Ripponden is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

on the

River Ryburn The River Ryburn is a river in West Yorkshire, England. It flows through the villages of Rishworth, Ripponden and Triangle before flowing into the River Calder at Sowerby Bridge. Course The river becomes known as Ryburn at the confluence of ...

near Halifax in

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

, England.

Historically History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

it was part of the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

. Its population was 6,412 at the time of the 2001 Census, and 7,421 in 2011. Ripponden is the main settlement in a small group of villages (

Barkisland Barkisland () is a village in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is east of Ripponden, south of Sowerby Bridge and south-west of Halifax town centre. The village falls within the Ry ...

, Ripponden, Rishworth and

Soyland Soyland is a village in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England. It is just north of Ripponden Ripponden is a village and civil parish on the River Ryburn near Halifax in West Yorkshire, England. Historically it was part of the West Riding o ...

) whose citizens are represented on Ripponden Parish Council. The area is a substantial part of the Ryburn Ward, itself part of

Calderdale Calderdale is a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England, whose population in 2020 was 211,439. It takes its name from the River Calder, and dale, a word for valley. The name Calderdale usually refers to the borough through which the u ...

metropolitan borough. Ripponden and its villages were formerly served by the Rishworth branch line from

Sowerby Bridge Sowerby Bridge ( ) is a market town in the Upper Calder Valley in Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England. The Calderdale Council ward population at the 2011 census was 11,703. History The town was originally a fording point over the once mu ...

;

Ripponden and Barkisland railway station Ripponden and Barkisland railway station was opened by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway on the Rishworth Branch in 1878 as Ripponden. Ripponden is in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England. Its name was changed to Ripponden and Barkisland on 1 ...

closed to passengers in 1929 and the line was closed completely in 1958. The area is of archaeological note as it is rich in

neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several pa ...

and

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

remains. At nearby Ringstone Edge can be found a small

stone circle A stone circle is a ring of standing stones. Most are found in Northwestern Europe – especially in Britain, Ireland, and Brittany – and typically date from the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, with most being built from 3000 BC. The ...

The Beehive Inn, Ripponden (26th September 2010)

Ripponden is the terminus of the annual

Rushbearing Rushbearing is an old English ecclesiastical festival in which rushes are collected and carried to be strewn on the floor of the parish church. The tradition dates back to the time when most buildings had earthen floors and rushes were used as a ...

Festival. The village is on the route of the Calderdale Way, a circular walk around the hills and valleys of Calderdale. Ripponden Junior & Infant School has a capacity of 240 children ages 4 - 11. The Old Bridge Inn in the village is the home of an annual

pork pie A pork pie is a traditional English meat pie, usually served either at room temperature or cold (although often served hot in Yorkshire). It consists of a filling of roughly chopped pork and pork fat, surrounded by a layer of jellied pork stock ...

competition. The Old Bridge, or Waterloo Bridge, near the Inn is on the old packhorse road through the village and is also known as the

Packhorse Bridge A packhorse bridge is a bridge intended to carry packhorses (horses loaded with sidebags or panniers) across a river or stream. Typically a packhorse bridge consists of one or more narrow (one horse wide) masonry arches, and has low parapets so ...

. On 6 July 2014, Stage 2 of the 2014

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

, from

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire ...

, passed through the village. On leaving Ripponden at the point, riders undertook the third climb of the stage, the Category 3 Côte de Ripponden. It was long with an average gradient of 8.6%. The first rider over the top to claim two points in the King of the Mountains competition was

Cyril Lemoine Cyril Lemoine (born 3 March 1983) is a French professional road bicycle racer, who currently rides for UCI ProTeam . Career Born in Tours, Lemoine joined for the 2014 season, after his previous team – – folded at the end of the 20 ...

of Cofidis. The other point available was claimed by David De La Cruz Melgarejo.

Notable people

* James Walton, inventor and industrialist, born in Ripponden in 1803. * Sir Norman Howard Bottomley,

Air Chief Marshal Air chief marshal (Air Chf Mshl or ACM) is a high-ranking air officer originating from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. An air chief marshal is equivalent to an Admi ...

of the RAF and Commander-in-Chief of RAF Bomber Command in 1945, was born in Ripponden in 1891. * Nobel Prize–winning physicist Prof

Richard Feynman Richard Phillips Feynman (; May 11, 1918 – February 15, 1988) was an American theoretical physicist, known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics, the physics of the superfl ...

was a regular visitor to the village in the 1960s-1980s, with his third wife who was born locally. He also spent significant time in nearby Mill Bank.

Sport

The village has a football team Ryburn United. Stones Cricket Club play near the village and are members of the Halifax Cricket League.

References

External links

*
Ripponden Parish CouncilRyburn Ward 2004 population statistics and mapsRipponden In BloomSt. Bartholomew's Church RippondenRyburn Valley History SocietySowerby Bridge Chronicle newspaper website
{{authority control Villages in West Yorkshire Civil parishes in West Yorkshire Geography of Calderdale

Notable people

Sport

See also

References

External links