Beer walk spirit lives on

POP idols . . . from left, Gavin Castree, Dean Castree, Ross Thorpe, Darren Schofield, Darren Lowe, Nigel Berry, Lance Cramp and Jonathan Castree

Nostalgic followers of Saddleworth’s legendary beer walk have kept the spirit of the community event alive with an unofficial 11-mile walk round the pubs.

The original walk was scrapped three years ago after 38 years of charity fundraising. But a team, many of whom had taken part in the official walk over the years, decided to keep their passion for the colourful event alive.

They were headed by Justin Brown (45), father-of-three, and his sister Angie, who runs a ladies hair salon in Greenfield.

The dynamic duo encouraged other locals on Facebook to join in and, building on their success of the previous two unofficial walks, more than 80 fun-loving revellers took part in the weekend’s event.

Justin, a joiner from Delph, said: “We had a fantastic day. The weather was perfect and all the walkers had a brilliant time. Only locals knew about our walk because we want to keep Saddleworth traditions alive. It was a great success: I think the event will keep growing every year.”