The Upper Calder Valley lies 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 ...

, in northern

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, and covers the towns of

Todmorden Todmorden ( ; ) is a market town and civil parish in the Upper Calder Valley in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England. It is north-east of Manchester, south-east of Burnley and west of Halifax. In 2011 it had a population of 15,481. Todm ...

Hebden Bridge Hebden Bridge is a market town in the Upper Calder Valley in West Yorkshire, England. It is west of Halifax and 14 miles (21 km) north-east of Rochdale, at the confluence of the River Calder and the Hebden Water. The town is the largest ...

Mytholmroyd Mytholmroyd (pronounced ) is a large village in the Upper Calder Valley in West Yorkshire, England, east of Hebden Bridge. It lies east of Burnley and west of Halifax. The village, which has a population of approximately 4,000 is in the L ...

Luddendenfoot Luddendenfoot or Luddenden Foot is a community in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England. The population of Luddendenfoot is 2,547, with the wider Calderdale Ward (of the same name) at the 2011 Census as 10,653. It lies along the Upper Calder Vall ...

, and

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 ...

, as well as a number of smaller settlements such as

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most d ...

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 north-west of Todmorden (where the pop ...

, Walsden, and

Eastwood Eastwood may refer to: Places ;in Australia *Eastwood, New South Wales **Eastwood railway station ** Electoral district of Eastwood *Eastwood, South Australia ;in Canada * Eastwood, Ontario *Eastwood, Edmonton, Alberta, a neighborhood ;in the P ...

. The valley is the upper valley of the River Calder. 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; Cragg Brook, which flows through

Cragg Vale Cragg Vale is a village in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England, located south of Mytholmroyd on the B6138 road which joins the A58 and the A646. The village is part of Luddendenfoot Ward of Calderdale Council. History Early days There is e ...

to join the Calder at Mytholmroyd, and the largest, the River Ryburn, which joins the Calder at Sowerby Bridge. The Upper Calder Valley falls entirely within the much larger metropolitan district 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 up ...

. The towns of the Upper Calder are situated linearly along the valley, which cuts through the eastern slopes of the

Pennines The Pennines (), also known as the Pennine Chain or Pennine Hills, are a range of uplands running between three regions of Northern England: North West England on the west, North East England and Yorkshire and the Humber on the east. Common ...

from Portsmouth in the west to Sowerby Bridge, a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

on the outskirts of Halifax, in the east.

In popular culture

The rugged and steep-sided Upper Calder Valley inspired such literary artists as the poets

Ted Hughes Edward James "Ted" Hughes (17 August 1930 – 28 October 1998) was an English poet, translator, and children's writer. Critics frequently rank him as one of the best poets of his generation and one of the twentieth century's greatest wri ...

(who was born in Mytholmroyd and wrote about

Scout Rock Scout Rock (known locally as Scout Rocks), is a rock face, once a quarry, cut into a hill called Hathershelf Scout and is on the south side of the Upper Calder Valley in the village of Mytholmroyd near Hebden Bridge, England. At its height, the ...

Sylvia Plath Sylvia Plath (; October 27, 1932 – February 11, 1963) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. She is credited with advancing the genre of confessional poetry and is best known for two of her published collections, '' Th ...

(who is buried in

Heptonstall Heptonstall is a small village and civil parish within the Calderdale borough of West Yorkshire, England, historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire. The population of Heptonstall, including the hamlets of Colden and Slack Top, is 1,448 ...

, near Hebden Bridge) and the writer

Emily Brontë Emily Jane Brontë (, commonly ; 30 July 1818 – 19 December 1848) was an English novelist and poet who is best known for her only novel, '' Wuthering Heights'', now considered a classic of English literature. She also published a book of poe ...

. The valley has also been a popular setting for film and TV, such as the series '' Happy Valley''.

External links

Upper Calder Valley Renaissance
Geography of Calderdale Valleys of West Yorkshire Aire catchment {{WestYorkshire-geo-stub

In popular culture

Further reading

External links