Sowerby Bridge is a market town in the Upper Calder Valley in Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England

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If you cast your eyes to the far distance you will see Wainhouse Tower in Halifax.

The story of why it was built is quite a funny one.....

One driving forces behind the erection of the viewing platforms was a long-standing feud between landowning neighbours John Edward Wainhouse (1817–1883) and Sir Henry Edwards (1812–1886). Edwards had boasted that he had the most private estate in Halifax, into which no one could see. As the estate was on land adjacent to the chimney's site, following the opening of the viewing platforms, Edwards could never claim privacy again.

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I LOVE A LITTLE NARROWBOAT - BY PAM AYRES

I love a little narrowboat, I love the old canal,
Imagining the tales these ancient waterways could tell,
I love to work the lock, those oaken gates so firm and strong,
With know-alls up above to tell you what you're doing wrong.

I love to see the native creatures busy at the bank,
The otter and the water vole, the terrapin and mink,
And peering in the water, into shallows green and still,
To see somebody's goldfish from the kitchen window-sill.

I love to moor along the bank and hear the gentle rain,
To cook a meal and watch the world beyond the window-pane,
Little bobbing moorhen chicks, the mallard and the coot,
Exhausted lovers hoping that their effort's bearing fruit.

I love the ancient bridges, every keystone, every corbel,
The singing of the little birds, the chirrup and the warble,
To feed a lonely swan, so perfect, white as alabaster,
Who struck me with his wing; observe my collar-bone in plaster.

I love to meet the other folk who use the waterways,
The walkers and the fishermen on sunny languid days,
We drift beside the towpath and we breathe the summer's breath,
Till roaring motor-bikers come and frighten us to death.

I love the inland waterways and if it's in my power,
I'll just keep on a-sailing at about three miles an hour,
And when I see that final tunnel, into it I'll glide,
I'll raise my yachting cap and see you on the other side.

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The Navigation Inn dates back to the 15th century and was the site of the local Moot Hall - Some of the period features still remain in place today with a magnificent 16th century Fireplace being the focus of one of the main dining areas.

The Pub sits in the quiet outskirts of the town of Sowerby Bridge with views to the surrounding hills and the banks of the Hebble and Calder Canal. The towpath runs to the side of the pub and there is a mooring for boats 1 minute away.

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The town was originally a fording point over the once much-wider River Calder where it joins the River Ryburn.

The town takes its name from the historic bridge which spans the river in the town centre. Before the Industrial Revolution the area was divided between the parishes of Sowerby, Norland, Skircoat and Warley.

The boundaries between them being the rivers Calder and Ryburn and Warley Clough, which is now largely culverted. Textiles and engineering industry grew up around the bridge. By the mid-19th century the population had grown and the settlement became an urban district in the West Riding of Yorkshire in 1894.

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