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Tales from Happy Valley


Tales from Happy Valley

New fiction from Calderdale


Alison Milner, Chris Freeman, Roy Greenwood, Janet Griffiths and Joan Watson

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9781911369325

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£15.90

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The Happy Valley of this collection is well known to millions as the location for a gripping TV series of the same name. The rolling hills of West York-shire and the unique architecture of the towns and villages along the Calder Valley have captured the imagination of the whole nation through its fictional portrayal as the setting for a gritty police drama. But Calderdale is a real place and was known as Happy Valley long before its recent media incarnation.
Windswept moors and drystone walls, towering terraced houses consisting of over- and underdwellings and the aftermath of a rich industrial heritage are features that make this area totally unique. Visitors flock to the cultural centres of Hebden Bridge and Todmorden, and those with an interest in history and literature can climb the cobbled streets of Heptonstall to discover the resting place of Sylvia Plath.
Also buried in Heptonstall is ‘King’ David Hartley, leader of the 18th Century gang known as the Yorkshire Coiners or Cragg Vale coiners after the Calderdale village of the same name. Two hostelries in nearby Mytholmroyd, Barbary’s and The Dusty Miller, also claim historical connections to the infamous Hartley gang.
Railway and canal history is alive here, too. Branwell Bronte was stationmaster at Luddendenfoot, and further along the valley, Sowerby Bridge connects the Rochdale Canal with the Calder and Hebble Navigation and is also home to the deepest canal lock in the country.  
The stories in this book range from the personal to the mythical; they include hard, real-world observations and flights of pure fancy. The stories are as varied as our landscape and showcase the work of a range of authors from differing back-grounds, all of whom are current or former residents of Calderdale and who seek, through this book, to contribute to the cultural life of this, our Happy Valley.