Hebden Royd Big Spring Clean: will take place on the 29-30 March with community groups from across Hebden Royd - each group of 6 people will receive £60 towards their charity or project. Read more (4 March)

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.

Ban The Burn campaigners mop up outside Natural England HQ in Sheffield to deliver a clear message, Don't Fund Flooding as grouse moor owners continue to receive millions in subsidies. Read more.

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. 29 Jan

Medical Records - concerns continue to be expressed on the HebWeb Forum about the privatisation of doctor-patient confidentiality.

Calderdale Plan: Land for development or protection over the next 15 years. You are invited to have your say at a series of public meetings. Read more

Above: outside Something Sweet, the sweetshop in Bridge Gate. The HebWeb has been informed that part owner Bob Leedham has been killed in a motoring accident while holidaying in Thailand. See his Facebook page. (27 Jan)

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

Message in a bottle - from Hebden Bridge. 23 years after Zoe Lemon, then 10 and living in Hebden Bridge, dropped a bottle with message into the sea, it has been found by a Dutch couple in Zealand. Read more (21 Jan)

Tour de France 100 day Cultural Festival: Local communities are encouraged to be part of the Festival. See this HebWeb news item for more info and follow our Tour de France feature page. (16 Jan)

Calderdale plans Council Tax freeze: The budget proposals for the next three financial years will be discussed at a public meeting at Hebden Bridge Town Hall in early February. Read more (15 Jan)

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)

Eastwood Recycling Centre to reopen next week - After major refurbishment, Calderdale and SITA have announced that the Eastwood Recycling Centre will reopen on 20 January 2014.

Cobbles and Packhorse Route Saved as Hebden Royd Town Council voted unanimously this evening to reject plans to close the cobbled area outside the Hole in the Wall. HebWeb report (8 Jan)

Packhorse route closure: Open Spaces Society, Britain's oldest national conservation body, objects to closure of cobbled highway in Hebden Bridge. See news item and forum thread.

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

Carols in the Square

Fox and Goose - Pub co-op buy-out deal gets green light. A purchase offer to buy the Fox and Goose pub for the benefit of the community has now been formally accepted. 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)

Hebden Royd Town Council - minutes of meetings covering the past few months now online.

"Hebden Bridge: a hippie idyll scarred by heroin" - an article by local writer and journalist Ben Myers is being prominently flagged on the home page of the New Statesman today. Familiar themes which have been extensively discussed by HebWeb Forum correspondents over the years. (8 Dec)

Tesco's One Stop: Earlier shop sign revealed as the Spar prepares to become a Tesco's One Shop. See FaceBook group

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

The King's Troupe from Hebden Bridge to perform Troilus and Cressida as part of the RSC's Open Stages project. Read more (3 Dec)

Don't close A&E - Liberal Democrats add their voice to ensure continued, safe and appropriate access to 24-hour urgent and emergency care within Calderdale. Read more. (28 Nov)

Recycling: Calderdale No 1 in Yorkshire and in Top 10 for England. Calderdale Council has leapt to the top of the charts for household waste recycling for 2012/13. Read more (15 Nov)

The HebWeb was very sad to learn of the death of writer, poet and artist Ian Emberson aged 77. Ian was a great supporter of local artists, writers and musicians. (14 Nov)

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

Martin Parr photos: this slideshow from the BBC features some of Martin Parr's iconic photos from the Hebden Bridge area, taken in the 1970s. This former HB resident, now a world famous photographer, also narrates.

 

Guardian Northerner: Martin Parr captured a simpler Hebden Bridge. "And he lived in my house". Rachel Pickering wonders what the great photographer would have made of the West Yorkshire town today, after discovering they were linked by her leaky kitchen tap. Read more.

Tale of a Tenner was produced to promote the 'Totally Locally' shop local campaign, showing that if you spend £10 in a shop in Hebden Bridge the amount of money that goes back into the local economy could be over £50!

MORE PHOTOS OF BIGGEST HANDMADE PARADE ever

"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)

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"

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

Fast to end hunger: Labour's Josh Fenton-Glynn to fast as part of 'End Hunger Fast' campaign. "We simply shouldn't have queues of people having to rely on food handouts in modern Britain." Read more (5 March)

Hebden Bridge Picture House Vacancy to provide maternity cover for the post of Picture House Manager (4 March)

HebWeb Forum: hot topics currently include parking charges at the station, mountain biking on footpaths, Sainsburys, medical records and the closure of Calderdale's A & E. (3 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)

Crazy ideas wanted for Handmade Parade spark day: Would you like to see aliens invading St George's Square, Bridge Gate turned into a bug world or Calder Holmes Park becoming a time travel hub? Read more

The Machine that Changed the World was the topic of the latest University of Third Age session, addressed by engineer Barrie Yates. Read our report of the meeting. (25 Feb)

The Grand Departs - How many cyclists does it take to pull a grand piano up Cragg Vale? Read more about this audacious musical and cycling adventure

Bad weather bulletin from Calderdale who say that during bad weather, their teams are continuing to work tirelessly to keep communities safe. (14 Feb)

Police Station building - time is running out. See latest comments from the Hebden Bridge Community Association

Mytholmroyd Station building: After many years and hundreds of ideas for the building, the Station Partnership is hosting an Open meeting to discuss its future. Read more (6 Feb)

New look for Arts Festival: The Festival has a new look thanks to design student Anthony Gibson, pictured above with Board member David Burnop. Read more

CROWS - Fund Raising Benefit with Owter Zeds and Granny's Attic. Read more

Local History Talk: David Cant spoke about his many years studying 17th century fine houses of the Calder Valley and using documentary evidence to uncover stories of craftsmen who worked to design and construct them. Read more. (27 Jan)

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)

Joseph Rowntree research: Support, help and dependency in Hebden Bridge. This report is based on findings from the first phase of a two-year research project in Hebden Bridge. Read more (22 Jan)

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

Newly resurfaced cycle/walking track between Mytholmroyd Station and Brierley. No more ruts, pot holes or muddy puddles

Buses could be more expensive than taxies. See discussion on HebWeb Forum

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)

Living Wage: Hebden Royd Town Council has become a Living Wage Employer. Read more. (14 Jan)

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

Marie Curie Cancer Care is looking for local people to become Volunteer Box Collectors and help to gather in our collecting tins from the Hebden Bridge area. Read more (8 Jan)

Good news for walkers: Hebden Bridge Walkers Action has received funding from West Yorkshire Metro to promote the 901 bus to Huddersfield as a bus for walking. Read more

Morning Star Benefit at the Trades raises £800

Salem Mill Drop-in Centre will help unemployed and those on low income, and will open its doors in the New Year. Read more (3 Jan)

Much of the post-Christmas BBC drama, Death Comes to Pemberley was filmed in Hardcastle Crags. (See HebWeb report from August)

Alice in Wonderland Christmas show - see photos from the show, set in 19th century Calderdale with Alice as a millworker's daughter More info

Capturing the fabric of our area: Residents and crafters from across the South Pennines have created a stunning piece of art which captures the fabric of the area, and is now on view at the Visitors' Centre. Read more (19 Dec)

 

Dog Walkers: Pick up or pay up - A Calderdale resident has been ordered by the Court to pay £1,050 for not cleaning up after his dog in one of the borough's parks. (11 Dec)

NUJ Greenpeace Public Meeting report - Steve Morgan and Paul Morozzo gave a talk on 'Reporting Environmental Protest' - Read more

Northlight Art Studios: Spring Term of Creative courses and new developments at Northlight Art Education. Read more (9 Dec)

Local MP criticises schools, blaming Labour - see the HebWeb Craig Whittaker feature

 

 

Riverside Junior School has a limited number of craft and produce stalls available at its annual Winter Fair on Saturday 30 November. See What's on for more info

Tour de France Education Pack for teachers, community lead­ers and parents of young people aged 7 to 14. Read more (14 Nov)

Vegetation Volunteers are being sought by Calderdale Council and the Environment Agency to help keep the River Calder at Mytholmroyd clear of vegetation. More info (11 Nov)

Holme Tunnel to close for 4 months. A bus service will replace trains between Hebden Bridge and Burnley. See BBC report. (9 Nov)

Craig Whittaker: as energy bills rise, the taxpayer contributes towards MPs' bills. Our MP received £705 towards his bill, on top of a salary of over £66k - see Telegraph article and more HebWeb coverage of Craig Whittaker

Digital Radio coverage set to improve: Hebden Bridge and the Calder Valley are included as places set to benefit from new DAB transmitters to be created over the next 2 years. See Radio Today report

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".

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

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 (3 Sept)

Josh Fenton-Glynn was selected on Saturday 24 June to represent Labour and fight Craig Whittaker at the next General Election. About Josh and Josh's answer's to HebWeb questions.

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. (25 March)

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)