“60 Years on the Calder Valley”

Presenter: Roger Hepworth

Due to the unavailability of the booked speaker Roger Hepworth, a West Riding enthusiast and presenter, kindly stepped into the breach to narrate and show his photographic story of activities within the Calder Valley region dating back some 60 years past.

Manchester Victoria & Exchange stations in the final days of steam and early diesel days, alongside action up Miles Platting Bank, opened the proceedings at the Western end of the journey into Yorkshire.  However, the bygone days of the Calder Valley route were illustrated with plentiful scenes along the lines from Manchester into Yorkshire, taking L&Y metals heading for Leeds via Rochdale.  Along the way many steam day photographic scenes were to be viewed in the uphill easterly direction through Rochdale and Littleborough to Summit Tunnel. The downhill grades descended through Mytholmroyd, Sowerby Bridge, Halifax, Low Moor and into the original Bradford Victoria station where numerous detailed pictures described the scene around this most interesting of West Riding locations.

The story telling of the easterly approaches into Leeds began at Milner Royd when taking the lines through Elland and Brighouse and onto the LNWR metals at Heaton Lodge.  Plentiful steam activity and engines were to be seen on Mirfield Shed as, similarly, were the goings on around the junction at Ravensthorpe.  The journey into Leeds was to then head past Healey Mills where much was to be seen of the most important and well used freight yard in the area.  Leeds, the final destination, was thus approached via Midland Railway territory travelling through Wakefield Kirkgate and Normanton where the journey through the Valley came to its conclusion.

Appreciative thanks were expressed to Roger for giving such an excellent show at very short notice.