Heckmondwike
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Heckmondwike, West Yorkshire | |
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| Population | 11,101 |
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| Metropolitan borough | Kirklees |
| Metropolitan county | West Yorkshire |
| Region | Yorkshire and the Humber |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | HECKMONDWIKE |
| Postcode district | WF16 |
| Dial code | 01924 |
| Police | West Yorkshire |
| Fire | West Yorkshire |
| Ambulance | Yorkshire |
| UK Parliament | Dewsbury, Batley and Spen |
| European Parliament | Yorkshire and the Humber |
| List of places: UK • England • Yorkshire | |
Heckmondwike (known locally by its nickname, Hecky) is a small town which is located in West Yorkshire, England, 13 km (8 miles) southeast of Bradford. Its population has a high sense of civic pride; recent reports by the Boundary Commission have talked of a "fierce independence" in the town, which makes it hard to link to any constituency[1]. It is currently divided between the Dewsbury and Batley & Spen seats, but shall be entirely within Batley & Spen at the next election.
It is often overshadowed by its neighbours Batley and Dewsbury, and like many of the towns in West Yorkshire, Heckmondwike was formerly a milling town, located in the Heavy Woollen District, and was famous for its blankets. In 1811 a Blanket Hall was built for the trade of the town's primary industry, and a second hall was erected in 1839, on the road now called Blanket Hall Street in the town centre.
It runs under the auspices of Kirklees Metropolitan Council. It hit the headlines in 2003 when it elected a member of the far-right British National Party as its councillor; leading to local protests. The councillor in question — Counc. David Exley — was elected after the then-serving councillor, Tim Crowther,(now a teacher at Heckmondwike Grammer School) left the Labour party and ran as an independent, splitting the Labour vote. In 2006 the major parties again failed to unite behind a single anti-BNP candidate thus allowing a second BNP candidate to be elected — Roger Roberts, a security guard who in his previous post on Mirfield Town council was fired after failing to attend a meeting for over six months.
Heckmondwike's weekly newspaper is called the Heckmondwike Herald and is available each Friday. This is an edition of the Spenborough Guardian, which covers the settlements of the former Spenborough Urban District.
In recent years the length of the name of the town seems to have caused problems on road signs in the local area where the town's name has been abbreviated to "Heck'wike" or even "Heckm'wike" although this in no way reflects local pronunciation of the town's name.
Heckmondwike has its own telephone exchange, part of the Wakefield 01924 dialling area, with numbers beginning 40, 41 and 235. This exchange also covers neighbouring Liversedge, and small areas of Dewsbury and Gomersal.
[edit] Other facts
- Heckmondwike derives its name from 'Heamunds Farm' in Old English. Although it is not mentioned in the Domesday Book, the name suggests that there was a small settlement here long before the Norman Conquest.
- The town hosts frequent local markets (Tuesdays & Saturdays) and the Farmer's Market (first Sunday of the month) in the main square.
- Heckmondwike was the first town in England to have Christmas lights (illuminations).
- Heckmondwike Grammar School was the last state selective school in the area in 1973 and remains selective to this day.
- Heckmondwike also acquired brief fame due to The Sun's headline "Madonna goes to Heckmondwike [Carpets] when she wants her underfelt". The town's name is deliberately misspelt as Heckmondwyke whenever it is mentioned in The Guardian
- Joseph Priestley's aunt lived here, in what is now a public house and was often visited here by her nephew.
- Elizabeth Gaskell's biography of the novelist Charlotte Bronte in 1857 described the inhabitants of Heckmondwike as "a chapel going people, very critical of their sermons, tyrannical to their ministers and violent radicals".
- The Six Lane Ends area of the town today is a road junction of only 5 roads, the sixth, Little Green Lane was redirected to make the junction safer.
[edit] Famous sons
- Jeff Butterfield – England Rugby international.
- John Curwen – developer of the Tonic Sol-fa system of musical notation: a street in one of the housing estates is named after him: Curwen Crescent.
- David Hand – curate of Heckmondwike from 1942 to 1946 who later became Archbishop of Papua New Guinea
- James Berry - The Hangman from Heckmondwike - Born in Blanket Hall Street in 1852. Between 1884 and 1891 working on piece rate he hung 134 men and women. He resigned as a result of the execution of John Conway in Liverpool when his head nearly came off. He died in 1913.
- Arthur Wood - in 1924 Arthur Wood composed a maypole dance called Barwick Green. Barwick Green is the theme tune from the Archers that Billy Connely suggested should replace the current National Anthem.
- Malcolm Merriweather - A fictional character played by Bernard Fox on "The Andy Griffith Show", a U.S. television series, was from Heckmondwike.
- Dave Pybus - Current bass player of Grammy-nominated heavy metal band Cradle of Filth.
- Les"Lecter" Smith - Previous member of Cradle of Filth.
