The Nutclough Mill in Hebden Bridge was the home of a daring and visionary venture in industrial production: a worker-run co-operative which ran, at a profit, for almost fifty years and achieved national and international fame. Andrew Bibby, local author and member of the society, spoke to the Society about how this successful model of production was established and about its role in changing and shaping the character of Hebden Bridge. Read more Sat 1 December 2018
With the newly filmed story of Anne Lister about to launch on TV, it was an appropriate time for Hebden Bridge Local History Society to hear something of her story from a long serving volunteer at Shibden Hall whose talking tours bring its most famous resident to life.
Christine Booth spoke with enthusiasm and insight of the woman whose nickname, Gentleman Jack, signified her role as a grudgingly respected outsider in early 19th century Halifax. Read report
Monday, 19 November 2018
This was how Daniel Defoe described what he saw as he passed through the Calder Valley in the early 1700s.
In their talk at Hebden Bridge Local History Society, Sheila Graham and Barbara Hall showed how they had used the wills and probate records of residents to find out more about the people who lived in Halifax at that time.
Roger Frost, former teacher and a writer on local history, spoke to the Local History Society about the area of Cliviger near Burnley, and specifically about the Holme, residence of the Whittaker family. Roger pointed out that the geology of Cliviger, with its layers of limestone erratics, contributed to its wealth, as lime was a valuable commodity in agriculture and construction.
Read more Wednesday, 17 October 2018
Amy Binns, lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire and author of Valley of a Hundred Chapels, asked the audience at Hebden Bridge Local History Society meeting to write down their nominations women they thought of as heroines. There was quite a range.
Read more Wednesday, 3 October 2018
The programme of forthcoming talks is now available from our What's on page, starting Wednesday, 26 September - as usual at the Hebden Bridge Methodist Church at 7.30pm and fortnightly from then onwards.
The first talk with be on Changing times, changing heroines: what happened after the suffragettes? with speaker Amy Binns
The Clothing Industry of Hebden Bridge: selected texts. Edited by Nigel Smith and Diana Monahan. This book contains four unpublished texts on the clothing industry that dominated Hebden Bridge for much of the twentieth century.
See Publications section for more info.
Download Newsletter
Autumn 2018
How to use this site
Use these pages to find information on the Society's own activities, links to local and other historical organisations' sites, and links to useful resources for local history researchers.
What do we do?
We have a programme of fortnightly talks on Wednesday evenings in Hebden Bridge Methodist Church Hall.
The 2018-2019 programme started in September. Our Archive is open to members
History Society Archive and Family History Opening Times.
Come and join us!
There are lots of activities to get involved in as well as the Society's regular programme of events.
Trestle Bridge, Blake Dean c1904
West End Bridge, 1960s
The group runs a popular programme of workshops and drop-in sessions at the Birchcliffe Centre
A major role of folklore is to express the 'common sense' of a community - in other words, the shared rhythms and beliefs and ways of doing things that are accepted and largely followed locally.
For some years now a small group of friends has been exploring the evidence for prehistoric activity in the South Pennines.
What you find in this section are the results of about ten years work - visiting archives, interviewing local residents and digging up new photos.