Brighouse facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Brighouse |
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 The former Brighouse Town Hall |
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 Brighouse
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| Population | 32,360 (2001) (Brighouse/Rastrick urban area) |
| OS grid reference | SE135235 |
| • London | 150 mi (240 km) SSE |
| Metropolitan borough |
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| Metropolitan county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BRIGHOUSE |
| Postcode district | HD6 |
| Dialling code | 01484 |
| Police | West Yorkshire |
| Fire | West Yorkshire |
| Ambulance | Yorkshire |
| EU Parliament | Yorkshire and the Humber |
| UK Parliament |
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Brighouse (/ˈbrɪɡhaʊs/, locally also /ˈbrɪɡaʊs/) is a town in West Yorkshire, England. It is part of the Calderdale area. Brighouse is located on the River Calder, about 4 kilometres (2.5 miles) east of Halifax.
The town is easy to reach by road, with Junction 25 of the M62 motorway nearby. It also has its own Brighouse railway station. This station is on the Caldervale Line and Huddersfield Line. In the town centre, there is a special area for boats on the Calder and Hebble Navigation.
In 2001, the Brighouse and Rastrick area had a population of 32,360 people. The name Brighouse means "Bridge House." It comes from a building that was near the bridge over the River Calder. Long ago, Brighouse was a small village, or hamlet, next to Rastrick.
Brighouse is a twin town with Lüdenscheid in Germany. This friendship started with a children's theatre exchange in 1950. The official twinning agreement was signed in 1960.
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History of Brighouse
Long ago, there was a river crossing called Snake Hill Ford. People think this was part of a Roman road. It connected Wakefield and Manchester.
A wooden bridge, called Rastrick Bridge, was first mentioned in 1275. This bridge was replaced by a new one in 1514. Later, in 1558, a stone bridge was built.
The river was very important for Brighouse. It provided power for flour mills and textile factories. The town's industries grew even more when the Calder and Hebble Navigation canal was built. This project started in 1757. Brighouse officially became a town in 1893.
A new bridge, called Calder Bridge or Brighouse Bridge, was built in 1823. This bridge was part of the main road, the A641 road. People used to pay tolls to cross it, but these fees stopped in 1875. The bridge was made wider in 1905 and again in 1999.
How Brighouse is Run
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Brighouse used to be part of a larger area called Hipperholme with Brighouse. In 1894, Brighouse became its own municipal borough. This meant it had its own local government.
Over time, Brighouse grew. It added nearby areas like Rastrick in 1915. In 1974, Brighouse became part of the larger Calderdale Metropolitan Borough. The special staff used by the Brighouse mayor was moved to Halifax.
Brighouse Town Board
Today, Calderdale Council has set up "Town Boards." These boards help improve town centres like Brighouse. The Brighouse Town Board started in 2017. It includes local councillors and people from the community. They work together to plan for the town's future.
Buildings and Shops
Many of Brighouse's old mills have been updated. They are now modern apartments.
Brighouse Library is a big building. Besides lending books, it offers language courses and internet access. It also has a small cafe.
The main shopping streets are Commercial Street and Bethel Street. A large Tesco supermarket was built in the early 2000s. The old Tesco building became a Wilko store.
The Old Ship Inn is a pub with an interesting story. A sign says its outside wood came from an old ship. The building was rebuilt in 1926 using wood from a ship called HMS Donegal.
The ROKT building on Mill Royd Street has the UK's tallest outdoor climbing wall. It is 36 metres (118 feet) tall. This is taller than the Tower of London!
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Brighouse Mill Royd Mill flats
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Brighouse Library
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Winged Victory on war memorial in library grounds
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War memorial statue, front view
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Old Ship public house
Churches in Brighouse
Brighouse has several churches, showing its history and different faiths.
St James Church, Brighouse
St James's Church opened in 1870. It had beautiful stained glass windows designed by Edward Burne-Jones. More windows were added later. One window remembered a curate, Alban Bodley Mace, who died in World War I. The church was last used in 1970 and then taken down. The stained glass windows were saved and are now at the Cliffe Castle Museum in Keighley.
St Joseph's Church, Brighouse
St Joseph's Catholic Church was built in the early 1900s. A primary school used the church hall during the week from 1879. A new school was built in 1961. This church is connected with St Patrick's Catholic Church in Elland.
Central Methodist Church, Brighouse
The Central Methodist Church is at the west end of Brighouse. It is near the Lüdenscheid Link road.
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Former St James Church
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St Martin's Church
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St Joseph's Roman Catholic Church
Arts and Media
The Smith Art Gallery is inside the Brighouse Library. It displays many paintings from the Victorian era. It also shows art by local artists.
Susan Sunderland, a famous singer known as the "Calderdale Nightingale," was born in Brighouse in 1819. She lived there her whole life. She was known as one of the best singers in the country and even sang for Queen Victoria.
Brighouse is the original home of the Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band. This band started in 1881. In 1977, they had a hit song called "The Floral Dance," which reached Number 2 in the UK music charts. The band has won many important competitions, including the National Brass Band Championship Finals multiple times.
The town is also home to the Yorkshire Co-op Brass band. The rock band Embrace, who have had three UK number one albums, is from this area.
A local drum and bugle corps, Conquest Alliance, was formed in 1985. They won the Drum Corps United Kingdom (DCUK) competition in 1986.
Local Media
Local news and TV shows for Brighouse come from BBC Yorkshire and ITV Yorkshire. Radio stations include BBC Radio Leeds, Heart Yorkshire, and Capital Yorkshire. There is also a local community radio station called Phoenix Radio.
Local newspapers are the Brighouse Echo, the Halifax Courier, and the Huddersfield Daily Examiner.
Sports in Brighouse
Brighouse has a strong sports history.
Brighouse Rangers Rugby league Club started in 1878. They play at the Brighouse Sports Club Complex. The club has teams for different age groups, including juniors and a ladies' side.
Before 1895, rugby was played differently. William Nicholl played rugby union for England and Brighouse Rangers. After 1895, Brighouse Rangers became one of the first clubs in the new Northern Rugby Football Union (now Rugby Football League). They even won the Yorkshire League in 1896–97. The club left the main league in 1906.
As of the 2023–24 season, Brighouse Town F.C. plays in the Pitching In Northern Premier League. Brighouse also has its own Sunday League football competition. Many junior football teams, like Brighouse Juniors, also play here.
The town is on the route of the 50-mile Calderdale Way. This is a circular walking path around the hills and valleys of Calderdale.
Getting Around Brighouse
The A641 road connects Brighouse north to Bradford and south to Huddersfield. The A644 goes east from Brighouse to the M62 and Dewsbury. Westward, the A644 goes towards Hipperholme and Queensbury.
A bypass road, now called the Lüdenscheid Link, was built in the 1970s. It helps heavy traffic avoid the narrow streets in the town centre. It is named after Brighouse's twin town in Germany.
Brighouse railway station reopened in 2000. It connects Brighouse to the national train network. Trains run on the Huddersfield Line and the Calder Valley line. You can travel to Leeds, Manchester Victoria, Bradford, and Halifax. There are also direct trains to London Kings Cross.
Bus services run often to Halifax, Huddersfield, and Bradford. There is also an hourly service to Leeds. These services are managed by West Yorkshire Metro. Brighouse bus station was updated in 2009. It has screens that show when buses are coming.
The Calder and Hebble Navigation canal links Brighouse to other towns. These include Wakefield, Mirfield, and Sowerby Bridge.
Notable People from Brighouse
- Katie Ormerod, an Olympic snowboarder.
- Divina de Campo, a famous drag queen who was a runner-up on Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK.
Nearby Areas
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Hipperholme, Hove Edge, Southowram | Lightcliffe, Bailiff Bridge, Waring Green | Scholes | |
| Brookfoot |  |
Clifton | ||
 Brighouse  |
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| Elland | Rastrick | M62 motorway (Junction 25) |
Images for kids
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Brighouse railway station
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Brighouse bus station (1985)
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Brighouse bus station (2009)
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Brighouse Basin on the Calder and Hebble Navigation
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Brighouse Town Hall, built 1898
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Civic Hall, by Mallinson and Barber, 1866
See also
In Spanish: Brighouse para niños
