Hebden Bridge(s)

The original, narrow packhorse bridge spanning Hebden Water, dating back to the 1500s, still stands in Hebden Bridge town centre. Packhorses used to have to make the arduous journey to and from the weaving village of Heptonstall high on the hill top, taking cloth to the market in Halifax.

A little further up Hebden Water is a newer road bridge, with attractive views up and down stream.

After our dry spring, the water is very low and it all looks quite innocuous. The town sits at the junction of Hebden Water with the River Calder, its watery geography further complicated by the Rochdale Canal that runs through town alongside the Calder. When it rains the rivers rise quickly, fed by run off from the high moorland all around. There have been several devastating floods, notably in 2015. Locals anxiously watch the rising of the water up the curved steps by the old bridge (see my second photo)  as they give a quick indication of how bad things are getting! 

The greatest town in Europe?

To celebrate my recent birthday, I went over to see my family for the first time since early March. As I've mentioned before, they live in Hebden Bridge, a bustling town in the Calder Valley, over the moors from Saltaire. It's a funky little town, attracting a lot of creative people, and the town centre reflects that, with masses of small independent shops. (The Co-op supermarket is probably the only chain store in town). It's a bit of a tourist hotspot too, given its history and quirkiness, so the town centre is usually heaving with people. I often drive straight through to my daughter's home on the far side of town.

It was, however, the summer solstice and I'd hoped to catch some sunset shots on the drive home. Sadly, too much cloud meant that aim was frustrated but I did have an evening wander around the town. It was much quieter than usual - a combination, I suppose, of the relatively late hour and the lockdown keeping people at home. It lacked the usual bustling atmosphere but at least you can see the buildings in my photos!

Hebden Bridge has been called 'the greatest town in Europe'. (See HERE) I wouldn't rate it that highly but it's certainly a lovely place to live and well worth a visit to explore.

The steep-sided valley is prone to flooding and the earliest settlements were all up on the hilltops. The town itself, originally just a tiny settlement around a river crossing, grew in the 19th century when weaving mills developed, making use of the area's abundant water power. Most of the buildings date from that time and the town rises dramatically up the surrounding hillsides, making use of every scrap of available land. 

This is an interesting building, called Machpelah (a Biblical reference to the cave used as a burial place by Abraham in Genesis) apparently because the land was originally bought by a Baptist minister as his burial site. These cottages appear to date from the early 1800s. Some of the windows have 'blue plaques' that tell who lived or worked here at various dates in their history. From the rows of windows in the gable, I would imagine that part of it was a weaving workshop. Prior to the growth of mills in the Industrial Revolution, weaving was a cottage industry. Many buildings in this area have multiple windows in the upper storeys to let light into the workshops.

Garden centre delights

Last Saturday, when I was over at my daughter's, I took my youngest granddaughter out for a few hours, to allow her mum a few hours of peace with the poorly older one. As it was raining quite heavily, we went to a local garden centre, a huge place full of many things to entertain and delight a three year old. It had trolleys designed as cars that the child could 'drive', so we had an entertaining time walking up and down the aisles with one of those. Once that palled, we explored the tropical fish section and were both hugely amused by the fancy goldfish. They had such funny faces.  There was aisle after aisle of statues, ornaments and toys for kids, dogs and cats, as well as all the actual plants. M was deeply interested in the stone chips used for mulch on some of the big pots. They came in different colours and varied shapes and she very carefully selected one and then proceeded to carry it round in her fist for the rest of the visit.

Outside in the car park there were a couple of vintage steam vehicles with lots of moving wheels, shiny pistons and a very loud steam whistle! The colourful one in my photo appeared to have been brought from Australia, according to its paintwork.

(Thank you all for the lovely comments yesterday.)