Trees of Cragg Vale

The wooded valleys and cloughs which run down into the upper Calder valley near Hebden Bridge and Mytholmroyd are enchanting places to explore.

Whilst the National Trust’s Hardcastle Crags woodland walks beside the Hebden Water are well known, the riverside path beside neighbouring Cragg Brook is much less frequented. Along with a walk along Cragg Brook from the Hinchcliffe Arms, it's worth exploring the trees above.

Like other rivers in this area, Cragg Brook played an important part in the early industrial revolution. There were nine mills beside the river in the nineteenth century (and two further mills in the Withens Clough tributary), though not all were functioning at the same time.

Cragg Vale’s millowners had a poor reputation for labour conditions. During agitation for legislation, one minister wrote “If there was one place in England that needed legislative interference it was this place, for they work 15 and 16 hours a day frequently and sometimes all night”

It not too difficult to find evidence of the former mills, including waterwheels, mill races and ponds.