Kirklees Together

As part of the National Heritage Open Days, Dewsbury Townscape Heritage Initiative (THI), which is jointly funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Kirklees Council are launching the ‘Dewsbury Beeline Trail’ with two guided socially distanced walking tours.

When will the tours take place?

The tours will take place on Sat 12 Sep 20, at 10:30am and 1pm. The trail starts at the Minster and works its way through the town before making a ‘Bee Line’ for Pioneer House. These free tours will be led by THI officer, John Lambe.

The trail covers a short History of Dewsbury, bringing together 10 historic buildings telling the story of Dewsbury’s past. The people on the tour will meet weird and wonderful characters from the past who will share stories and suggest puzzles for you to solve along the way, helping to bring the buildings to life.

 In addition to the two tours, the trail can be undertaken separately by ‘Walking Through Time’. Creative Scene, an arts organisation based in Dewsbury who make art a part of everyday life, has produced this event.  ‘Walking Through Time’ will be brought to life by writers and performers from Dewsbury Community Outreach, who have been hard at work over the Summer researching characters and bringing tales from Dewsbury’s history to life.

Visitors to Dewsbury on Sat 12 September can experience ‘Walking Through Time’ at five locations around the town between: 10:30am – 12:30pm and 1pm-3pm. The trail and event timetable will be available on the day from the Creative Scene’s team of Art’s Adventurers in Dewsbury Market.

Find out more about ‘Walking Through Time’.

Cllr Peter McBride, Deputy Leader and cabinet member for regeneration said:

“Make a ‘Beeline’ into Dewsbury Town centre for one of these fascinating tours. We’ve developed the trail to engage local people in our fascinating history. So why not sign up to ‘bee’ educated about our Saxon settlements, the heavy woollen district, Victorian railways, town architects and much more. Please remember to stay safe and keep your distance from other people. We have not beaten this virus yet.”

Will the tours be limited to small groups? 

To make sure the tours are safe they are limited to six people, and as they will be held outdoors you’ll need to bring a brolly and suitable clothing.

Anyone who would like to attend is must pre-book their place by emailing johnlambe@kirklees.gov.uk on calling 01484 221000 (ask for John Lambe).

Anyone who can’t make the guided tours but still wants to take part can either pick up a copy of The Bee Line Trail leaflet from the town hall or download it from the Historic England website. Copies are also being shared with local schools as part of the Dewsbury Heritage Action Zone (HAZ) and Historic England’s Heritage Schools programme, a film of the guided tour will be available on the council’s social media channels from the 21 September. There are also free downloadable Dewsbury teacher resources available on Historic England’s Education website.

For more information on Heritage Open Days visit the national website.