Upper Calder Valley
Encyclopedia
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....
in northern England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, and covers the towns 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....
, Hebden Bridge
Hebden Bridge
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 west of Halifax and 14 miles north east of Rochdale, at the confluence of the River Calder and the River Hebden .A 2004 profile of...
, 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....
, Luddendenfoot
Luddendenfoot
Luddendenfoot or Luddenden Foot is a community in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England. It lies along the Upper Calder Valley below the village of Luddenden, between Sowerby Bridge and Hebden Bridge.-Cultural reference and notable people:...
, and 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...
, as well as a number of smaller settlements such as Portsmouth, Cornholme
Cornholme
Cornholme is a village within the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale, in West Yorkshire, England. It lies at the edge of Calderdale, on the boundary with Lancashire, and in the narrow Calder Valley about northwest of Todmorden....
, Walsden
Walsden
Walsden is a large village in the town of Todmorden in the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England, close to the Greater Manchester border...
and Eastwood
Eastwood, West Yorkshire
Eastwood is a place within the civil parish of Todmorden and Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale, in West Yorkshire, England. It lies west from Halifax, roughly equidistant from Todmorden's town centre, which is to the southwest, and Hebden Bridge, which is 2 miles to the northeast, along the...
. The valley is named after 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...
, which runs through it. Major tributaries of the Upper Calder include the Walsden Water, which flows through the large village of Walsden to join the Calder at Todmorden; the Hebden Water, which flows through Hebden Dale to join the Calder at Hebden Bridge; and Cragg Brook, which flows through Cragg Vale to join the Calder at Mytholmroyd.
The Upper Calder Valley falls entirely within the much larger metropolitan district 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...
. The towns of the Upper Calder are situated linearly along the valley, which cuts through the eastern slopes of 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...
from Portsmouth
Portsmouth, West Yorkshire
Portsmouth is a village on the A646 road in the Calderdale District, in the county of West Yorkshire, England. Nearby settlements include the towns of Burnley and Todmorden and the village of Cornholme.-History:...
in the west to Sowerby Bridge, a market town on the outskirts of Halifax, in the east.
The rugged and steep-sided Upper Calder Valley inspired such literary artists as the poets, 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...
(who was born in Mytholmroyd) and Sylvia Plath
Sylvia Plath
Sylvia Plath was an American poet, novelist and short story writer. Born in Massachusetts, she studied at Smith College and Newnham College, Cambridge before receiving acclaim as a professional poet and writer...
(who is buried in 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...
, near Hebden Bridge), and the writer, Emily Brontë
Emily Brontë
Emily Jane Brontë 30 July 1818 – 19 December 1848) was an English novelist and poet, best remembered for her only novel, Wuthering Heights, now considered a classic of English literature. Emily was the third eldest of the four surviving Brontë siblings, between the youngest Anne and her brother...
. The valley has also been a popular setting for film and TV.