The primary purpose of our group is to mutually support and encourage members in undertaking research into their own areas of interest in local history, and to provide a forum in which we can all share information on methods, resources and the results achieved. A few members are also involved in a project to transcribe the wills made in Heptonstall between 1700 and 1750, creating legible text from digital images of the original period hand-writing (for which more hands are always welcome). We also arrange occasional talks by visiting speakers with specialist knowledge of particular topics.

Currrently we are focussing our efforts on finding out about life in the upper Calder Valley in the year 1851, the year of the first really informative census and a pivotal one in terms of the industrial transformation. Members are pursuing research into many different facets of the period; the key personalities and institutions, crafts and trades and living conditions, health and education etc. As each piece of research is formalised it will be published in the section below, with the intent of gradually developing an overall snapshot of the lives of our predecessors to compare and contrast with our own.

Our Upper Calder Valley in 1851

Below, you'll find listed the various studies completed so far by our group members looking at life in our valleys in 1851. Please browse and enjoy, and if your reading provokes any insights, comments or suggestions. please do share them with the group convenors. Just click on whichever title intrigues and the full article should open for you.