Marsden
Statistics
Population:	3,499 (2001 census data)
Ordnance Survey
OS grid reference:	SE048116
Administration
Metropolitan borough:	Kirklees
Region:	Yorkshire and the Humber
Constituent country:	England
Sovereign state:	United Kingdom
Other
Ceremonial county:	West Yorkshire
Historic county:	Yorkshire (West Riding)
Services
Police force:	West Yorkshire
Fire and rescue:	West Yorkshire
Ambulance:	Yorkshire
Post office and telephone
Post town:	Huddersfield
Postal district:	HD7
Dialling code:	01484
Politics
UK Parliament:	Colne Valley
European Parliament:	Yorkshire and the Humber

Peel Street, the main street of Marsden, with the Mechanics Institute.

Tunnel End in Marsden, the eastern entrance to Standedge Tunnel.

Mellor Bridge, one of Marsden's two packhorse bridges, with St Bartholomews Church in the background.

Marsden is a small town in the county of West Yorkshire, England, 7 miles west of Huddersfield and located at the confluence of the River Colne and the Wessenden Brook. The town has a population of 3,499 (2001 census) and is administered as part of Kirklees Metropolitan Borough. Image File history File links Dot4gb. ... Image File history File links Gb4dot. ... The British national grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references commonly used in Great Britain, different from using latitude or longitude. ... The districts of England are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. ... ... The region, also known as Government Office Region, is currently the highest tier of local government subnational entity of England in the United Kingdom. ... Yorkshire and the Humber is one of the regions of England. ... Constituent countries is a phrase sometimes used, usually by official institutions, in contexts in which a number of countries make up a larger entity or grouping; thus the OECD has used the phrase in reference to the former Yugoslavia (example here) and European institutions such as the Council of Europe... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2006 est. ... This is an alphabetical list of the sovereign states of the world, including both de jure and de facto independent states. ... The Ceremonial counties of England are areas of England that are appointed a Lord-Lieutenant, and are defined by the government with reference to the metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England. ... West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. ... The historic counties of England are ancient subdivisions of England. ... Look up Yorkshire in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The West Riding as an administrative county prior to its abolition in 1974. ... There are a number of policing agencies in the United Kingdom. ... West Yorkshire Police is the police force covering West Yorkshire in the United Kingdom. ... A fire engine belonging to the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service The fire service in the United Kingdom has undergone dramatic changes since the beginning of the 21st century, a process that has been propelled by a devolution of central government powers, new legislation and a change to operational... The West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service is the county-wide, statutory emergency fire and rescue service for the Metropolitan county of West Yorkshire, England. ... This is a list of ambulance services in the United Kingdom: Ambulance services in England, after July 1, 2006 are A few deviations from the above have been made for operational reasons. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... A post town is a required part of all UK postal addresses. ... UK postal codes are known as postcodes. ... The UK telephone numbering plan, also known as the National Numbering Plan, is regulated by the Office of Communications (Ofcom), which replaced the Office of Telecommunications (Oftel) in 2003. ... The United Kingdom House of Commons is made up of Members of Parliament (MPs). ... Colne Valley is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ... Sign in the entrance of the European Parliament building in Brussels, written in all the official languages used in the European Union as of July 2006 The European Parliament building in Strasbourg The debating chamber, or hemicycle, in Strasbourg The European Parliament building in Brussels The European Parliament (formerly European... Yorkshire and the Humber is a constituency of the European Parliament. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_England_(bordered). ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (965x643, 142 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Marsden, West Yorkshire Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (965x643, 142 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Marsden, West Yorkshire Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (965x643, 144 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Marsden, West Yorkshire Standedge Tunnels Standedge Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (965x643, 144 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Marsden, West Yorkshire Standedge Tunnels Standedge Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (429x643, 106 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Marsden, West Yorkshire Packhorse bridge Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (429x643, 106 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Marsden, West Yorkshire Packhorse bridge Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or... Main street in Bastrop, Texas, a small town A town is a residential community of people ranging from a few hundred to several thousands, although it may be applied loosely even to huge metropolitan areas. ... A county is generally a sub-unit of regional self-government within a sovereign jurisdiction. ... West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2006 est. ... Statistics Population: 146,234 Ordnance Survey OS grid reference: SE145165 Administration District: Kirklees Metropolitan county: West Yorkshire Region: Yorkshire and the Humber Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: West Yorkshire Historic county: Yorkshire (West Riding) Services Police force: West Yorkshire Police Fire and rescue: {{{Fire}}} Ambulance... The River Colne rises in the Pennines in West Yorkshire. ... The Wessenden Valley is a moorland valley situated due south of the small town of Marsden in the English county of West Yorkshire. ... ...

Geography

Marsden is the last significant settlement on the West Yorkshire side of Standedge crossing of the Pennines into Lancashire. The town is surrounded on three sides by the high moors, with low level access only from the east up the Colne Valley. Standedge (normally pronounced Stannige) is a moorland escarpment in the Pennine Hills of northern England. ... Typical Pennine scenery. ... Lancashire is a county in North West England, bounded to the west by the Irish Sea. ... The Colne Valley crosses the Pennines in West Yorkshire. ...

Several generations of tracks and roads have crossed the moors at this point. There are two distinctive packhorse bridges in the town (Mellor Bridge by the church, and Close Gate Bridge at the edge of the moor to the east of the town), whilst the current A62 main road crosses through the Standedge cutting some 2.5 miles (4 km) to the west. Both the Huddersfield Narrow Canal and the Huddersfield to Manchester railway also pass through Marsden, entering the parallel rail and canal Standedge Tunnels about half a mile (0.8 km) to the west of the town. Marsden station is located in the town on the railway line.^[1] A packhorse bridge is typically very narrow and was only designed to take a horse (often loaded with sidebags or panniers) across a waterway. ... The A62 is a major road in England. ... A mile is a unit of length, usually used to measure distance, in a number of different systems, including Imperial units, United States customary units and Norwegian/Swedish mil. ... km redirects here. ... Please wikify (format) this article or section as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... Manchester is a major city and metropolitan borough within Greater Manchester in North West England. ... The tunnel entrance at Marsden The Standedge Tunnels (Standedge is normally pronounced Stannige) are four parallel tunnels that run beneath the Pennines at the traditional Standedge crossing point between Marsden and Diggle, on the edges of the conurbations of West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester respectively, in northern England. ... Marsden railway station serves the village of Marsden near Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. ...

The nearby Marsden Moor Estate is in the care of the National Trust (NT). The estate, and the reservoir also to be found on the moors, form an area of beautiful scenery ideal for walking and cycling. Moor management is not an established science/craft, so the NT are breaking new ground in developing new techniques to rehabilitate the moor. Somewhat surprisingly, Marsden Moor is the driest moorland in Britain, and the peat which forms the top layer of the moor is a valuable carbon sink. This means that the management of Marsden Moor is pivotal in balancing out Britain's carbon emissions.^{[citation needed]} The Marsden Moor Estate is a large expanse of moorland situated in the Pennines, between the conurbations of West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester in the north of England. ... The standard of the National Trust The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as The National Trust, is a British preservation organization. ... Moorland in the Pennines (England); Coarse grasses and bracken tend to dominate especially in high rainfall areas. ... Peat in Lewis, Scotland Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter. ... A carbon dioxide (CO2) sink is a carbon reservoir that is increasing in size, and is the opposite of a carbon source. The main natural sinks are (1) the oceans and (2) plants and other organisms that use photosynthesis to remove carbon from the atmosphere by incorporating it into biomass. ...

Institutions

The present Church of St Bartholomews was completed in 1899, although the nave and aisle had been in use from 1895, when the previous chapel was demolished. The tower was built in 1911, and the Parochial Hall in 1924 (with an extension in 1978). The church has a peel of ten bells.^[2] Links to full descriptions of the elements of a Gothic floorplan are also found at the entry Cathedral diagram. ... In a modern church an aisle is a row down the middle of the church with a set of pews on each side. ...

The Holme Valley Mountain Rescue Team has it's headquarters in Marsden. Operating from two bays of Marsden Fire Station, the volunteer team provides rescue cover for surrounding moorland areas, and also assists West Yorkshire Police with searches for missing people. The team was founded in 1965 and was originally based in Meltham before relocating to Marsden in 2005. The HVMRT Land Rover The Team on exercise on Pule Hill Crags, Marsden The Holme Valley Mountain Rescue Team is a voluntary organisation based in Marsden, near Huddersfield in West Yorkshire. ... Meltham is a Town in the county of West Yorkshire, England, south of Slaithwaite. ...

Culture

Marsden is the home of the Marsden Silver Prize Band, a top level brass band. The town is host to several festivals and cultural events throughout the year. Perhaps the most unique of these is Marsden Cuckoo Day, day-long festival each Spring with clog dancing, a duck race, music, a procession and a famous "cuckoo walk". There is also the annual Marsden Jazz Festival each October and the Imbolc festival each winter, in which the triumph of the Green Man (who represents the coming spring), over Jack Frost (the winter) is celebrated with fire juggling and giant puppets. The Lochgelly Band, a Scottish colliery band, circa 1890 A British-style Brass Band is a musical ensemble comprising a standardised range of brass and percussion instruments. ... Spring is one of the four seasons of temperate zones, the transition from winter into summer. ... Clogging is a traditional type of percussive folk dance which is common in the Appalachian Region of the United States, associated with the predecessor to bluegrass - old time music which is based on Irish and Scots-Irish fiddle tunes. ... Imbolc is one of the four principal festivals of the pre-Christian Celtic calendar, associated with fertility ritual, was subsequently adopted as St Brigids Day in the Christian period, and in more recent times has been celebrated as a fire festival, one of eight holidays, festivals (4 Solar and... The Green Man is a symbol of uncertain origin and meaning, commonly employed as a decorative architectural device in the British Isles and many parts of continental Europe. ...

Marsden is also the home, or perhaps the butt, of the famous local legend of the Marsden Cuckoo, after which the Cuckoo Day festival is named:

"Many years ago the people of Marsden were aware that when the cuckoo arrived, so did the Spring and sunshine. They tried to keep Spring forever, by building a tower around the Cuckoo. Unfortunately, as the last stones were about to be laid, away flew the cuckoo. If only they'd built the tower one layer higher. As the legend says, it "were nobbut just wun course too low."

Notable residents

Marsden was the birthplace of Henrietta Thompson, the mother of General James Wolfe who took Quebec from the French in 1759. General James Wolfe, General James (Jimmy) Wolfe (January 2, 1727 – September 13, 1759) was a British general, remembered mainly for his role in establishing British rule in Canada. ... Motto: Je me souviens (French: I remember) Official languages French Flower Blue Flag Iris (Iris versicolor Linné) Tree Yellow Birch Bird Snowy Owl Capital Quebec City Largest city Montreal Lieutenant-Governor Lise Thibault Premier Jean Charest (PLQ) Parliamentary representation  - House seats  - Senate seats 75 24 Area Total  - Land  - Water  (% of... 1759 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

References

1. ^ Marsden & Standedge Tunnels. TripsByTrain.com.
2. ^ Church and Chapel in Marsden. Marsden Local History Group. Retrieved on January 11, 2007.

January 11 is the 11th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2007 (MMVII) is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Description of Marsden from the Marsden Jazz Festival's web site.
• Marsden Local History Group web site.
• A walk between Marsden and Standedge Tunnel from TripsByTrain.com
• Photographs of Marsden on the flickr.com web site.

Coordinates: 53°36′05.64″N, 01°55′39.26″W Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...