"Trudging over the moors with a body on your back – it conjures all sorts."
At first glance, Terry Howard's front room seems like any other Octogenarians in Sheffield. But, just like the campaigner's approach to walking, if you look again, you'll discover something new.
At first glance, Terry Howard's front room seems like any other near Octogenarians in Sheffield. But, like the stalwart campaigner, writer and cultural voice, if you look again, you'll discover something new.
Described by some who have crossed paths with him as a “Kinder Elder”, a wooden green man stands on a mantelpiece here, a bottle of Nelson’s Blood resides in a cabinet there, a dining table is covered in photos and artefacts from more than 70 years of rambling, campaigning and bringing a voice to the great outdoors that surrounds us.
Terry has been leading walks for the ramblers and Woodcraft Folk for decades, giving many their first experiences of the great outdoors. But, befitting a boy from Parson Cross, there’s more to his walks than the moors - he is a great advocate for off-the-beaten-track city trails, gennels and ancient woodlands too. He remembers an early yomp from his house in the north of the city to Margery Hill, because it had the same name as his mother. The adventures started early with Terry.
We had the pleasure of spending an hour in Terry’s company, where, despite the snow curtailing plans for a ramble over his beloved moors, we found that far from looking back on a celebrated life campaigning for greater access to Sheffield’s enviable, mysterious and historic back garden, he’s got books, films and projects-a-plenty on the horizon as he approaches his 80th birthday.
Whether it’s planning a reprint of his celebrated 1992 book A Moorland Notebook, a new tome about wayside and burial crosses, the delights of keeping walking weird and the best gennel in Sheffield or seeing himself on the big screen in Ramble On at this year’s Doc Fest and SHAFF Festivals (and we’ll have more with SHAFF founder Matt Heason at the end of this newsletter), Terry is on the front foot as ever.
As he says over a brew and a chinwag, “One thing leads to another. It’s all about discovering or rediscovering, basically, our past. There are stories to be told on the moors and about the moors and that’s what makes it fascinating. And, hopefully, a new generation can be inspired too.”
On Wayside Crosses and Burial Routes
“Me and another chap are presently putting a book together of roadside crosses around Hallamshire, Ecclesfield and Bradfield so we’ve been researching that. Years ago, there was a place called New Cross that we found on our trespass rambles. There was a cross in the middle of the moor on the maps but on private land, and I used to keep going across to try and find it. When I found it, it were a discovery.
“I saw what was a sword or a cross on the base. However, there were the remains of the shaft or the cross. These were of course regular features on the landscape at around the time of reformation – all local wayside crosses were destroyed and monasteries too – anything pope-ish.
“There was a cross on the middle of the moor – it’s barren and you can see for miles and miles, just off the Dukes Road which is a public right of way. You could see the cross and it used to draw ramblers. For years this happened and then suddenly the shaft was gone. It was gamekeepers taking the shaft down as it was attracting ramblers to their moor. And then, one day, it was gone, this would have been in around 2010.
“It was pretty obvious a gamekeeper had taken it in their little vehicle – it was far too big for a rambler to put it in their rucksack. I contacted the local authority, and the Peak District National Park, because it was a scheduled monument. It was vandalism and this shaft had been removed. They contacted the local landowner who said it was nothing to do with them – what a load of crap. Someone had vandalised it and taken it away. I’ve been up loads of times and there’s nowt there, it’s just gone. There’s a little stone that they put in its place.
“It's clearly a cross. That’s how it was, with the shaft, it’s a fair size. It’s ancient, with a name like New Cross, it has to be an old cross - going back to 1066 at least. There were stone crosses and burial crosses before 1066. This cross is on a burial route between Howden and Bradfield, so anyone who died was carried from there over Abbey Brook, New Cross, Emlyn Moor and then down into Bradfield Church. I’ve been through burial records for Bradfield Church but they only go back to the 1500s and there was a reference to people born in Howden and buried in Bradfield, and this was one of the routes.
“Trudging over the moors with a body on your back – it conjures all sorts. Now the shaft has gone and they’ve stuck a stone in top. Nobody has ever referred to this sword or cross until this book we’re putting together on wayside crosses and we’re finding all sorts of these crosses with apotropaic marks to ward off evil spirits.
“They’re at Stanage Pole and Oxstones. But why have a cross on a cross? On Big Moor you have crosses – we believe that when crosses were destroyed in the reformation, they’d use a traditional burial route but they’d put their cross instead to ward off evil spirits – they were super religious and they wanted to warn off evil spirits to protect people on the journey. Bolsterstone had them. You’ll find them on boundary stones. There’s a marker stone around Loxley – it’s nothing new, it goes way back in time. The witch marks are all over the place – there’s no end of them on the rocks around Stanage in sheltered spots; maybe some of the workers who were quarrying put them there to protect them. So that’s where we’re going with that book (about Wayside Crosses) – and one thing leads to another.”
On a new edition of A Moorland Notebook
It’s been more than 30 years since Terry published A Moorland Notebook in 1992, now, Peakrill Press is running a crowdfunding campaign for a new edition in 2025. You can find out how to support by clicking the link above.
The book is an evocative exploration of the land, its history and the long fight for access. Through rich storytelling, historical insight and personal reflection, the book uncovers struggles over land ownership, the loss of ancient rights and the campaign to reclaim the freedom to roam. The book is also a celebration of the moors’ beauty, and a call to preserve them for future generations.
“The new edition is really about capturing that particular time when I first wrote the book – things were happening and it was a personal viewpoint. In 1982, it was the 50th anniversary of that original mass trespass. It was a member of the ramblers who picked up on it – what is Sheffield doing about this? Two fellas picked up on this and organized a trespass on Moscar Moor and 100 people turned up on the day – it was a big crowd.
“On another walk honouring the Kinder trespass, we got the train to Edale and there was loud applause when we arrived – it was a special moment and from then on we decided to set up an organization called Sheffield Campaign for Access to Moorlands and we organized very many walks across the moors. We always told police what we were going to do. I was contacting landowners and we invited them to share in the walk and they always turned up with their agents and we’d have a bit of a chat and then we’d walk over the moor. This is where the Moorland Book comes in – there’s got to be more of a point than a trespass. People aren’t getting to explore all these things on the moor – stone edges, stone circles, crosses on the moor, you look on your map and you see them but you can’t visit.
“So we had the attitude of taking people with us. Let’s take people on, let’s educate them. We got on reasonably well with the landowners – sometimes we sat in their kitchens having a coffee – why he wanted to keep it private and we agreed it was a difference of opinion. We made it clear we wouldn’t go away till we saw something.
“However, in the meantime, there was a conflict on Big Moor – this elderly chap was stopped by rangers and physically taken off the moors. The Ramblers Association got involved and they employed a full-time access officer. At the time, we couldn’t bring about the political change that it needed – various Labour politicians supported it through an early members bill that got passed in 2004 – great stuff. But with the burning that happened recently that you could smell down in Hillsborough, well I fear we’re going backwards. I’m a bit disappointed at present – I’ve written emails to the Peak District and Sheffield saying we could help and contribute because we’ve got that experience – and they never replied. We had a meeting with the Hallam Labour Party at a local pub and he pulled out a 1950s OS map – it’s no bloody good that!
“We’re all older members – one of the rangers called us the Kinder Elders. With the new edition of the Moorland Book – I’m hoping we can create a groundswell of why this matters. It is important to me and many people I know.
“It becomes personal – you feel part of something successful, but there’s still a way to go. Things have changed but will they ever go far enough?”
On Keeping Walking Weird
“The flip side of all this is the inner city walks. Several walks cover urban paths and alleyways and gennels. A couple of us had a competition to come up with the best gennels and I dubbed them Weird Walks. I took my group on all these unusual gennels to Fulwood and Bents Green, looking for the best gennel. I had to concede that although I found the best gennel, the lady I competed with found more including one with a brand new sign put up on it simply saying GENNEL. There’s always been a bit of antagonism between us and people in Leeds about calling ‘em guinels – it’s a bit of fun.
“I saw your piece about the overgrown Japanese knotweed near Woodburn Road (you can read my piece about running Terry’s inner city round walk here in It’s Black Oer Bill’s Mothers). There’s a section of Broad Oaks Lane that is on an unadopted highway, the rest is adopted so that should be maintained and then you hit Japanese knotweed, I tried for ages and no one in the council would accept responsibility. So when I’m walking there I always tell the walkers to bring their secateurs. And then, one time I’m down there and there’s this damsel in distress - a woman stood at the railway bridge and she started following me – there’s summat happening here, I thought. And she said, I’ve got to get to work and I can’t get through. I hacked my way through, went back to the local authority and said I’d rescued a damsel in distress and within days they’d gone out and hacked all the vegetation and got it cleaned – cleaned it right up!”
You can support Terry Howard’s new Moorland Walk reprint by backing the Peakrill Press Crowdfunder here.
To see Terry’s Ramble On film, you can book tickets to see it at SHAFF in March and Doc/Fest in June.
And here you'll find details of his Inner City Round Walk.
Matt Heason, creator and all round good outdoor egg, on this year’s Sheffield Adventure Film Festival
What’s exciting you about this year’s film festival, Matt?
I’m looking forward to it being back at the showroom. It definitely feels like its natural home. I’m looking forward to Niall’s Petzl Quiz Jam on the Friday night. That will be a lot of fun.
What do you think is the secret of SHAFF’s longevity?
It’s secret? I think Sheffield is its secret. So many people with an appetite for the outdoors. Without a willing and hungry audience it would have fizzled out long ago.
Tell us about Sheffield’s Missing Summit?
Sheffield’s Missing Summit will be a short film about the ski village. We’re partnering with a new group this year at SHAFF who are spearheading an attempt to breathe some life back into the iconic Sheffield facility and make sure that skiing on the agenda as the place is revitalised.
To find out more, go to the festival website
Great stuff!