Yahoo News Life in the hipster village just 25 minutes from Lancashire
Just 25 minutes from Lancashire, there's a small village that's known for its historic architecture, stone-settled streets and remarkable community spirit.
Heptonstall is a quiet West Yorkshire village within the Calderdale borough, just sat above the bustling market town of Hebden Bridge. Famously, the village requires a trek up a steep hill to reach - but it's certainly worth it.
The village has a modest population of 1,470 as recorded in the 2011 Census, including those from the surrounding Colden and Slack Top hamlets. Reporters at Yorkshire Live visited Heponstall and spoke with locals, finding out their unrequited love for the place they live.
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Mary Ellen, 65, who volunteers at the local post office, has embraced Heptonstall as her home over the past eight years since moving from Norfolk: "I moved from Norfolk so it was a big move. I didn't know anybody at all when I first arrived here, but now I'm involved in so many things."
She reflects on the warmth of the pueblo: "The people are all so lovely, it's a fantastic community, I feel very lucky. I cannot believe I live here, it's so beautiful. I love it in the winter, the town really comes into its own when it's snowing, everything just looks so pretty."
Similarly, Georgia, aged 31, originally hailing from Brighton and another member of the Post Office team, finds the village life most agreeable: "I like living here, everyone is really friendly and helpful, it's a really lovely village to live in. I wouldn't move back to Brighton so that says a lot."
Heptonstall has become a prime filming spot, featuring in the TV series The Gallows Pole, which tells the story of the Cragg Vale Coiners, where it stands in for Cragg Vale on the opposite side of the Calder Valley.
The most frequently used spot was the local history museum and community centre, which doubled up as the pub. Local resident Michael Crowley, 64, who volunteers at the museum, told Yorkshire Live that the BBC spent more than £20,000 renovating the museum into the pub for the set and subsequently saved the struggling facility.
Many of Heptonstall's local residents, Michael included, were hired as extras for The Gallows Pole, which not only helped them personally during financially difficult times but it also put money back into the local village and the community they all know and love.
He said: "The Gallows Pole sort of enabled the museum to survive, director Shane Meadows loved the building and wanted to use it as the pub, they completely transformed it. They spent over £20,000 on the interiors and didn't ask for a penny."
"Since then what we've done is used this room to tell the story of the coiners by turning it into the gang leaders house. We have been open since the end of May and have been so busy since the show aired. It's really good for the village because we get visitors because of it.
"People like the historical nature of the old part of the village and it's character, so by using it in TV, it sort of helps us defend that. I was in extra in the show, so were a lot of people in the village.
"At the time, I didn't have a steady income, so it was a great opportunity for me. Living in the village meant I could just step out of my front door and onto the set. It was fantastic for us locals to be involved, we're incredibly proud of our village."
The village has also made appearances in the popular BBC crime drama Happy Valley, with the extended cemetery of St Thomas Becket's Church serving as the burial place of Catherine Cawood's daughter, which she frequently visited.
In addition to Heptonstall's museum and numerous stunning period properties, the village is home to a Post Office, a tearoom, and two pubs - The White Lion and The Cross Inn.
Heptonstall boasts not one, but two St Thomas Becket churches: a ruined one dating back to the 13th and 14th centuries, and its 1854 replacement on the other side of the graveyard.
It's a favourite spot among tourists, many of whom come in search of the grave of renowned poet Sylvia Plath. The Cragg Vale Coiners leader 'King' David Hartley and his brother and deputy Isaac Hartley are also interred in the graveyard between the two churches.
The village's strong connections to the arts and literature are evidently a passion shared by all residents. Local historian Michael commented: "To wake up every day to stunning views and be able to walk in the same footsteps as those such as Sylvia Plath is quite something."
When questioned on whether he intends to remain in the village permanently, he said: "Well I have a daughter and granddaughter who live in Australia so it's certainly got competition but I love it here, it's all so new there isn't it, history is my thing, I taught history and I think there is so much here yet to be understood."
