January 2017 - Christopher Goddard

Woodland Heritage Survey

It was probably not the day many of us had imagined when we signed up for the Celebrating Woodland Heritage survey at Hardcastle Crags, a small hardy group of us gathering in the car park amid light but persistent rain. Snow had been forecast but only touched the higher ground, and down here the slushy … Continued

Midwinter Solstice

Dawn on December 21st is at 8.23am in West Yorkshire, late enough to allow even those out the night before to join in the winter solstice celebrations. I have been invited to join a large group of Calder Valley fellrunners “aiming to see if Chris Goddard is right about the sun rising out of the … Continued

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Access All Areas

February 4, 2021

In the summer of 2020 I began swimming (I decline to add the unnecessary prefix ‘wild’ because, as my Aussie friend always points out, it is after all just swimming) in a whole series of new places. Until then I’d assumed there were only two good swimming spots in the valley, both of which had … Continued
The Magic of the Woods

December 14, 2020

‘In the woods too, a man casts off his years, as the snake his slough, and at what period soever of life, is always a child. In the woods, is perpetual youth. Within these plantation of God, a decorum and sanctity reign, a perennial festival is dressed, and the guest sees not how he should … Continued
On The Beach

September 18, 2020

I end the day’s work on the beach at Porthcawl. It’s intentional, but this isn’t quite how I envisioned it. It isn’t raining, but it’s wet. That’s Wales for you. The grey air is full of moisture and the wind drives a fine spray over me. All day long I have hunched over the tablet … Continued
For the Love of Sphagnum

January 17, 2020

I’m always on the hunt for new ways to experience the moors of West Yorkshire, so when an opportunity came up to plant sphagnum moss for Moors For The Future I was keen to try it out. We meet near Cock Hill mast above Hebden Bridge on a predictably wild day. It’s not raining yet, … Continued
Ted Hughes’ Calder Valley

November 3, 2019

I’m standing by the twin stones of Abel Cross with a group of half a dozen others. We are all bowed in cagoules as the wind and rain are driven insistently across the edge of this moor above Shackleton. Nick is reading Ted Hughes’ poem Abel Cross, Crimsworth Dean and, while it may be appropriate content … Continued