Tackling the housing crisis, one house at a time - Heptonstall Hobble
Hi, I'm Richard, an old, very average (at best) fell runner and a trustee of Calder Valley Community Land Trust (CVCLT).
I'm going to do a 32 mile winter trail run/walk with 5,300 feet of ascent in 8 hours on the 24th January 2026, at age 65, to raise money and awareness of CVCLT's latest project.
Why do this, and why I hope you will support me?
We have a shortage of affordable housing in the area, partially as many family homes have been turned into holiday rentals. We raising funds to stop this happening to this house, 13 Northfield, in the conservation village of Heptonstall, West Yorkshire.
We will buy the house at a significant discount offered by the socially minded owner, then refurbish it and improve the energy performance of this old terrace house, then let it on a secure, long term tenancy at an affordable rent to young local people in housing need.
A safe, warm and secure home is the basis we all need to put down roots and free us up to look after the rest of our families needs.
We are looking to buy the house with a mix of grant funding and shares investment from the community.
This run is partially to raise awareness of that share offer, but mainly to raise money to fix and insulate the roof as soon as the house purchase goes through. It currently leaks in three places!
Fixing the roof will cost over £6,500. I'm hoping to make a contribution to that.
You can help make this happen by sponsoring me. And, as CVCLT has exempt charitable status, all donations are eligible for Gift Aid too.
Once the work is done we will hold an open day to share our experience with others.
If we don't raise enough money for this project, then your generous donations will be used to fund some of our other work to provide more secure, affordable home for people in need.
Or, if you have a little more money you can tie up for a while, and want to invest to boost your social impact then please have a look at our community share offer. (offer closes 27th January 2026).
More information and full details on the project and the share offer are available at https://caldervalleyclt.org.uk/northfield-share-offer/
The route:
I'm basically running the famous Haworth Hobble Ultra Marathon route, with a couple of parallel tweaks to make it even more off-road. The race route passes the Northfield house, so the main changes are that I will start and (hopefully) finish there, and I'm doing it in January.
Plus it will be largely a solo run, rather than having over 600 others doing it at the same time to keep you going. And there won't be any support stations, so I'll detour through Todmorden to pick up supplies.
I'll start at 8am on Saturday 24th January 2026 (or possibly the 23rd or 25th if the weather is too dangerous on the 24th, though it would have to be pretty bad to move the date).
The route crosses several high moors and is 90% on moorland paths and trails.
Highlights include passing through Bronte country, including their church in Haworth, Bronte Bridge and Top Withens, believed to be the setting for Wuthering Heights.
Then over the moors passing 7 reservoirs including Widdop and Hurstswood to the Long Causeway, Todmorden, the upper Calder Valley monument of Stoodley Pike, Hebden Bridge and then up the Cuckoo Steps to the finish in Heptonstall.
I will also pass:
- high above our affordable homes and community centre at Fielden Hall, Todmorden,
- by our semi-detached home in Keats Avenue, Todmorden, that was donated to CVCLT last year, and
- our terrace house in Brunswick Street, Hebden Bridge, which se set the model for Northfield - sold to us at a big discount, retro fitted to a high standard and let at an affordable rent to a lady and her daughter who had previously been sleeping on a sofa at her mother's house.
Who are Calder Valley Community Land Trust Limited?
We are a member-led community benefit society with charitable status which has been established to help address and meet housing needs in our part of Calderdale.
We have over 350 members, 12 Trustees and one very busy employee.
We already provide secure affordable rented housing to local people in nine homes. We build or refurbish to the highest possible environmental standards we can.
Community investment helped us build 6 independent living bungalows and create 2 affordable homes in Todmorden.
We also look after properties for our local community, such as the community centre at Fielden Hall, and Hebden Bridge Grade 11 listed Signal Box.
We are part of the fast-growing community-led housing network, where local people play a leading role in solving local housing problems, creating genuinely affordable homes and stronger communities in ways that are difficult through current mainstream housing.
CVCLT is rooted in the communities of Todmorden, Hebden Bridge and Mytholmroyd in Calderdale, West Yorkshire and was established in September 2014.
Registered Society number 7038 – registered with the Financial Conduct Authority under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014.
Registered exempt charity status number EW35609 – registered with HM Revenue and Customs
Registered office: Unit 25, The Town Hall, St George’s St, Hebden Bridge, HX7 7BY
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