Real Voices of Happy Valley

Aid Todd set up Drum Machine to reflect western rhythms and culture. It has grown to be a mainstay of festivals, locally and nationally and many valley residents have been part of it. Meanwhile Aid h…

Louisa set up Keep Tod Tidy and works closely with community wardens to organise monthly clean up days in the town centre ad around the estates of Todmorden. As ever, she's a lot more than that. Here…

Viv and Dave sit in their garden and chat about their afternoon at Todmorden Country Fair; the animals, charities and displays. Great fun, interesting people.

Viva and Dave chat with Steve Hindle, of the  Bridestones moor community group aiming to restore Bridestones and moorland above Todmorden to its ancient state. This would involve the re introduction …

Des Horsfall discusses highlights of his career in music: solo and band work, working with Alexis Korner, collaborating with Pete Townshend of The Who and his Kuschty Rye project inspired by the post…

Viv chats to Mica May of women's plumbing company Stopcocks about the issues women face in skilled trades and the register of tradeswomen they have set up. More information online at Stopcocks.uk and…

Outside the Ring O' Bells pub in Halifax Dave chats with Elliot and Andy from Andy's Man Club. The club was set up in response to the self inflicted death of Andy Roberts in Halifax in  2016. It exis…

Leona Johnson has been involved in a Forest School, Live Wild, a social worker and transformational life coach … among other things. Her mission – her passion - is to connect people with nature and e…

Dave chats with Ash, Newcastle born Calder valley based artist whose current project sees him exploring his family and his heritage. Ash is doing this partly for himself after the loss of his mother …

Lucy Illingworth has astonished people all her life with her amazing musicality. She is blind, has serious learning difficulties but took local Facebook pages by storm before appearing on and 'winnin…

Viv and Dave chat with Daniel Bath - officially an 'outstanding citizen' of Calder Valley - about music education, his own live music and how he got Music for the Many into being. Part two will featu…

Hebdenroyd Swimming Association has long wanted a swimming pool in the Hebden Bridge / Mytholmroyd area. The plans are now for a clean water outdoor swimming pool for the valley. The association is h…

Louise Heppleston is a 'dogsbody'. This involves hiding on the moors for an hour or two waiting to be found by dogs as part of their training in finding people lost who need rescuing by Calder Valley…

Val Stevens, campaigner for the environment, women's rights and the welfare of older people. She was a councillor and deputy leader at Manchester City Council, councillor and mayor of Hebdenroyd and …

Richard 'Wally' Woodcock and Steve Andrews have been part of the Calder Valley music scene since the 1970s. Wally was with Trevor Beales in Havana Lake, then The Outfit and settled into the Owter Zed…

Viv and Dave chat with Chris Green, long time resident of Calder Valley who has just returned form a bicycle tour of parts of India. He tells of the adventure of travelling by bike, train and ferry a…

Viv and Dave chat with Suzanne Oulton. Suzanne is heavily involved in her community in Todmorden: sports, brass band, church, walking group ... and she was part of the supporters associations that sa…

Viv and Dave chat with Jim Brierley.  He has been a significant part of the music scene in Calder Valley for decades. Drummer with R n B band Mean Business for many years, Jim also set up the Riversi…

Viv and Dave chat with Sara Robinson at St Augustine's Centre, Halifax. The centre provides support for asylum seekers and refugees who have come to the UK after fleeing from their country of origin …

John Armstrong was in the Calder Valley before the hippies turned up. he performed at Deeply Vale and Rivington Festivals, was a founder member of the Owter Zeds and has produced an Album reflected h…