| Heckmondwike |
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| towns in west yorkshire | |
| heavy woollen district | |
Heckmondwike (known locally by its Nickname , '''Hecky'''), and through its closeness to Cleckheaton and Liversedge , as a part of '''Cleckheckmonsedge''', is a small town which is located geographically at the centre of West Yorkshire , England , 13 km (8 miles) southeast of Bradford . Its population has a high sense of civic pride; recent reports by the Boundary Commission have talked of a "fierce independence" in the town, which makes it hard to link to any constituency {Link without Title} . It is currently divided between the Dewsbury and Batley & Spen seats, but shall be entirely within Batley & Spen at the next election. It is often overshadowed by its neighbours Batley and Dewsbury , and like many of the towns in West Yorkshire, Heckmondwike was formerly a milling town, located in the Heavy Woollen District , and was famous for its blankets. In 1811 a Blanket Hall was built for the trade of the town's primary industry, and a second hall was erected in 1839, on the road now called Blanket Hall Street in the town centre. It runs under the auspices of Kirklees Metropolitan Council . It hit the headlines in 2003 when it elected a member of the far-right British National Party as its Councillor ; leading to local protests. The councillor in question — Counc. David Exley — was elected after the then-serving councillor, Tim Crowther,(now a teacher at Heckmondwike Grammar School ) left the Labour party and ran as an independent. In 2006 the major parties again failed to unite behind a single anti-BNP candidate thus allowing a second BNP candidate to be elected — Roger Roberts, a security guard who in his previous post on Mirfield Town council was fired after failing to attend a meeting for over six months. In May 2007, Heckmondwike's third councillor, the useless David Sheard (Labour), was returned with a 644 majority. The Heckmondwike electoral ward also includes the Norristhorpe area of neighbouring Liversedge . Heckmondwike's weekly newspaper is called the Heckmondwike Herald and is available each Friday. This is an edition of the Spenborough Guardian, which covers the settlements of the former Spenborough Urban District. In recent years the length of the name of the town seems to have caused problems on road signs in the local area where the town's name has been abbreviated to "Heck'wike" or even "Heckm'wike" although this in no way reflects local pronunciation of the town's name. Heckmondwike has its own telephone exchange, part of the Wakefield 01924 dialling area, with numbers beginning 40, 41 and 235. This exchange also covers neighbouring Liversedge , and small areas of Dewsbury and Gomersal . OTHER FACTS
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