Scout Rock (known locally as Scout Rocks), is a rock face, once a quarry, cut into a hill called Hathershelf Scout and is on the south side of the

Upper Calder Valley The Upper Calder Valley lies in West Yorkshire, in northern England, and covers the towns of Todmorden, Hebden Bridge, Mytholmroyd, Luddendenfoot, and Sowerby Bridge, as well as a number of smaller settlements such as Portsmouth, Cornholme, Wa ...

in the village of

Mytholmroyd Mytholmroyd (pronounced ) is a large village in the Upper Calder Valley in West Yorkshire, England, east of Hebden Bridge. It lies east of Burnley and west of Halifax. The village, which has a population of approximately 4,000 is in the L ...

near

Hebden Bridge Hebden Bridge is a market town in the Upper Calder Valley in West Yorkshire, England. It is west of Halifax and 14 miles (21 km) north-east of Rochdale, at the confluence of the River Calder and the Hebden Water. The town is the largest ...

, England. At its height, the cliff rises 130m above the village and the exposed rock face is visible from as far as Chiserley and

Luddendenfoot Luddendenfoot or Luddenden Foot is a community in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England. The population of Luddendenfoot is 2,547, with the wider Calderdale Ward (of the same name) at the 2011 Census as 10,653. It lies along the Upper Calder Valle ...

. The majority of the rock face is now covered in vegetation. Hathershelf Forest is situated at the base of the cliff, and a large beacon stands around half way up the hill on the western side of the cliff face.

Events

Due to the Boxing Day floods of 2015 that affected the

, a large landslide occurred at the base of the cliff, and uncovered a large asbestos disposal site, the site is now covered in an encasing whilst work is undertaken to secure the site. The landslide also affected the 'Scout Road' row of houses at its base and the 'Scout Road Academy' school, also at the base of Scout Rock which had to be evacuated and re-located along with around 20 other homes.

Culture

Scout Rock can be seen from the majority of the village of

, and is usually instantly associated with it. During the hours of darkness, the cliff provides an almost pitch black backdrop to the village.

Ted Hughes Edward James "Ted" Hughes (17 August 1930 – 28 October 1998) was an English poet, translator, and children's writer. Critics frequently rank him as one of the best poets of his generation and one of the twentieth century's greatest wri ...

home was across the valley from the cliff, and was the view from Hughes' window which "provided both the curtain and back-drop to existence" where Hughes' was "fascinated" by it, and symbols or references to Scout Rock in some of Hughes' work. A photograph of Scout Rock appears in

Remains of Elmet ''Remains of Elmet'' is a collection of poems by Ted Hughes published in 1979. In this book Hughes has poetically covered the region of Elmet. The book contains black and white photographs by Fay Godwin, taken in the barren Highland, hill country ...

, Hughes's collaboration with photographer

Fay Godwin Fay Godwin (17 February 1931 – 27 May 2005) was a British photographer known for her black-and-white landscapes of the British countryside and coast. Career Godwin was introduced to the London literary scene.Ben Myers Benjamin Myers (born January 1976) is an English writer and journalist. Early life Myers grew up in Belmont, County Durham, and was a pupil at the estate's local comprehensive school where he become interested in reading and skateboarding. My ...

References

{{coord, 53, 43, 30.0, N, 1, 58, 27.2, W, display=title Geography of Calderdale Cliffs of England