Hope Valley Bike Collective – next meeting Thursday 25th September
We’re holding our second meeting for the Hope Valley Bike Collective on Thursday, 25th September. This is a group open to everyone, aimed at encouraging people of all ages and abilities to cycle in the Hope Valley. At our last meeting, we had a wealth of great ideas, including monthly bike rides, skill-share events, pump track lessons, map reading, and more. At our next meeting, we’ll be focused on organising a couple of these activities and putting dates in the diary. Meeting starts at 6pm at Cafe Adventure in Hope or come from 5:30pm for coffee and cake! If you’d like to find out more, please contact Emily emilygait@hopevalleyclimateaction.org.uk
Hope Valley Art Trail by Rail – Volunteers needed
Hope Valley’s first-ever Art Trail by Rail will launch on Saturday, 27th September. We have local Artists opening up their studios and galleries across the Hope Valley, and we’re looking for volunteers to make the day run smoothly. Activities include welcoming visitors off the trains between Grindleford and Edale, handing out maps at the stations, directing visitors to specific venues, and supporting artist venues. If you can help or would like to find out more, please contact Emily, emilygait@hopevalleyclimateaction.org.uk
Hope Valley Art Trail by Rail – book your ticket now!
Celebrating 200 years of Rail travel!
Explore the day’s programme and reserve your free ticket to take part here
Switzerland in the Peak District – Online meeting
We had a great turnout at our community meeting in August – thank you to everyone who joined us. During the session, we discussed;
- Why public transport matters for reducing car use, emissions, and congestion.
- The key features of Swiss rural transport — regular hourly services, seamless bus-rail connections, simple ticketing, and reliable, high-quality services.
- How these ideas could be adapted to the Hope Valley through a five-year pilot project led by the East Midlands Mayor, in partnership with regional and local authorities.
Next Steps
Our project team, supported by national transport experts, is preparing an initial report to be published at the end of September. We’ll follow this with a further webinar to share progress and gather views.
Join our Swiss Forum – We’re inviting people with local knowledge, experience, or enthusiasm to help shape the project as it develops. If you’d like to participate, please reply to this email. With your support, we believe the Hope Valley can become Britain’s first “Mini Switzerland”, a place where residents and visitors alike benefit from dependable, connected, and sustainable transport.
If you would like to catch up on the meeting, you can find the recording here.
Improved rail services
HVCA recently met with rail transport officers from the Greater Manchester, South Yorkshire and East Midlands Mayoral authorities with the intention of understanding how we might improve rail services for the Hope Valley. Our aspiration is for a new half-hourly stopping service at all 5 stations and one fast train stopping at one station in the valley every hour.
We all agreed that most important at this stage is getting a reliable hourly clockface service, seven days a week on the HV line. This would give visitors especially the confidence to travel by rail.
For the future we were encouraged that there could be an extra Hope Valley service, stopping at one (or two) of the stations in the valley. A ‘Hope hub’ might be the best option, particularly if linked with new bus services, but we are considering the best location through our ‘Switzerland in the Peak District’ project. We were also advised that it’s best to start with small steps towards what you want (hence a stopping train at one or two stations to start with) and not go for the whole hog all at once. The timescale for any change is about 10yrs so nothing is going to happen quickly.
Our focus really needs to be on keeping pressure on Northern Trains for a reliable 7/7 service. Please keep reporting any services that do not provide the promised cover to Northern Trains and Hope Valley Rail Users Group. You can contact them here.
Free Walk Leadership Training this Autumn
There is still time to sign up for our Walk Leader Training this October. This training is available for anyone who is interested in setting up local walking groups in Hope Valley. The course is free to attend, lasts approximately 4 hours, includes a short taster walk, and refreshments will be available. If you’re interested or would like to sign up, please contact Emily, emilygait@hopevalleyclimateaction.org.uk
