A NEW route through a previously unloved area of Bradford has officially been unveiled.

Pathways to Nature is a Natural England-funded project looking to revitalise unloved snickets and pathways to connect green spaces.

The Frizinghall Green Mile, a signed route that connects the greenway off Canal Road to the entrance of Heaton Woods on Park Drive, has now been completed.

Climbing more than 80 metres, the same height as Lister Mills’ chimney, there are seven community-designed ‘kite’ way-markers along the route to help walkers celebrate their progress up the hill.

A route map can be collected from libraries. 

The route has been developed by social enterprise Street Space in collaboration with more than 220 community members and organisations across Frizinghall at over 10 community events including litter picks, led walks, design workshops and route audits.

The team behind the project hope the eye-catching signage entices new visitors to explore Firth Carr snicket and discover the green spaces on their doorsteps connected by traffic-free paths that would have been heavily used 100 years ago.

Project lead Phillippa Banister said: “This project has really inspired local children and families to get outside into these incredible green spaces just on their doorstep.

"The benefits are huge in terms of mental and physical health - if our route can support just a few more people to discover some of the area’s hidden gems then that is a big success.”

Dr Rachel Palfrey, senior advisor at Natural England said “This initiative forms part of our wider Nature Recovery Project across Bradford and the South Pennines, where we are working collaboratively with partners to connect people with nature and support local habitat.”