May Election candidates: The HebWeb has invited candidates to post messages on the HebWeb saying why we should vote for them. So far, we had received response from Jenny Shepherd, the Green Party candidate, Cllr Janet Battye, the Liberal Democrat candidate and Josh Fenton-Glynn, the Labour Party candidate Read more updated 29 April

Shape the future of the Valley Road Town Centre site Now that Sainsburys will not be building their store, there is a consultation about the future of the land. Post your views online about the development of the wider area around the old Fire Station premises. Read more

Zeitgeist Hair: job vacancy: The Zeitgeist team is growing and we're on the hunt for two new team members.

Retired Head walks to Italy. Roger Gill, 69, is walking 1,200 miles from Hebden Bridge to Italy. Read the article in the Yorkshire Post 21 April

May Elections - on 5 May, we'll have the opportunity to elect a Calderdale councillor for each ward, and the Police and Crime Commissioner for West Yorkshire. List of candidates and more info.

Hebden Bridge Community Association seeks new Chair. Amonst other things, the Association owns and manages the Town Hall, one of the first community-owned town halls in the country. Read more 18 April

Order your Hanging Baskets! Each year over 300 baskets and flowers are put up across Hebden Bridge and Mytholmroyd. In an effort to support local businesses, this year Hebden Royd Town Council are pricing the baskets at just £23.50 each. Read more 7 April

Floods Meeting Report - report of Monday's public meeting, called by the Hebden Bridge Partnership. 7 April

Early April, on the tops
Photo from Mick Ryan - click to enlarge

Hospital Cuts Consultation: Town Hall from 2-8 on Tuesday 5th April. Save our A&Es campaigners recommend people hold off on responding to the hospital cuts consultation survey until more information is available. Read more 4 April

Trouser Town in Happy Valley - scroll down to see the item on Hebden Bridge in The Observer. "The picturesque town of Hebden Bridge was once better known for producing menswear than providing the set for Happy Valley. 3 April

Picture House fully open from Friday, 25 March. 3 months after the December floods, stalls seating and disabled access will reopen on Friday 25th March.

Fighting back after the winter floods: BBC news item includes report of Ian McMillan re-opening The Book Case. 26 March

Save Our A&E campaign: 'two towns, one fight' A&E's campaigners in Calderdale and Huddersfield deride consultation as 'meaningless' Read more 15 March

Duck Island saved as Hebden Water dredged: Today Jos Wattam, who is managing the dredging by the Environment Agency of Hebden Water gave a reassurance that the Duck Island would be preserved Read more 11 March

After the floods: Work begins on dredging canal in Hebden Bridge and Mytholmroyd - see Yorkshire Post article 9 March

NHS Bill: Craig Whittaker won't attend the debate or vote for the Bill - There is growing support among political groups in our area for a Parliamentary Bill which aims to fully restore the NHS as a publicly owned service and to reverse 25 years of privatisation. Read more 8 March

After the floods: Hebden Bridge Partnership has called for more transparency in the way the Environment Agency and Calderdale plan flood resilience schemes. Read more 28 Feb

Mental Health Jobs axed in Calderdale: Users of a NHS Art Psychotherapy service in Calderdale are fighting to save it from closure after the therapists were given compulsory redundancy notices over the Christmas period. Read story 23 Feb

Hebden Bridge Group Practice wins Pride in Practice award: The staff at Hebden Bridge Group Practice had the award presented to them by Laurence Webb and Dale Maskell from LGBT Foundation for delivering fully inclusive health care services to their patients. Read story 19 Feb

Scout Road landslide: work to start soon - Work to enable the road and school to reopen and residents to return home at flood-affected Scout Road, Mytholmroyd, moved a step closer as Calderdale approved up to £400,000 of funding. Read more 17 Feb

Hebden Bridge reservoirs to be considered for floodwater storage. See BBC report

Calder Valley CND demonstrate against Trident on Thursday, 11 February 2016. Read more

Waites to remain closed. The announcement was made today on their Facebook page. A decision has yet to be made about the Mytholmroyd shop.

Insurance for businesses hit by floods. See this Look North snippet from Wednesday, 9 February 2016.

After the floods: at The Deli on Market Street, Hebden Bridge, these posters were uncovered during refurbishment. They all seem to date from May 1882 - photo thanks to After Alice Project. Click photo to enlarge. 5 Feb

Hebden Bridge Market wins Best Small Outdoor Market award:
Hebden Bridge Market has been crowned one of Britain's best markets in a prestigious national competition. Read more 3 Feb

BBC's The One Show - came live from Hebden Bridge, Tuesday evening (2 Feb).

Books for Schools success: Di Seymour and Michael Prior had little idea when they asked children's bookø publishers for help restocking flooded schools just how many they would get. A couple of hundred? They've now received more than 2500. Read more 1 Feb

Record buyers save local music shop: Record buyers from across the north converged on a one off record fair in Hebden Bridge raising £5000 to save Muse Music that was facing closure after the devastating Boxing Day flood. Read more. 26 Jan

Above - Floods Public Meeting: Causes And Solutions, 21st Jan, Birchcliffe Centre. Follow the discussion on the HebWeb Forum
Photo: Geoff Tansey

Hebden Bridge is Open for Business - see video of shopkeepers, café owners and more, filmed by Jason Elliott on Monday, 18 January, telling us they are back open for business.

Books for flooded schools: National publishers of children's books have responded to an appeal for books for our flooded schools. Hundreds of new books will be delivered to local schools over the next week. Read more. 17 Jan

 

Guardian article: "When we opened the (Town Hall) doors on the 27th we just weren't expecting the sheer volume of people wanting to volunteer. We thought maybe we'd be able to provide hot drinks and somewhere for people to charge their phones… it soon became apparent that it was going to be much, much bigger than that." Read full article 11 Jan

The Guardian used this photo from Craig Shaw for the above article - see more of Craig's photos of the floods aftermath and cleanup

The Impact of the Boxing Day Floods on Hebden Bridge's Economy: the Hebden Bridge Partnership have produced a report seeking to raise the profile of Hebden Bridge in the clamour for flood funds, showing that 80% of town centre shops, cafes, pubs, services were hit by the flood. More info and link to report

No Parking charges for the rest of the month All pay and display charges in Council car parks and on-street parking will be lifted until the end of the month to help alleviate pressure for residents and businesses in floodhit areas. Read more 7 Jan

Support for flood-hit businesses: A grant of up to £2,500 per business is available to help them open up and start trading again. Read more 6 Jan

Crowdfunding for Flooded Businesses: if you are involved you stand to share in the funds collected. Each Business will get an equal share. Read more 6 Jan

Flood Recovery: Public Meeting: The Hebden Bridge Partnership has called this meeting jointly with the Town Council and the Business Forum - Sat. 16 Jan. Separate meeting on flooding causes & solutions Thurs, 21 Jan. Read more

THE FLOODS - AFTERMATH.
Funding for residents and businesses, Army on the streets; video of Town Hall hub co-ordinating support; businesses needs support; help from Halifax mosque; George Monbiot - "warnings disregarded"; message of support from twin town, and more. News and photos updated 3 Jan

Flooding the Picture House with films. Hebden Bridge and Mythlomroyd Arts Festival have joined forces to host a special screening of three short films reflecting on the Boxing Day floods that devastated both towns. Read more 21 April

After the floods: Rotary Clubs offer support to community groups. They want local community groups who were affected by the floods to get in touch, as they have some funds available. Read more 19 April

Last Night A Venue Saved My Life. One local resident Nick Rice's personal account of the Boxing Day flood, and ending up at the Trades Club. Published this week in the award winning music magazine Clash Magazine. "There's no food, heat or water at home and I'm caked from head to toe in toxic slurry after attempting to clean up." Read the article. 15 April

Alternative Christmas Day update: latest information about all the events planned for 25 June. Snow machines, Christmas trees, Fair for Youth, Mytholmroyd Gala, lunch for hundreds of flood volunteers and helpers. Read more 14 April

Neighbourhood Plan - the next stage. Have your say in the next phase of development of the Hebden Royd and Hill Top Parishes Neighbourhood Plan. Details of meetings. Read more 12 April

Labour say no to more Academies - Calderdale Labour councillors are joining forces with Halifax MP Holly Lynch to campaign against the Government's plans to force every school to become an Academy. Read more 12 April

Wainsgate Chapel Concerts: Cardboard Fox The Wainsgate Chapel 2016 concert seasons begins on Sunday 17 April. Winners of the 2015 Spiral Earth Award for Best Debut, Cardboard Fox are an exciting new four piece with a fast growing fan base. Read more 10 April

Arabic cooking class with asylum seekers on Saturday 16 April. See What's on

Dredging the river near Riverside School.
Photo: Geoff Tansey, 7 April

Economic Impact of the Boxing Day Floods: An economic impact report on flooding in Calderdale is due for publication early this coming week, and it focuses on the impact the floods have had on local businesses. Read more 3 April

From Steve Farrell, now living in Mysore, India: "As someone who lives abroad, the Hebweb site has always been critical for keeping in touch 'back home' in Hebden. I've just needed to re-advertise my home for rent, so where to turn to? The Hebweb, of course. The Ad was up within minutes and there were 10 enquiries within 24 hours. Superb!" See Small Ads. 1 April

Mytholmroyd Arts Festival presents premiere of short film Calder. Film-maker Paula Sutherland says, "The receding flood waters truly revealed the remarkable character of this community. We were astonished by the strength of connection that moved people to set aside their own troubles and extend help and support to others." Read more 30 March

Above: Tosspot gets a kiss
More Pace Egg photos.

Pace Egg Play 2016. Hundreds turned out for the Heptonstall Pace Egg play in the Good Friday sunshine. More photos. £1144.94 was raised which will shared between Calderdale's Flood Relief Fund and the East African Playgrounds project.

The floods: taking stock three months on: Public Meeting, called by Hebden Bridge Partnership on Monday, 4 April 2016. See What's on

2016 Hebden Bridge Tourist leaflet.
More info here

Calderdale Conscientious Objectors in the First World War: John Rhodes told the Local History Society about what happened to those who opposed the war and those who sought exemption from military service on grounds of conscience. Read more 23 March

Re-opening the Co-op in Hebden Bridge. Keith Crabtree, flood warden, cuts the ribbon. Photo thanks to Craig Shaw 18 March

Budget: Calder Valley Flood Defences. The Chancellor has allocated £35 million to the Calder Valley for flood defences. See this short clip from Look North. 16 March

Schools' spokeperson slams Academy proposals: local schools will "be forced to join bureaucratic and undemocratic Academy chains, accountable to unelected sponsors and to civil servants in Whitehall." Read more 16 March

A Real Junk Food Café is coming to Hebden Bridge: a 'pay-as-you-feel' Café, opening in April, will work with local food producers and retailers, using products that would otherwise go to waste, turning them into healthy, nutritious meals. Read more 10 March

Hebden Bridge Parnership seeks new Chair, to take over from our current Chair, Bob Deacon - details here 10 March

After the floods: Deadline lifted for funding to protect your home or business. Read more 9 March

Waites not re-opening: we reported a month ago that the Hebden Bridge shop would remain closed. An announcement on Waites' Facebook page says that the Mytholmroyd shop will not re-open either.

Funding boost for festivals: Calderdale Council is offering grants of up to £5000 for local voluntary and community groups organising festivals or events after the Boxing Day floods. Read more 3 March

Calderdale Budget: Council Tax rise and a flood recovery and resilience fund worth £3 million. More details 2 March

The Manchester and Leeds Railway: 175th Anniversary - 1st March 2016. Read story (PDF) from Friends of Hebden Bridge Station.

After the floods: Overgate Hospice shop in Crown Street is re-opened on Thursday, 10 March at 11am.

Flood Fundraising Writing Competition: The Watermarks Writing Competition (on the theme of water) has been organised by Bluemoose Books, Helen Meller of Hebden Bridge Arts Festival and Anna Turner. Read more and how to enter 25 Feb

Craig says yes to Europe: Calder Valley MP Craig Whittaker has said on his website that he will be voting to stay in the European Union. 24 Feb

Job Vacancy: one / two casual duty managers at Hebden Bridge Picture House. Click here for full details about the position and how to apply. 22 Feb

After the Floods: Progress at the Picture House. The waters claimed all of the stalls seating and wrecked the basement boiler room, and damages the under-stage area, toilets, foyer and kiosk. However, the flooding has provided some great opportunities. Read more

House of Commons - adjournment motion on flood insurance for business, where Craig Whittaker, MP for Calder Valley, took an active part. Read Hansard report of yesterday's discussion. 9 Feb

Ghost houses of Hebden Bridge. Can they be brought back to life? Public meeting and consultation being held at the Town Hall to discuss resurrection of the High Street, once crowded with early nineteenth century terraced houses. Read more 7 Feb

Support still needed by scores of Hebden Bridge businesses. People are urged to donate to the various crowdfunding sites. The appeals end soon. Read more 1 Feb

Liz and The White Swan is a short video of how the Boxing Day floods affected The White Swan. Interviewed by Jason Elliott, Liz tells what the Boxing Day floods did to her pub.

Environment Secretary Liz Truss promises flood prevention measures. It has been announced that new flood defences will be built in Mytholmroyd and possibly Hebden Bridge and a new flood prevention plan for the whole Calder Valley will be drawn up, and work started in October 2016. Read more

BBC Look North reports on the floods in Hebden Bridge and Mytholmroyd, one month on.

The Floods in Mytholmroyd. A selection of remarkable video footage from Raphael Pavel. Click here to see.

Council announces fund to prevent future flood damage: Up to £5,000 can be claimed for work that will help to protect buildings against future flooding. Read more 11 Jan

Funding for residents affected by flooding: The Council is providing grant funding to support residents affected by flooding with a £500 hardship payment to householders who have been severely affected. Read more 6 Jan

The real story of the Calder Valley floods: restored communities and faith in humanity - Eight days on from the devastating Boxing Day floods that swamped Calder Valley, the real story is that people came together and have been magnificently supported by a wide range of groups from all backgrounds, some of whom have travelled long distances to help. 3 Jan

Flood disruptions latest: FAQs on what schools are opening; road closures; volunteering, donating, insurance and more. Updated 6 Jan

Sainsburys' latest court action thrown out. See court ruling here. The High Court has dismissed Eshton Gregory's/ Sainsbury's judicial review challenge to the Planning Inspector's refusal to grant an appeal to Calderdale Council's refusal of planning permission 30 Dec

See HebWeb Forum thread for floods discussion.

FLOODED AGAIN!  More video added.
Worse than 2012 - see our news page with more photos and info. Offers of help are being co-ordinated by the Calder Valley Flood Support Facebook group. At least two Sunday papers have Mytholmroyd on their front page. Read and see more 26 Dec

'Calder Valley under water: Sacrificed to indifference and political ideology': an open letter from Calderdale Friends of the Earth to Craig Whittaker MP challenges the actions, inaction and political ideology that contributed to the floods. Read letter 27 Dec

Sunday 27th: Picture House is appealing for people to help. Bring a headtorch as no electricity. Free gas check offer. See our flood news page

Flood Sirens went off at 9.30pm Christmas Day in Hebden Bridge and again throughout the length of the Upper Valley at 7.30am Boxing Day morning. Updates can be found on the Calder Valley Flood Support Facebook group. An Environment Agency flood warning is in force. Main roads remain closed, Boxing Day, 8.30pm.

Hydro-power scheme in Hebden Bridge: Situated in the Colden Valley, Jane and Bede Mullin's Water Turbine installation will produce enough power for 40 houses. However, recent cuts in government subsidies for renewable energy means that similar projects in the future would no longer be economic. Read more. Updated 20 Dec

Arriva awarded Calder Valley rail franchise with the promised of the phasing out of Pacer trains, new services and routes, better stations, smart ticketing, free wifi and air-conditioned carriages. The new franchise has been welcomed by the Sustainable Transport Group. Read more. 9 Dec See Forum message

Gibson Mill celebrates 10 years, OffTheGrid - not connected to the National Grid, all energy comes from wood, sun and water, and all waste is recycled. More info here

Fair for Youth: how it changed me. A personal account by Alex Kostyakov of his involvement with Fair for Youth, now that he has stood down as its Chair. Read more 26 Oct

HebWeb Quirky Small Ads:
As well as services, and houses and homes offered and wanted, recent ads have included Jewellery workshop, bycycle maintenance classes, English, French, Italian, Spanish and Voice tuition, Hawaiian massage and Mindfulness. See our Small ads page.

The big clear up began in earnest yesterday (27th) with hundreds of helpers all over town. Photo of Market Street: Sara Robinson.

Carols in the Square: Our town square was overflowing on all sides as hundreds congregated for the annual Christmas Eve carol singing.

Flood siren went off in Hebden Bridge just before 4pm, Sat 12 Dec. Road and rail problems reported along the valley. See Facebook group, Calder Valley Flood Support for latest info. Market Street was flooded again but was clear later in the evening.

"Many thanks Hebweb, the Small Ad asking for Volunteers to cook and help at Wadsworth Lunch Club has already had success. We now have someone coming to help cook. We'd still welcome a washer up, and occasional helpers please."

Camera Club Annual Exhibition winning pictures: visitors were asked to vote for their 3 favourite images in order of merit. Read more and see the 3 winning photos.

Guardian Northerner: What the UK can learn from Hebden Bridge? The BBC's Mind the Gap asks how London's success can be replicated elsewhere: Claire Donnelly argues that our small town could have the answer. Read more

Hebden Bridge, the UK's second city, BBC article by Evan Davis. "Hebden Bridge is an inverted city with a greenbelt centre and suburbs called Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool." Read the article

Small Ads - I just wanted to let you know that through my small ad on your site I found my ideal new home, meeting all my requirements. Thank you very much for such a great resource

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HebWeb also available on the slightly shorter hebdenbridge.uk as well as hebdenbridge.co.uk

Hebden Bridge: more plaudits - Last year's Valley of Lights won APSE's best community and neighbourhood initiative, and the Old Gate pub restaurant is Yorkshire Post's "Pub of the Week".

Britain's favourite market town? Hebden Bridge has been shortlisted in the 'Britain's favourite market town' category in the BBC Countryfile Magazine Awards 2013. Read more

HebWeb uses Google ads to help cover its costs and they vary for each user. This has worked well for many years. However, please let us know the url of any ad thought to be inappropriate. If we agree, the ad will be blocked.

Guardian Northerner: Hebden Bridge the UK's coolest place? The Yorkshire Paradise has won its fourth accolade in a decade. Born, brought up and living here, Rachel Pickering is loyal, but has one or two cautionary thoughts.

Small Ads - "I am very pleased to say the response was terrific and both properties are now let." (Less than a week)

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