Upperthong
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Upperthong is a village approximately above sea level, in the
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 ...
of
Holme Valley Holme Valley, formerly Holmfirth is a large civil parish in the metropolitan borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It has a population of 25,049 (2001 census), increasing to 34,680 for the two wards in the 2011 Census. Its administrat ...
, in the
Kirklees Kirklees is a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England. The borough comprises the ten towns of Batley, Birstall, West Yorkshire, Birstall, Cleckheaton, Dewsbury, Heckmondwike, Holmfirth, Huddersfield, Meltham, Mirfield and Slaithwaite. It ...
district, 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, near the town of
Holmfirth Holmfirth () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England. It is located south of Huddersfield and west of Barnsley; the boundary of the Peak District National Park is to the south-west. The town is sited on t ...
, approximately south of
Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...
. In 2005,
Kirklees Council Kirklees Council, also known as Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council, is the local authority for the metropolitan borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. As a metropolitan borough council it provides the majority of local government ser ...
stated that the population of Upperthong was 1,116; by 2019, the figure was 1,938.


History

The name Upperthong may derive from
Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...
'uferra' (upper) + ' thwang' (narrow strip f land; since there is also a Netherthong, which is situated on lower ground than Upperthong, the names could designate lower and higher strips of land. p.475 The village used to be in the
wapentake A hundred is an administrative division that is geographically part of a larger region. It was formerly used in England, Wales, some parts of the United States, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, and in Cumberland County in the British Colony of ...
of
Agbrigg and Morley Agbrigg and Morley was a wapentake of the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. The main purpose of the wapentake was the administration of justice by a local court. At the time of the Domesday survey in 1086, Agbrigg and Morley were separate wape ...
. Upperthong was formerly a
township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...
in the parish of
Almondbury Almondbury () is a village south-east of Huddersfield town centre in the Kirklees district, of West Yorkshire, England. The population of Almondbury in 2001 was 7,368 increasing to 18,346 at the census. The village is close to Castle Hill, ...
. In 1866, Upperthong became a separate
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 1 April 1921, the parish was abolished and merged with Holmfirth. In 1911, the parish had a population of 2279.


Community

Village amenities include the parish church of St John, a village hall, a cricket field, and a fish & chip restaurant and takeaway. Upperthong is part of the
Colne Valley The Colne Valley is a steep sided valley on the east flank of the Pennine Hills in the English county of West Yorkshire. It takes its name from the River Colne which rises above the town of Marsden and flows eastward towards Huddersfield. ...
constituency, which has been represented by
Paul Davies Paul Charles William Davies (born 22 April 1946) is an English physicist, writer and broadcaster, a professor in Arizona State University and director of BEYOND: Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science. He is affiliated with the Institute ...
of the Labour Party since the 2024 general election. Upperthong Junior and Infant School, of 198 children aged 4 to 11, in 2006 received an above average overall score in the key stage 1 and 2 league tables. The school received an overall rating of Grade 2 (Good), for all areas and overall effectiveness in its latest full
Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted's role is to make sure that organisations providing education, training ...
report of 2012, and achieved 'Good' again in 2017. Several roads in Upperthong form part of the southern section of National Route 68 of the
National Cycle Network The National Cycle Network (NCN) was established to encourage cycling and walking throughout the United Kingdom, as well as for the purposes of bicycle touring. It was created by the charity Sustrans who were aided by a £42.5 million N ...
– the Pennine Cycleway. The route follows Upperthong Lane from its start in Holmfirth, and continues north westwards through the village, and out over the moor to
Meltham Meltham is a town and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England. It lies in the Holme Valley, below Wessenden Moor, south-west of Huddersfield on the edge of the Peak District National Park. It had ...
. Upperthong has a cricket team in the
Huddersfield Cricket League The Huddersfield ECB Premier League is the premier cricket competition in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. The league has been in existence since 1891 with teams representing suburbs of Huddersfield and villages in the Huddersfield distri ...
, and a football team who play in Division 4 of the Huddersfield and District Association League. The village holds the World Welly Wanging Championships each year at the Village Gala on the last weekend in June. Two actors from the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
comedy ''
Last of the Summer Wine ''Last of the Summer Wine'' is a British sitcom set in Yorkshire created and written by Roy Clarke and originally broadcast by the BBC from 1973 to 2010. It premiered as an episode of ''Comedy Playhouse'' on 4 January 1973, and the first seri ...
'',
Peter Sallis Peter John Sallis (1 February 1921 – 2 June 2017) was an English actor. He was the original voice of Wallace in the Academy Award-winning '' Wallace & Gromit'' films and played Norman "Cleggy" Clegg in ''Last of the Summer Wine'' from its 1 ...
who played Clegg, and Bill Owen who played Compo, are buried at the parish church. According to Streetlist.co.uk, Upperthong is equidistant from the cities of
Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...
,
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 ...
and
Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
, 19.1 miles (30.8 km) away."Pennine Close, Upperthong, Holmfirth, HD9 3EY Streetlist.co.uk"
/ref>


References


External links

*
Official parish council site



Upperthong website

St John's Parish Church
{{authority control Villages in West Yorkshire Towns and villages of the Peak District Former civil parishes in West Yorkshire Geography of Kirklees Holme Valley