Todmorden is a town in the county of West Yorkshire, England, southwest of Hebden Bridge, It is part of Calderdale local council. Before the 1974 reorganisation of local government, the town had originally been in Lancashire.
Location and history
The town centre occupies at the confluence of three steep sided valleys in the Pennines. The main valley is that of the River Calder; the valleys constrict the shape of the town. Streams from the surrounding hills provided water for corn and fulling mills, and, later, power for cotton spinning and weaving. Communications were provided in their turn by the building of roads, the Rochdale Canal, and then the main line of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway between Manchester and Leeds; now the Calder Valley Railway line. Each occupy the gap through the hills via Hebden Bridge and Halifax.
Todmorden today
Although its industrial base is much reduced (at one time Todmorden had the largest weaving shed in the world), it is now more of a commuter town for people working in Manchester, Leeds, Bradford, and other large cities. It also attracts visitors in connection with its locality: heritage and the countryside being its selling points.
Its present population is about 15,000
Famous people from Todmorden
Music
Music has always played an important part in the life of Todmordians. John A Helliwell of Supertramp was born and raised here, as was Geoff Love a generation earlier. There have also been three groups formed by local constituency:
- Logger and the Lumberjacks
- Peter Daye and the Knights
- The Keys
There has also been wide enjoyment of more traditional musical forms:
There is also a thriving amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society and various other cultural Societies.
Sports
Todmordians have enjoyed cricket, football, tennis, and golf.
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