A cryptic puzzle trail is a great new way to discover Holmfirth and its history.
It’s been devised by Holmfirth Women’s Institute as part of fundraising to pay for a new defibrillator in the town.
Called The Heart of Holmfirth, the trail is written as a booklet using a real doctor from the past, Dr Benjamin Beeley (1797–1863), as the main character. He worked in the town and lived through the devastating Holmfirth Flood of 1852.
The Women’s Institute has written a fictional journal for Dr Beeley as he walks around Holmfirth introducing people following the puzzle trail to cryptic clues and information to find on anything from buildings to graves to fill in the answers. There are 20 in all.
For instance, in Holmside Gardens people have to find the occupation of the husband with the family name that would suggest a public punishment.
And the flood also features with the doctor saying: “The marks left by the waters cannot be forgotten. I remember those days well.
“Yet even in such devastation, it was not the flood that defined this town, but how its people responded – together.’’
People then need to find a year etched in stone at the bottom of Victoria Street before using a grid to convert it into a symbol. Blue plaques around the town also feature prominently on the trail.
The trail is designed to be family-friendly, is ideal for both locals and visitors, covers almost two miles around Holmfirth town centre and will take between two and three hours to complete in one go.
There are extra clues at the back of the booklet for anyone struggling to solve one of the questions.
It has been researched and written by (below, from left) Denise Skelton, Karen Keeling and Alison Brown who are all members of Holmfirth WI’s walking group.
The booklets are being sold for £7 to raise money for the national Women’s Institute campaign called Bystanders Can Be Lifesavers which is raising awareness of local defibrillators, CPR confidence and the unequal use of CPR on women due to fear, embarrassment or lack of knowledge around dealing with bras and breasts in an emergency.
Holmfirth WI Ccmpaigns group leader Sarah Clay said: “It’s taken about four months to research, write and produce the booklet so it’s been a substantial piece of work.
“As it’s raising money for a defibrillator we thought it’d be good to have a medical character as the narrator so the team researched doctors from Holmfirth’s past and discovered Dr Beeley.’’
Holmfirth WI originally set out to raise enough money for a new defibrillator in Holmfirth but, thanks to the support of its members and the community, they’ve already raised £3,000 which is double the target.
They are now aiming to not only buy a new defibrillator but also one or two female CPR training mannequins for local trainers.
The booklet is on sale at Holmfirth Library, Sid’s Café and Holme Valley Campsite.
Written by ANDY HIRST who runs his own Yorkshire freelance journalism agency AH! PR (https://ah-pr.com/) specialising in press releases, blogging, website content, copywriting and ghost-writing autobiographies.
