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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

on the River Ryburn near Halifax in

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

, England. Historically it was part of the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

. 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, Ripponden, Rishworth and Soyland) 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, which had a population of 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 ...

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 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 or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

and

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

remains. At nearby Ringstone Edge can be found a small

stone circle A stone circle is a ring of megalithic standing stones. Most are found in Northwestern Europe – especially Stone circles in the British Isles and Brittany – and typically date from the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, with most being ...

. Ripponden is the terminus of the annual

Rushbearing 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 Inn is a Grade II listed building and is one of the oldest pubs in Yorkshire; its construction is dated to 1307. 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 Parapet#Bridg ...

. On 6 July 2014, Stage 2 of the 2014

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

, from

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

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

, 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 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 rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many Commonwealth of Nations, countries that have historical British i ...

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

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

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

Sport

The village has a football team Ryburn United FC, they are a Charter Standard Community football club, and provide football for all ages, their grounds are on Ripponden Wood Playing Fields. 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