
Pathways are a two-man, Calderdale based film production company which feature journeys highlighting the historical legacy and ‘pretty gritty’ landscapes found in the South Pennines.Producer and cameraman Peter Thornton from Northowram and writer and presenter Ray Riches from Heptonstall have been making films together for over a decade.
Peter had been a Fire Service Officer for 25 years and also filmed hundreds of weddings,stage shows and events in the area before teaming up with Ray.
Ray had been a teacher for 30 years and a prominent actor,past President, and active Producer and Director at the Little Theatre in Hebden Bridge.

Our first film was released in November 2002 and featured a walk on the Rochdale Canal from Manchester to Sowerby Bridge and is entitled “A Walk on t’Cut”

A year later “A Walk on t’Long Cut” was released which followed the Leeds/Liverpool Canal from Leeds to East Marton near Skipton.


In 2004/05 Pathways decided to take a look at the Bronte family and found the Bronte Way footpath from Birstall near Leeds to Padiham near Burnley. The footpath visits all the important places associated with the literary family, we split the film into two parts entitled “Bronte Ways Part 1 and 2”.

The Mary Towneley Bridleway which dips in and out of Lancashire and Yorkshire was the 2007 project entitled “Looping the Loop”, this long distance bridleway is popular with walkers, cyclists and horse riders.

Hardcastle Crags is a National Trust property near Hebden Bridge and provided Pathways with a year long seasonal look at this beautiful valley in 2009.

In 2010 we decided to follow the Calderdale Way footpath which encircles Calderdale and gives great views and interesting history of the area, we entitled this double DVD “Around Calderdale”

The main town in Calderdale is Halifax and in 2011 Pathways undertook a huge project of looking back at the history of Halifax as well as an up to date catalogue of the interesting buildings and trades of the town, the double DVD tells the story of this fine town.

In 2013 we decided to begin a new venture of looking at the Valleys of Calderdale and began with “The Shibden Valley” which lies in the east of Calderdale, known for it’s beautiful countryside, the Shibden Valley also supplied us with much history and stories.

Continuing the Valleys of Calderdale theme we moved to “Ripponden and Ryburn Valley” in 2014 and beginning at Baitings Reservoir at the head of the valley followed the brook down to Ripponden and eventually Sowerby Bridge.

In 2015 “The Luddenden Valley” was our project from Fly Flatts on the moorland, the ruins of the Castle Carr estate, the villages of Wainstalls, Booth and Luddenden before ending at Luddenden Foot in the valley bottom.

Produced in 2016 “Mytholmroyd & Cragg Vale” was the fourth in the series The Valleys of Calderdale which celebrate the wonderful scenery of those valleys which branch off from the main Calder Valley.

Produced in 2017/18 “Hebden Bridge – A Milltown Reborn” takes a look at this fascinating town in Calderdale, which has transformed itself from a mill town to a modern tourist centre.
This is the fifth in the Pathways series, ‘The Valleys of Calderdale.” it traces the town’s growth from a small hamlet around a river crossing, into a bustling mill town at the centre of the fustian clothing trade, earning it the nickname ‘Trouser Town.’
A post war decline saw many mills and buildings demolished but as the film shows, the conservation movement changed all that.
Our summer project for 2018 is entitled “Heptonstall & the Colden Valley” which begins on the moors in Noah Dale tracing the history of the old mills in the Colden valley before taking a look at the ancient village of Heptonstall situated on the hillside overlooking Hebden Bridge. This DVD will be released for the Christmas market and will be available from various outlets in the valley and our website www.pathwaysvideo.co.uk.
Sorry to hear about Ray passing was a great teacher and all round guy.