BOXING DAY 2015 FLOODS: Calderdale is the Valley that refused to sink

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It wasn’t just rain - it felt like the end of the world, writes Graham Walker.

By dawn on Boxing Day 2015, the Calder Valley was drowning.

Hebden Bridge’s cobbles vanished beneath roaring brown water; Mytholmroyd was swallowed in minutes; Todmorden, Sowerby Bridge and Elland were battered into silence.

Cars spun, alarms wailed, whole streets disappeared.

Yet as the water rose, so did the valley’s grit - neighbours rescuing neighbours, businesses fighting back, and community spirit refusing to sink.

The Boxing Day floods nearly broke Calderdale. But instead, they revealed what it was made of.

Amid the chaos and tears, something remarkable stirred - neighbours hauling sandbags for strangers, cafés handing out tea, and people who’d lost everything turning up to help others.

Ten years on, the community is reassured it is protected by stronger defences, faster warnings and a far more coordinated multi-agency response than anything that existed in 2015.

The scars are still there - a warped floorboard, a watermark, in one case even a plaque, more a badge of honour, showing how the flood water reached 6ft outside Hebden Bridge Picture House but the show went on after a short closure.

When the rain falls heavily now, people look out not in fear, but with a quiet confidence born from experience, solidarity and lessons learned by emergency, utility and other agencies who are even better prepared with a multi-agency approach.

The Calder Valley is once again alive with voices - sharing memories, lessons and gratitude.

Their story has become one of defiance, recovery and quiet pride.

The floods caused catastrophic damage to businesses - amongst the most high profile, with its entire ground floor left under water, was Russell Dean Furniture, which sits across the road from River Calder, in Burnley Road, Mytholmroyd.

When the river burst its banks, water hammered against the glass, smashed inside and took everything in its path.

Photos of the flooded showroom became symbolic of flood-hit businesses in the valley.

The rebuild also became a landmark of the recovery — signalling the region's fight back and return.

The old building was knocked down and ingeniously rebuilt on stilts, with a car park on the ground floor, so it now trades on higher ground, on two levels, on the first and second floor.

Alan Raybould, General Manager at Russell Dean Furniture, said of the 2015 floods: "The store was completely devastated, not just the furniture, but the carpets, decor and all of the accessories that go with it.

“It caused hundreds of thousands of pounds of damage. The entire shop floor was about three or four feet under water.

"The company took the decision to rebuild and the business is now doing better than ever."

Just a few doors away The Blue Teapot cafe was also badly flooded.

Owner Lisa Thwaites says they are still on river watch and insists a good flood plan is something all businesses in the area should have.

"The thought of flooding never goes away. You get the flashbacks. Every time it rains you get that panic. We do river watch quite a lot," she says.

"It was really badly hit in 2015, it was completely wiped out. Kirsty, the previous owner, had to start again. She had only been open three months. I took over in 2019 and the same happened to me, when we were flooded in 2020.

"When the floods hit, they hit really, really fast, and an absolutely unprecedented amount of water arrived. The water level in the cafe reached six feet, so anything under that, obviously, was totally gone.

"The Mythomroyd you see today isn't the one pre 2015 floods, because a lot of the buildings had to go - they were so badly damaged."

She added: "People treasure The Blue Teapot cafe. It's a hub of the community. Our customers are absolutely fantastic. As soon as they knew the river had broken, messages started with offers of help. And as soon as we reopened, they were here to support us.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens was the big Christmas film that year - but instead of a galaxy far, far away, it was the floods that awakened the valley’s public fightback when the cinema’s lights went out.

Volunteers appeared within hours, neighbours rallied, and the community launched its own resistance. The force was strong close to home.

Hebden Bridge Picture House, in New Road, backs onto River Hebden, often referred to locally as Hebden Water, which feeds into the Calder. When it broke its banks, it completely flooded the ground floor stalls inside the council-run cinema, a grand building over 100 years old.

But the show went on, after a short closure, with locals booking balcony seats rather than going elsewhere. It wasn't just about watching a film, it was about wanting to feel normal again.

Standing next to a head-height plaque outside, which now marks the exact spot the flood water reached, Peter Berrisford, now manager of the independent cinema. said:

" I'm 6ft, so you can see how high the flooding was. The water got in through the side of the cinema and all the seats in the stalls had to be completely replaced. But people booked for the balcony, rather than going somewhere else.

“It's about the resilience of Hebden Bridge".

The Boxing Day floods were a defining moment for how West Yorkshire responds to a crisis.

Now data moves instantly. Emergency services mobilise earlier and responders work hand-in-hand with communities.

At the heart of the shift is West Yorkshire Prepared, the region’s Local Resilience Forum - a multi-agency partnership bringing together emergency services, councils, health, flood specialists, utilities and infrastructure operators.It is one of the most joined-up emergency networks in the country, widely admired for its coordination and clarity.

Mariana Pexton, co-Chair of West Yorkshire Prepared and Deputy Chief Executive of Leeds City Council, said: "As the risks facing residents, businesses and communities become more complex, the need for effective collaboration has never been greater.

Today, we are even better prepared - thanks to the ongoing training and commitment of our partners, who work together as a multi-agency team to ensure we are ready to respond to the full range of challenges and risks our region may face.”

It has launched its updated 2025 Community Risk Register (CRR), a guide to risks and how to plan ahead, available at bit.ly/westyorkshirepreparedCRR.

Calderdale Council also urges residents to check Eye on Calderdale – a one-stop website for advice at www.eyeoncalderdale.com.

READ MORE: BOXING DAY 2015 FLOODS: Packhorse Bridge is the defiant spirit of Calder Valley.