Heptonstall - Izeria

Heptonstall is a small village and civil parish within the Calderdale borough of West Yorkshire, England, historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire. The population of Heptonstall, including the hamlets of Colden and Slack, is 1,448, increasing to 1,470 at the 2011 Census. The town of Hebden Bridge lies directly to the south-east. Although Heptonstall is part of Hebden Bridge as a post town, it is not within the Hebden Royd town boundaries. The village is on the route of the Calderdale Way, a 50-mile (80 km) circular walk around the hills and valleys of Calderdale.

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Lumb Bank

Lumb Bank is a house near Heptonstall in West Yorkshire, England. It was the residence of the poet Ted Hughes. It is now one of the Arvon Writing Houses run by the Arvon Foundation. Lumb Bank was the original manor house of Heptonstall. It is situated in a secluded valley with the fields in front of the house falling steeply to a stream. It has been described as an 18th-century mill owner's house. It was bought by the poet Ted Hughes in May 1969. He had initially considered buying it in July 1963, a few months after the suicide of his wife Sylvia Plath. The house was damaged by fire in 1971. Hughes's biographer Jonathan Bate wrote that 'all the signs pointed to arson' due to a hole in the ceiling and a 'heap of charred rubbish'. Much of the bedding had been removed from the house along with 'a curious selection of items'. Two police detectives who attended felt they did not have enough information to investigate. One of the detectives believed the fire was due to personal malice, with the other believing that it might have been caused by local children. Hughes had recently taken his books from the house to Devon, yet piles of manuscripts remained which did not burn due to the dampness in the house. Some of Plath's manuscripts were destroyed in the fire. Lumb Bank was subsequently renovated at a cost of £20,000 in 1975 (equivalent to £211,907 in 2023). It was leased from Ted and Carol Hughes by the Arvon Foundation in 1975 before being acquired by the foundation in 1989 from The Hughes Trust with assistance from the Arts Council of Great Britain. In September 1988 the foundation was offered £36,500 over three years by the Arts Council of Great Britain. The award was an incentive offered on condition that the foundation raise its income by £73,000. It was the first full award offered by the council under their incentive funding scheme. Pat Barker attended a workshop at Lumb Bank led by Angela Carter which led to the contract from Virago Press to publish her first book, Union Street, in 1982. Nigel Williamson wrote an article for The Times in 1997 recalling his experiences attending a novel writing workshop led by Barbara Trapido. The writer Vernon Scannell was a frequent tutor at Lumb Bank and depicted it as "Crackenthorpe Hall" in his 1998 novel Feminine Endings.

Colden, West Yorkshire

Colden is a hamlet in the civil parish of Heptonstall in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the hamlet consists of scattered houses and farms on high ground west of Heptonstall, above the valley of Colden Water. Colden School is a junior and infants school established in 1878. Colden Water is crossed by two old footbridges, possibly dating from the 17th century. Strines Bridge is a packhorse bridge, and lower down a clapper bridge crosses the stream. Both are Grade II listed buildings. The Pennine Way and Calderdale Way both pass through Colden.

Hardcastle Crags

Hardcastle Crags is a wooded Pennine valley in West Yorkshire, England, owned by the National Trust. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it lies approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) north of the town of Hebden Bridge and 10 miles (16 km) west of the town of Halifax. It gave the title to a poem by Sylvia Plath which was included in her 1960 debut collection, The Colossus and Other Poems.

1.5 km

Hepton Rural District

Hepton was a rural district in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England, from 1894 to 1974. The district included four civil parishes: Heptonstall, Blackshaw Erringden Wadsworth It was created in 1894 as the Todmorden rural district. It was renamed in the 1930s and survived until 1974, when, under the Local Government Act 1972 it was abolished and became part of the Calderdale metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire.