Two Kirklees villages have come together and rolled up their sleeves to spruce up a vital path.
On a chilly Saturday (January 4), residents from Shepley and Shelley took to Stretchgate – a public footpath linking the two villages and providing a key route for walkers, cyclists and horse riders – with wheelbarrows and shovels in hand, to clean up the much-loved space.
Bags of rubbish were filled with leaf mulch, brambles and weeds, with the site left looking spotless. Councillor John Taylor, who organised the clean up said: “When I got this path resurfaced and lighting installed a few years ago it looks fantastic and was and is heavily used by everyone in the community.
“Sadly, despite my pleas, Kirklees have not maintained it, as the administration do not see this as a priority, and like many footpaths across the district, they’d allowed it to deteriorate.
“I was overwhelmed by the number of people from Shepley and Shelley who came out to help, we had over 30 people all working on it at some point during the morning. This is a great example of the community coming together to protect a much valued asset connecting the two villages.
“I can’t thank everyone who came and helped enough. I hope to do more of these events this year, helping our communities clean up Kirklees, I guess it is one of my New Year resolutions.”
Bin bags piled high as Stretchgate was given a spruce up
(Image: John Taylor)
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