River Holme

The Holme of the Holme Valley, West Yorkshire, England is a tributary of the River Colne, West Yorkshire. The source is via Digley Reservoir, fed firstly by the run-off from Brownhill Reservoir, then by Dobbs Dike. Banks along the upper valley are mostly urbanised and are in the Holme Valley civil parish.

From Digley Reservoir, the river flows north-east through Holmbridge and Holmfirth. It flows NNE to Thongsbridge and Brockholes then north to reach Honley, Berry Brow and Lockwood. It wends northwards and joins the Colne (one of five rivers of that name) just south of Huddersfield town centre at Folly Hall.

The Environment Agency has a gauging station at Queen's Mill in Huddersfield where the record average monthly levels are 0.25 metres (0.82 ft), versus 1.2 metres (3.9 ft). The record high is 2.5 metres (8.2 ft), in 2011.

The river was prone to flooding, the earliest recorded in 1738. In 1840 the dam of Bilberry Reservoir was built over a stream, but the work had not been done properly and the stream not correctly redirected. Thus in February 1852, the reservoir broke its confines and flooded the valley as far as Holmfirth. It caused 81 deaths and the destruction of many homes and businesses.

The top of the valley is surrounded by the high, wooded hills on their lower slopes only, of Holme Moss, Harden Moss and Cartworth Moor.

The underlying bedrock was laid down in the late Carboniferous period and is primarily of Millstone Grit with some sandstone interspersed with thin coal seams.