Upperthong is a village approximately above sea level, near the town of

Holmfirth Holmfirth is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England, on the A635 and A6024 in the Holme Valley, at the confluence of the River Holme and Ribble, south of Huddersfield and west of Barnsley. It mostly cons ...

Holme Valley Holme Valley 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 administrative centre is in ...

, approximately south of

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district 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 confluence into t ...

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 exis ...

, England.

History

The name Upperthong may derive from Old English 'uferra' (upper) + ' thwang' (narrow strip

f land F, or f, is the sixth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounced ), and the plural is ''efs''. Hist ...

; since there is also a

Netherthong Netherthong is a village in the civil parish of Holme Valley, and the metropolitan borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. The village is near the town of Holmfirth, and on the B6107 road to Meltham from the main A6024 Woodhead Road thr ...

, 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, Southern Schleswig, Sweden, Finland, Norway, the Bishopric of Ösel–Wiek, ...

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 ...

, and in the ancient ecclesiastical parish of Almondbury, but was transferred to the Holmfirth civil parish in 1921. For census purposes, the village is in the Holme Valley Parish, which at the 2011 census had a population of 27,146. In 2005, Kirklees Council stated that the population of Upperthong was 1,116; by 2019, the figure was 1,938.

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. T ...

constituency, which has been represented by Jason McCartney of the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

since the 2019 general election. The constituency was previously represented by

Thelma Walker Thelma Doris Walker (born 7 April 1957) is a British politician, formerly the Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP) for Colne Valley from 2017 to 2019. Before her political career, she worked as a teacher for 34 years and later as an independ ...

of the Labour Party. 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 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) is the national cycling route network of the United Kingdom, which was established to encourage cycling and walking throughout Britain, as well as for the purposes of bicycle touring. It was created by the cha ...

– the

Pennine Cycleway The Pennine Cycleway is a Sustrans-sponsored route in the Pennines range in northern England, an area often called the "Vertebral column, backbone of England". The route passes through the counties of Derbyshire, West Yorkshire, Lancashire, Nort ...

. 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, four and a half miles south-west of Huddersfield on the edge of the Peak District ...

. Upperthong has a cricket team in the

Huddersfield Cricket League The Huddersfield Cricket 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 district a ...

, and a football team who play in Division 4 of the Huddersfield and District Association League. The village holds the World

Welly Wanging Welly throwing, also known as welly hoying, welly wanging and boot throwing, is a sport in which competitors are required to throw a Wellington boot as far as possible. The sport appears to have originated in the West Country of England in the 1 ...

Championships each year at the Village Gala on the last weekend in June. Two actors from the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

comedy ''

Last of the Summer Wine ''Last of the Summer Wine'' is a British sitcom 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 series of episodes fo ...

'',

Peter Sallis Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

, 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 status in the United Kingdom, city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the thi ...

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, 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 Historic counties o ...

and

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

, 19.1 miles (30.8 km) away."Pennine Close, Upperthong, Holmfirth, HD9 3EY Streetlist.co.uk"
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References

External links

*
Official parish council site

Upperthong website

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