Our final station in Calderdale serves the town of Todmorden, located on the very western edge of Yorkshire and in fact straddling the historic boundary between Yorkshire and Lancashire, which is formed at this point by Walsden Water, a tributary of the River Calder. The Local Government Act 1888 moved the official boundary, bringing the whole of the town into the West Riding of Yorkshire, and of course today is falls within the Metropolitan and Ceremonial County of West York

Hebden Bridge started life as a settlement based around the old bridge across Hebden Beck (also known as Hebden Water, or the River Hebden). The Hebden part of the town’s name comes from the Anglo-Saxon name “Heopa Denu”, which means bramble valley, whilst the bridge part is self-explanatory and we will cross the eponymous bridge on the walk. Like so many other towns in the West Riding, Hebden Bridge flourished during the Industrial Revolution, with water-powered mills built

The town of Sowerby Bridge started life as a fording point over the River Calder, close to where it is joined by the River Ryburn. More so even than its neighbouring West Riding towns, it expanded during the Industrial Revolution, with water-powered textile mills erected around the bridge and the opening of the Rochdale Canal providing a route for transport by water over the Pennines. As such, most of its oldest buildings date from the nineteenth century rather than earlier.

The minster town of Halifax derives its name from the Old English halh-gefeaxe, meaning “area of coarse grass in the nook of land”, a name that bears little resemblance to the town today. Whilst not mentioned in the Domesday Book, it was probably in existence by the end of the eleventh century and rose to prominence during the fifteenth century as a centre of woollen manufacture. Of course, the Industrial Revolution only bolstered this further, and it became a mill town with

The name Brighouse is derived from Bridge House, a self-explanatory reference to a building close to on or a bridge, and what is now a town was originally a hamlet in the ancient parish of Halifax. Surrounded by Huddersfield to the south, Halifax to the west, Bradford to the north, and Dewsbury to the east, it marks the first stopping point on a journey along the Calder Valley Line that will become progressively more scenic as it heads into the Pennines. Not that Brighouse is

The town of Slaithwaite is located in the Colne Valley, and probably has one of most mispronounced place names in Yorkshire. The town’s...

Batley is recorded in the Domesday Book as Bateleia and is an ancient settlement, although most of its many notable buildings date from...

Dewsbury is a minster and market town on the River Calder, and is mentioned in the Domesday Book as Deusberie, which translates as...

The town of Mirfield forms part of the area’s Heavy Woollen District, having been a centre of the woollen industry from the fourteenth...

The market town of Huddersfield is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees and its largest settlement. It is...

Ilkley is a spa town located on banks of the River Wharfe and the north edge of Ilkley Moor, which is famous as the setting of the song...

The Wharfedale line runs from Bradford Forster Square to Ilkley, via several stations, the first of which are Frizinghall and Shipley,...

Our final stop on the Airedale Line in the City of Bradford is at Steeton & Silsden, which serves both those places but is closer to the...

It is perhaps an exaggeration to say that Keighley lies in the heart of Brontë country (a term used to describe an area of the south...

Bingley is a market town one stop along the line from Saltaire. It has plenty of history and has been around since the time of the...

Located at a three-way junction of railway lines, Shipley is an historic market town located on the northern edge of Bradford. The name...

One of the most striking things a visitor to Bradford might notice is that in stark contrast to many large English cities, it doesn’t...

Guiseley is another town-turned-suburb, although it is still more-or-less surrounded by green belt. It is in the City of Leeds, although...

The market town of Morley may be located in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough, but it has definitely retained its own identity and...

Next along the line from Cross gates is Garforth, a medium-sized town mentioned in the Domesday Book as Gereford and Gereforde (the name...