Walks and Thoughts

of Michael Simes

An old Man's Tale:

Shelf

Brighouse

West Vale

Clay House

Ripponden

Cragg Vale

Todmorden

Heptonstall

Pecket Well

Luddenden Dean

Jerusalem Farm

Catherine Slack

Stone Chair

It's Just Like Home:

Hong Kong

Auckland

Rotarua

Napier

Picton

Marlborough Sounds

Kaikoura

Milford Sound

Sydney

Manly

Blue Mountains

Northern Beaches

Thailand

A City Of Revolution:

Paris

Versailles

Sacré-Cœur

Notre Dame

Calderdale Way Walks

An Old Man's Tale


About the Calderdale Way Walk


You can have a brush with settlements of antiquity with exotic handles borrowed from ancient texts and the Norse. Moments to wallow in the rich array of flora and fauna. Here is an eclectic mix of geology, theology, anthropology and rambling daydreams where human and natural history cross paths. You can pick up history as you go along. Ancient trekkers and workers leave their mark, littered with memories and spirit for you to clutch in reliving your own life course.

This singular pastime is not a race or a sprint. You will need to relish in solitude and the breath of humanity and environment. There is a metaphor for the proper way yet the paths to enlightenment need to be searched elsewhere. As we tramp along we deconstruct a lifetime as well as the Way. Here the present collides with the past to fuse with the continuum for the future.

We know these walkabouts are not rites of passage in the wilderness for adolescent indigenous Australians. For ourselves we need to walk this land into existence. Navigating by dreaming tracks tracing the song lines of our ancestors. All land is sacred: all land is my land.

The Calderdale Way was completed in stages. Each full day takes account of the vagaries of transport, time elements and the frailties of the older bodied. It remains a challenge even when armed with your guides, ordnance survey and compass. We have identified places where you could easily drift in wayward wandering off piste.

We have tried to eliminate deficiencies and ambiguities in other guides. I am relaxed about any defects. It is best to find your own way. Avoiding mistakes could be an inhibition, an unnecessary limit on the horizon. We learned more from getting lost than sailing through without hindrance. Learning most when compelled into a discourse with nature, a more profound encounter than detached proficiency.