Walsden
| Walsden | |
| Lancashire | |
|---|---|
 Travis Mill Lock and St Peter's church, Walsden | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SD934220 |
| Location: | 53°41’41"N, 2°6’1"W |
| Data | |
| Post town: | Todmorden |
| Postcode: | OL14 |
| Dialling code: | 01706 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Calderdale |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Calder Valley |
Walsden is a large village in eastern Lancashire, close to the border with the West Riding of Yorkshire. It lies along the A6033 Keighley to Littleborough road in the Walsden Valley, a branch of the Upper Calder Valley, and is just under two miles south of Todmorden and four miles north of Littleborough.
Walsden railway station, on the Leeds-Todmorden-Manchester line, originally opened in 1841 and re-opened 10 September 1990, having been closed for almost 30 years. It was also the only place to be bombed in the Todmorden area during the Second World War Blitz, probably because the German plane had a leftover bomb after a raid and so dropped it on what appeared to be an important site, a railway station.
Etymology
Walsden's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin meaning "Valley of Foreigner" or "Valley of he who is Foreign". Foreign refers to the Celtic Britons who lived in the area at the time of the Anglo Saxon Petty Kingdoms.[1] Thus, it has the same root as Wales and as Wallonia in Belgium. It has been said in the past that it comes from "Wolves' Den", this is dismissed as a folk etymology.
Sport
Walsden has a cricket club playing in the major Lancashire Leagues.
References
- ↑ Watts, Victor, ed. (2010), "Walsden", The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names, Cambridge University Press
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Walsden) |