Heptonstall Randoms Around Towngate July 2020

The village of Heptonstall occupies a small spot on the hill overlooking the Calder Valley and Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire. The town is home to approximately 1400 people, and traditionally, the village's industry was hand-loom weaving. The village is a favourite spot with hikers and has featured in a number of TV shows in recent years, including the recent Shane Meadows drama The Gallows Pole, a story about the Cragg Vale Coiners, whose leader, "King" David Hartley, is buried in the churchyard.

The pictures below were taken at various locations around the town and don't feature the usual locations shown: the Wesleyan Chapel, the Ruined Church, and its replacement. I have posted my pictures of them in earlier posts. They were taken using a Nikon D3300 on July 11, 2020.

The phone box found towards the lower end of Hetonstall is now I am told used as a library by the local community.

Towngate is the main route through the centre of the village.

The village's post office.

34 Towngate.

41A Towngate. The passge to the right leads to the former grammar school and museum and runs past the churchyard.

The grammar school and museum buildings, the fence to the right surrounds the lower part of the churchyard.

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Heptonstall Randoms November 2013

 The village of Heptonstall occupies a small spot on the hill overlooking the Calder Valley and Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire. The town is home to approx 1400 people and traditionally the villages industry was hand-loom weaving. The village is a favourite spot with hikers and has featured in a number of TV shows in recent years including the recent Shane Meadows drama The Gallows Pole, a story about the Cragg Vale Coiners who's leader "King" David Hartley is buried in the churchyard.

The pictures below were taken at various locations around the town and don't feature the usual locations shown, the Wesleyan Chapel, The Ruined Church and it's replacement. I have posted my pictures of them in earlier post's. They were taken using a Samsung Galaxy Tablet on the 16th November 2013.

The Museum Snicket runs from Towngate alongside The Cloth Hall towards the Museum and Churchyard, which is to the right behind the metal raillings.

The Cloth Hall on towngate was built around 1545 by the Waterhouse family who lived at Shibden Hall, Halifax. The building was originally single story and known as Blackwell Hall, it was used by local hand-loom weavers to sell their cloth. The 2nd story was added around 1766 by John Uttley, and remained in use for traders until the Piece Hall was opened at Halifax in 1779. It is now a private residence and was granted Grade 11 Listed Status in December 1984.

Towngate is the main road through the village and features at least 15 Listed Buildings along it's length. The stone sets on the road were rediscovered in the 1980's, a plan to replace them was thought off by local residents and they were restored, it is now seen as helping to calm traffic down through the village.

The village water pump was replaced by a public water supply in July 1933.

Bottom of Towngate.

I think I took these last 2 somewhere near the church and museum, the bottom picture I would have thought must be amongst the oldest properties in the village.

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Fielden Square, Todmorden

Fielden Square is an area of Todmorden outside the Golden Lion Pub. Cleared to house a statue of John Fielden a local businessman, benefactor and social reformer, the area is now mainly used as a car park near the town centre. The statue was moved in 1939 to Centre Vale Park.

I took this picture on the 9th November 2013 with a Samsung Galaxy Tablet. The original image had a totally flat, lifeless overcast sky so this was my first attempt at replacing a sky within an image.

Also seen in the picture, to the left the Golden Lion, the pub was closed when I took this having been badly flooded, I believe it reopened the following year. The spire that overlooks the town is that of Todmorden Unitarian Church. The Fielden family contributed to it's construction.

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Church Bank, Sowerby Bridge

 Church Bank is a cobbled road that was once one of the main routes down the hillside connecting with Wharf Street, Sowerby Bridge. Now a hidden away pedestrian route with access from Wharf Street available to cars but blocked from Church View - Sunnybank Street, offering only access to pedestrians and cyclists. The roads status as a access route to Wharf Street ended in the 1950's when Tuel Lane was extended and the Rochdale Canal filled in, around this time some local authority housing was built on the Church Bank hillside and the road was closed to thru traffic.

About a quarter of the way up the hill is Orrell House, which occupies a plot of land between Church Bank and Grange Place, the house was once used as a doctors surgery but has been a private residence for a number of years.

These pictures were taken on the 10 April 2022 using a Nikon d3300 SLR camera, they can also be seen full size, resolution and un-watermarked on Clickasnap.

Taken from the bottom of Church Bank, with Wharf Street behind me, Orrell House
is largely hidden from view to the right of the picture.

Taken from the top of Church Bank, Sunnybank Street behind me and Church
View to my right. Christ Church can be seen in the centre of the image.

About half way up or down, Church View can be seen to the left.

Looking down with Wharf Street Visible, Orrell House is
hidden behind the wall to my left.

Again about half way up or down depending on your perspective,
it's hard to believe this was once a busy route in to town.

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Sowerby Bridge, New Years Day

Sowerby Bridge is a market town in the Calder Valley, West Yorkshire. The town originally was a crossing point for travellers to pass over the River Calder whilst journeying between Yorkshire and Lancashire. The town takes it's name from the nearby hill settlement of Sowerby and the bridge that crossers the River Calder near the town centre. The town grew during the industrial revolution as textiles and engineering industry was created using the Rivers Calder and Ryburn to power the mills. The town suffered as these industries declined and it has now become more of a tourism destination popular with canal boaters.

The town is the confluence of the River Calder & Ryburn, the Junction for the Calder & Hebble Navigation & Rochdale Canal's.  The canal was blocked in Sowerby Bridge from the 1960's until the 1990's, the reopening of this section through Tuel Lane tunnel and the building of the deepest inland canal lock in the UK allowing boats to travel through Yorkshire to Manchester for the first time in over a quarter of a century.

The town was also a railway junction for over 70 years when the Rishworth Branch line headed away from the station up the Ryburn Valley until closure in the 1950's. Originally planned as a shorter alternative route to Littleborough the line was only completed to Rishworth. The station was a much larger one because of it's junction status until the closure of the branch and the main station building being destroyed by fire in 1978 and demolished shortly after.

The town is often heavily congested with traffic, so knowing this would not be the case early on New Years Day I took an opportunity to picture the main streets whilst traffic was minimal. The walk I took was along the main street from Pye Nest to the east of the town through to the West End area of Sowerby Bridge, picturing some places of interest away from the main route.

Garden area on Bolton Brow. This used to be covered by housing.

Wharf Street.

The former Sowerby Bridge Police Station, the building was featured in seasons 1 and 2 of Happy Valley.

Lock 2 on the Rochdale Canal from the top of Tuel lane Tunnel.

Tower Hill.

County Bridge towards the Town Hall building.

River Ryburn.

Donaldson's Vets at the end of Wakefield Road used to be a pub known as the Prospect Inn.

Locks 1 and 2 on the Rochdale Canal.

Main Road underneath Sowerby Bridge Viaduct.

River Calder from County Bridge.

The Jubilee Refreshment rooms are housed in the former ticket office for Sowerby Bridge Railway Station. The building is all that remains of the station building damaged by fire and demolished 1978-81.

Ryburn Buildings at West End.

Looking down Bolton Brow, Gratrix Lane to the right.

Train passing over Sowerby Bridge Viaduct, taken from County Bridge.

J.D. Wetherspoons Commercial Inn at the bottom of Tuel Lane. The canal originally exited a bridge near the traffic lights, this was infilled in the 1950's. Their was a tunnel built underneath this junction in 1996 to reopen the Rochdale Canal, which comes out behind the Commercial Inn.

Christ Church.

Wharf Street, the building with the to let sign was once a branch of the Halifax Bank.

Victoria Bridge and the River Ryburn.

The River Calder.

Sowerby Bridge Railway Station.

Warehouse 2 and the Salt Warehouse at Sowerby Bridge Canal Basin.

Carlton Mill.

River Calder.

Soweerby Bridge Viaduct.

River Calder.

It should be pointed out that the building often referred to as the town hall was never actually Sowerby Bridge Town Hall. It was built in the hope that Sowerby Bridge Council would purchase the hall from the developers but this never happened. The clock is owned by the people of Sowerby Bridge and the building until recently was a branch of Lloyds Bank.

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