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The Villages of Meltham & Netherton
 Situated six miles south-west of Huddersfield, the township of Meltham sits at the foot of the Pennines and right on the edge of the Peak District National Park.
Originally known as the `honey hamlet’ because of a great number of bee-keepers in times past, Meltham is also known as the former home of the red and white tractor builders, David Brown Tractors.
Surrounded by the smaller villages of Helme and Wilshaw, the road from Meltham to Huddersfield also takes in the hamlet of Healey House and the neighbouring residential village of Netherton, a couple of miles down the road.
The whole area encompassed by Meltham and Netherton is semi-rural with both residential and industrial properties. At one time in years gone-by the whole area was home to some large mills in the 18th and 19th Centuries with houses also built for workers.
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 Now little remains of these once thriving mills - although some still stand, one or two have in recent years become ripe for conversion to modern luxury apartments overlooking rural countryside. Like everywhere times have changed and the whole area is now home to a number of carefully designed modern housing, built to enhance the surrounding rural environment and provide accommodation for busy commuters, travelling to the nearby cities of Manchester
and Leeds.
The relative peace and quiet of communities like Meltham and Netherton is what attracts commuters to set up home here and become part of village life, enjoying local facilities, fantastic countryside, rural views and the great outdoors with walks including the Meltham Way and Pennine Way.
First of all let’s take a look at Netherton – a relatively short distance from the centre of Huddersfield. With its range of shops and services, it is also home to the award-winning Hinchliffe’s farm shop, now offering even more for local customers with its adjoining café and tea rooms serving a range of food and drinks.
Always popular – particularly in summer for barbecue meats and in the run-up to Christmas time – Hinchliffe’s offers a range of cuts of meat, home made pies, sausages etc along with a grocery section. Plenty of parking is available for customers.
Moving a little further along the valley, we come to the hamlet of Healey House, known primarily for its giant winding S-bend stretch of road and also for one of the area’s most successful businesses The Pink Link. Located just down from Healey House Bend is this transport and distribution company which continues to grow in stature.
Being true to its local area, it has named several of its vehicles with local names including the Meltham Mover, the Flockton Flyer, the Huddersfield Harrier etc. Because it is close to Summer Wine country, it has also named some of its larger vehicles after the programme’s best loved characters. Names include Compo, Cleggy, Seymour and Nora.
 The Pink Link has also just announced it is naming two other vehicles The Mighty Terrier and Giants Express in tribute to Huddersfield Town football club and Huddersfield Giant rugby club.
Moving further along the B6108 main Huddersfield to Meltham road, the motorist comes to Meltham Mills, an area just outside the main township of Meltham and one which has always been associated with local industry.
In days gone-by the area boasted a large cotton mill at Meltham Mills which later during the war was used to produce ammunitions for the war effort. Originally the name David Brown was associated with the production of gears but following the war in 1946 the Meltham factory began to produce tractors.
Despite the company’s relatively late entry into the very competitive farm tractor industry, Meltham built machines quickly earned a world-wide reputation for quality and inventive design.
 The factory continued to expand and in 1971 with the installation of a new production line, became the most modern tractor assembly complex of its kind in Europe. At its height the factory employed some 5,000 people, many of them local and living just a few minutes away in Meltham itself.
All day long tractors would be seen buzzing round local roads as men took them on test drives before sending the machines in large packing cases all over the world to destinations in Europe, South America etc. Motorists driving along the road to Meltham could see rows and rows of red and white tractors parked in fields ready for sending overseas.
Unfortunately the bubble was to burst and the decline of the Meltham plant began soon after David Brown Tractors became part of the American J I Case organisation. In 1986 the name David Brown was dropped and the local community suffered wave after wave of redundancies until the plant closed in 1988 – the end of an era in Meltham.
Men and women lost their jobs and the tractor builders were no more. Much sadness descended on the area as its workforce wondered where to go for new jobs.
 However Meltham and its people picked themselves up and discovered there was life after David Brown Tractors. Men found work elsewhere and in more recent years the Meltham Mills site has become home to a range of smaller industrial units producing all manner of items from engineering goods to photographic mounts, carpets to fireplaces. There’s even a go-kart track right in the heart of the site.
Today Meltham is once again a thriving and busy centre, helped partly by the arrival of first the Safeway supermarket chain which was later to change to Morrisons. Built on the site of the former Meltham Railway Station, the supermarket has helped to bring business into the area although at first there were worries about how other local established shops would fare.
Sport too is an important part of Meltham life with a new sports complex having been built in recent years for a combined use by the village football, cricket, athletic and bowling clubs.
Meltham also has its own Town Council which keeps a watchful eye on local developments, a park named after a local councillor Robert Ashton and plenty of pubs, clubs and even its own hotel, Durker Roods which caters for local weddings and all kinds of special events all year round.
If you want to get out and about walking, then the Meltham area is a paradise for both ramblers and dog walkers alike. Local attractions include the stunning scenery of Royd Edge and the Water Catchment area above Meltham which offers stunning views and a choice of walks all around the area.
In recent years these two areas have become part of the 10-mile Meltham Way Walk which begins at Royd Edge, takes in the water catchment area and then travels across to Blackmoorfoot Reservoir eventually bringing the walk out at Healey House to return to Meltham via paths back to Meltham Mills and the Pleasure Grounds.
Anyone wanting a longer and more adventurous walk can go to the very top of Wessendenhead Road and follow a path down the valley to Marsden, past several reservoirs along the way including Wessenden and Blakeley.
Meltham is an area of vast contrasts – the busy town with its modern supermarket contrasts with the bleak barren hills in the distance. As a town on the very edge of the Peak District National Park, it also has connections with the nearby Saddleworth Moor, the site of the horrendous Moors Murders in the 1960s.
Looking from the top of Wessenden Head towards the neighbouring Saddleworth Moor, it’s all too easy to imagine sinister goings-on amongst this vast barren landscape, dotted with reservoirs and peat bogs. Cars can be seen in the distance travelling along the snaking road to Greenfield and over the border into Lancashire.
But back to Meltham and its daily hustle and bustle as people go about their business in a village which at the foot of the Pennines can be bleak with moor grime even on a July day. The people who live here however probably wouldn’t have it any other way as, on a sunny day, it has the most glorious views and spectacular scenery for miles around!
Published Winter 2006. All information correct at time of print
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