Hebden Bridge

Coordinates:
2.009W

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,
Hebden Bridge is a market town which forms part of
Hebden Royd in West Yorkshire, England. It is in the but they were not targeted; they were merely the emptying of a bomb load.
Upper Calder Valley, 8 miles (13 km) west of Halifax
and 14 miles (21 km) north-east of Rochdale, at the During the 1970s and 1980s the town saw an inux
conuence of the River Calder and the Hebden Water.[1] of artists, writers, photographers, musicians, alternative
In 2004, the Calder Valley ward, covering Hebden practitioners, teachers, Green and New Age activists and
Bridge, Old Town, and part of Todmorden, had a pop- more recently, wealthier 'yuppie' types. This in turn saw
ulation of 11,549;[2] the town itself has a population of a boom in tourism to the area. During the 1990s Hebden
Bridge became a dormitory town, due to its proximity to
approximately 4,500.
major towns and cities both sides of the Pennines.

534431N 20032W / 53.742N

On 6 July 2003 Hebden Bridge was granted Fairtrade

Zone status.[4] On 6 July 2014, Stage 2 of the 2014 Tour
de France, from York to Sheeld, passed through the
town.[5]

History

The original settlement was the hilltop village of

Heptonstall. Hebden Bridge (Heptenbryge) started as a
settlement where the Halifax to Burnley packhorse route
2 Governance
dropped into the valley and crossed the River Hebden
where the old bridge (from which it gets its name) stands.
The name Hebden comes from the Anglo-Saxon Heopa At a district level, Hebden Bridge Urban District was established in 1891. In 1937, it merged with Mytholmroyd
Denu, 'Bramble (or possibly Wild Rose) Valley'.
Urban District to become Hebden Royd Urban District.
Steep hills with fast-owing streams and access to maAt a county level, Hebden Bridge was administered as
jor wool markets meant that Hebden Bridge was ideal
part of the West Riding of Yorkshire. These were abolfor water-powered weaving mills and the town developed
ished as part of the reforms introduced in the Local Govduring the 19th and 20th centuries; at one time Hebernment Act 1972. They were replaced with West Yorkden was known as Trouser Town because of the large
shire Metropolitan county, Calderdale Metropolitan Boramount of clothing manufacturing.[3] Drainage of the
ough, and Hebden Royd Town Civil Parish. From a legal
marshland, which covered much of the Upper Calder Valpoint of view, the town council is a parish council. Reley before the Industrial Revolution, enabled construccently, it has attracted praise for its commitment to ecotion of the road which runs through the valley. Befriendly policies,[6] following the example of Modbury in
fore it was built, travel was only possible via the aneectively banning all plastic shopping bags, thus becomcient packhorse route which ran along the hilltop, droping the largest community in Europe to do so. The ban is
ping into the valleys wherever necessary. The wool trade
not legally enforceable, but rather a voluntary agreement
was served the Rochdale Canal (running from Sowerby
between local shop owners and the community at large.
Bridge to Manchester) and the Manchester and Leeds
Railway (later the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway)
(running from Leeds to Manchester and Burnley).
2.1 Hebden Bridge Town Hall
Hebden Bridge also grew to include a cinema and ofces for Hebden Bridge Urban District Council. Hebden Bridge 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 had
its own cooperative society but during the 1960s, it was
defrauded and went bankrupt. The old Co-op building
became a hotel and was later converted into ats. The
Co-op returned in the 1980s with a supermarket on Market Street, on the site of an old mill.

Hebden Bridge Town Hall and adjoining re station is a

Grade II listed building, built in 1897. Following local
government reorganisation, it became underused. The
building was transferred from Calderdale 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 was put into renovation works
and fundraising to secure the buildings future.[7] An am1

6 CULTURE

bitious 4 million project has been nished, building a

small enterprise centre and new community facilities on
land adjacent to the Town Hall. More than 450 local people have signed up as Friends of the Town Hall and can
vote for the trustees.[8]

Geography

Hebden Bridge lies close to the Pennine Way and

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.
The towns location in the valley causes problems with
ooding particularly 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 tted so that water can drain back into the river.
Brearley on a ood plain contains the playing elds for
Calder High School and local football, rugby league and
cricket teams. Hebden Bridge suered two devastating
oods in the summer of 2012,[9] and again at Christmas
2015; Todmorden, Mytholmroyd, Sowerby Bridge and
York were also aected, with houses, pubs, shops and
community centres suering damage to property. The
extent of the Hebden Bridge ooding was shown in drone
videos of the ooded areas, the most severe ooding occurring in Hebden Bridge town centre.[10]

many of the sites for proposed development are areas

such as elds 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 lesbians as
a place of mutual support to bring up children.[11] As of
2004 Hebden Bridge had the highest number of lesbians
per head in the UK.[12][13]
In April 2005 Hebden Bridge was declared the 4th quirkiest place in the world by highlife (the British Airways
ight magazine) and was described as modern and stylish
in an unconventional and stylish way.[14]
The town was documented in the 2009 lm Shed Your
Tears And Walk Away,[15][16] which made controversial
claims about the levels of drug and alcohol abuse in the
town, and consequent deaths among young people.

5 Economy
Walkleys Clog Mill is one of the countrys leading clog
manufacturers. It moved from its original home at Falling
Royd to a site on Midgley Road in Mytholmroyd.[17]

Acre Mill was an asbestos factory in the hilltop settlement

of Old Town, owned by Cape Insulation Ltd.[18] It was
opened in 1939 to meet the demand for gas mask lters
made from blue asbestos during the Second World War,
and diversied 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
The town is on the route of the Calderdale Way, a circu- World in Action investigation entitled "The Dust at Acre
lar walk of about 50 miles (80 km) around the hills and
Mill" which revealed how the factory broke the law revalleys of Calderdale.
garding asbestos-dust control between 19401970.[19][20]
By 1979, 12% of a total of 2,200 former employees had
asbestos-related disease.[21] The mill was demolished in
4 Demography
1979. Cape Insulation also operated a second factory at
Hangingroyd Mill.
Hebden Bridge is a popular place to live. However, space Hebden Bridge has built a reputation for great little
is limited due to the steep valleys and lack of at land. In shops and has an unusually high density of independent
the past, this led to upstairs-downstairs houses known shops for a UK town of its size. In a national survey by the
as over and under dwellings. These were houses built in New Economics Foundation in 2010 Hebden Bridge was
terraces with 45 storeys. The upper storeys face uphill ranked sixth on a diversity scale and was praised for its inwhile the lower ones face downhill with their back wall dependent shops and unique shopping experience.[22] The
against the hillside. The bottom 2 storeys would be one Fox and Goose, West Yorkshires rst Co-Operative pub,
house while the upper 23 storeys would be another. This is owned by 262 residents of Hebden Bridge. It was esalso led to unusual legal arrangements such as the "ying tablished in March 2014.[23]
freehold", where the shared oor/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).

6 Culture

The Arts Festival and Fringe Arts Festival take place every year at the end of June, the traditional Pace Egg plays
are an annual Easter event, and the midsummer Hebden
Bridge Handmade Parade is a vivid, non-commercial
Demand for new houses is also a contentious issue as variation on the small town parade.

3
Hebden Bridge is known as the lesbian capital of the Daevid Allen, Tetchi,[42] Eat Static, Transglobal UnderUK.[24]
ground, Zion Train, Curved Air, Nico, AudioAddictz,
The Stubbing Wharf is an 18th-century inn located along- and Patti Smith, who donated her fee to the towns ood
side the Rochdale Canal, in which the poet Ted Hughes appeal.
set his poem Stubbing Wharfe.[25][26] Hughes was born The indie band Bogshed were formed in Hebden Bridge
in neighbouring Mytholmroyd, and his former home in 1984, originally as 'The Amazing Roy North Penis
Lumb Bank on the outskirts of Hebden Bridge is run as a Band'.[43]
creative writing centre by the Arvon Trust.[27]
Sylvia Plath is buried here in Heptonstall in the secondary
graveyard of St. Thomas the Apostle Church.

7 Transport

In 1995 the singer Haddaway lmed the music video for

Lover Be Thy Name in the Hebden Bridge area.[28]
The BBC One crime drama series Happy Valley, written by Halifax-born Sally Wainwright, broadcast in 2014,
was lmed and set in and around the town. Local landmarks, such as the graveyard at St Thomas the Apostle
Church, and the sweeping landscapes provided a prominent backdrop to the narrative. The show received critical
acclaim and was expected to lead to a noticeable increase
in local tourism.[29] A second series was lmed in 2015
and broadcast during 2016.[30]

6.1

Music

Hebden Bridge has a diverse music scene; ranging from

musicians busking on the streets, jam sessions, open mics
and workshops (drumming and didjeridoo to digital music production) to performances of choral and classical
music at various events[31][32] and venues.
The town also hosts the Hebden Bridge Blues Festival[33]
during the Spring Bank Holiday at the end of May. Established in 2011, the festival was voted the Best British
Blues Festival in both the 2012 and 2013 British Blues
Awards, ahead of over 40 other festivals on each occasion, attracting musicians and audiences from around the
world, particularly North America.[34]
Hebden Bridge Junior Band[35] has been providing musical tuition and an opportunity for young people aged 719
to play a brass instrument in a non-competitive band since
1972.
A prominent venue, the Trades Club[36] regularly features
musicians of local, national and international renown performing a wide range of music; including: rock, blues and
folk, through punk, klezmer, ska, reggae, dub and jazz to
qawwali, trance, gnawa, drum and bass and modern experimental music.

The Rochdale Canal at Hebden Bridge

Hebden Bridge railway station lies on the Calder Valley 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 station 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.

Notable artists who have played at the Trades Club

8 Notable people
include: the Acid Mothers Temple, Bogshed, Ali
Farka Tour,[37] Astralasia,[38] the Bhundu Boys,
Chumbawamba,[39] Damo Suzuki,
sicknote,[40] Main article: List of people from Calderdale
Dreadzone, Dick Gaughan, Notsensibles, Steve
Tilston,[39] Jah Wobble, the Unthanks,[39] the Se Edward Cronshaw, sculptor, began his career while
lecter, Dennis Rollins, Didier Malherbe, Maghribibeat,
3 Daft Monkeys, Andy Sheppard, Drum Machine[41]
living at Hebden Bridge.

10

EXTERNAL LINKS

Bernard Ingham, Chief Press Secretary to Margaret [20] Asbestos and the legacy of Acre Mill - 20022009.
Hebden Bridge Web. 19952013. Retrieved 4 April
Thatcher, was educated at Hebden Bridge Grammar
2013.
School.
Lindsay Jo Rimer, a thirteen-year-old girl from the
town, went missing in 1994. Her body was found in
the Rochdale Canal the following year.
Ed Sheeran, singer-songwriter, was born in the
town, later moved to Suolk early in his life.
Paula Lane, notable actor with roles including Kylie
Platt of Coronation Street, Lane remains a resident
of Hebden Bridge and also runs a drama school in
the town.

References

[21] The Myths About Asbestos. London Hazards Centre.

Retrieved 19 April 2010.
[22] Think-tank praises thriving and diverse town. Hebden
Bridge Times. 12 October 2010. Retrieved 27 October
2015.
[23] Hudderseld brewer supplies birthday beer for West
Yorkshires only co-operative pub. Hudderseld Daily
Examiner. 3 March 2015. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
[24] Why is Hebden Bridge the lesbian capital? BBC News, 9
February 2012
[25] Ted Hughes Google Books. books.google.co.uk. 2009.
ISBN 978-0-415-31189-2. Retrieved 21 March 2010.

[1] Calderdale Council, Conservation areas: Hebden Bridge

[26] Taylor, Arthur (5 June 2009). Yorkshire pub guide:

Stubbing Wharf in Hebden Bridge Telegraph. London:
telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 21 March 2010.

[2] Calderdale government information

[27] The Ted Hughes Arvon Centre, Lumb Bank

[3] Town Teams Hebden Bridge Reinforcing the Heart

of the Town"". Retrieved 27 March 2008.

[28] YouTube. YouTube. Retrieved 26 May 2014.

[4] , Hebden Royd local council.

[29] Happy tourists will ock to drama set. Hebden Bridge

Times. Retrieved 3 June 2014.

[5] Tour de France Stage 1. Retrieved 15 July 2014.

[30] Happy Valley to return to BBC One in 2015. 18 August

2014. Retrieved 7 February 2015.

[6] Sunday Telegraph 22 July 2007 2, 406 pC12

[31] Hebden Bridge Arts Festival. Retrieved 12 April 2012.

[7] English Heritage (10 February 2011)

[32] Hebden Bridge Fringe. Retrieved 12 April 2012.

[8] Community to take over Town Hall, Yorkshire Post, published 8 December 2009

[33] Hebden Bridge Blues Festival, May 23rd to 25th 2014.

Yorkshirebluesfestival.co.uk. Retrieved 26 May 2014.

[9] Martin Wainwright; Ben Quinn (9 July 2012). Flash

oods hit Hebden Bridge. The Guardian.

[34]

[10] Drone footage of ooding in Hebden Bridge and

Mytholmroyd video. The Guardian. 26 December
2015.
[11] The Observer Lesbians the toast of the Two Ferrets (29
July 2001)
[12] The Guardian Location, location, orientation (27 March
2004)

[35] Hebden Bridge Junior Band

[36] The Trades Club. Retrieved 2 April 2012.
[37] Shabby chic. Yorkshire Post. 28 June 2011. Retrieved
2 April 2012.
[38] Astralasia. Retrieved 2 April 2012.
[39] The best of folk at Hebden Bridges Folk Roots Festival.
Retrieved 2 April 2012.
[40] Sicknote. Retrieved 2 April 2012.

[13] Robehmed, Sophie; Why is Hebden Bridge the lesbian

capital?", BBC News, 9 February 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2014

[41] DrumMachine. Retrieved 2 April 2012.

[14] Hebden Bridge: 4th funkiest town in the World (1 May

2005)

[43] Strong, Martin C. (1999). The Great Alternative & Indie

Discography. Canongate. ISBN 0-86241-913-1.

[42] Tetchi. Retrieved 2 April 2012.

[15] Shed Your Tears And Walk Away Film

[16] Shed Your Tears And Walk Away Review

10 External links

[17] Walkleys Clog Mill

Hebden Bridge Web

[18] Acre Mill

Hebden Bridge Arts Festival

[19] World in Action: The Dust at Acre Mill. BFI Film &
TV database.

Hebden Bridge Local History Society

11
11.1

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

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