It's the story of a user named **Omer Barnir** who reported a bug in 2005 on the MySQL [bug report platform](https://bugs.mysql.com/)

But the thing is that Omer never got an answer. 15 years later, the bug has never been fix and people are starting to make fun out of it. We let you take a look at the conversation [here](https://bugs.mysql.com/bug.php?id=11472), it's pretty funny

How a bug on MySQL is becoming a meme on the internet

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A bug is becoming a meme on the internet

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Privacy Policy

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**Membership benefits**  
- Free entry to lectures including access to recordings of those lectures for a short time afterwards (where the lecturer gives consent)
- Free access to the archive when open
- Borrowing rights for the archive (published items only)
- Reduced fees for research enquiries
- Free membership of Family History and other special interest groups
- One newsletter a year with news, lecture information for the season and short articles
- Regular email news on society and local history matters

Membership costs £15. The membership year runs from 1st September to 31 August each year. If you join after the end of the lecture season in April your membership will include the following subscription year. Renewal invitations to existing members are sent out at the end of August each year.

The information you supply is used by us in accordance with the Data Protection legislation to administer your membership of the Society. Our privacy policy is available [here](/pages/privacy-policy) or you can contact the [Membership Secretary](/contacts/membership-secretary). Your personal information will never be passed on to third parties without your consent. 

## Download the membership form:

[Download a membership form](https://res.cloudinary.com/hhdifljso/raw/upload/v1661940918/Email_membership_form_2022_fe8eafeb33.doc)

##  Or pay online:


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Join the Society

**International customers**  
Please note that the shipping prices quoted below are to United Kingdom addresses only. Before ordering, please [contact us](mailto:orders@hebdenbridgehistory.org.uk) for details of shipping costs to addresses outside the United Kingdom.

**UK shipping costs**  
Prices quoted below are for individual books. Shipping costs for multiple books are calculated on checkout.

**Publications Mailing List**  
If you would like to be added to our mailing list so that we can inform you of future publications, [please click here.](/contacts/join-the-mailing-list)

**Your privacy**  
The contact information you supply when buying a publication is used by us in accordance with the Data Protection legislation to administer your purchase. Our privacy policy is available [here](/pages/privacy-policy) or you can contact the [Membership Secretary](/contacts/membership-secretary). Your personal information will never be passed on to third parties without your consent.


Browse the books published by the Society

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Publications

The archive will normally be open every Wednesday and Thursday afternoon from 2-5pm. However, this is subject to volunteer availability. Any closed days are indicated below. Numbers at each session are limited and pre-booking is required by emailing the [Archivist](/contacts/archivist-1). If possible, please indicate which documents you would like to look at. Our catalogue can be searched here:  [Catalogue search](/catalogues/hblhs-archive-catalogue).  
Non-members who wish to visit the archive are very welcome to do so but must pay a visitor’s fee of £3.00.  
It may be possible to arrange alternative visiting times if you are unable to visit at the standard opening times.

## 2025

|           |  Wednesday 2 – 5pm |  Thursday 2-5pm |
|-----------|--------------------------|-----------------------------|
| January   | 8th; 15th; 22nd; 29th                   | 9th closed; 16th closed; 23rd closed     |
| February  | 5th; 12th; 19th; 26th                   | 6th closed; 13th closed; 20th closed; 27th        |
| March     | 5th;  12th; 19th; 26th                     | 6th; 13th; 20th; 27th      |
| April     | 2nd closed; 9th; 16th; 23rd                      | 3rd closed; 10th; 17th; 24th; 30th     |
| May       | 7th; 14th; 21st; 28th closed              | 1st; 8th; 15th closed; 22nd; 29th closed      |
| June      | 4th; 11th; 18th; 25th                    | 5th closed; 12th closed; 19th closed; 26th           |
| July      | 2nd;  9th; 16th; 23rd; 30th            | 3rd; 10th; 17th; 24th; 31st                     |
| August    | 6th; 13th; 20th; 27th closed               | 7th; 14th; 21st closed; 28th                 |
| September | 3rd; 10th; 17th; 24th               | 4th; 11th; 18th closed; 25th                 |
| October   | 1st; 8th; 15th; 22nd; 29th           | 2nd; 9th; 16th; 23rd; 30th                    |
| November  | 5th; 12th; 19th; 26th            | 6th; 13th; 20th; 27th                   |
| December  | 3rd; 10th; 17th; 24th closed                | 4th; 11th; 18th; 25th closed; 31st closed               |


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Visit our archive

The Society will do its best to answer queries about the history of the Upper Calder Valley using the expertise of members and our archive but cannot guarantee to provide a complete or satisfactory result. The Society does not accept any liability for the accuracy or completeness of information provided.

There is a nominal charge for queries of £2 for members of the Society and £5 for non members. These sums go towards helping to maintain the Archive. Your request may be submitted using the form below which will take you to our shop for payment. Unfortunately we are unable to answer any queries for which payment has not been received.

It may be possible to supply copies of documents by email or post subject to the completion of a copyright declaration form. Basic digital copies are free. Photocopies are charged at 10p per page and £1 for postage. These charges are additional to the query charge


## Information request

Please follow the links below. When you click to submit the form you will be then asked to make a payment of £5 for non-members or £2 for members.

The information you supply is used by us in accordance with the Data Protection legislation to administer your enquiry. Our privacy policy is available [here](/pages/privacy-policy) or you can contact the [Membership Secretary](/contacts/membership-secretary). Your personal information will never be passed on to third parties without your consent. We would like to keep your information on file to keep you updated on this query and to let you know about other information that may be of interest. Please select Yes in the cart summary if you consent.

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Research service

The Family History Group is a sub-group of the Hebden Bridge Local History Society and meets regularly at the Birchcliffe Centre to further our knowledge of the people who live and have lived in the Upper Calder Valley. We also are happy to help local people who are researching their own families in different parts of the country.

The aim of the group is to promote and assist the study of genealogy and family history, the prime interest being the study of people and where they lived. We do this by:
- offering members an opportunity to meet like-minded people locally and to share their interests, resources and experience
- helping people with online research sources and we welcome visitors to our drop in sessions for this purpose. We have access to genealogy and other resources. More experienced members are always needed to help at these sessions.
- building up a database of local families and welcome any contributions to this. There are a number of surnames local to the Upper Calder valley such as Greenwood and Sutcliffe.
- welcoming visitors from other parts of the country and from abroad, who are researching families that originated in this area. 


**Meetings**

Meetings are usually held on Tuesday mornings between 10am and 1pm at the Birchcliffe centre. There is a visitor's charge of £3. Numbers at each session are limited and booking is essential to ensure that there is a volunteer available to help with your enquiry.  If you are not able to visit on a Tuesday please let us know and we may be able to arrange for you to visit on another day.

You can book by using the [contact form](/contacts/family-history-session-bookings). Please also use this contact form for further information about the Family History Group.

**Research enquiries**

We try to answer research enquiries from people who are unable to visit us. Enquiries can be submitted via our [Research Service](research-service) for a small fee.

**Monumental inscriptions**

We have now completed transcribing the gravestones in the Heptonstall Old Churchyard which has taken several years. It was an enormous task, especially when working on the older graves. The results can be accessed on the [Monumental inscriptions](monumental-inscriptions) page. Another team has transcribed the graves in the ‘new’ churchyard and these are also accessible on the same page. All these transcriptions can also be found on the [Calderdale Family History Society](https://www.cfhsweb.com/index/select/). We hope to continue the task in other local graveyards.


Family history articles from HBLHS Newsletters

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Family history

For some years now a small group of friends has been exploring the evidence for prehistoric activity in the South Pennines, roughly from the M62 up to the Stanbury-Colne road and from the main Pennine watershed in the west across to the urban fringe in the east. There is no particular prehistoric or archaeological significance in these boundaries, this is simply the present extent of our fieldwork.

The images below illustrate some of the features we have examined. Below the images are articles and updates that provide summaries of our work over the years.

![Arrowhead](https://res.cloudinary.com/hhdifljso/image/upload/v1648910930/Arrowhead_a416f2f455.jpg#medium)

Arrowhead: a typical barbed and tanged arrow-tip from the early bronze age. It would have been fixed to the shaft using wool twine and birch bark glue. This one seems to be made from grey Wolds flint – flint does not occur naturally in the South Pennines and was traded across country. These arrowheads are often found damaged from use. This undamaged one, from Midgley Moor, may be a hunting loss or a ritual deposition.

![Millers Grave](https://res.cloudinary.com/hhdifljso/image/upload/v1648911057/Millers_Grave_d11ae23650.jpg#medium)

Miller's Grave: a singular feature. The name is modern but the thing itself is prehistoric. 
The central element, either two slabs of rock close together or one that has split, has been surrounded and concealed from view by a substantial bank of earth and stones. Robin Hood’s Penny Stone – another modern name for a much older feature – can be seen on the skyline.

![Letterstones](https://res.cloudinary.com/hhdifljso/image/upload/v1648911126/Letterstones_53d1b9f460.jpg#medium)

Letterstones: Prominent stone overlooking Green Withens valley and oriented toward where the sun rises in November and again in February marking the pre-Christian festivals of Samain and Imbolc (which were later adopted and adapted as All Souls and Candlemas), essentially straddling winter and denoting the end of the harvest season and the coming of spring.

![Linear feature, Widdop](https://res.cloudinary.com/hhdifljso/image/upload/v1648911192/Linear_feature_Widdop_5927d5b8eb.jpg#medium)

Linear feature, Widdop: a curious wall of erect slabs curving down the valley side edging a one-time re-entrant. The reservoir water here, as elsewhere, has stripped off the peat and soil to leave the prehistoric land surface exposed. Where erosion has continued the slabs have fallen over. This linear feature may have been a ritual boundary or the basis for a stock-proof barrier to keep animals away from the stream people were using.

![The Gorple Dagger](https://res.cloudinary.com/hhdifljso/image/upload/v1648911298/The_Gorple_Dagger_286beb338c.jpg#medium)

The Gorple Dagger: a high status, prestige item which would have been worn for show. The flint dagger is a copy of early bronze forms and would have had a handle of decorated bone, horn or wood. This is one of the best examples in the country and is similar to north European forms. It was found adjacent to a washed-out burial on the shore of Upper Gorple Reservoir. The acid soils of the South Pennine uplands have destroyed many traces of prehistoric people; bone, wood, leather, horn, textile and ceramic are very unlikely to survive.

![Recording rock art](https://res.cloudinary.com/hhdifljso/image/upload/v1648911387/Recording_rock_art_2_55880f2956.jpg#medium)

Recording rock art: a camera-on-a-stick is being used to take a vertical photo (as an alternative to making a scale drawing in the field)

![Standing stone, Heptonstall](https://res.cloudinary.com/hhdifljso/image/upload/v1648911478/Standing_stone_Heptonstall_aecbb9e0c9.jpg#medium)

Standing stone, Heptonstall: sited just above the break of slope, and now incorporated into a wall, this stone may well have a stellar reference. There are several stones that appear to point to a position on the horizon too far south of east for the sun or moon. In fact they all indicate a place where the constellation Capricornus rose in 1500BC.

![Cupmarks, Higher Moor](https://res.cloudinary.com/hhdifljso/image/upload/v1648911643/Cupmarks_Higher_Moor_d56f5cfba2.jpg#medium)

Cupmarks, Higher Moor: just south of Stoodley Pike. The cup-marks - the circular depressions – are a common form of prehistoric rock art. These cups seem to have been placed in a particular configuration.

![Midwinter sunrise](https://res.cloudinary.com/hhdifljso/image/upload/v1648911748/Midwinter_sunrise_ac53012722.jpg#medium)

Midwinter sunrise: From Robin Hood’s Penny Stone the midwinter sun appears to rise out of the Miller’s Grave. This kind of alignment to significant solar and lunar events is quite common in prehistoric features and is unlikely to have occurred by chance here.

![Robin Hood's Penny Stone](https://res.cloudinary.com/hhdifljso/image/upload/v1648911839/Robin_Hood_s_Penny_Stone_9104094c9d.jpg#medium)

Robin Hood's Penny Stone: a large block of a gritstone called Huddersfield White Rock. HWR outcrops further down the moor and this stone may have been moved some 300m to its present position

![Barrow, Ridge](https://res.cloudinary.com/hhdifljso/image/upload/v1648910930/Barrow_Ridge_5f9741d9f4.jpg#medium)

Barrow, Ridge: a turf-covered mound of stones with a ditch around it. Another form of prehistoric burial.


Evidence of prehistoric activity in the South Pennines

Articles and updates

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Prehistory Group

From generation to generation, people pass on their own ways of doing things to families, friends, colleagues and anyone they spend time with. These fragments of their culture can include all sorts of information - how to dress, games and rhymes, customs to keep around the house or community, what seasonal festivals to observe and how, sayings and expressions and much more.

This body of acquired knowledge can be thought of as cultural tradition, and varies from place to place, helping to foster a sense of identity from family to village to school or larger unit, such as a country. It is more widely known under the name of folklore.

John Billingsley collates the folklore side of local history for the society. The Folklore Section covers the everyday customs and expressions of local people as well as the stories they tell and the customs they observe. We would invite anyone to share folkloric memories or documentary material on the folklore of our area, either for publication here or for inclusion in our expanding database. Please contact John through the [Society Secretary](/contacts/secretary).
 
John has been involved with local folklore for thirty years, as a speaker and writer, and as a tutor for Bradford University’s Lifelong Learning Department. He also leads guided walks with strong folkloric content for Calderdale Heritage Walks and is the author and editor of several books, as well as the ‘new antiquarian’ magazine, Northern Earth (www.northernearth.co.uk). Readers wishing to follow up local folklore may find the titles below of interest:
- A Stony Gaze: Investigating Celtic and other stone heads. Capall Bann 1998
- Charming Calderdale. Signs and customs used to protect the home folk-magically. Northern Earth 2020
- Folk Tales from Calderdale. Place legends and their context. Northern Earth, 2007
- Hood, Head & Hag: Further folk tales from Calderdale. Special focus on Robin Hood, the severed head motif and witchcraft. Northern Earth, 2011
- West Yorkshire Folk Tales. History Press, 2010
- The Mixenden Treasure: A true tale of magic in 16th-century W Yorkshire. Northern Earth, 2009

Below are articles, including photographs, that offer a flavour of the stories that are still told in Calderdale communities in the surrounding areas.




Articles

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Folklore

THIS PAGE IS HERE JUST FOR THE INFO TO PLACE ON THE HOMEPAGE. DO NOT ADD TO OR AMEND

Our Newsletter is usually published in September, at the start of the lecture season

Newsletter Archive

Through our lecture programme, archive collections, special interest groups and publications, we offer a variety of ways to enhance your knowledge of the history of the Upper Calder Valley.

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Welcome to Hebden Bridge Local History Society

The Hebden Bridge Trades Club, a much loved institution which celebrates its Centenary this year, stands also as a memorial of a time of political change, as for the first time Britain elected a Labour Government. Alan Fowler, a longstanding member of the Hebden Bridge Local History Society, and with encyclopaedic knowledge of local Labour and Trades Union history, delivered the third in a trilogy of lectures introducing some of the remarkable local men who were steering the Labour Movement.

The building of the Trades Club was planned at a time when trades unionism and the Labour party were growing in influence. A move from rented accommodation to a purpose-built centre for meetings and social events was seen as crucial in establishing Labour as a contender for power. Most of the funding for the venture came from three trades unions which epitomised the industry of the upper Calder Valley: cotton weavers, woolworkers, and garment makers. Land was purchased from the Co-op and when the foundation stones were laid in May 1924, Tom Shaw, the minister of Labour in the first Labour Government, gave a rousing speech to the crowd which gathered in the shelter of the brass band room.

The idea of working men forming a government aroused some snobbish incredulity: George V after meeting with his first Labour prime minister asked ‘ what would grandma have thought of this?’ (grandma of course was Queen Victoria). 

Tom Shaw was one of those working men with intelligence and commitment to self-improvement. As a Union official he had to reach a good level of mathematics to keep stock of the complicated piece-work rates. And working at his looms in Colne, he taught himself French and German with a level of proficiency such that when he joined a delegation to the Soviet Union in 1920, he was able to speak directly to the Russians who spoke at least one of his languages. In his speech in Hebden Bridge, Shaw described solid and dependable local men such as Philip Snowden from Keighley who had Yorkshire seriousness on his side as Chancellor of the Exchequer.

These years in the early 1920s were difficult times. There were a million unemployed and the scheme for unemployment benefit was being overwhelmed, even with an extension of the benefits paid in a form of ‘dole’. There was a fear of social consequences if people were forced into workhouses. The unstable minority Labour government failed. By the time the Trades Club officially opened on February 14th 1925, Labour was in opposition. 

But there was momentum and the building in Hebden Bridge with its excellent billiard room and sprung dance floor was a statement that Labour was firmly part of the community. The key figure at the formal opening was J W Tout, Secretary of the Todmorden Weavers Association, who had been MP for Oldham, and was to become the Calder Valley’s first Labour MP in the General Election of 1929, which Labour won nationally. 

The Trades Club had played a significant role in organising and winning locally.




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The opening of Hebden Bridge Trades Club and the first Labour Government

**NEWSLETTERS**

We publish one newsletter each year in September previewing the following season's lectures. Short articles on local and family history are usually included. These can be accessed [here](/newsletters). 

**Enews September 2025**  
 
**Lectures**  
The first lecture of the season for 2025-26 is on 24th September is by Brian Groom entitled Made in Manchester -the  astonishing story of the people of Manchester and the surrounding towns (including Hebden Bridge) from Roman times to the present day.  
This is followed on 8th October by “A story of Victorian Stained Glass” a talk by David  Smalley including details of our local St James Church.   
And on 22nd October Paul Degnan will be taking us around Pecket Well and telling us about  the making of the Village Walks leaflet, the latest in a series of leaflets about our local area.   
**Publications**  
The Society has published 2 new titles and full descriptions are in the Autumn Newsletter.  
Heptonstall Court Rolls 1570 – 1626 edited by Nigel Smith and Neville Ingrey  
Everyday Life in Seventeenth-Century Calderdale by Peter Brears  
Copies can be found in local bookshops or ordered through the Society website  
https://www.hebdenbridgehistory.org.uk/pages/publications  

**LOCAL EVENTS**  
**The Annual Sowerby Bridge Rushbearing**  
Walk around the local landscape following the Rushbearing cart : visit churches and be entertained  by traditional dancing and rest at local inns. 6 & 7th September  
https://rushbearing.com/this-years-rushbearing/route-schedule/  
**Heritage open days** are coming up from 12th to 21st September. Details can be found at  https://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/whats-on.html  
I spotted Ted Hughes’ birthplace, Wainsgate Chapel, the Birchcliffe Centre and Todmorden  Unitarian Church when I did a search but there are more….  
Pennine Horizons and Pennine Heritage Digital Archive  
13 & 14 September Heritage Open Days at Birchcliffe Chapel  
https://www.pennineheritage.org.uk/  
**Sharing Moor Stories** – Peatzine project  
https://turquoisearts.org/projects/  
Events on Saturday 13 September at Tod College and Saturday 27 September Mytholmroyd  Community Centre   
https://turquoisearts.org/sharing-moor-stories-a-drop-in-heritage-gathering/  
**Calderdale Heritage Walks**    
There are several interesting walks coming up.  
Coke, Coal and Corves on 28th September. A new walk led by Mary Twentyman around  
Norwood Green.  
David Glover leads a walk about the Lost Churches and Chapels of Halifax on 5th October.  
Another Side of Skircoat Green- another new walk on 12th October led by Anne Kirker.  
And further up the valley Anne Mealia will be leading a walk on 26th October called  Todmorden Folk -find out about the people who have made Todmorden such a great place.  
https://calderdaleheritagewalks.org.uk/summer.html  

**LOCAL GROUPS**  
**Cragg Vale History Group**  
https://www.craggvalecommunity.co.uk/index.php/history-group  
Meetings are at 7.30 pm, on 3rd Thursday each month from September to June.  
Venue: St John's Church, Cragg Vale. (no programme on website yet 24/08/2025)  
**The Lit & Sci (Hebden Bridge Literary & Scientific Society)**  
https://hblitandsci.org.uk/  
Meetings at the Town Hall  
Saturday 27 September 2025 Giles Duley – Legacy of War Foundation  
Founder of the Legacy of War Foundation, Giles Duley, will share his extraordinary experiences.  
Saturday 11 October 2025  
Some Highlights from Three Decades with Historic Buildings  
Alan Gardner, Head of Climate Adaptation for Buildings at Historic England  
**Heptonstall Museum**    
https://heptonstallmuseumfriends.org.uk/tag/local-history/  
6th September 3pm. Author Talk: Sophie Calon & Kathryn Tann – In Conversation  https://heptonstallmuseumfriends.org.uk/event/sophie-calon-kathryn-tann-in-conversation/  
**Mytholmroyd Historical Society**    
https://www.mytholmroydhistory.org.uk/ Monthly meetings at 7.30pm on Fridays at St Michael’s Church, Mytholmroyd  
·	12th September Brian Harkness – Halifax Diamonds.  
·	10th October Peter Thornton (Pathways films) who will show his new film, Calderdale Heritage by Air.   
**Ryburn Valley History Society**   
9 September Kevin Illingworth: Lesser Houses open to the public  
14th October Martin Parrott talking about the civil war (amendment to programme)  
Meet 7.30 at Ripponden Club (contact via Facebook)  

**FAMILY HISTORY**  
**Family History Federation**     
Useful summary of resources. This month’s includes an article on Body Snatchers, and info  on the Metcalfe family, mainly north Yorkshire. Latest publication:  
https://www.exploreyourgenealogy.co.uk/files/1000-1- 
1.pdf?utm_source=brevo&utm_campaign=FHF%20August%202025%20FHF%20REALLY% 20USEFUL%20Bulletin%202025%20No%2060&utm_medium=email&utm_id=531  
**Calderdale Family History Society**    
Recently moved to online meetings only – coming up this year  
https://www.cfhsweb.com/documents/Syllabus.pdf  
General website: https://www.cfhsweb.com/  

**OTHER NEWS**  
**Calder Civic Trust- a recent notice**  
After six decades of dedicated service, it is being proposed that Calder Civic Trust will be  formally wound-up in the next few weeks. Founded in 1965, the Trust sought to promote  high standards in architecture and town planning, and to preserve the unique beauty and  heritage of the Calder Valley. The Trust also played a pivotal role in saving Hebden Bridge  from demolition in the 1960s, helping to preserve its character and charm for future  generations. The Trust has continued to work with Calderdale and Hebden Royd Councils  contributing to the plans for the Hebden Bridge Conservation Area including the successful re-development of Hebden Bridge Town Hall. As we prepare to close this chapter, we invite  any interested parties who may wish to carry forward aspects of the Trust’s work or preserve its archives to contact us by 12 September Please direct enquiries to:  caldercivictrust@gmail.com. Thank you to all who supported the Trust.  

**New Book on Halifax**  
John Patchett, formerly of the West Yorkshire Archive Service, has recently published “A  New Guide to the Town Centre of Halifax” A very detailed book with many illustrations and  historical pictures.  Order a copy by contacting John on 01422 346088 or 07828 947849 or Email j.patchett@btinternet.com    


Latest news from the Society and our regular newsletters

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Latest updates

2025 - 2026 Membership

Ranging from farming, cloth making and many other occupations to the houses people lived in, the furnishing of those housings and how people dressed and ate, this book provides an evocative picture of daily life in Calderdale between 1688 and 1700. Anyone wanting to understand how their ancestors or predecessors in this upland area of Yorkshire used to live will find this book hugely informative.  
For ten years two groups of local historians meticulously transcribed and published hundreds of wills and lists of contents of people's houses in the Calder valley. This book draws on this huge mass of information to provide a vivid recreation of life and work in Britain's wealthiest and most productive upland region. Its economy was based on wool textiles that financed the exceptional buildings in the hills of the Calder valley as well as the flourishing town of Halifax. In this volume all the food, artefacts, equipment and products are studied and illustrated in great detail, drawing on solely local examples of this period. The result is a unique account of life and work in this part of seventeenth-century England just before it was transformed by the Industrial Revolution.  
Peter Brears is a museum and historic house consultant and has worked on many projects with the National Trust and Historic England after a career managing major museums in Yorkshire. His extensive knowledge of historic physical artefacts, combined with a lifelong interest in the history of the Calder valley, has enabled him to both explain and illustrate the way in which people in the valley lived at the end of the seventeenth century.


By Peter Brears. Published 2025. Hebden Bridge Local History Society Occasional Publication No.15. Hardback. 300 pages, 91 illustrations. ISBN: 978-1-0685561-0-4. £20 (plus £3.50 shipping)