Ah cool. So there’s the waterfall, can you see it?
No way. I didn’t think stuff like this exists in England.
Today, we're in Hebden Bridge
on a walk that starts in this former mill town
named one of the coolest, quirkiest and most creative places in Britain.
You can get a direct train from Manchester in just 30 minutes.
The walk starts at this beautifully restored 1890’s station.
The route takes you through the town to find grassy meadows,
lots of wildlife and hidden waterfalls.
Joining me is Numan,
one of Manchester's most prominent NFT artists.
He's taking some time away from the Metaverse
to go on his first ever real world hike.
So, Numan, are you ready for your first hike?
I'm nervous. I've never been on a real hike before.
This is like the first one.
Well, you'll be fine, you’ll enjoy it. It's beautiful views.
Let's just hope I don't get too tired.
So this is Hebden Bridge.
They were crowned Best Small Market Town in 2016.
Yeah, it feels like I’m on holiday, I feel like I'm away.
So that's Hebden River.
Back in the day, when it was all like transport by horse and carriage
they built this to get over the river
I think back in the 1600’s.
I live in the city, so where I live it’s nothing like this at all.
- Oh, really? - Yeah
Would you ever move out here?
I'd visit here, I wouldn’t move here.
I wouldn’t, I can’t do it.
I can't do it.
I can't do it. It's too quiet.
Have you seen that film called Hot Fuzz?
- Oh, yeah yeah yeah - That’s what it’s like
nothing really happens here.
So Numan, tell me about what an NFT is.
What it stands for is a non-fungible token,
so it's almost like a digital receipt
of you owning something on the blockchain.
What I sell is NFTs in the form of art.
So it can be a picture which is digital.
I would sell an image and someone buys the image but
anyone can right click and save that image.
But then you actually own it.
Yeah because if you really want to look into, it'll show it online
who the actual owner is.
Say if you got trapped here, what would you do?
What would you do for food?
Oh my God. Just go down to the town and get something.
Nah, let's say you couldn't move
you’re just stuck over there somewhere.
You see all the Bear Grylls shows. What would you do for food?
- Would you ever eat like spiders? - I don't know.
I can't. I can’t be dealing with all that bushtucker trial stuff.
Oh my god, what is that?
No way.
That reminds me of one of my sculptures.
- Oh, really? Your Gumbino’s. - Yeah I've got one on me, actually.
So the whole idea behind it is you buy the NFT
and you get a free physical sculpture.
Oh, my God. Look at that. Oh, it’s heavy.
I’ve got a big one as well. I've not got that on me, but, yeah.
*Dog barks*
Oh, no, it doesn't like you.
So it's inspired by artists like Kaws
So how many of these characters have you got?
There’s loads. They come in all different colours and sizes
and then you've got different variations.
Some that look like Roman sculptures.
The possibilities with this are endless.
It’s like a fat baby.
Imagine we left it there, the guy would get rattled
thinking what's happened, has it evolved overnight?
So we're going to follow the river, but we're going to go up the hill
so this is a bit more of a scenic route
like going through the woodland
and you can see all like the bluebells.
You can see them in your back garden.
I know but like it’s pretty here as well.
What's your worst hiking experience?
I don't think I've got one.
If you're prepared then it’s fine.
Mine would probably be like dogs running around to be honest.
I hate dogs.
- What, like that dog back there? - Exactly, yeah.
So you don't like animals?
I mean, they're alright to look at for a couple of minutes
but after that, I mean, what's the point?
Do you like horses?
To look at.
Shall we feed one?
What are you going to feed them, like protein bars?
- Are you going to touch it? - I’m not touching it.
- Yay - Nearly bit my hand off.
Do you like horses now?
See they’re fine to look at.
Aww.
- Yeah? - Yep.
I’m sweating, I’m sweating.
Yeah, so we just follow this road up a bit and then
we should go through the trees up there somewhere.
I'm sure they’re stairs to a shortcut.
Says public footpath there.
Oh, well you lead the way then, go on.
I'm just trying to find the quickest way up.
So Numan, tell me about the Metaverse. What is it?
It's almost like a digital world.
Real life digital world where people host shows and galleries.
So, you use real money to buy?
You pay in cryptocurrency to buy land and then you know
you can visit people's Metaverse.
Snoop Dogg performed a show there in the Metaverse.
So I think you wear your Oculus.
You can literally watch Snoop Dogg rap a show.
And you go in there with your character that you’ve made.
You can post all your NFT’s in virtual galleries and stuff.
Someone actually bought a digital house for £500,000.
Oh, I think I heard about that.
I feel like that's like The Sims.
You know when you went to go play The Sims
except The Sims is the Metaverse
and you are the Sim.
I’m suprised they’ve not actually done anything with it yet.
See if this was the Metaverse, you wouldn't have to be doing this.
Just be in your bedroom on the running machine walking uphill.
Right we’re back on the path now.
Honestly if you called an Uber that would probably come up here
take us up here, if you paid them the right amount.
I think during lockdown, a lot of people had free time on their hands.
If COVID didn't happen, I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing now.
Like I fell into NFTs by mistake,
because I saw someone post it on Instagram.
So were you like “what is this NFT?”
Yeah basically, I didn't have a clue about it
but I kept seeing these three letters around.
It started off very slow but my stuff was selling
then when I brought these characters along,
that's when everything completely changed.
It's opened so many opportunities,
I’ve been traveling a lot, meeting a lot of new people.
Every day, something new is coming up.
Like you miss a day on Twitter,
that's like a whole week in the NFT space.
Oh my gosh, really?
So we're nearly halfway up to the waterfalls now.
Yeah, I can feel it, I'm getting hungry now.
Ah, cool. So there’s the waterfall, can you see it?
Oh no way. I didn't think stuff like this exists in England.
- It’s well nice isn’t it? - Wow.
Yeah, so the hidden waterfalls are not quite so hidden.
Yeah, what do you think?
Honestly, it's beautiful. It's definitely worth it.
I could see, you know -
I would never do something like this, and the views here are just amazing
and I’d happily spend a day here just relaxing.
I could even work from here,
I could bring a laptop here and just sit on a rock and do what I need to do.
You totally could.
How nice are these views? Look at that!
No way, it looks amazing from here.
You can see Stoodley Pike over there.
So that's on the other side of Hebden Bridge.
I've probably learnt more on this hike than I have
the whole of Geography in high school to be honest, yeah.
Do you get a bit wary about the sheep and stuff
you know, because they’re like a bit protective.
Are they?
- If you get too close to the lambs - Start charging at you?
- It’s not moving. - Oh god.
It’s going to headbutt us. Oh dear.
So Numan, you’ve got a new project going on, tell me about that.
Currently working on getting my physicals into a high end store
and also working on a new collection called the Fuzzies.
The whole idea is if you buy one of these NFT’s,
you get access to private events such as music events, parties,
and the Fuzzies is going to be like a larger community focusing on,
again, just real life experiences rather than keeping it all digital.
Ahh look how pretty this is. Oh my god.
Aw it’s so nice.
Oh, this is - the view, just keeps getting better.
OK, so we're coming up to Hardcastle Crags.
Looks like a bunch of rocks on top of each other.
Yeah, that's what it is.
Why would you want to go up that?
Because it's fun.
Have you ever been climbing, Numan?
No.
Like, at what point in life would I ever need to climb something?
There’s no need doing that.
- Proper good views. - I’m definitely not doing that, no.
I’m not doing that.
I could see the same thing from down there - there’s no point doing it.
You definitely can’t. Come on, get up.
I’m defintely not getting up there.
- Come on, Numan, you've got this. - I’ll give it a go
But honestly, if I feel like I'm going to fall, I'm getting straight off.
You're not going to fall. I’ll give you a hand if you want.
Yeah. I'm not doing this. I'm not doing this.
I'm getting off. I'm not doing this.
If you fall, I'm not calling the air ambulance. I'm leaving you up there.
Ok, yeah, you're right.
You pretty much get the same views from down here.
It’s exactly the same,
there's no point trying to risk breaking a leg going up there.
You could just walk this way round and see the same thing anyway.
Very true. Very true.
This is all wild garlic, have you ever smelt it?
See why would you know that’s wild garlic?
It looks like grass leaves to me.
No way. Actually smells like garlic.
So you can chop this up and, like, use it on food.
How would you know that? A normal person wouldn't think this is garlic.
So we're reaching the end of our walk and for someone who's new to walking,
What would you rate this out of five for difficulty?
I’d give it about three out of five,
it'd be a lot easier if there was a restaurant, during the walk.
So what about the views?
The views were definitely worth it.
Well, shall we go find a restaurant now and get something cold to drink?
- Definitely. Yeah. - Let's go
So you’re relaxed now, you happy with your ice cream?
Yeah, you appreciate things like this a lot more after a walk.
Numan, It's been really good having you on today
and showing you this beautiful walk.
Hopefully we'll see you next time but in the Metaverse?
- I can’t wait. - Yeah, perfect.
Wow.