Alden Valley

The Alden Valley is a small valley on the eastern edge of the West Pennine Moors, west of Helmshore in Rossendale, Lancashire, England. In the 14th century it was part of the Earl of Lincoln's hunting park. By 1840 it was home to about twenty farms, largely involved in cattle rearing, although most inhabitants were also involved with the production of textiles, which quickly developed during the Industrial Revolution into the building of textile mills. These have now been demolished and the valley is dominated by sheep grazing, with three working farms and a number of smallholdings. To the north and north-west is Musbury Tor, to the south-west at the head of the valley is Scholes Height, to the west is Musden Head Moor and Burnt Hill. To the south is Bull Hill and the Holcombe Moor, to the south-east is Beetle Hill. Alden Brook forms from several streams draining Wet Moss on the north-western slopes of Scholes Height, which join after flowing through several gullies at an area known as Alden Ratchers. It is the last of the River Ogden's tributaries to join before it joins the River Irwell.

It has been suggested the name Alden derives from Old English ælf ('elf') + denu ('valley'), thus meaning 'elf-valley'. although the Old English root alor (alder tree) seems an equally likely element.

A story is told of the murder of a young woman by her lover on the footpath to Edgworth above and to the south of Alden Valley. Above Robin Hood's Well, the site is marked by an old cairn, and a stone carved by Rossendale-based artist Don McKinlay was erected by Horse and Bamboo Theatre at a special performance in 1978. The story was also commemorated by a Victorian ballad written by John Fawcett Skelton. The memorial is on Beetle Hill that overlooks the Valley, south of Alden Farm. It can reached by following the track to Robin Hood's Well and continuing onto the moorland.

Data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).