Leave Station car park 9.30am. Start at parking opposite Reeth School DL11 6SP (GR: SE 034 992, What3Words: ///inert.holidays.roadblock) at 10.00am. 8 Miles. Moderate. £7

This is a rare opportunity to take part in a guided tour led by of the one of the landowners of the Heggs Castle re-naturing project. The project is a 200-acre collaborative scheme by 3 landowners to increase biodiversity and to develop a natural method of flood management (https://heggscastlecluster.org). Starting from Reeth the walk will follow an old bridleway up the beautiful valley of Arkengarthdale to Heggs Farm to begin the tour. Afterwards the route continues north, crossing the beck to the largely lost hamlet of Arkle Town, before turning back to a steady climb up Calver Hill (487m) to enjoy the views of the Swale and Arkle valleys. It is then a short way back down to the start of the walk. 

Meet at Altberg Factory Shop on Gallowfields Trading Estate DL10 4TG at 10.00am. 6.5 Miles. Moderate. £7  

Our traditional “Start of Festival” event is a good way to get to know one of the most popular short walks from Richmond, with the added interest of a visit to Altberg, the last remaining boot manufacturer in England. We will start the day at the factory to see how the boots are designed and made - for walking, the army and biking. There’s time for a cup of tea and a look round the excellent factory shop before a walk along Whitcliffe Scar, with great views over lower Swaledale, to hear about the famous but gruesome legend of Willance’s Leap.

Sponsored by: Altberg

The Station, Richmond DL10 4LD | two workshops 10:00am – 1:00pm and 2:00pm to 5:00pm | £25 | Café/restaurant, bookstall, disabled access

Open to writers of all abilities, this interactive workshop will delve into the relationship between nature and the Gothic. As a starting point, we’ll broaden our understanding of the Gothic to explore examples of powerful, contemporary writing which articulates an uneasy human-natural world relationship: how do these writers create such dark, bleak landscapes and fill them with a sense of menace or fear? Then it’s our turn: we’ll investigate ways in which we can turn the natural to unnatural, familiar to strange or uncanny, in our own writing.

Alison published a novel for young adults and a study guide on ecocritical theory before completing her doctorate in Creative Writing in 2023. Her  novel, ‘Wyrd Magic’ explores personal grief through nature-Gothic writing. She has published a number of creative pieces in journals including Gothic Nature Journal and The University of Exeter’s ‘Exclamat!on’.

Richmond Town Hall, DL10 4QL | 7:30pm | £10 | Refreshments, bookstall, disabled access.

Paddy Crewe and Tom Crewe are brothers and grew up on Teesside. They published their debut novels - extraordinary fictions, somewhat leaning towards the historical - in 2022 and 2023.  Paddy Crewe’s second novel 'True Love' is out now, while Tom Crewe’s debut 'The New Life' has just won him the prestigious Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year award.

Paddy Crewe’s 'True Love' is a beautiful exploration on whether growing up means growing apart or growing together. Tom Crewe’s tour de force 'The New Life' is a novel set in the 1890s concerning the battle to be free with one’s sexuality at a time when such behaviour was banned.

Can families grow together in spirit whilst growing apart in location? How important is the sense of where we come from in our lives?

Tom Crewe and Paddy Crewe will be in conversation with Austin Lynch

Sponsored by: Millgate House