Beer walk ban defied by villagers

BEER-WALK braveheart: the defiant message from one of those taking part in the unofficial walk

SCORES of locals staged an unofficial beer walk across villages to keep the spirit of Saddleworth Beer Walk alive.

Many dressed in tartan attire and adopted the theme Brave Heart, with some wearing badges proclaiming: “You can take our freedom . . . but you’ll never take our beer walk.”

For 38 years, Saddleworth’s official beer walk had been organised by a dedicated team from Saddleworth Round Table, who have distanced themselves from the unofficial walk.

They scrapped this year’s scheduled event after heightened violence and hangers-on conning unsuspecting locals to part with money to fuel drinking sprees last year.

Part of the problem was blamed on advance warnings being billed on social media networks which brought hundreds of unregistered walkers into the community.

But resolute villagers, dressed in a wide-ranging choice of fancy dress, took part in the unofficial walk on Saturday.

Groups, who did not want to be named, said collectively their aim was to enshrine the values of the original walk with a hope it could be brought back next year.

One member of a group in Delph, said: “We did not put out anything on the Internet — we just got on with it ourselves. But lots of us have grown up supporting the beer walk and we just wanted to ensure it stayed alive. We funded our own drinks and we simply walked the route.

“And we received lots of smiles and support from local people.”

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