NT Footfall Hardcastle Crags

Hardcastle Crags holds deep memories; with steep valley sides that have been worked, managed and remoulded for millennia. Water has dripfed and sculpted the landscape, sustained wildlife and met the needs of people and industry.
FootFall commemorates a time, 50 years ago, when this special place could have been submerged by a plan to halt the flowing water with a dam and fill the valley to the brim.
Footfall is a season of celebration culminating in a processional walk and woodland ceremony. Together we acknowledged the great determination of many local people who saved the exceptional beauty of this valley and your right to roam within it.
Throughout the summer of 2019, The National Trust ran a series of outdoor workshops, the outcomes of were shared at a special event. On 14th September audiences took a walking journey upriver to a location where the water might have met the high walls of an unbuilt dam. As night fell, with song, sound, text and lamp light we commemorated all that is precious about this special place.