Calder Vale is an English village, located on the edge of the
Forest of Bowland
The Forest of Bowland, also known as the Bowland Fells and formerly the Chase of Bowland, is an area of gritstone fells, deep valleys and peat moorland, mostly in north-east Lancashire, England, with a small part in North Yorkshire (however ro ...
in
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...
. It lies on the
River Calder in a deep valley with only a single road providing vehicular access. The name ''Calder'' is thought to be derived from the Old Norse ''kaldr'', which means "cold".
The village was founded by
Quakers Jonathan and
Richard Jackson, and in 1835 a cotton-weaving mill — the Lappet Mill — was built, powered by the River Calder. The mill and
mill pond
A mill pond (or millpond) is a body of water used as a reservoir for a water-powered mill.
Description
Mill ponds were often created through the construction of a mill dam or weir (and mill stream) across a waterway.
In many places, the c ...
still exist and Lappet Mill is still working as a cotton mill. One of its main products is the red, black and white checked cloth used for Arab headscarves and it was said that
Yasser Arafat
Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf al-Qudwa al-Husseini (4 / 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), popularly known as Yasser Arafat ( , ; ar, محمد ياسر عبد الرحمن عبد الرؤوف عرفات القدوة الحسيني, Mu ...
's headdresses were made at the Mill. The Jackson brothers also built many of the terraced houses still in occupation close to the mills.
The church of St. John the Evangelist lies high above the village, linked to it by a woodland footpath. It was
consecrated on 12 August 1863. It serves the adjacent village of
Oakenclough, in addition to Calder Vale.
The village also contains a primary school, Calder Vale
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...
School, which was built concurrently with the church. It is a small school consisting of two teachers and about 30 pupils, and it is situated next door to St. John's Church, the two being very closely linked.
There is also a village hall and a Methodist chapel in the village centre. The village also has
Scouts
Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpack ...
and
Brownies, a Women's Institute, which meets monthly in the village hall, and a Village Club.
There is a post office within the village hall.
Every Sunday in May, the villagers get together and organise the "BlueBell Teas", at which cakes, sandwiches and local produce are sold for charity, and for the upkeep of the village hall and mission room. On the second Saturday of June every year, there is a village festival.
The elected Member for Wyre Borough Council's Calder Ward is Councillor David Meirion Williams.
Governance
The village falls in the
electoral ward of Calder. This ward stretches south-east to Barnacre. The total ward population at the 2011 census was 2,148.
Gallery
Image:2008-08 - Plum Island and Cowal Games 559.jpg, The terraced housing
In architecture and city planning, a terrace or terraced house ( UK) or townhouse ( US) is a form of medium-density housing that originated in Europe in the 16th century, whereby a row of attached dwellings share side walls. In the United State ...
that makes up the village's Victoria Terrace. The village hall, with its green sign, is in view
File:Long Row, Calder Vale.jpg, Another flank of terraced houses, on the aptly named Long Row, stands next to the Methodist chapel
File:Calder Vale Methodist chapel.jpg, Methodist chapel
File:Lappet Mill, Calder Vale.jpg, Lappet Mill
See also
*
Listed buildings in Barnacre-with-Bonds
References
Further reading
*
External links
Calder Vale School
{{authority control
Villages in Lancashire
Geography of the Borough of Wyre
Forest of Bowland
Model villages