All eyes are on the Calder Valley as the final of Happy Valley screened this weekend. The series has been the talk of the town. Apparently several endings were filmed to keep the final a secret. It adds an extra layer of interest to watch something filmed in an area you’re familiar with. Have you watched it?
The real happy valley area incorporates Todmorden, Hebden bridge, Mytholmroyd, Sowerby Bridge and Brighouse. It’s covered by Calder Valleys police. Their crime statistics are recorded on the police.uk website. You can also look there for your own area, to get an idea of crime levels in your neighbourhood. This is a particularly useful tool for anyone moving home. Another tool is the neighbourhood watch website, which lists much more localised crimes. It also lets you search for your local neighbour hood watch groups by area.
What is crime like in the real happy valley?
Calder Valleys Police recorded almost 850 crimes in December 2022. This is real life, not in the Happy Valleys series. Last year, the area saw it’s highest crime rate for 3 years. The types of crime range from bicycle theft, drugs and possession of weapons to violence and sexual offences. The latter is the most prevalent over the past three years. Almost half of the crimes recorded in December 2022 fell into this category.
Looking at average figures for the past 3 years, incidents of criminal damage and arson average 20 per week and theft, burglary and robbery offences combine to over 30 per week.
How does Happy Valley compare with your area?