Illingworth, West Yorkshire

Illingworth is a village within the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale, in West Yorkshire, England. The appropriate Calderdale Ward is called Illingworth and Mixenden. The population of this ward at the 2011 Census was 12,739. It is situated 3.3 miles (5.3 km) north-west of Halifax. Illingworth is one of the Halifax villages that have all become suburbs through urban expansion. Situated on the side and top of a hill, this is an exposed area, and feels cooler than lower down districts.

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North Halifax Grammar School

The North Halifax Grammar School (NHGS) is a state grammar school, and former specialist Science college (with academy status) in Illingworth, Halifax, West Yorkshire, England.

Ovenden

Ovenden is a village in West Yorkshire, England, next to Boothtown and Illingworth about a mile from Halifax town centre. It is also a Calderdale Ward whose population at the 2011 Census was 12,351. The name Ovenden derives from the Old English Ofadenu meaning 'Ofa's valley'. The area was scattered with pockets of Victorian streets and shops and nearby mills for the residents, after the Second World War much of the rural area in-between the Victorian settlements was redeveloped with council housing, prefabricated buildings, shopping complexes, A secondary modern school, two primary schools one state run the other a Catholic one. A new Catholic Church was constructed to cater for the large Irish community that relocated to the area from West Central Halifax. The area is mainly working class although there are some affluent Victorian properties and streets mixed in with the social modern housing. Ovenden railway station on the Halifax and Ovenden Junction Railway Line closed in 1955 to passengers but the line remained open until 1960 to allow freight train to access St Paul's station on the west side of Halifax. It is now used as a garage with buildings constructed on the old rail line covering the front entrance of a tunnel that the trains used to run through. Parts of the television series Happy Valley were filmed in the Grove area of the village. Ovenden rugby league club competed in the National Conference League up until 2015 before having to withdraw due to a lack of players and finance. Similarly, Ovenden West Riding football team folded in August 2016 for the same reason of not having enough players to field a team. The Ridings School in Ovenden gained national notoriety as one of the worst schools in the UK. It closed in 2009 and parts of it have been converted into a doctors surgery and sports centre with rest of the school leased to a not-for-profit organisation, Threeways, who plan to open a community hub with fitness, sport and entertainment facilities. Ovenden was formerly a township in the parish of Halifax, from 1866 to 1894 Ovenden was a separate civil parish. In 1891 the parish had a population of 13,458.

Mixenden

Mixenden is a district of Halifax, Calderdale, in the county of West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the outskirts of the town. The name Mixenden derives from the Anglo Saxon 'mixen' (compost or dung heap) and 'den' usually refers to pasture land, usually for pigs.

The Ridings School

The Ridings was a secondary school for ages 11–18 in Ovenden, Halifax, West Yorkshire, England, overseen by the Calderdale local authority. It was created in 1995 when two local secondary modern schools merged. The school is relatively small for its type; as of 2007 it had 537 students, of whom 28 were in the sixth form. Before it became the Ridings school, it was known as The Ovenden High School (which closed on 31 December 1994). The headteacher, Anna White was rewarded with a CBE in 1999 for improving the school after it had been labelled "Britain's worst school". White then left the role of Headteacher in 2004 which then passed onto Stuart Todd who also had a reputation for improving schools. Along with a new management team, Todd then led the school to record grades later. In 1996 the school received nationwide attention when staff said 60 of its pupils were "unteachable" and school operations were temporarily suspended while the headmaster and other leading staff were replaced. The school subsequently enjoyed greatly improved GCSE examination results; however, its 2005 Ofsted report regarded it as "inadequate" (one grade above "failing") overall, although "well placed to move forward". In the subsequent Ofsted inspection in 2008 however, after being placed in special measures, the school was rated "good". On 29 October 2007, Calderdale Council announced that the school would be closed down. In the 2008 GCSE results, the school received record grades and record number of students who received five or more GCSEs at grade C or above. In the final year of the Ridings, this was bettered again and the Final prom was held. The final prom for the Ridings School was held at Berties Elland. Headmaster of the school up to the time of closing down was Stuart Todd, along with the deputies Stewart Edgell and Victoria Callaghan. The school closed on 15 July 2009 and there was speculation that the building would be demolished. However the building has been saved for community use. The top section of the school where the staff room and reception were has been converted into a doctors surgery, and the sports centre is now used for sporting clubs and gym membership. In June 2013 the whole site was leased to the not-for-profit organisation, Threeways, who plan to convert the building into a community hub with fitness, sport and entertainment facilities. Threeways adopted the sports centre and in the first three months since opening have seen a considerable uptake in the use of the centre and involvement of local residents both as volunteers and service users.