A GROUP dedicated to the Bradford Beck river system has installed signs across the district to help walkers find the less well-known and hidden becks.

The Friends of Bradford's Becks has paid for a total of 19 footpath signs and two larger city centre signs, all pointing the way to the nearest beck.

The signs were funded through support from Co-op members in Allerton and were designed by Mick Long. They were made and installed by Bradford Council.

The footpath signs have been put up to guide people to Red Beck, Northcliffe Dike, Chellow Dene, Pitty Beck, Pinch Beck, Middle Brook, High Birks Beck, Bullgreave Beck and Hole Bottom Beck.

In addition there are signs on Tyrrel Street and Broadway to remind people about the Bradford Beck hidden under their feet and the plaques trail which marks the course of the culverted river through the city centre.

The trail itself was installed three years ago, with stone markers laid in the pavement at 15 locations throughout the city centre, each carrying a line of a specially-written poem.

The slabs are placed in pavements between Thornton Road, by the former Odeon, through to Lower Kirkgate.

Barney Lerner, chairman of the Friends, told the Telegraph & Argus that the signs were a welcome addition and would help point people towards something they might not know is there.

He added: "The Friends are currently working in partnership with Bradford Council, the Environment Agency and the Wild Trout Trust to renaturalise part of the Beck in Shipley and Windhill, between the Rive Aire and Briggate.

"Work in the river will make it easier for fish, especially trout, to move up and down the Beck from the Aire.

"This will enable the fish population to re-establish if and when there is another major pollution like the one last August which killed all the fish downstream of the city centre.

"Along the banks, planting along the edges of the watercourse and on the banks will be used to make it more attractive and encourage wildlife. This first phase of renaturalisation should be complete by the end of March."

A shop window in Sunwin House, lent to the group by Legal and General, now has a display about two city centre water courses: Bradford Beck which flows under the city streets and the Tudor goyt, a channel to carry water to the mills, which passes through the area behind Sunwin House.

A guide to the trail and other walks around the becks, can be found at bradford-beck.org/walks/