Denby Dale

West Yorkshire

Denby Dale is a village in the Kirklees metropolitan district of West Yorkshire.

The village is just over 7 miles south east of Huddersfield in the Dearne Valley, although the distance by road is near to 10 miles. Denby Dale is 5 miles east of Holmfirth, 4 miles north-north-west of Penistone and 8 miles west-north-west of Barnsley in South Yorkshire and 10 miles south-west of Wakefield.

The Denby Dale Viaduct carrying the Huddersfield-Penistone-Sheffield railway across the valley of the River Dearne is a distinctive feature of the village together with memorabilia commemorating a succession of world-beating giant meat and potato pies made in the village.

The village's pie-making tradition has been continued since 1788 when a pie was made to celebrate the recovery of King George III from mental illness.

In 1887 a pie made to celebrate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee was rancid and had to be buried in the woods, but the most recent big Denby Dale pie was a properly cooked recreation of that 1887 pie made in 2012 for the Channel 5 TV programme The Great Northern Cookbook.

The Millennium Denby Dale Pie is paraded through the village in 2000In 1928, the people of Denby Dale rallied to the support of Huddersfield Royal Infirmary with a pie to support medical services at the hospital and a pie was made to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. The dish from a pie made on September 5, 1964, can be found outside the Denby Dale Pie Hall, a village hall in Wakefield Road which was built using the proceeds of a 6½ ton pie.

The biggest meat and potato pie to have been paraded through Denby Dale was the 12 tonne Millennium Pie in 2000.

Denby DaleDenby Dale Pie HallDenby Dale has a large selection of local shops, an industrial estate and mills and, in common with a number of other nearby villages, has seen expansion in residential development over the past few decades.

Denby Dale also lends its name to the civil parish covering several surrounding villages and hamlets and run as Denby Dale Parish Council, although its office is in the village of Skelmanthorpe, about a mile away.

The Wesleyan Methodist Chapel in the village dates from 1799 and was enlarged in 1839. The village's Anglican church, Holy Trinity, at the end of Norman Road, was built in the late 1930s.

Village features

The village is on the River Dearne

Denby Dale has a choice of pubs.

The village has shops.

The village has a Post Office.

The village has a pharmacy.

Takeaway food outlets in the village include fish and chips, pizzas.

The village has tea-rooms.

Restaurant dining can be found in Denby Dale.

Denby Dale has a village hall.

The village has a community library.

Denby Dale has a school.

Place of worship: Anglican, Methodist.

More information about Denby Dale can be found at

Huddersfield.guide

Travel

Denby Dale station

Station managed by: NORTHERN. Operator/s: NORTHERN.

NATIONAL RAIL - Departure and station info

External link to National Rail live departure board for services at this station (opens in new tab).

Bus travel

The village has buses to neighbouring towns and villages.

Road travel

Denby Dale can be reached via the A635 A636

Places to Visit

Peak District National Park

Peak District National ParkThe vast area of the Peak District National Park extends into the Kirklees district near Holme, Meltham and Marsden. Buses run from Holmfirth into the National Park, which stretches from Yorkshire into Derbyshire and beyond. For more details see our Peak District page.

Whistlestop Valley formerly Kirklees Light Railway

Shelley station - Kirklees Light RailwayKirklees Light RailwayPark Mill Way, Clayton West, near Huddersfield
Whistelstop Valley is a rebranding of the Kirklees Light Railway, a 15-inch-gauge light railway on the trackbed of the former Clayton West branch line from the Huddersfield-Penistone-Sheffield line. The branch had survived the Beeching axe of the 1960s but eventually closed to coal traffic in 1979 and passengers from the large commuter villages of Skelmanthorpe and Clayton West in 1983. Work began to create the new 15-inch-gauge light railway from Clayton West in 1991 and was completed along the full 3.5 miles to Shelley in 1997. The line operates most weekends and on weekdays at certain times of the year. Six steam locomotives and two diesel locomotives are used on the line, some built specially for the railway while others have seen previous service at seaside railways such as the Fairbourne Railway in Wales and Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway in North East Lincolnshire. Special occasions have seen guest visits from other lines, including the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway in Sussex and the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway in Cumbria. Santa Specials operate in December. The railway is based at Clayton West where there is a cafe, play area, picnic area, miniature railway, gift shop and toilets. At the Shelley end of the line there is also a cafe, play area, picnic area and toilets. There is no interchange with the adjoining main line at KLR's Shelley station, but there is a waymarked walk to the station from Shepley, taking about 20 minutes. The KLR's intermediate stations at Skelmanthorpe and Cuckoo's Nest provide access to a good network of paths for walkers, Skelmanthorpe station being a short walk from the village. The railway marks its 30th year in 2021 with rebranding as Whistlestop Valley and traditional train tickets replaced with Big Adventure tickets if wanting a train ride as well as access to all facilities like the cafe and picnic area, activity space and a jumping pillow timetabled to arrive in August 2021.

More information at the

Whistlestop Valley website.

National Coal Mining Museum for England

National Coal Mining Museum for EnglandNational Coal Mining MuseumWakefield Road, Overton
The National Coal Mining Museum for England is mid-way between Wakefield and Huddersfield, about 6 miles from each, on the main A642 road at Overton. It is also around 10 miles from Barnsley and just under 5 miles from Dewsbury. The former Caphouse Colliery has exhibits showing the history of mining in the Yorkshire coalfield and beyond. The museum also offers the chance to don a miner's helmet to take an underground tour down the mine. The tour takes about an hour and shows the changes in mining and conditions in the pit through its history. There's also chance to meet pit ponies, to take a trip on a colliery railway, to walk its nature trail or relax with food or a drink in its cafe.
More details at the

National Coal Mining Museum website.

Yorkshire Sculpture Park

West Bretton

The Yorkshire Sculpture Park is the UK's leading open-air sculpture gallery, situated at West Bretton, between Barnsley, Huddersfield and Wakefield. Set in around 500 acres of beautiful parkland within the Bretton Estate adjoining Bretton Hall, the Yorkshire Sculpture Park offers what is probably the finest outdoor exhibition space in the country for modern and contemporary sculpture, attracting regional, national and international exhibits. The museum also has indoor exhibition spaces, cafes and shops. The museum car parks are accessed off the A637 Huddersfield Road between West Bretton and junction 38 of the M1. From 2020, the Yorkshire Sculpture Pak has introduced an admission charge with advance booking required. Parking is included in the admission fee.

More information at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park website.

Find on map: Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Emergency services

West Yorkshire Police

West Yorkshire Police website.

West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service

West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service website.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust

Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust website.

Local government

Civil parish council

Denby Dale Parish Council
Provides some local services in the area.
Link to council website:

Denby Dale Parish Council

Metropolitan district council

Kirklees Council

Kirklees Council covers a large metropolitan district based in Huddersfield but also covering well over 100 towns and villages.

They include those in the former county borough of Huddersfield, the former boroughs of Dewsbury, Batley and Spenborough (based in Cleckheaton), the former urban districts of Heckmondwike and Colne Valley (based in Slaithwaite and also including Marsden) and the five large civil parishes created from former urban districts in Holme Valley (around Holmfirth), Denby Dale, Kirkburton, Meltham and Mirfield. Areas other than the latter five are without town or civil parish councils. Part of the district is in the Peak District National Park.

Kirklees Council is made up of 69 councillors with three councillors per ward in 23 wards. Councillors are elected for four-year terms with one-third involved in elections in three out of four years. Councillors elect a Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Kirklees each year.

Link to Kirklees Council website.

Political composition after May 2024 election:

2291510643 KCIG
69 members KCIG = Kirklees Community Independents Group

See our Yorkshire.guide Gazetteer for more about the

Kirklees metropolitan district and places within it.

County strategic authority

West Yorkshire Combined Authority
Covers some combined services of the five metropolitan district councils of West Yorkshire - Bradford, Calderdale, Leeds, Kirklees and Wakefield — which were at one time provided by a West Yorkshire metropolitan county council, with the addition of the non-contiguous unitary authority area of the City of York council as well as the unelected Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership. Since 2021 it has operated with an elected mayor as chairman and decision-maker for some responsibilities. These include transport, housing and planning and finance powers. The responsibilities also include those of Police and Crime Commissioner, a role substantially delegated to an appointee deputy mayor.

Elected mayor: ❚ Tracy Brabin Labour & Cooperative

West Yorkshire Combined Authority website.

Police and Crime Commissioner

The Police and Crime Commissioner for West Yorkshire
This role has become one of the many responsibilities of the West Yorkshire elected mayor since May 2021.

West Yorkshire Combined Authority website.

Fire Authority

West Yorkshire Fire Authority
The fire authority is made up of elected members of each of the five metropolitan district councils of West Yorkshire - Bradford, Calderdale, Leeds, Kirklees and Wakefield.

West Yorkshire Fire Authority web pages.

Parliamentary constituency

Ossett and Denby Dale
Elected MP: ❚ Jade Botterill Labour

National government region

Yorkshire and the Humber

Ceremonial county

West Yorkshire

Historic

-1974 Within the West Riding of Yorkshire

Also in Yorkshire.guide

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