Hebden Bridge
Encyclopedia
Hebden Bridge is a market town
within the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale
, in West Yorkshire
, England. It forms part of the Upper Calder Valley
and lies 8 miles (13 km) west of Halifax
and 14 miles (21 km) north east of Rochdale
, at the confluence
of the River Calder
and the River Hebden (Hebden Water).
A 2004 profile of the Calder Valley ward, covering Hebden Bridge, Old Town
, and part of Todmorden
, estimated the population at 11,549. The population of the town itself is approximately 4,500.
. Hebden Bridge (originally Heptenbryge) started as a settlement where the Halifax to Burnley
hilltop packhorse
route dropped down into the valley. The route crossed the River Hebden at the spot where the old bridge (from where Hebden Bridge gets its name) stands. The word Hebden comes from the Anglo-Saxon Heopa Denu, 'Bramble(or possibly Wild Rose) Valley'
The steep wet hills and access to major wool
markets meant that Hebden Bridge was ideal for water powered weaving mills and the town developed during the 19th and 20th centuries; at one time Hebden was so well-known for its clothing manufacture that it was known as "Trouser Town". Drainage of the marshland which covered much of the Upper Calder Valley
prior to the Industrial Revolution
enabled construction of the road which runs through the valley. Prior to this, travel was only possible via the ancient packhorse route which ran along the hilltop, dropping into the valleys wherever necessary, as was the case with Hebden Bridge. The wool trade also brought the Rochdale Canal
(running from Sowerby Bridge
to Manchester
) and the Manchester and Leeds Railway
(later the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
) (running from Leeds
to Manchester
and Burnley
).
Hebden Bridge also grew to include a cinema
and substantial offices for Hebden Bridge Urban District
Council. There was some controversy about this as the land was originally intended to be the site of a swimming pool
. Hebden Bridge still has no swimming pool, although for some years there was a small training pool for children in the adult education centre on Pitt Street. Hebden Bridge also had its own cooperative society
. However, during the 1960s, it was defrauded
and went bankrupt. The old Co-op building became a hotel
and was later converted into flats. The Co-op returned in the 1980s with a supermarket
on Market Street on the site of an old mill.
During the Second World War Hebden Bridge was designated a "reception area" and took in evacuees from industrial cities. Two bombs fell on Calderdale during the war, but they were not targeted, they were merely the emptying of the bomb load.
During the 1970s and 1980s the town saw an influx of artists, writers, photographers, musicians, alternative practitioners, teachers, green and New Age
activists and more recently, wealthier 'yuppie' types. This in turn saw a boom in tourism
to the area. During the 1990s Hebden Bridge became a dormitory town due to its proximity to major towns and cities in West Yorkshire
, Greater Manchester
and Lancashire
.
In 1995, the singer Haddaway
filmed the music video for "Lover Be Thy Name" in the Hebden Bridge area.
On 6 July 2003 Hebden Bridge was granted Fairtrade Zone status.
Urban District to become Hebden Royd Urban District. At a county level, Hebden Bridge was administered as part of the West Riding of Yorkshire
. These were abolished as part of the reforms introduced in the Local Government Act 1972
. They were replaced with West Yorkshire
Metropolitan county
, Calderdale
Metropolitan Borough
, and Hebden Royd Town Civil Parish. From a legal point of view, the town council is a parish council. Recently, it has attracted praise for its commitment to eco-friendly
policies, following the example of Modbury
in effectively banning all plastic shopping bags, thus becoming the largest community in Europe to do so. The ban is not legally enforceable, but rather a voluntary agreement between local shop owners and the community at large.
Metropolitan Borough
Council to Hebden Bridge Community Association on a 40-year lease (now extended to 125 years) on 1 April 2010, along with funds for basic maintenance work. Substantial volunteer time is now being put into renovation works and fundraising to secure the building’s future. An ambitious 4m project is also under way to build a small enterprise centre and new community facilities on land adjacent to the Town Hall. The association is member-controlled. More than 450 local people have signed up as friends of the town hall.
and the well conserved region of Hardcastle Crags
and is popular for outdoor pursuits such as walking, climbing and cycling. It lies on the Rochdale Canal
- a through route across the Pennines
.
Because Hebden Bridge is in a valley, it has always had problems with flooding. These tend to affect the area between Hebden Water and the cinema
on New Road, Brearley Fields in Mytholmroyd
, and further up the valley at Callis Bridge by the sewage works and the old Aquaspersions factory
. Flooding at Callis Bridge is so frequent that the level of the River Calder has been lowered and special perforated kerbstones fitted so that water can drain back into the river. Brearley is a flood plain but it is also the playing fields for Calder High School
and a number of local football
, rugby league
and cricket
teams.
Although Hebden Bridge frequently gets flooded, it also has occasional water shortages. Particularly during the 1990s it had a number of hosepipe bans over summer designed to cut the amount of water used. In 1995 the shortage was particularly severe and the water supply to Hebden Bridge, Halifax
and the rest of Calderdale failed completely.
", where the shared floor/ceiling is wholly owned by the underdwelling.
Population changes in the 1990s led to a demand for more houses. This has proved to be extremely controversial for a number of reasons. The limited availability of houses has meant that prices have risen sharply (for example, a house valued at £54,000 in 1998 was valued at nearly £150,000 in 2004).
Demand for new houses is also a contentious issue as many of the sites for proposed development are areas such as fields or woodland that some local residents feel should be left as they are.
Hebden Bridge has attracted artists, and has developed a small New Age
community. It became attractive in the 1980s and 1990s to lesbian
s as a place of mutual support to bring up children. As of 2004 Hebden Bridge had the highest number of lesbians per head in the UK.
In April 2005 Hebden Bridge was declared the 4th quirkiest place in the world by highlife (the British Airways
flight magazine) and was described as "modern and stylish in an unconventional and stylish way".
Acre Mill was an asbestos
factory in the hilltop settlement of Old Town
, owned by Cape Insulation Ltd
. It was opened in 1939 to meet the demand for gas mask
filters made from blue asbestos during the Second World War, and diversified into the production of other asbestos products, including rope, pipe lagging and textile, after the war. In 1970, the company closed the mill and moved to Westmorland
. The mill was the subject of a 1971 World in Action
investigation entitled "The Dust At Acre Mill" which revealed how the factory broke the law regarding asbestos-dust control between 1940-1970. By 1979, 12% of a total of 2,200 former employees had asbestos-related disease. The mill has since been demolished. Cape Insulation also operated a second factory at Hangingroyd Mill.
Hebden Bridge has built a reputation for “great little shops” and has an unusually high density of independent shops for a UK town of its size. In a national survey by The New Economics Foundation in 2010 Hebden Bridge was ranked sixth on a diversity scale and was praised for its independent shops and unique shopping experience.
The Arts Festival and Fringe Arts Festival take place every year in the late spring, the traditional Pace Egg plays are an annual Easter
event, and the midsummer Hebden Bridge Handmade Parade
is a vivid, non-commercial variation on the small town parade.
Hebden Bridge is home to North Of Watford. Established in the town in 1984, it is one of the countries longest running, professional actors, co-operative agencies and a non-profit making organisation. Its name was chosen to prove that there is life, art and culture 'North Of Watford!'.
Hebden Bridge also has one of the few moorland golf courses left in the area.
Hebden Bridge Little Theatre is an amateur company aiming for professional standards, producing five plays a year and catering for the local community and visitors to the area alike.
Hebden Bridge is also the base of the Calder Valley Youth Theatre, an under-18s society which produces one main musical production per year in the Halifax Playhouse and often several smaller, less formal productions. The group has often been praised by critics as performing to an adult, professional standard.
The Stubbing Wharf is an 18th century inn located alongside the Rochdale Canal
, in which the poet Ted Hughes
set his poem "Stubbing Wharfe".
Sylvia Plath is buried here in Heptonstall.
which attracts over 1,500 singers and assorted revellers. The band featured in the Guardian
in 2008 as a result of Ben McMahon's atmospheric portraits of the band. This article generated much other media coverage including an appearance on BBC's the ONE Show, Radio 2's Brass Britain and BBC Look North. The band has recently commissioned a series of arrangements of ska music from local musician Dave Nelson. They can be seen playing regularly in the town, especially at community events in late spring and throughout the Christmas period.
and Chumbawamba
, as well as many pioneers of world music. Notable acts of past and present include Bogshed
and Jonjo Feather .
Hebden Bridge railway station
lies on the Caldervale Line
between Manchester Victoria and Leeds City. It is served by frequent rail services to towns and cities in Lancashire
, Greater Manchester
, as well as West and North Yorkshire
including Leeds, Blackpool North
, York
, Manchester Victoria and Todmorden
. There are also some infrequent services to Dewsbury
via Brighouse
. The railway station in Hebden Bridge is still in the original Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
colours, decorated with hanging baskets, original signage and luggage trolleys.
Bus services in the town are primarily operated by First Group plc, and operate to many local towns and villages, most frequently to Halifax
(several services at 10-minute intervals), Burnley
(592) and Rochdale
(590). However, Keighley District Buses connect Hebden Bridge with Haworth
, Oxenhope
and Keighley
. The "Hebden Bridger" is a local bus operated by WYPTE that serves as a town centre service, also operating to local villages including Heptonstall
.
Hebden Bridge railway station
features the original Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
colours, rather than the red and cream colours of Metro, the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive. The station roof was replaced a few years ago during a major overhaul and a cafe was opened in the old Red Star parcel office.
Market town
Market town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...
within the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale
Calderdale
The Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale is a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England, through which the upper part of the River Calder flows, and from which it takes its name...
, in West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
, England. It forms part of the Upper Calder Valley
Upper Calder Valley
The Upper Calder Valley lies in West Yorkshire in northern England, and covers the towns of Todmorden, Hebden Bridge, Mytholmroyd, Luddendenfoot, and Sowerby Bridge, as well as a number of smaller settlements such as Portsmouth, Cornholme, Walsden and Eastwood. The valley is named after the River...
and lies 8 miles (13 km) west of Halifax
Halifax, West Yorkshire
Halifax is a minster town, within the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England. It has an urban area population of 82,056 in the 2001 Census. It is well-known as a centre of England's woollen manufacture from the 15th century onward, originally dealing through the Halifax Piece...
and 14 miles (21 km) north east of Rochdale
Rochdale
Rochdale is a large market town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the foothills of the Pennines on the River Roch, north-northwest of Oldham, and north-northeast of the city of Manchester. Rochdale is surrounded by several smaller settlements which together form the Metropolitan...
, at the confluence
Confluence
Confluence, in geography, describes the meeting of two or more bodies of water.Confluence may also refer to:* Confluence , a property of term rewriting systems...
of the River Calder
River Calder, West Yorkshire
The River Calder is a river in West Yorkshire, in Northern England.The Calder rises on the green eastern slopes of the Pennines flows through alternating green countryside, former woollen-mill villages, and large and small towns before joining the River Aire near Castleford.The river's valley is...
and the River Hebden (Hebden Water).
A 2004 profile of the Calder Valley ward, covering Hebden Bridge, Old Town
Old Town, West Yorkshire
Old Town is a village in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England. Situated on a hilltop above Hebden Bridge and across the Hebden valley from Heptonstall. Both Old Town and nearby Pecket Well are served by Wadsworth Parish Council...
, and part of Todmorden
Todmorden
Todmorden is a market town and civil parish, located 17 miles from Manchester, within the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale, in West Yorkshire, England. It forms part of the Upper Calder Valley and has a total population of 14,941....
, estimated the population at 11,549. The population of the town itself is approximately 4,500.
History
The original settlement was the hilltop village of HeptonstallHeptonstall
Heptonstall is a small village and civil parish within the Calderdale borough of West Yorkshire, England. The population of Heptonstall, including the hamlets of Colden and Slack, is 1,448. The town of Hebden Bridge lies directly to the southeast...
. Hebden Bridge (originally Heptenbryge) started as a settlement where the Halifax to Burnley
Burnley
Burnley is a market town in the Burnley borough of Lancashire, England, with a population of around 73,500. It lies north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Brun....
hilltop packhorse
Packhorse
.A packhorse or pack horse refers generally to an equid such as a horse, mule, donkey or pony used for carrying goods on their backs, usually carried in sidebags or panniers. Typically packhorses are used to cross difficult terrain, where the absence of roads prevents the use of wheeled vehicles. ...
route dropped down into the valley. The route crossed the River Hebden at the spot where the old bridge (from where Hebden Bridge gets its name) stands. The word Hebden comes from the Anglo-Saxon Heopa Denu, 'Bramble(or possibly Wild Rose) Valley'
The steep wet hills and access to major wool
Wool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....
markets meant that Hebden Bridge was ideal for water powered weaving mills and the town developed during the 19th and 20th centuries; at one time Hebden was so well-known for its clothing manufacture that it was known as "Trouser Town". Drainage of the marshland which covered much of the Upper Calder Valley
Upper Calder Valley
The Upper Calder Valley lies in West Yorkshire in northern England, and covers the towns of Todmorden, Hebden Bridge, Mytholmroyd, Luddendenfoot, and Sowerby Bridge, as well as a number of smaller settlements such as Portsmouth, Cornholme, Walsden and Eastwood. The valley is named after the River...
prior to the Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
enabled construction of the road which runs through the valley. Prior to this, travel was only possible via the ancient packhorse route which ran along the hilltop, dropping into the valleys wherever necessary, as was the case with Hebden Bridge. The wool trade also brought the Rochdale Canal
Rochdale Canal
The Rochdale Canal is a navigable "broad" canal in northern England, part of the connected system of the canals of Great Britain. The "Rochdale" in its name refers to the town of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, through which the canal passes....
(running from Sowerby Bridge
Sowerby Bridge
Sowerby Bridge is a market town that lies within the Upper Calder Valley in the district of Calderdale in the county of West Yorkshire, in northern England.-Geography:Sowerby Bridge is situated on the edge of Halifax, about three miles from its centre...
to Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
) and the Manchester and Leeds Railway
Manchester and Leeds Railway
The Manchester and Leeds Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom which opened in 1839, connecting Manchester with Leeds via the North Midland Railway which it joined at Normanton....
(later the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway was a major British railway company before the 1923 Grouping. It was incorporated in 1847 from an amalgamation of several existing railways...
) (running from Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
to Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
and Burnley
Burnley
Burnley is a market town in the Burnley borough of Lancashire, England, with a population of around 73,500. It lies north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Brun....
).
Hebden Bridge also grew to include a cinema
Movie theater
A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....
and substantial offices for Hebden Bridge Urban District
Urban district
In the England, Wales and Ireland, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected Urban District Council , which shared local government responsibilities with a county council....
Council. There was some controversy about this as the land was originally intended to be the site of a swimming pool
Swimming pool
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is a container filled with water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest is the Olympic-size swimming pool...
. Hebden Bridge still has no swimming pool, although for some years there was a small training pool for children in the adult education centre on Pitt Street. Hebden Bridge also had its own cooperative society
Cooperative
A cooperative is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit...
. However, during the 1960s, it was defrauded
Fraud
In criminal law, a fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual; the related adjective is fraudulent. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction. Fraud is a crime, and also a civil law violation...
and went bankrupt. The old Co-op building became a hotel
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
and was later converted into flats. The Co-op returned in the 1980s with a supermarket
Supermarket
A supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...
on Market Street on the site of an old mill.
During the Second World War Hebden Bridge was designated a "reception area" and took in evacuees from industrial cities. Two bombs fell on Calderdale during the war, but they were not targeted, they were merely the emptying of the bomb load.
During the 1970s and 1980s the town saw an influx of artists, writers, photographers, musicians, alternative practitioners, teachers, green and New Age
New Age
The New Age movement is a Western spiritual movement that developed in the second half of the 20th century. Its central precepts have been described as "drawing on both Eastern and Western spiritual and metaphysical traditions and then infusing them with influences from self-help and motivational...
activists and more recently, wealthier 'yuppie' types. This in turn saw a boom in tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
to the area. During the 1990s Hebden Bridge became a dormitory town due to its proximity to major towns and cities in West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
, Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...
and Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
.
In 1995, the singer Haddaway
Haddaway
Nestor Alexander Haddaway , better known by his stage name Haddaway, is a Trinidadian-German singer. He is most famous for his worldwide 1993 hit, "What Is Love".- Early life :...
filmed the music video for "Lover Be Thy Name" in the Hebden Bridge area.
On 6 July 2003 Hebden Bridge was granted Fairtrade Zone status.
Governance
At a district level, Hebden Bridge Urban District was established in 1891. In 1937, it merged with MytholmroydMytholmroyd
Mytholmroyd is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale, in West Yorkshire, England. It lies east of Hebden Bridge and west of Halifax....
Urban District to become Hebden Royd Urban District. At a county level, Hebden Bridge was administered as part of the West Riding of Yorkshire
West Riding of Yorkshire
The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of the three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county, County of York, West Riding , was based closely on the historic boundaries...
. These were abolished as part of the reforms introduced in the Local Government Act 1972
Local Government Act 1972
The Local Government Act 1972 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974....
. They were replaced with West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
Metropolitan county
Metropolitan county
The metropolitan counties are a type of county-level administrative division of England. There are six metropolitan counties, which each cover large urban areas, typically with populations of 1.2 to 2.8 million...
, Calderdale
Calderdale
The Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale is a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England, through which the upper part of the River Calder flows, and from which it takes its name...
Metropolitan Borough
Metropolitan borough
A metropolitan borough is a type of local government district in England, and is a subdivision of a metropolitan county. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts, however all of them have been granted or regranted...
, and Hebden Royd Town Civil Parish. From a legal point of view, the town council is a parish council. Recently, it has attracted praise for its commitment to eco-friendly
Environmentally friendly
Environmentally friendly are terms used to refer to goods and services, laws, guidelines and policies claimed to inflict minimal or no harm on the environment....
policies, following the example of Modbury
Modbury
Modbury is a town and parish in the South Hams region of the English county of Devon. It is situated on the A379 road, which links it to Plymouth and Kingsbridge...
in effectively banning all plastic shopping bags, thus becoming the largest community in Europe to do so. The ban is not legally enforceable, but rather a voluntary agreement between local shop owners and the community at large.
Hebden Bridge Town Hall
Hebden Bridge Town Hall and adjoining fire station is a Grade II listed building, built in 1897. Following local government reorganisation, it became underused. The building was transferred from CalderdaleCalderdale
The Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale is a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England, through which the upper part of the River Calder flows, and from which it takes its name...
Metropolitan Borough
Metropolitan borough
A metropolitan borough is a type of local government district in England, and is a subdivision of a metropolitan county. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts, however all of them have been granted or regranted...
Council to Hebden Bridge Community Association on a 40-year lease (now extended to 125 years) on 1 April 2010, along with funds for basic maintenance work. Substantial volunteer time is now being put into renovation works and fundraising to secure the building’s future. An ambitious 4m project is also under way to build a small enterprise centre and new community facilities on land adjacent to the Town Hall. The association is member-controlled. More than 450 local people have signed up as friends of the town hall.
Geography
Hebden Bridge lies close to the Pennine WayPennine Way
The Pennine Way is a National Trail in England. The trail runs from Edale, in the northern Derbyshire Peak District, north through the Yorkshire Dales and the Northumberland National Park and ends at Kirk Yetholm, just inside the Scottish border. The path runs along the Pennine hills, sometimes...
and the well conserved region of Hardcastle Crags
Hardcastle Crags
Hardcastle Crags is a wooded Pennine valley in West Yorkshire, England, owned by the National Trust. It lies approximately north of the town of Hebden Bridge.-Gibson Mill:...
and is popular for outdoor pursuits such as walking, climbing and cycling. It lies on the Rochdale Canal
Rochdale Canal
The Rochdale Canal is a navigable "broad" canal in northern England, part of the connected system of the canals of Great Britain. The "Rochdale" in its name refers to the town of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, through which the canal passes....
- a through route across the Pennines
Pennines
The Pennines are a low-rising mountain range, separating the North West of England from Yorkshire and the North East.Often described as the "backbone of England", they form a more-or-less continuous range stretching from the Peak District in Derbyshire, around the northern and eastern edges of...
.
Because Hebden Bridge is in a valley, it has always had problems with flooding. These tend to affect the area between Hebden Water and the cinema
Movie theater
A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....
on New Road, Brearley Fields in Mytholmroyd
Mytholmroyd
Mytholmroyd is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale, in West Yorkshire, England. It lies east of Hebden Bridge and west of Halifax....
, and further up the valley at Callis Bridge by the sewage works and the old Aquaspersions factory
Factory
A factory or manufacturing plant is an industrial building where laborers manufacture goods or supervise machines processing one product into another. Most modern factories have large warehouses or warehouse-like facilities that contain heavy equipment used for assembly line production...
. Flooding at Callis Bridge is so frequent that the level of the River Calder has been lowered and special perforated kerbstones fitted so that water can drain back into the river. Brearley is a flood plain but it is also the playing fields for Calder High School
Calder High School
The Calder High School is a comprehensive school, with an associated sixth form. It is located in the village of Mytholmroyd, in the metropolitan district of Calderdale, in northern England.-Admissions:As of the academic year 2006-7 it had 1,294 pupils...
and a number of local football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
, rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
and cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
teams.
Although Hebden Bridge frequently gets flooded, it also has occasional water shortages. Particularly during the 1990s it had a number of hosepipe bans over summer designed to cut the amount of water used. In 1995 the shortage was particularly severe and the water supply to Hebden Bridge, Halifax
Halifax, West Yorkshire
Halifax is a minster town, within the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England. It has an urban area population of 82,056 in the 2001 Census. It is well-known as a centre of England's woollen manufacture from the 15th century onward, originally dealing through the Halifax Piece...
and the rest of Calderdale failed completely.
Demography
Hebden Bridge is a popular place to live. However space is limited due to the steep valleys and lack of flat land. In the past this led to "upstairs-downstairs" houses known as over and under dwellings. These were houses built in terraces with 4-5 storeys. The upper storeys face uphill while the lower ones face downhill with their back wall against the hillside. The bottom 2 storeys would be one house while the upper 2-3 storeys would be another. This also led to unusual legal arrangements such as the "flying freeholdFlying freehold
Flying freehold is an English legal term to describe a freehold which overhangs or underlies another freehold. Common cases include a room situated above a shared passageway in a semi-detached house, or a balcony which extends over a neighbouring property....
", where the shared floor/ceiling is wholly owned by the underdwelling.
Population changes in the 1990s led to a demand for more houses. This has proved to be extremely controversial for a number of reasons. The limited availability of houses has meant that prices have risen sharply (for example, a house valued at £54,000 in 1998 was valued at nearly £150,000 in 2004).
Demand for new houses is also a contentious issue as many of the sites for proposed development are areas such as fields or woodland that some local residents feel should be left as they are.
Hebden Bridge has attracted artists, and has developed a small New Age
New Age
The New Age movement is a Western spiritual movement that developed in the second half of the 20th century. Its central precepts have been described as "drawing on both Eastern and Western spiritual and metaphysical traditions and then infusing them with influences from self-help and motivational...
community. It became attractive in the 1980s and 1990s to lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
s as a place of mutual support to bring up children. As of 2004 Hebden Bridge had the highest number of lesbians per head in the UK.
In April 2005 Hebden Bridge was declared the 4th quirkiest place in the world by highlife (the British Airways
British Airways
British Airways is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom, based in Waterside, near its main hub at London Heathrow Airport. British Airways is the largest airline in the UK based on fleet size, international flights and international destinations...
flight magazine) and was described as "modern and stylish in an unconventional and stylish way".
Economy
Walkley's Clog Mill is one of the country's leading clog manufacturers. It moved from its original home at Fallingroyd to a site on Midgley Road in Mytholmroyd.Acre Mill was an asbestos
Asbestos
Asbestos is a set of six naturally occurring silicate minerals used commercially for their desirable physical properties. They all have in common their eponymous, asbestiform habit: long, thin fibrous crystals...
factory in the hilltop settlement of Old Town
Old Town, West Yorkshire
Old Town is a village in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England. Situated on a hilltop above Hebden Bridge and across the Hebden valley from Heptonstall. Both Old Town and nearby Pecket Well are served by Wadsworth Parish Council...
, owned by Cape Insulation Ltd
Cape plc
Cape plc is a United Kingdom energy services company based in Uxbridge, West London. It is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.- History :The company was founded in 1893 as the Cape Asbestos Company with the objective of mining asbestos in the Orange Free State and importing it into European...
. It was opened in 1939 to meet the demand for gas mask
Gas mask
A gas mask is a mask put on over the face to protect the wearer from inhaling airborne pollutants and toxic gases. The mask forms a sealed cover over the nose and mouth, but may also cover the eyes and other vulnerable soft tissues of the face. Some gas masks are also respirators, though the word...
filters made from blue asbestos during the Second World War, and diversified into the production of other asbestos products, including rope, pipe lagging and textile, after the war. In 1970, the company closed the mill and moved to Westmorland
Westmorland
Westmorland is an area of North West England and one of the 39 historic counties of England. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974, after which the entirety of the county was absorbed into the new county of Cumbria.-Early history:...
. The mill was the subject of a 1971 World in Action
World in Action
World in Action was a British investigative current affairs programme made by Granada Television from 1963 until 1998. Its campaigning journalism frequently had a major impact on events of the day. Its production teams often took audacious risks and gained a solid reputation for its often...
investigation entitled "The Dust At Acre Mill" which revealed how the factory broke the law regarding asbestos-dust control between 1940-1970. By 1979, 12% of a total of 2,200 former employees had asbestos-related disease. The mill has since been demolished. Cape Insulation also operated a second factory at Hangingroyd Mill.
Hebden Bridge has built a reputation for “great little shops” and has an unusually high density of independent shops for a UK town of its size. In a national survey by The New Economics Foundation in 2010 Hebden Bridge was ranked sixth on a diversity scale and was praised for its independent shops and unique shopping experience.
Culture
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
event, and the midsummer Hebden Bridge Handmade Parade
Hebden Bridge Handmade Parade
The Hebden Bridge Handmade Parade is a community-made parade in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, England. Produced by local arts organisations Handmade Parade CIC and Thingumajig Theatre, the parade celebrates the creativity, variety and the uniqueness of Hebden Bridge and its surrounding areas...
is a vivid, non-commercial variation on the small town parade.
Hebden Bridge is home to North Of Watford. Established in the town in 1984, it is one of the countries longest running, professional actors, co-operative agencies and a non-profit making organisation. Its name was chosen to prove that there is life, art and culture 'North Of Watford!'.
Hebden Bridge also has one of the few moorland golf courses left in the area.
Hebden Bridge Little Theatre is an amateur company aiming for professional standards, producing five plays a year and catering for the local community and visitors to the area alike.
Hebden Bridge is also the base of the Calder Valley Youth Theatre, an under-18s society which produces one main musical production per year in the Halifax Playhouse and often several smaller, less formal productions. The group has often been praised by critics as performing to an adult, professional standard.
The Stubbing Wharf is an 18th century inn located alongside the Rochdale Canal
Rochdale Canal
The Rochdale Canal is a navigable "broad" canal in northern England, part of the connected system of the canals of Great Britain. The "Rochdale" in its name refers to the town of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, through which the canal passes....
, in which the poet Ted Hughes
Ted Hughes
Edward James Hughes OM , more commonly known as Ted Hughes, was an English poet and children's writer. Critics routinely rank him as one of the best poets of his generation. Hughes was British Poet Laureate from 1984 until his death.Hughes was married to American poet Sylvia Plath, from 1956 until...
set his poem "Stubbing Wharfe".
Sylvia Plath is buried here in Heptonstall.
Hebden Bridge Junior Band
Hebden Bridge Junior Band has been providing musical tuition and an opportunity for young people aged 7–19 to play a brass instrument in a non-competitive band since 1972. Originally formed by Brian Haydn Robinson it now boasts over 40 members. The band accompanies the community carols in St George's Square every Christmas EveChristmas Eve
Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...
which attracts over 1,500 singers and assorted revellers. The band featured in the Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
in 2008 as a result of Ben McMahon's atmospheric portraits of the band. This article generated much other media coverage including an appearance on BBC's the ONE Show, Radio 2's Brass Britain and BBC Look North. The band has recently commissioned a series of arrangements of ska music from local musician Dave Nelson. They can be seen playing regularly in the town, especially at community events in late spring and throughout the Christmas period.
Music
Hebden Bridge is home to both a local and diverse music scene, with genres ranging from rock and acoustic, via jazz and world, to a new found appreciation of drum and bass and hip-hop from the town's younger contingent. The Trades Club is perhaps the most prominent venue in showcasing this colourful scene, putting on a number of well-known acts over the years, including NicoNico
Nico was a German singer, lyricist, composer, musician, fashion model, and actress, who initially rose to fame as a Warhol Superstar in the 1960s...
and Chumbawamba
Chumbawamba
Chumbawamba is a British musical group who have, over a career spanning nearly three decades, played punk rock, pop-influenced music, world music, and folk music...
, as well as many pioneers of world music. Notable acts of past and present include Bogshed
Bogshed
Bogshed were an independent band formed in Hebden Bridge, Yorkshire, England in 1984, originally as The Amazing Roy North Penis Band.-History:...
and Jonjo Feather .
Transport
Hebden Bridge railway station
Hebden Bridge railway station serves the town of Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire, England. The station is on the Caldervale Line, currently operated by Northern Rail from York and Leeds towards Manchester Victoria and Blackpool North...
lies on the Caldervale Line
Caldervale Line
The Caldervale Line is a railway route in Northern England between the cities of Leeds and Manchester as well as the seaside resort of Blackpool...
between Manchester Victoria and Leeds City. It is served by frequent rail services to towns and cities in Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...
, as well as West and North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county primarily in that region but partly in North East England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 it covers an area of , making it the largest...
including Leeds, Blackpool North
Blackpool North railway station
Blackpool North railway station is the main railway station serving the seaside resort of Blackpool in Lancashire, England. It is the terminus of the main Blackpool branch line from Preston....
, York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
, Manchester Victoria and Todmorden
Todmorden
Todmorden is a market town and civil parish, located 17 miles from Manchester, within the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale, in West Yorkshire, England. It forms part of the Upper Calder Valley and has a total population of 14,941....
. There are also some infrequent services to Dewsbury
Dewsbury railway station
Dewsbury railway station serves the town of Dewsbury in West Yorkshire, England. The station is south west of Leeds on the Huddersfield Line.The station is managed by TransPennine Express trains and it is the stop between Leeds and Huddersfield.-History:...
via Brighouse
Brighouse railway station
Brighouse railway station serves the town of Brighouse in West Yorkshire, England. The station lies on the Caldervale Line and the Huddersfield Line running west from Leeds. The station reopened in 2000 and is served by local Northern Rail trains.- History :...
. The railway station in Hebden Bridge is still in the original Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway was a major British railway company before the 1923 Grouping. It was incorporated in 1847 from an amalgamation of several existing railways...
colours, decorated with hanging baskets, original signage and luggage trolleys.
Bus services in the town are primarily operated by First Group plc, and operate to many local towns and villages, most frequently to Halifax
Halifax, West Yorkshire
Halifax is a minster town, within the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England. It has an urban area population of 82,056 in the 2001 Census. It is well-known as a centre of England's woollen manufacture from the 15th century onward, originally dealing through the Halifax Piece...
(several services at 10-minute intervals), Burnley
Burnley
Burnley is a market town in the Burnley borough of Lancashire, England, with a population of around 73,500. It lies north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Brun....
(592) and Rochdale
Rochdale
Rochdale is a large market town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the foothills of the Pennines on the River Roch, north-northwest of Oldham, and north-northeast of the city of Manchester. Rochdale is surrounded by several smaller settlements which together form the Metropolitan...
(590). However, Keighley District Buses connect Hebden Bridge with Haworth
Haworth
Haworth is a rural village in the City of Bradford metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is located amongst the Pennines, southwest of Keighley and west of Bradford. The surrounding areas include Oakworth and Oxenhope...
, Oxenhope
Oxenhope
Oxenhope is a village and civil parish with a population of 2,476 in the metropolitan borough of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, near Keighley. Oxenhope railway station is the terminus for the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway...
and Keighley
Keighley
Keighley is a town and civil parish within the metropolitan borough of the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. It is situated northwest of Bradford and is at the confluence of the River Aire and the River Worth...
. The "Hebden Bridger" is a local bus operated by WYPTE that serves as a town centre service, also operating to local villages including Heptonstall
Heptonstall
Heptonstall is a small village and civil parish within the Calderdale borough of West Yorkshire, England. The population of Heptonstall, including the hamlets of Colden and Slack, is 1,448. The town of Hebden Bridge lies directly to the southeast...
.
Hebden Bridge railway station
Hebden Bridge railway station
Hebden Bridge railway station serves the town of Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire, England. The station is on the Caldervale Line, currently operated by Northern Rail from York and Leeds towards Manchester Victoria and Blackpool North...
features the original Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway was a major British railway company before the 1923 Grouping. It was incorporated in 1847 from an amalgamation of several existing railways...
colours, rather than the red and cream colours of Metro, the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive. The station roof was replaced a few years ago during a major overhaul and a cafe was opened in the old Red Star parcel office.
Notable people
- Lindsay Jo RimerLindsay Jo RimerLindsay Jo Rimer was a thirteen year old girl from Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire in the United Kingdom, who was murdered. She was last seen alive in Hebden Bridge on 7 November 1994, and her body was found in a canal about a mile away on 12 April 1995...
went missing in 1994, and her body was later found in the Rochdale CanalRochdale CanalThe Rochdale Canal is a navigable "broad" canal in northern England, part of the connected system of the canals of Great Britain. The "Rochdale" in its name refers to the town of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, through which the canal passes....
the following year. - Edward CronshawEdward CronshawEdward Cronshaw is an English sculptor who has in recent years championed a method of achieving form which inclines toward a practical utility of organic structure. Finding much modern sculpture too rigid in its form, too purposefully decorative and overly resistant to natural influences, Cronshaw...
- sculptor. - Ted HughesTed HughesEdward James Hughes OM , more commonly known as Ted Hughes, was an English poet and children's writer. Critics routinely rank him as one of the best poets of his generation. Hughes was British Poet Laureate from 1984 until his death.Hughes was married to American poet Sylvia Plath, from 1956 until...
- Poet LaureatePoet Laureate of the United KingdomThe Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, also referred to as the Poet Laureate, is the Poet Laureate appointed by the monarch of the United Kingdom on the advice of the Prime Minister...
1984-1998 (his death). - Bernard InghamBernard InghamSir Bernard Ingham is a journalist and former civil servant who is best known as Margaret Thatcher's Chief Press Secretary while she was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Today Ingham lectures in Public Relations at Middlesex University in London...
- Chief Press Secretary to Margaret ThatcherMargaret ThatcherMargaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990... - Ed SheeranEd SheeranEdward Christopher "Ed" Sheeran is an English singer-songwriter who is currently signed to Asylum / Atlantic Records. Sheeran broke through commercially in June 2011, when his debut single "The A Team" debuted at number 3 on the UK chart.-Early life:Sheeran was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire to...
- Hebden Bridge born