Praise for virtual trail of Birkby

A virtual heritage walk organised by Kirklees Libraries in partnership with Discover Huddersfield has received plaudits from as far afield as Seattle. 

The walk, devised by Frank Grombir and Lorna Brooks, was based on the Birkby Trail leaflet, one of 17 produced by the Discover Huddersfield partnership.

The trail was broadcast live on September 17 as an event held as part of the annual Heritage Open Days Festival. 

By the end of September there had been 403 views of the trail on YouTube and a high number of positive comments on social media. They included ‘…a hugely enjoyable walk ..’, ‘fantastic tour, thank you’ and ‘…a brilliant job …It really was informative and a real pleasure to watch’.

The programme is now available on YouTube as well as Facebook for people to watch at any time. Bolstered by its success, further trails are being developed with two events scheduled for broadcasting in October and November:
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• Wednesday, October 21, 6pm: Huddersfield Caribbean Heritage Trail, guided by Natalie Pinnock-Hamilton and Heather Norris-Nicholson 
• Thursday, November 12, 1pm: Made in Huddersfield Textile Trail, guided by Carol Hardy and Julie Mahoney, from Kirklees libraries.

To listen to the broadcast at these times go to You Tube – Kirklees Libraries - Local Heritage Walks and Talks. Other DH trails can be found on the Discover Huddersfield website.

The virtual trails are intended to meet three objectives:

• To explore local heritage, encourage local history research and promote local heritage organisations
• To reach out to individuals unable to attend a physical walk whether due to health limitations or geographical distance 
• To encourage healthy exercise by enticing people to take up the walk themselves following the broadcast

In addition, one of the programme's great advantages is the ability to see the hidden aspects of local heritage thanks to aerial 3D views enabled by Google Earth.
 
For further information contact David Wyles on 07483 226982.

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