The hard-hitting BBC crime drama has captured the nation’s attention – but where is it filmed? Walk in Catherine Cawood’s shoes through West Yorkshire in these Happy Valley landscapes

By Maria Hodson

Published: Tuesday, 31 January 2023 at 12:00 am

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Those of us who are hooked on BBC One’s Happy Valley have been admiring the show’s wild locations. Set in Calder Valley, West Yorkshire, the nail-biting crime drama follows the personal and professional life of Sergeant Catherine Cawood, who battles family trauma alongside her gruelling workload as a police officer. Series writer Sally Wainwright was born in Huddersfield and grew up in Sowerby Bridge, so the West Yorkshire settings are close to her heart and play a key role in her stories.  As we approach the grand finale of season three on Sunday, we look at some of the scene-stealing locations…

Warning: Contains season three spoilers

Hebden Bridge

Much of the storyline is filmed in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, a market town set at the confluence of the River Calder and Hebden Water. Hebden Bridge stars as the home town of protagonist Sergeant Catherine Cawood, who lives with her sister, a recovering addict, and raises her nine-year-old grandson. Despite a traumatic bereavement, she remains a committed officer, attempting to uphold the rule of law in difficult environments and deprived communities, where drugs and desperation run rife.

Hebden Bridge is also the stage for a particularly tense scene in season one, when young Ryan visits his violent father Tommy, who is hiding out on one of the houseboats.

Buck Park Quarry, Denholme

Sarah Lancashire is formidable as Catherine Cawood, and series three starts with her on excellent no-nonsense form, following the discovery of a body at Baitings Reservoir. Buck Park Quarry in Denholme plays the role of Baitings Reservoir and presents a bleak, muddy landscape.

Ryburn Valley High School, Sowerby Bridge

In series three, Ryan has grown into a strapping and occasionally surly 16-year-old. He plays on the school football team, where he locks horns with Rob Hepworth, a teacher with anger issues. Their altercation on the pitch was filmed at the Ryburn Valley High School, where Ryan’s other school scenes take place.

Bath Place, Boothtown

As series three unfolds, Catherine is on the trail of organised crime – and the arrest of one suspect leads to personal injury. This scene is filmed in Bath Place, Boothtown, a suburb of Halifax – one of many towns formerly dominated by the mill industry. Home to Saint John the Baptist Serbian Orthodox church, Boothtown had a Serbian community in the area since the 1940s.

Warley Moor Reservoir

In the penultimate episode of series three, Tommy Lee Royce, played by James Norton, pedals his way to Warley Moor Reservoir, having successfully broken out of prison. As he stands drinking in the landscape and fresh air, he raises his hands in elation, perhaps cheering the view of water and moor. Or just his great escape. Also known as Fly Flatts, the vast body of water is a 90-acre drinking-water reservoir built in 1872 and located near Ovenden Moor, Mixdenden. Halifax Rowing Club uses the site, making it the highest sailing club in the world, at 410 metres.

Cold Edge Road, Wainstall

Cold Edge Road / Withen Roads near Wainstalls is a scenic moorland road that heads past Warley Moor Reservoir to Oxenhope. It is used for a number of drone shots and driving scenes, including a harrowing scene is series one, when young police office Kirsten McAskills pulls a suspicious white van over for a background check.

Stones Drive, Ripponden

Another storyline in series three features aggressive teacher Rob Hepworth (Mark Stanley), who lives on an estate with his Diazepam-addicted wife Joanna and their two daughters. Pharmacist Faisal Batty and his family live in the same neighbourhood. These scenes were filmed at Stones Drive, Ripponden, which has beautiful views over the Rybun Valley.

Warley View, Halifax

Tommy Lee Royce is helped by gangland criminal Darius Knezevic in series three, who finds him a safehouse to lie low in, located in Warley View, Halifax. But is Tommy capable of keeping a low profile, or will his hatred of Catherine drive him into a public showdown?

Park Wood Crematorium, Elland

Tommy’s mother Lynn Dewhurst is buried at Park Wood Crematorium in series two, episode two, which Catherine Cawood decides to attend, with dramatic consequences

Catch up with all three seasons of Happy Valley on iPlayer.

The final episode of Happy Valley airs on Sunday 5 February at 9pm on BBC One.

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