale Mountain Rescue has answered countless calls for help, assisting injured or lost hikers, mountain bikers, and even animals. This walk offers a unique chance to visit the locations of some of these challenging rescues, learn about the unfortunate casualties, and hear the gripping stories of how they were saved—all whilst soaking in the breathtaking beauty of the Upper Swale valley and its well-trodden paths between Keld and Muker.

Supported by: The Swaledale Mountain Rescue Team

Leave Station car park at 9.15am. Start Bowes and Gilmonby Village Hall DL12 9HR (GR: NY 996 135, What3Words: ///lotteries.superbly.years) at 10.00am. 10.5 Miles. Moderate. £7

We explore some of the vast, empty moors in the southwestern corner of County Durham, mainly using sections of both the main route and the Bowes Loop of the Pennine Way. Bowes is a handsome village dominated by the ruins of the 12^th Century Bowes Castle, and also the site of Dotheboys Hall, the ‘Yorkshire’ boarding school exposed for its harsh conditions in Dicken’s novel Nicholas Nickleby. Also of interest are the remnants of RAF Bowes Moor, near Barnard Castle, which was used in the 1940s to store mustard gas, which was burnt off at the end of World War II. The highlight of the walk is undoubtedly God’s Bridge, a limestone bridge over the River Greta, and the UK’s best example of a natural bridge formed by cave development.

Leave Station car park at 9.45am. Rendezvous at Nosterfield Nature Reserve car park (GR: SE 279 795, What3Words: ///divides.commenced.voltage) at 10.30am. An easy nature walk of around 5 Miles. £7

Following an early sell out in 2023 and 2024, we are repeating this Discovery Walk at the National Nature Reserve at Nosterfield and the nearby reserve at Nosterfield Quarry. During a short walk over level ground we will learn about the restoration of former quarries into nature reserves well known locally for their bird life and flowers, learning something of the restoration methods in use to create and improve habitats, including the propagation nursery set up at the site to supply plants for this work.  Your knowledgeable team for the day will help you identify the flora and fauna present. A member of the Nosterfield team will explain their work.   Please bring binoculars if you have them. We aim to spend the morning at Nosterfield Reserve before transferring to Nosterfield Quarry for the afternoon, with a planned finish at around 4pm.

Supported by: The Lower Ure Conservation Trust

Richmond Town Hall, DL10 4QL| 7.30pm | £10 | Refreshments, bookstall, disabled access

On a bright autumn day in 1857 the workers from Salts Mill were waiting for special trains to take them on a day trip. But they were not going to Blackpool: they were going to The Manchester Art Treasures Exhibition which attracted mill hands, factory workers and domestic servants.

Today less than 8% of visitors to our great galleries are from the working classes. When and why did the working classes stop visiting art galleries and why does this matter?

Join us for a discussion into art and class with David Kennedy author of Art and Class. How the middle classes hijacked the nation’s galleries.

David has worked as an apprentice in the  cotton mills, a climbing instructor in Africa and America, a social worker in Bradford and eventually became a ‘serious man in a suit’ running Bradford Council.