‘It can be transformative’: walking the Pennines with Queer Out Here

Groups like this West Yorkshire LGBTQ+ rambling society are great for health – mental and physical – and provide a reassuring way to meet new people

It doesn’t take long to spot Queer Out Here, an LGBTQ+ walking group, as I stride up to Hebden Bridge station. There’s a Pride flag hung on a picnic bench, where a cluster of people have gathered. The location is appropriate: this West Yorkshire town is sometimes referred to as “the lesbian capital of the UK”. The 2021 census, meanwhile, cemented Hebden Bridge’s status as a rural hub for the LGBTQ+ community more generally: it revealed that 9% of its residents are lesbian, gay or bisexual – around three times the national average.

From the off, the atmosphere is friendly. I’m greeted by Ben Beckwith, who is leading today’s seven-and-a-half-mile route up Stoodley Pike, a 400-metre hill in the south Pennines. After introductions, we set off in overcast weather, with Beckwith setting a gentle pace along the canal path. There are almost 30 of us; some have come with friends while others are here to meet new people in the LGBTQ+ community.