Editing Hebden Bridge (section)

==History==
[[File:Church of St Thomas a Becket, Heptonstall - geograph.org.uk - 1015981.jpg|thumb|left|The old ruined church of [[Heptonstall]]]]
The original settlement was the hilltop village of [[Heptonstall]]. Hebden Bridge (''Heptenbryge'') started as a settlement where the Halifax to [[Burnley]] [[packhorse]] route dropped into the valley and crossed the River Hebden where the old bridge (from which it gets its name) stands. The name Hebden comes from the [[Old English|Anglo-Saxon]] ''Heopa Denu'', 'Bramble (or possibly Wild Rose) Valley'.

Steep hills with fast-flowing streams and access to major [[wool]] markets meant that Hebden Bridge was ideal for water-powered [[weaving mill]]s and the town developed during the 19th and 20th centuries; it is said that at one time Hebden was known as "Trouser Town" because of the large amount of clothing manufacturing.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://homepages.3-c.coop/ucvr/townteam_hebdenbridge.html |title=Town Teams – Hebden Bridge – "Reinforcing the Heart of the Town" |website=Upper Calder Valley Renaissance |access-date=27 March 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070909155652/http://homepages.3-c.coop/ucvr/townteam_hebdenbridge.html |archive-date= 9 September 2007}}</ref> Watercolour artist [[Thomas Frederick Worrall]], who lived in nearby Pecket Well, depicted the mills in around 1900.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.watercolourworld.org/painting/hebden-bridge-tww460d5b73556464 |title=Hebden Bridge, Undated |website=Watercolour World |date=26 February 2019 |access-date=28 June 2019}} Includes a copy of a Worrall painting of Hebden Bridge.</ref>  Drainage of the marshland, which covered much of the [[Upper Calder Valley]] before the [[Industrial Revolution]], enabled construction of the road which runs through the valley. Before it was built, travel was only possible via the ancient packhorse route which ran along the hilltop, dropping into the valleys wherever necessary. The wool trade was served by the [[Rochdale Canal]] (running from [[Sowerby Bridge]] to [[Manchester]]) and the [[Manchester & Leeds Railway]] (later the [[Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway]]) (running from [[Leeds]] to Manchester and Burnley).

Hebden Bridge also grew to include a [[Hebden Bridge Picture House|Picture House]] (seating 500), which remains open to present day, and offices for Hebden Bridge [[Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland)|Urban District]] Council. Hebden Bridge has no swimming pool, although for some years there was a small training pool for children in the adult education centre on Pitt Street. Hebden Bridge had its own [[cooperative|cooperative society]] but, during the 1960s, it was [[fraud|defrauded]] and went [[bankrupt]]. The old Co-op building became a hotel and was later converted into flats. The Co-op returned in the 1980s with a [[supermarket]] on Market Street, on the site of an old mill.

During the Second World War Hebden Bridge was designated a "reception area" and took in evacuees from industrial cities.

During the 1970s and 1980s the town saw an influx of artists, writers, photographers, musicians, alternative practitioners, teachers, Green and [[New Age]] activists and more recently, wealthier '[[yuppie]]' types {{citation needed|date=October 2022}}.<ref>Evidenced by the drastic increase in temporary holiday accommodation and monopolised rental market which means local residents struggle to find reasonably priced housing in the area.</ref> This in turn saw a boom in [[tourism]] to the area. During the 1990s Hebden Bridge became a [[dormitory town|commuter town]], because of its proximity to major towns and cities both sides of the [[Pennines]] and its excellent rail links to Manchester, Bradford and Leeds.

On 6 July 2003, Hebden Bridge was granted [[Fairtrade Zone]] status.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://hebdenroydtowncouncil.gov.uk/about.html |title=About Us: History |work=Hebden Royd Town Council |access-date=13 September 2016}}</ref> On 6 July 2014, Stage 2 of the 2014 [[Tour de France]], from York to Sheffield, passed through the town.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.letour.com/le-tour/2014/us/stage-2.html |title=Sunday July 6th, 2014 Stage 2 York / Sheffield |website=Le Tour de France |access-date=15 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140725103415/http://www.letour.com/le-tour/2014/us/stage-2.html |archive-date=25 July 2014 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all}}</ref>