Meltham
Meltham | |
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West Yorkshire | |
Ambulance | Yorkshire |
UK Parliament | |
Meltham is a town and
History
The valley has been inhabited since pre-historic times and there are two Iron Age sites overlooking the town. In 1086, Meltham was recorded in the Domesday Book as a village in the hundred of Agbrigg and the county of Yorkshire although in 1086 the village had been laid waste.[5]
Geography
Meltham also includes the small village of Helme which has its own school and church. Meltham is situated within close reach of several major cities. Bradford is 14 miles (23 km) to the north, Leeds is 19 miles (31 km) north-east, Manchester is 19 miles (31 km) to the south-west and Sheffield is 21 miles (34 km) to the south-east.
Surrounding towns and villages within the Kirklees area include
The Pennine Way runs across Wessenden Head around 3 miles (5 km) to the south-west and the Peak District Boundary Walk also runs past the west side of the town.[6]
Transport
The town used to have a station on the Meltham branch line, which ran from Lockwood outside of Huddersfield. The line opened to passengers in 1869, closing in 1949, then it survived as a freight only line until the 1960s.[7]
Currently, Meltham is served by a network of frequent bus services, including the 324 to Huddersfield operated by First West Yorkshire,[8] the 335 between Slaithwaite and Holmfirth and 911 Meltham to Thurstonland via Honley operated by Stotts Coaches[9] and local route 933 operated by South Pennine Community Transport.[10]
Education
Meltham itself contains three
Sport
Meltham has active teams in a variety of sports, including
Media
Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC Yorkshire and ITV Yorkshire. Television signals are received from the Emley Moor TV transmitter.[12]
The town receives its radio signals from the nearby
Meltham is served by the local newspaper, Huddersfield Daily Examiner.[15]
Arts
Music
Meltham is home to the Meltham and Meltham Mills Band, which was established in 1846 as a brass band. They became the first band to win the British Open Title for three consecutive years, a feat only matched by 5 others.[16]
Television
Meltham has been used as part of the location for several television projects. The third episode in 1995's
Industrial history
Brook(e) family
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e0/Meltham_Town_Hall_-_Huddersfield_Road_-_geograph.org.uk_-_2136631.jpg/220px-Meltham_Town_Hall_-_Huddersfield_Road_-_geograph.org.uk_-_2136631.jpg)
Meltham Mills was the former site of Jonas Brook and Brothers, a
Jonas Brook and Brothers became United Threads in 1890 and Sir Hildred Carlile of Ponsonby Hall, Hertfordshire was a Director of the business. United Threads was closed in 1939 – the business was transferred to Paisley as part of J & P Coats – now Coats Group. The factory site was taken over by David Brown Tractors.
Tractor factory
Meltham Mills was also the former base of the David Brown Tractors factory opening in 1939 and closing operations on the site in 1988. The various building have now been converted into a diverse number of industrial units, one housing a Tractor museum and other large sections containing an indoor Kart racing track (now closed down).
Durker Roods, the former home of Sir David Brown was converted into a hotel and the grounds were sold for private housing. The hotel closed in 2021, and is currently falling into disrepair.
The town has its own joint Scouting and Guides Association buildings.
Notable people from Meltham
Meltham was the birthplace of Lance Sergeant James Taylor (25B/82) E Company 2nd Battalion,
Australian textile magnate Godfrey Hirst was born at Royd Edge, Meltham in 1857.
Dora Thewlis, who gained brief national notoriety as a young suffragette when a photograph of her arrest appeared on the front page of the Daily Mirror, was born on Shady Row, Meltham Mills, in May 1890. Within a few years of her birth, the residents of the row had successfully petitioned to have the boundary redrawn so that the entirety of Meltham Mills was within the township of Meltham.[25]
See also
Gallery
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View of Meltham from Wessenden Moor, Huddersfield is in the far distance
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David Brown Tractor Factory Meltham, 1981
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David Brown 990 Implematic Tractor Made in Meltham around 1964
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Meltham Cub Scouts, on Blackpool Bridge, near Digley reservoir (late 1970s)
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Meltham viewed from Royd Edge
Location grid
The above grid is based on exact directions rather than close to.
References
- ^ Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
- ^ UK Census (2001). "Local Area Report – Meltham Parish (00CZ004)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
- ^ "Former (Pre 1974) Meltham Urban District, Metham Civil Parish – Area Profile 2008" (PDF). Kirklees Council. 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 May 2008. Retrieved 24 October 2008.
- ^ "Welcome to Meltham Town Council". Meltham Town Council. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
- ^ Meltham in the Domesday Book
- ISBN 978-1909461536.
- ISBN 978-1-84674-043-5.
- ^ https://www.firstbus.co.uk/api/timetables/pdf?opco=11&service=324&day=sa&print=pdf
- ^ https://stottscoaches.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/2019-335.pdf
- ^ https://www.southpenninect.co.uk/timetables/Service933TimetableOct2019.pdf
- ^ "Meltham Cricket Club Honours". Archived from the original on 9 May 2008. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
- ^ "Emley Moor (Kirklees, England) Full Freeview transmitter". UK Free TV. 1 May 2004. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
- ^ "Holme Moss (Kirklees, England) DAB transmitter". UK Free TV. 1 May 2004. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
- ^ "Yorkshire Radio Stations". Retrieved 30 November 2023.
- ^ "Huddersfield Daily Examiner". British Papers. 2 March 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
- ^ The British Open Brass Band Championships past winners Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Groome, Francis H., ed. (1885). "Hoddam". Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical. Thomas C. Jack.
- ^ Hulbert, Charles Augustus. "Annals of the church and parish of Almondbury, Yorkshire". www.ebooksread.com. p. (page 29 of 57). Retrieved 4 March 2021.
- ^ "James Taylor discovered in West Yorkshire, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813–1910". Ancestry.com.
- ^ "rorkesdriftvc.com – Roll of Defenders". www.rorkesdriftvc.com. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
- ^ Rorke's Drift, Adrian Greaves, Cassell, 2003, p. 246. Censuses 1861, 1871, 1901.
- Huddersfield Examiner. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
- ^ Hirst, Godfrey. "Hirst family history". Woollen manufacturer. RootsWeb - Ancestry.com. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
- ^ Cope, Graeme. Cultural Advice. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 4 March 2021 – via Australian Dictionary of Biography.
- ^ Prior to the boundary change in 1896, parts of Meltham Mills were within the township of Honley boundary. It seems likely that Dora's father, James Lindley Thewlis, organised the petition.
External links
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