Ripponden is the main settlement in a small group of villages (Barkisland, Ripponden, Rishworth and Soyland) whose citizens are represented on Ripponden Parish Council.[3] The area is a substantial part of the Ryburn Ward, itself part of Calderdale metropolitan borough.[4]
The area is of archaeological note as it is rich in neolithic and Bronze Age remains.[6] At nearby Ringstone Edge can be found a small stone circle.[7]
The village is on the route of the Calderdale Way, a 50-mile (80 km) circular walk around the hills and valleys of Calderdale.[9]
Ripponden Junior & Infant School has a capacity of 240 children ages 4 - 11.
The Old Bridge Inn[10] in the village is the home of an annual pork pie competition.[11][12][13] The Old Bridge Inn is a Grade II listed building and is one of the oldest pubs in Yorkshire; its construction is dated to 1307.[14][15] The Old Bridge, or Waterloo Bridge, near the Inn is on the old packhorse road through the village and is also known as the Packhorse Bridge.[16]
On 6 July 2014, Stage 2 of the 2014 Tour de France, from York to Sheffield, passed through the village. On leaving Ripponden at the 112.5 kilometres (69.9 mi) point, riders undertook the third climb of the stage, the Category 3 Côte de Ripponden. It was 1.3 kilometres (0.81 mi) long with an average gradient of 8.6%. The first rider over the top to claim two points in the King of the Mountains competition was Cyril Lemoine of Cofidis. The other point available was claimed by David De La Cruz Melgarejo.[17]
Notable people
James Walton, inventor and industrialist, born in Ripponden in 1803.[18]
Nobel Prize–winning American physicist Prof Richard Feynman was a regular visitor to the village in the 1960s–1980s, with his third wife Gweneth Hogarth, who was born locally. He also spent significant time in nearby Mill Bank.[20]
Sport
The village has a football team Ryburn United FC, they are a Charter Standard Community football club, and provide football for all ages, their grounds are on Ripponden Wood Playing Fields.[21] Stones Cricket Club play near the village and are members of the Halifax Cricket League.
^Burgess, Neil (2014). The lost railways of Yorkshire's West Riding (1 ed.). Catrine: Stenlake. p. 66. ISBN9781840336573.
^"Relics are found in Ripponden reservoir". Halifax Courier. Johnstone Publishing. 28 October 2014. Archived from the original on 28 December 2014. Retrieved 11 May 2016. An exciting discovery made at a reservoir in Ripponden has given a new insight into the lives of prehistoric civilizations in the area
^Bennett, Paul (9 September 2009). "Ringstone Edge Cairn Circle". The Northern Antiquarian. Archived from the original on 11 May 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2016. If we visit this site today, all we are left with is a scattered mass (or perhaps that should that be 'mess') of many hundreds of stones
^"Rushbearing Festival is one of a kind". Halifax Courier. Johnstone Publishing. 11 September 2015. Archived from the original on 2 January 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2016. The weekend drew to a close as the procession arrived in Ripponden
^"Ripponden pub hosts 23rd annual pork pie competition". Halifax Courier. Johnstone Publishing. 11 September 2015. Archived from the original on 12 August 2015. Retrieved 11 May 2016. Professional and amateur pork pie enthusiasts battled it out in an annual pork pie competition