A LOOK BACK AT THE RUSH TO JOIN ONE OF THE COUNTRY'S MOST INFLUENTIAL WALKING CLUBS

 (An article by John Hewitt, featured in the Telegraph and Argus in March 1978, in celebration of PDRC 50th anniversary)

        One May morning half a century ago 21-year-old Pudsey lad Eric Lodge stepped out with four girl companions on a walk to Almscliff Crag and the world of rambling has never been the same since.

        He was leading the inaugural walk of the Pudsey and District Rambling Club destined to become one of the most influential walking clubs in the country. In its heyday, hikers were so eager to join that potential members had to rustle up ten supporters for their application.

        The 'Pudsey Pioneers' they were dubbed by the local press, and it was through the efforts of club members that the groundwork was established for both the Youth Hostels Association in Britain and the Ramblers Association. The club was also in the forefront of the successful campaign to set up the National Parks.

        Still going strong, and still respected as one of the toughest walking clubs in the district, Pudsey Ramblers celebrate their golden jubilee with a dinner at Low Hall Restaurant, Horsforth, on May 5th.

        Behind every successful rambling club, you will find a special spirit, born out of sharing the discomforts of driving rain and jollying one another over the last weary miles home. From the beginning, Pudsey Ramblers brimmed with this spirit.

        "The secret was that we were extremely well organized but not too rigid" says Mr. Lodge, the club's first secretary, a former president, and now life vice-president, who has settled among the green fells of his beloved Dales in Burnsall.

        It attracted particularly lonely. often shy teenagers. "It gave them a completely new outlook" says Mr. Lodge. I recall one man telling me in wonder. "This club has changed my life. Before, all I knew was the mill, night school, Leeds United and back home. Now I don't know where I will be going at the weekend except that I won't be bored".

        "Our members were young and had very little money, but we did not ask our parents to help us out. We organised everything ourselves, and proved that money was not essential. The simple things in life produce the greatest enjoyment."

        On that first ramble, the girls were in the majority and even when the membership swelled to 250, they comprised 65%.

        Most of the men met their wives to be whilst hiking" comments Mr. Lodge. It wasn't primarily a marriage mart. The girls were as tough as the lads. joining the monthly Spartan Ramble for those capable of walking 30 miles in a day over rough country. When the party didn't set out by tram, they would assemble at Calverley Bridge railway station. Which meant for most members at least a two to three mile walk at both ends of the day. Turnout for most weekend rambles was 45-50 and there were additional walks round local footpaths on Tuesday evenings in the summer.

        A flick through the syllabus in the early thirties reveals the astonishing scope of their activities. Their literary debating section set the world to rights in the confines of the Pudsey Mechanics Institute arguing such motions that "Mussolini Is A Menace To Humanity" that Prohibition is Desirable For The British Isles (which was surely defeated) or "That the Talkies Are Better Than Silent Films" Through all the hot air, Communists and Conservatives, Atheists and Roman Catholics remained the best of friends and any attempt to impose a particular political line was firmly resisted.

        Other talks introduced members to botany, bird watching and rural architecture, while as the club grew in confidence members dug into their pockets to guarantee lectures by top flight speakers — members of the Everest and Antarctic expeditions, for example. So successful were the lectures that not one penny of the guarantees ever had to be touched.

        The club was noted for its evenings of song around the piano, and its dances were so hectic that one musician commented "When I play for the Pudsey Ramblers dance I make no wonder they can do Almscliff Crag before breakfast."

        Regular guesthouse weekends were held at 15s a piece for two nights. The rock climbing and pothole sections (which made notable discoveries in Govden Pot) were held in high esteem.

        It is remarkable they had time for anything else. But a youth hostel expedition to the Rhineland in 1931 fired them with enthusiasm for the infant youth hostel movement. Through a prickly association with the Vicar of Lothersdale, the Rev. P.M. Aldous, who had set up his own British Empire Band of Youth, a small committee. including Mr. Lodge, set up a Pioneer youth hostel at Stone Gappe, Lothersdale. At 1s a night, it was a modest success, despite lukewarm comments from the editor of the Leeds Mercury who suggested that people might prefer to stay by their own fireside.

        It helped to prove that youth hostels were workable, and smoothed the way for the £10,000 grant from the Carnegie Trust, which launched the YHA.

        It was the Pudsey Ramblers who called a special meeting to form the West Riding Ramblers' Federation. Mr Lodge was treasurer, George Grice (then Pudsey's president) was chairman, and most of the other positions were held by Pudsey members. From the Federation grew the present-day Ramblers Association, set up at the Ilkley conference.

        Ilkley, or at least Hangingstone Quarries on Ilkley Moor, was the site of another pioneer effort; the first ramblers rally, which was organised by the Pudsey Club in 1930. A crowd of 10,000 attended to hear speeches calling for the setting up of National Parks. Which, of course in time became a reality.

        Although the club boasts no serious accidents in its history, the death of a potential member led to the setting up of the Wharfedale Rescue organisation.

A NEWSPAPER REPORT BY FRANK WILKINSON ON THE PUDSEY'S IN 1978

Pudsey  and District Rambling Club (PDRC)

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