TODMORDEN

'Todmorden' is a town in the Upper Calder Valley in West Yorkshire, England. It forms part of the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale and has a total population of 11,826.^[1]
Todmorden town centre occupies the confluence of three steep sided valleys in the Pennines. The valleys constrict the shape of the town. Todmorden is surrounded by moorlands with occasional outcrops of gritstone sandblasted by constant winds.
The historic border between Yorkshire and Lancashire was marked by the River Calder which runs through the centre of the town. The border was altered by the Local Government Act 1888, whereby today all of Todmorden lies within West Yorkshire.

Contents

Geography and administration

Twin towns

History

Etymology

Early history

19th century

20th century

UFO phenomena

Witchcraft claims

Present day

Places of interest

Notable residents

Trivia

References

Further reading

External links

Geography and administration

Todmorden has a complex geo-administrative history. Todmorden lay within the historic county boundaries of Yorkshire. Todmorden is in the Oldham postcode area and the telephone code (01706) is that of Rochdale (both in Greater Manchester but historically belonging to Lancashire). Also, until the border was moved on 1 April 1889, the Lancashire-Yorkshire boundary used to run through the centre of Todmorden; thereby making it possible to dance in the Town Hall ballroom, forward and back, across two counties. Since the local government reforms of 1974, Todmorden has lain entirely within West Yorkshire.
The links to Lancashire are also seen in the media. Todmorden and the nearby towns and villages close to the county borders with Lancashire and Greater Manchester also have BBC North West television from Manchester, whilst ITV regionalisation is from Yorkshire Television at Leeds and not Granada Television from Manchester.
Other villages and towns in the Upper Calder Valley include Walsden, Hebden Bridge and Mytholmroyd

Twin towns

Todmorden's twin towns are:

★ - Roncq (France)

★ - Bramsche (Germany)

And as part of Calderdale, Todmorden has another twin:

★ - Strakonice (Czech Republic)

History

Etymology

The name itself ''Todmorden'' is usually thought to derive from Tott-mer-den - “the valley of Totta’s marsh”. An alternative theory is that the name derives from two words for death. "''Tod''" and "''mor''" (as in "''mort''"): "''Death-death-wood''" (Birch, R., see below). A third theory is that the name originally meant 'marshy home of the fox' from the Old English.

Early history

The earliest written record of the area is in the Domesday Book (1086). Settlement in Medieval Todmorden was dispersed. Most people living in scattered farms or in isolated hilltop agricultural settlements. Packhorse trails were marked by ancient stones of which many still survive.
For hundreds of years streams from the surrounding hills provided water for corn and fulling mills. Todmorden grew to relative prosperity by combining farming with the production of woollen textiles. Some Yeomen clothiers were able to build fine houses, a few of which still exist today. Increasingly, though, the area turned to cotton. The proximity of Manchester, as a source of material and trade was undoubtedly a strong factor. Another was that the strong Pennine streams and rivers were able to power the machine looms. Improvements in textile machinery (by Kay, Hargreaves and Arkwright), along with the development of turnpike roads (1751 - 1781) helped to develop the new cotton industry and increase the local population.

19th century

In 1801 the majority of people still lived in the uplands, Todmorden itself could be considered as a mere village. During the years 1800 - 1845 great changes took place in the communications and transport of the town which were to have a crucial effect on promoting industrial growth. These included the building of: (1) better roads; (2) the Rochdale Canal (1804); and (3) the main line of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (1841) between Manchester and Leeds. This railway line incorporated the (then) longest tunnel in the world, the 2,885 yard Summit Tunnel; and is now the Caldervale Railway Line.
The Industrial Revolution caused a concentration of industry and settlement along the valley floor and a switch from woollens to cotton. One family in the area was particularly influential on the town; the Fielden family. They created a "dynasty" that changed the town forever by establishing several large mills, putting up assorted impressive building and bringing about social and educational change.

20th century

Like the rest of the Upper Calder Valley, Todmorden's economy experienced a slow decline from around the end of the First World War onwards, accelerating after the Second World War until around the late 1970s. During this period there was a painful restructuring of the local economy with the closure of mills and the demise of heavy industry.
In December 1984 a goods train carrying petrol derailed in the Summit Tunnel between Todmorden and Littleborough causing what is still considered as one of the biggest underground fires in transport history.
Harold Shipman, the G.P. who is believed to have killed over 200 patients in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, claimed some of his victims while working as a doctor in Todmorden, between March 1974 and September 1975.

UFO phenomena

There have been many alleged sightings of UFOs in the town and surrounding Pennine hills. In 1980, there were two internationally reported incidents that involved Todmorden. On June 11th, the body of Zigmund Adamski was found on top of a heap of coal in a coal yard. There is no logical explanation how he got there as he had been missing for five days without being sighted. Six months later, the policeman who was called to the scene, Alan Godfrey, spotted a UFO near Burnley Road when in his car, then claimed under hypnotic regression to have been abducted by mysterious extra-terrestrials. Godfrey was later interviewed on the Johnny Carson Show in the USA.
I think there is an article on this in the Encyclopedia Of The Unexplained.

Witchcraft claims

There have been some claims that witchcraft has been practiced in the town in distant and more recent times. In the 1970s a coven supposedly practiced in a small woodland area in the district of Cornholme, at the crossing point of 2 ley lines. The death of an occultist on the moors above Todmorden in September 2002 made national news. (Note: The witchcraft claims are hard to verify. Many people involved have since moved away from the area and are difficult to contact for interview. Several teenagers were involved in the movement, and were initiated to full coven membership in 1976)

Present day

Heavy industry is now part of Todmorden's history, not its present. The industrial chimneys have largely gone and the remaining mills have mostly been converted for other purposes. The town's industrial base is much reduced (at one time Todmorden had the largest weaving shed in the world). There has been a great deal of regeneration activity and Todmorden is now increasingly a commuter town for people working in Manchester, Leeds, Bradford, Huddersfield and smaller towns. Todmorden also services the local rural area and attracts visitors through its various events, heritage and the local Pennine countryside. Changing work patterns may have influenced the fact that the town was the first rural telephone exchange in Britain to be broadband-enabled through public demand. Rising house prices over recent years are a particular problem as there is limited land available in the valley for building affordable housing.
In June 2000, torrential rains flowing into an already saturated river system saw river walls break their banks in the worst flooding Todmorden has ever seen. Almost 1,000 properties were affected causing £20 million worth of damage, along the valley floor. The floods made national headlines and the Environment Agency quickly began formulating plans to minimize the risk of something so devastating happening again. A £25 million flood alleviation scheme was due for completion in 2007, though delays have occurred. The first two phases are now completed, but additional work is still required to properly safeguard Todmorden against further floods.

Places of interest

Todmorden has many attractions. It lies alongside the Pennine Way and Calderdale Way and is popular for outdoor pursuits such as walking, mountain biking and bouldering. It has a canal and locks, Sports Centre, skateboard park, tennis courts, golf course, aquarium, cricket ground, large park and woods, many eating places and thriving indoor and outdoor markets. The Hippodrome Theatre shows films as well as putting on live performances. The town also has its Toy and Model Museum, library, second hand bookshops and a Tourist Information Centre. The visual arts are particularly strong in the town. Annual events include a carnival, agricultural show, beer festival, music festival and the traditional Easter Pace Egg plays.
Todmorden has the look of a Victorian mill town and has some notable buildings including Dobroyd Castle (completed in 1869 and for many years the home of a Buddhist community); the Hippodrome Theatre (Edwardian); an imposing Italianate town hall (built 1866 - 1875) that dominates the centre of town; a Grade I listed Unitarian church (built 1865-1869); and the 110 ft Stoodley Pike monument (built 1814 and rebuilt in 1854).
Older buildings include two 18th century pubs; Todmorden Old Hall, a Grade II listed manor house (Elizabethan) in the centre of town and currently in use as a restaurant; and St. Mary’s Church which dates from 1476.

Notable residents

★ Dicken Ashworth, (born 1946), actor

★ Chipps Chippendale, mountain biking journalist

★ John Cockcroft (1897 - 1967), who won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1951

★ Neil Cowie, Rugby League player (Wigan, Wales and Great Britain)

★ Keith Emerson, (born 1944), pianist, Founder / member of The Nice and Emerson, Lake & Palmer

★ John Fielden (1784 - 1849), local landowner and national leader of the Ten Hours Campaign for factory reform

★ John Helliwell, (born 1945), of the band Supertramp

★ Ursula Holden-Gill, (born 1974), TV actress (Emmerdale, Holby City, Teachers, The Bill)

★ William Holt, (1897 - 1977), writer, painter, political activist, journalist and traveller

★ Ben Horsfall, violinist and member of the Halle Orchestra

★ Innes Ireland, (1930 - 1993), Formula 1 racing driver (1960s and 1970s)

★ Wilfred Judson (1902 - 1980), former Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada

★ John Kettley, (born 1952), BBC weatherman

★ Peter Lever (born 1940), England test cricketer

★ Adrian Love, (1944 - 1999), World Service, Capital Radio and Radio 2 DJ

★ Geoff Love, (1917 - 1991), big band leader

★ Jonathon Natynzyk, (born 1980), actor

★ John Ramsbottom, (1814 - 1897), mechanical engineer and inventor

★ Derek Shackleton, (born 1924), England test cricketer

★ Harold Shipman, (1946 - 2004), the serial killer took up his first GP's position at the Abraham Ormerod Centre in Todmorden

★ Grenville Turner, (born 1936), one of the pioneers of cosmochemistry

★ Reginald Webster, winner of Brain of Britain in 1959

★ Geoffrey Wilkinson, (1921 - 1996), won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1973

★ David Wilson, footballer who began his career at Manchester United (1980s)

Trivia

★ iKnow Yorkshiredescribes Todmorden and its neighbour Hebden Bridge as among its list of top gay friendly areas.

★ Todmorden and the surrounding areas have had big cat sightings over a prolonged period. The Halifax Courier of 20 November 2006 describes 5 sightings in 2005 and 3 sightings in 2006. The last of these was reported in October 2006 by a pub licensee as she walked her dog; her description was of a lynx-like creature with a smallish head and long hind legs.

★ On March 2, 1868 an infamous double murder took place at Christ Church, Todmorden (built 1830 - 1832). The victims' graves lie in the churchyard. Miles Weatherhill was forbidden from seeing his housemaid sweetheart, Mary Bell, by the Reverend Anthony John Plow. Murderously angry, Weatherhill armed himself with four pistols and an axe and took revenge first on the vicar and then on another maid who had informed Reverend Plow of the secret meetings. He also seriously injured the vicar’s wife. On April 4, 1868 Weatherhill became the last person to be publicly hanged in Manchester.

★ The town boasts two Nobel Prizewinners; John Cockcroft (Physics) and Geoffrey Wilkinson (Chemistry). Despite 24 years difference in their birth dates both attended the same school, Todmorden Grammar School, and both had the same science master.

References

1. Profile of Todmorden. URL accessed January 9, 2007.

Further reading

★ Birch, R. ''Todmorden Album 4'', The Woodlands Press, 2006.

★ Cass, E. ''The Pace-Egg Plays of the Calder Valley'', London: FLS Books, 2004.

★ Heywood, M., Heywood, F. and Jennings, B. ''A History of Todmorden'', Smith Settle Ltd, 1996.

★ Jennings, B. ''Pennine Valley: History of Upper Calderdale'' Dalesman Publishing Co Ltd, 1992.

★ Law, B. ''The Fieldens of Todmorden: A Nineteenth Century Business Dynasty'', Littleborough: George Kelsall, I995.

★ MacDonald, M. ''The World From Rough Stones'', Random House, 1975. (A novel set during the building of the Summit Tunnel).

★ Malcolm, F., and Heywood, F. ''Cloth Caps and Cricket Crazy'', Upper Calder Valley Publications, 2004.

External links

★ Todmorden Town Council

★ John Fielden

★ Map of Todmorden

★ Todmorden News (Weekly local newspaper)

★ Links to many "Tod" websites

★ Todmorden and Walsden History

★ Official Todmorden in bloom website