CALDERDALE

westernmost metropolitan borough, metropolitan county of West Yorkshire, England. The metropolitan borough is part of the historic county of Yorkshire, except for a small area west of Todmorden that belongs to the historic county of Lancashire. The bleak gritstone Pennine moorlands, with scattered sheep farms and reservoirs, rise to an elevation of 1,500 feet (457 metres) above sea level and are deeply scored by the River Calder and many small tributary creeks. Nineteenth-century textile towns line the dale between Todmorden and Brighouse. Halifax is the borough's administrative centre and the largest of these towns. While the traditional textile manufacturing sectors have declined, engineering and light manufactures have expanded. The sandstone edges of the valleys yield building stone and fireclay at Elland. Area 140 square miles (363 square km). Pop. (1998 est.) 192,900.