Fancy a challenge?

Sign up for the Dales Way Tidal Trail! Join us in hiking through some of England’s most beautiful scenes and raise some much needed dosh for Tidal. The hike goes from Ilkley to Lake Windermere but we are going to do it backwards so that we end up back home in Leeds. We will start on 31st May so that students can join us after finishing exams and we can finish over the four day weekend ending 5th June.

The walk will take six days and covers 84 miles in total. But don’t worry if you are not an experienced hiker! You will be able to join us part way along and there will be a support car to transport backpacks, tents and food on to the next stop, so you can hike in relative comfort.

Prefer to pedal? That’s fine, because you can join the cycle team! Check out the details on the Yorkshire Dales Tidal Cycle Ride page.

There is even one nutty person who has decided to run it! He would love some company, so if you would like an extra challenge, get in touch and get training.

The route

Day 1 – Meet around 11am at Lake Windermere and walk to Kendal (11 miles)
Day 2 – Kendal to Sedburgh (14 miles)
Day 3 – Sedburgh to Ribblehead (16 miles)
Day 4 – Ribblehead to Buckden (12 miles)
Day 5 – Buckden to Grassington (13 miles)
Day 6 – Grassington to Ilkley (16 miles)

To see the route laid out and further details check out our map.

Money

Costs:

We have done our best to keep costs as low as possible so that as many of you can join us. We hope that as well as raising lots of money to keep Tidal going we’re also organising a cheap, easy and low carbon holiday. With that in mind, and because we all have different needs and finances, there are three accommodation options:

1. Camping: Four nights camping with one night in a bunk barn on day three: £56 (a proper bargain)
2. Partly inside: Three nights in hostels/bunk barns and two nights camping: £80
3. All inside: Three nights in hostels/bank barns and two nights B&B: £146

This includes tasty homemade meals for the duration of the walk (5 breakfasts, six lunches and five dinners), a support car to transport the food and your baggage and five nights accommodation. All the organising is on us. If you would like to come on the walk and raise money for Tidal but couldn’t afford this, please get in touch and we can discuss various fundraising options.

We will need a deposit of half the cost of the trip when you register so we can make all the bookings and the rest by Friday 20th April when we’ll have a get-together at the Victoria Hotel (pub) so we can all meet each other and share fundraising tips.

Sponsorship:

We think the Dales are beautiful and are looking forward to walking with lots of lovely people, but really we are working so hard to organise this walk to raise funds for Tidal. So, we are setting a minimum fundraising target of £100 for everyone walking the six days and £50 for part of the way. If you would just like to join us for one of the days and are bringing your own food then we just ask for a £10 donation to Tidal. No fundraising required, but welcomed all the same.

We are hoping that this will fill in the gap in our income and mean that we break even this year. With funding pots getting smaller and smaller, this is vital for Tidal to continue its work.

How to register

1. Fill out the short online registration form.
2. Send a cheque for the deposit. This deposit is half the cost, (camping £28, partly indoor £40, fully indoor £73). Our new address is:

Leeds Tidal
Ebor Court
Westgate
Leeds
LS1 4ND
PO BOX 803

3. We’ll send you a confirmation once we’ve received your registration and the cheque. Along with the confirmation, you’ll receive an information pack with all the details of the walk, plus a fundraising guide, including how to set up an online fundraising page with Virgin Giving.

If you have any questions or would like to talk anything through at all, please do not hesitate to get in touch. I’m in the office Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays, so will get back to you as soon as possible.

Registration deadlines:

All inside accommodation option: If you would like to go for the all inside option i.e. have a bed every night of the walk, then you need to sign up ASAP. Lots of places are already booked because it is a mega bank holiday weekend, so we will book the beds as soon as we have your deposit. It seems likely that they will be all booked by the end of January, so get those registrations in quickly!

Partly inside: We will need deposits by 9th February, but there are a limited number of spaces in the hostels and bunk barns, so register early to guarantee your nights on the mattress.

Camping: This is more flexible so will need your registrations and deposits by 15th March.

Want to help without walking?

We also need people to join the support car to make this as relaxing and enjoyable a week as possible, so drop us an email if that would suit you better at the same address.

If you have any questions at all, get in touch through info[at]leedstidal.org or check out the facebook group.