Women take valley seats in Hebden Bridge, Todmorden, Mytholmroyd, Sowerby Bridge and Elland. Conservatives win Luddenden Foot, covering Mytholmroyd, with Jill Smith-Moorhouse, beating Labour by 17 votes! More election results.

John the Barber, and artist: a video portrait

HEBWEB LOCAL ELECTION HUSTINGS: we invited local candidates to tell us why we should vote for them. We have received four responses from Calder candidates (Hebden Bridge) and two responses from Luddenden Foot (Mytholmroyd) - read them here.

Town Hall Job Vacancy: Events Coordinator needed to focus on growing the Town Hall's wedding and events business. Read more. (14 May)

Hole in the Wall plans withdrawn. Calderdale councillor Dave Young has this afternoon told the HebWeb that the planning application is now showing as 'withdrawn'. See Planning Watch and Forum (4 June)

Labour win contested Hebden Royd Town Council bye-election. Results details.

Wainsgate Concert: Thursday 29 May saw the welcome return of The Outside Track - "one of the top Celtic acts in the world." Read more

Vacancy for Councillors by co-option: No poll has been claimed within the advertised period and as such these posts will now be filled by the Town Council by co-option. Read more

Blues Festival: Organisers Jason Elliott and Paddy Maguire have told the HebWeb that this year's festival will be the last but they are going out with a bang, starting this week. Read more (19 May)

Hebden Bridge Picture House Vacancy: Hebden Royd Town Council is seeking to recruit a marketing officer for the Picture House, to work 9 hours per week. Read more. (14 May)

Arts festival shorts plays announced: six plays have been selected for the Festival Shorts season showcasing local talent. Read more (12 May)

Wadsworth Boundary walk will take place on Sunday, 1st June. The walk goes through spectacular scenery, including the wooded valleys of Hardcastle Crags and the moors above the Luddenden Valley. Read more

A and E closure: Huddesfield Examiner report that proposals will be delayed following objections and pressure, especially from Calderdale MBC. Read story (11 May)

Fox and Goose launch Beer Festival at end of May: 40 festival beers and ciders on offer from a range of real ale breweries. Read more

Above, Stoodley Pike bicentenary: More photos

Local bands headline Trades birthday bash: Local bands have rallied round to celebrate the Trades Club's 90th birthday at a special free open air street party on Saturday 3rd May. Read more

Tour de France timings now confirmed

May Local elections: Five candidates are competing in the Calder Ward which covers Hebden Bridge and four candidates are standing in the Luddenden Foot Ward which covers Mytholmroyd. Read more

The Tiger Lillies will be sale this weekend in the Town Hall - a one off show at Hebden Bridge Arts Festival. Tickets are to be offered to local festival goers first at a pop up on Saturday 3 May. Read more

Craig Whittaker MP makes the case for HS2 and cross Pennine rail investment. See feature

Local elections: campaigner Charlotte Brady goes from fighting cuts to fighting elections in Mytholmroyd. Read more (24 April)

Local and Euro Elections: Local election Day is 22 May this year, to coincide with the European elections. We will have the opportunity to vote for one of three councillors who represent our 'Calder Ward' on Calderdale. Read more

20mph for residential streets: Calderdale is the first West Yorkshire Council set to approve a wide area Total 20mph limit residential road policy. Read more (28 April)

Duck Race 2014: When Hebden Bridge has so many great events, attractions and countryside, just why do hundreds and hundreds of people crowd into the town for the annual Duck Race? Read more. And see photo gallery

"Happy Valley: The dark side of Hebden Bridge" - article in Yorkshire Post. "The idea came to me after I watched Shed Your Tears and Walk Away", says writer Sally Wainwright. (2 May)

Lift at station: the HebWeb has learned that Hebden Bridge has been selected as 1 of 3 stations in Yorkshire to get Access for All funding. Should mean, finally, a new lift! See announcement

Fantastical Cycle Parade in Tod on Saturday, 26 April. See gallery from Craig Shaw. Crazy wheeled contraptions, a good many of them pedalled by people from Hebden Bridge. See also: this YouTube video and a report from ITV.

Pace Egg Madness 2014
This year, with sunshine - more photos

Pace Egg 2014 - More info about the Heptonstall and Calder High Pace Egg performances this Good Friday.

A and E closure: Calderdale councillors, in an extraordinary meeting on Weds 16 April, united in passing a motion asking NHS Trust to withdraw hospital proposals to close Halifax A and E. Read more (17 April)

Minibus Review - see HebWeb Forum

Dancing for joy – as Fox and Goose becomes West Yorkshire's first co-op pub! Read more and see video.

Hebden Royd Big Spring Clean: 29-30 March with community groups from across Hebden Royd. Read more

A and E closure: On Monday, Josh Fenton-Glynn, prospective Labour candidate walked the 20 miles from Todmorden to Huddersfield A and E to highlight the distances local people will have to travel if the closure at Halifax goes ahead. (24 March)

Fox and Goose buyout completed. It is now officially West Yorkshire's first Co-operative pub and it re-opens, Saturday 22 March. Read more about the background to the sale

A day in the life of Hebden Bridge's horse bench. Photographer Steve Morgan has produced a time lapse video to capture "a day in the life of" the bench. More info and see video

Hebden Bridge Business Forum was launched yesterday when over thirty people came to the meeting in the Town Hall. Read more (14 March)

Todmorden Curve, no trains till December? Labour's shadow rail minister Lilian Greenwood today raised in Parliament the ongoing debacle of the lack of available trains to run on the Todmorden Curve. (13 March)

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 (11 March)

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

Calderdale Hospital A and E closure: public meeting launches Action Group and Liberal Democrats call on NHS bosses to explain. Labour's Josh Fenton-Glynn told the HebWeb that people in Hebden Bridge and Todmorden would be dangerously distant from an accident department. Read more - updated 5 March

See our feature on MP Craig Whittaker for his reaction to the proposed closure.

E-petition - over 6000 have signed.

Parking charges at station. The Yorkshire Post (25 Feb) reports that the the Dept. for Transport is seeking car parking charges at 18 stations in West Yorkshire, including Hebden Bridge and Todmorden.

Prime Minister challenged on flood relief funding for Calderdale. Labour council leader Tim Swift has written to the Prime Minister asking for a fair flood relief funding deal for Calderdale. More info and links to HebWeb coverage of 2012 floods

Caldervale Line electrification - not any time soon - in spite of £600 million being earmarked for northern rail improvements. Read more and see Forum thread

10th anniversary of Car Club: Hour Car, is going from strength to strength with 65 members and 5 cars, including an electric vehicle. Read more.

Hole in the Wall for sale again. Following the recent successful campaign against closing the cobbled route outside this former pub, the owners have put it on the market for £390,000 - see details

2014 Parade: This year's Handmade Parade will take place on 8 June with organisers hoping to build on the success of last year's record-breaking event. Read more. (14 Jan)

HebWeb Review of 2013 - a year when it was announced that the Tour de France will pass through our town, co-ops were formed to run the Fox and Goose and Valley Organics, the Bernard Ingham column in the local paper was ended by popular protest, Burlesque was banned, a swimming pool promised, the Arts excelled yet again and Hebden Bridge was still the "coolest place to live." Read more

Calderdale A&E Closure threat: Parliamentary adjournment debate initiated by Halifax MP Linda Riordan and joined by Calder Valley MP Craig Whittaker and Jane Ellison for the Government. (13 Dec)

The former Mytholm Works: Calderdale Planning Committee has approved plans for a supermarket and hotel. See Forum thread

Small Ads: "Ad posted Monday (11th Nov), lease to be signed Saturday and tenant moving in Sunday. Thanks HebWeb."

"Unbelievable result Hebweb. So many enquiries in response to the small ad on your site and now have lovely new tenants. What a success - Thank you Hebweb." Message received 6 May.

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

Whose land is it anyway? Sheila Graham described how parliamentary enclosure shaped the landscape of the Calder Valley to the Local History Group. Read more

Three Vacancies for Town Councillors have arisen following the resignation of Cllrs Nader Fekri, James Baker and John Beacroft Mitchell. More info about how to seek election, and elections in May.

Why Co-op's still matter, a Yorkshire Post article which features Hebden Bridge's own Valley Organics - takings up a quarter and employment of more people since it became a workers' co-op last year. Read more (10 April)

Historian Jill Liddington, who lives above Hebden Bridge, spoke on BBC Radio 4 today about the boycott of the 1911 census by suffragettes. Listen now (8mins). More info about Jill's book on the 1911 census. (3 April)

Keep the hospital and A&E in Halifax, say Lib Dems. Calderdale Royal Hospital should stay open with all its services. Janet Battye told us, "Weeks after the so-called Strategic Review Outline Case was published, there is still no news." Read more (2 April)

French elections - updated to include second round results from our twin town, St Pol sur Ternoise. Read more (2 April)

Hebden Bridge Town Hall job vacancies - energetic, hardworking and fun people sought to to join the staff team. More info (31 March)

Hebden Bridge new 2014 Tourism Guide featuring this year's festivals and the Tour de France, has just been published and can be downloaded here

Choirs from across Europe share skills, ideas and a concert with the Hepton Singers at Heptonstall on 6 April. More info (27 March)

Holme Tunnel reopens: trains between Burnley and Hebden Bridge on the York-Blackpool line, should be operational once again today Monday, 24 March. See BBC report

Kerbside Lives On: After it was put out of operation by SITA, it still had some surplus funds, the Kerbside Fund, to provide work and training for the long term unemployed whilst recycling almost anything. Read more (22 March)

National Rat Week was one of the annual events described by Ian Dewhirst in his talk to the Local History Group on Yorkshire Life between the Wars. Read more (20 March)

Calderdale Hospital A and E closure - Lib Dems call on NHS bosses to explain their plans and carry out a full consultation with local people about the proposals. (12 March)

Local History Talk: Industrialisation and the Calder Valley Dr Stephen Caunce described how the extraordinary way in which previously obscure communities of our area changed the world as the birthplace of industrialisation in the 18th and 19th centuries. Read more. (3 March)

Floods petition: calling upon the Government to extend grant offers to areas such as Hebden Bridge who were so badly affected in 2012

Sainsbury's Plans: Over 500 comments were received opposing the development with just 4 comments in favour. See our earlier news item for more info and forum thread (2 March)

Street Choirs Festival returns to Hebden Bridge. Hosted by Calder Valley Voices who are looking for people to host a singer or two for the two nights. Read more (23 Jan)

Todmorden Curve: delays to new services in spite of MP's assurances. Read more

Woman's Hour: Chris Green, director of the Mytholmroyd based White Ribbon Campaign discusses men and violence, and feminism, during the first few minutes of this R4 programme (14 Jan)

Old Gate: concern continues about the demolition of buildings on Old Gate, following a recent landslip. See discussion. And see photo

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

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.

HebWeb archive: quickly view HebWeb home pages of the past few years.

Small ads: "We've successfully rented our house. Thanks for an excellent service - I'll heartily recommend Hebweb, as our house was previously listed through an estate agent who didn't manage to get us a tenant in 3 months - through Hebweb we had 4 prospective tenants within a week." (4 Jan)

Five hundred words on Hebden Bridge - "Everything in the house was heated by the fire, all the old terraced houses used coal for heat and cooking back then, the valley had a serious smog problem." Read more from Dave Bridges' 500 words.

Jason Elliott's 500 Faces of Hebden Bridge

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

CYCLING UP THE BUTTRESS: the hardest and steepest 350 metre climb out of Hebden Bridge took place Saturday 7th September. More photos and News item. And now the YouTube video

Small Ads - "We placed a job ad on the Hebweb recently, intending to keep it there for 2 weeks, but we had to take it down after 3 days due to the huge response generated"