HRH The Princess Royal, President of the British Horse Society, rodepart of a bridleway in the Burnley/Cliviger area of Lancashire on
Thursday 13 April 2000. In spite of steady rain, the Royal Party - which included BHS Chairman Michael Clayton and BHS Chief Executive Hywel
Davies - enjoyed a pleasant 2 hour hack across the delightful countryside of the Lancashire Moors.
The British Horse Society invited Her Royal Highness to ride one of the bridle routes in order to experience at first hand the work the BHS
is doing to open up more off road riding. The BHS has been actively working to reduce the number of accidents involving riders on the roads,and the provision of safer off road riding is a key strategy of the BHS Safety 2000 campaign.
The creation of the Pennine Bridleway National Trail is a project
being carried out by the Countryside Agency, with a 50% grant of £1,841,876 from the Sport England Lottery Fund. The route will eventually extend from Derbyshire to Cumbria - a distance of over two hundred miles.
The section of the trail that Her Royal Highness rode will be officially opened in 2001, with the rest of the route in 2003/4. The
Pennine Bridleway was the brainchild of Lady Mary Towneley, BHS bridleways officer for the area, who put in the original proposal for
the trail to the Countryside Agency. She recognised that there were hundreds of ordinary riders who were being forced to use roads because their behalf for over twenty years.
After the ride HRH The Princess Royal presented Lady Towneley with a framed map of the route drawn by John Taylor (South Pennine Packhorse Trails Trust volunteer Cartographer). The Countryside Agency have announced that henceforth the 44 mile circuit will be known as "The Mary Towneley Loop" and will serve as a fitting tribute to Lady Towneley's achievements, in guide books and on tourist information boards for generations to come.
Press enquiries to Nichola Gregory,
BHS Press Officer 01926 707707c
British Horse Society
Stoneleigh Deer Park
Kenilworth
Warwickshire CV8 2XZ
Nichola Gregory
BHS Press Officer
