History...
The Sheffield May Day Trek has over 40 years of history raising money for Christian Aid and CAFOD. During that time thousands of people have walked the walk, made new friends, and raised many thousands of pounds.
We would like to expand the History of the Sheffield May Day Trek. If you have special memories of past May Day Treks, what they have meant to you, whether the weather was favourable or foul, etc. and would like to contribute to this History, please forward them to info@sheffieldmaydaytrek.org.uk.
2012: Monday 7th May
This year we were delighted to be joined by Lemlem Berhe, a water and sanitation engineer from Ethiopia. Before the start of the walk she talked about one of the water projects she is directly involved with. It was good to hear first hand how the money raised by this walk is used for water and sanitation projects in Ethiopia and how this is improving peoples lives.
This years Sheffield May Day Trek was in the same Bolsterstone area as from 2009, using the same reversed routes as 2011.
On the day itself we were blessed with a dry morning and some sunshine. This was good news for the 5 and 10 milers, but some 15 milers were still walking when the rain came in the mid-afternoon.
Though this was much better than had been expected. This April was very wet and a few days before the walk emails were sent to all walkers to warn them to "...please come prepared for some muddy conditions."
The day before the walk, the Sunday, was warm and sunny all day. I must admit, I thought that we had missed our weather window, but in hindsight, this warm Sunday was ideal to dry the route in preparation for the walk on Monday.
The walk started and finished at Bolsterstone Village Hall and offered a choice of 5, 10 and 15 mile circular walks around the Broomhead and More Hall Reservoirs on the moors south of Bolsterstone. See the maps and descriptions in the 2011 section below.
2011: Monday 2nd May
Again about 200 walkers attended the 2011 walks (5, 10 and 15 miles) and raised over £10,000 in sponsor money for Christian Aid and Cafod.
It was a lovely warm and sunny day for the walk.
This years Sheffield May Day Trek was in the same Bolsterstone area as for 2009 and 2010, but this year the routes were reversed to make the route easier as the climbs are more gradual.
The general consensus from walkers was that the route changes were a big improvement and were much appreciated.
The walk started and finished at Bolsterstone Village Hall, see the map below, and offered a choice of 5, 10 and 15 mile circular walks around the Broomhead and More Hall Reservoirs on the moors south of Bolsterstone. Follow these links to view the walk Map and route descriptions; Brief and Detailed (with grid references); 5 miles, 10 miles and 15 miles.
The 5-mile walk, which is suitable for families with young children, goes gently up Whitwell moor and then down to Underbank Reservoir.
The 10-mile walk extends the 5-mile walk to include Broomhead Hall and Broomhead Reservoir.
The 15-mile walk extends the 10-mile walk to include Spout House Hill and Wharncliffe Side overlooking More Hall Reservoir.
2010: Monday 3rd May
About 200 walkers attended the 2010 walks (5, 10 and 15 miles) in Bolsterstone raising money for Christian Aid and CAFOD.
There were 203 walkers; 104 on the 5 mile route, 66 on the 10 mile route and 33 on the 15 mile route.
This years Sheffield May Day Trek was over the same routes as 2009, through spectacular countryside on the edge of the Peak District in the Bolsterstone area. (North of Sheffield, near Stocksbridge.) See the map, descriptions and links below for the 2009 walks.
Again if anyone has any other photos from the 2010 walk, or any story to tell, please email them to this website.
Bishop leads the way in May Day Trek tradition (from the Sheffield Telegraph, Thursday 6th May 2010)
* Above: walkers setting off from Bolsterstone on the May Day Trek.
The Bishop of Hallam, the Rt Rev John Rawsthorne, joined walkers on the traditional May Day Trek around a rural edge of Sheffield on Monday.
Around 200 set off from Bolsterstone village hall with the choice of five, ten or 15 miles routes to raise money for CAFOD and Christian Aid. The Bishop took the 15 mile option.
One of the hazards was the hail storms. "At one point the hail was on the ground like snow," said Helen Desforges, CAFOD officer in Hallam diocese.
Walkers passed reservoirs near Stocksbridge and in the Ewden Valley. "The theme was raising money to provide clean water in developing countries, so passing reservoirs that supply Sheffield with clean water was appropriate," said Helen.
The above article was published in the Sheffield Telegraph, Thursday 6th May 2010. (I did email them and ask if their permission was required to include the image and text on this website. I had no reply. If anyone reads this who can put me in touch with the appropriate person to ask for permission to use this image and text, it would be greatly appreciated. If there are any legitimate reasons that this image and text cannot be used here then please let me know and I will remove them. Thanks. 'Website Editor'.)
2009: Monday 4th May
About 260 walkers attended the 2009 walks (5, 10 and 15 miles) and raised over £10,000 in sponsor money for Christian Aid and Cafod.
There was some rain but not too much to put people off. It was a bit drizzly in the morning, then cleared up for most of the day, but returned later in the afternoon when the 15 milers were on the final stretch of the walk.
This years Sheffield May Day Trek was over new routes through spectacular countryside on the edge of the Peak District in the Bolsterstone area. (North of Sheffield, near Stocksbridge.) People seemed to enjoy the new route although there were some comments about these hills being a bit steeper than last year!
A couple of photographs from the 2009 walk; walkers gathering to leave Bolsterstone Village Hall at the start of the walk, and looking out over the hills.
Again if anyone has any other photos from the 2009 walk, or any story to tell, please email them to this website.
The walk started and finished at Bolsterstone Village Hall, see the map below, and offered a choice of 5, 10 and 15 mile circular walks around the Broomhead and More Hall Reservoirs on the moors south of Bolsterstone. Follow these links to view the walk Map and route descriptions; Brief and Detailed (with grid references).
The 5-mile walk, which is suitable for families with young children, to Underbank Reservoir, and loops around Whitwell moor.
The 10-mile walk extends the 5-mile walk to include Broomhead Hall and Broomhead Reservoir.
The 15-mile walk extends the 10-mile walk to include Spout House Hill and More Hall Reservoir.
2008: Monday 5th May
About 275 walkers attended the 2008 walks (5, 10 and 15 miles), which were again in the Hallam Moors area of the Peak District, starting from St. Lukes Church, Lodgemoor, on the west side of Sheffield. The 5 mile route went to Rivelin Dams and Wyming Brook, the 10 mile route extended this to the Redmires Reservoirs, and the 15 mile route returned via Stanage Edge and Houndkirk Moor.
Unfortunately I was unable to attend the 2008 walk, I was away on business in Seattle. But I do remember receiving emails just days before the big day to say that the links to the registration form on the website had stopped working. I don't know what went wrong, but the 8 hour time difference worked to my advantage, and the website was fixed and up and running while the UK slept.
If anyone has any photos from the 2008 walk, or any story to tell, please email them to this website. Any story will be more interesting than one of a website not working properly!
2007: Monday 7th May
About 175 walkers attended the 2007 walks (5, 10 and 15 miles), which were in the Hallam Moors area of the Peak District, starting from St. Lukes Church, Lodgemoor, on the west side of Sheffield. The 5 mile route went to Rivelin Dams and Wyming Brook, the 10 mile route extended this to the Redmires Reservoirs, and the 15 mile route returned via Stanage Edge and Houndkirk Moor.
A couple of photographs from the 2007 walk; walkers gathering to leave St. Luke's Church at the start of the walk, and so much to talk about during a glorious day in the hills.
A team from St. Mary's Church, Bramall Lane, setting off, and later on the walk. Click this link to see more of their photos.
