The Humphrey Head Centre for Outdoor Education, on the shores of Morecambe Bay near Grange-over-Sands has welcomed thousands of youngsters in the one hundred years since it was opened. Next weekend, it will be marking the milestone with a special celebration.
The centre was built in 1909 by the Keighley Cinderella Club on a plot of land on top of Humphrey Head, a limestone peninsula which stretches out for almost a mile over the sandbanks and mudflats of the Bay. The centre was designed to offer summer holidays for children from poorer families in Keighley, and in 1922 it was taken over by Keighley Education Committee.
Later, the Centre passed into the ownership of the former West Riding County Council, which continued to use it as an educational facility. In 1974, when local government was reorganised, Humphrey Head passed to North Yorkshire County Council. It is now one of four outdoor education establishments operated by North Yorkshire’s Children and Young People’s Service.
“This is a marvellous facility which has provided excitement, education and fun for thousands of Yorkshire youngsters over the years,” said County Councillor Jim Clark, Executive Member for Schools.
“North Yorkshire has been praised by Ofsted for the excellent quality of its outdoor education service over the years, and Humphrey Head and its staff can be proud to be a part of that, and to have contributed to that success.”
The centre offers a wide range of activities, including climbing, canoeing, ghyll scrambling, orienteering, environmental studies, and mountain walking in the nearby Lake District National Park.
The centenary celebrations consist of open days on Saturday and Sunday, July 18 and 19, between 10am and 3pm (refreshments provided), and a centenary ceremony at 4pm Saturday July 18
The centre would like to welcome to these celebrations people who have had (or whose children have had) connections with Humphrey Head over the years. For further information, please download the flyer here, or contact Humphrey Head Centre, Flookburgh, Grange-over-Sands, Cumbria, LA11 7LY, telephone 01539 532982, or email humphreyhead@northyorks.gov.uk .
