[1] Scaldwell is tiny and has neither shops nor pubs; at the time of the 2001 census the parish had a population of 271 living in 113 households,[2] increasing to 302 in 2011 and 304 in 2020.

The Staveley Coal and Iron Company operated a number of ironstone quarries around the villages of Brixworth, Hanging Houghton and Scaldwell from 1912 until 1963.

[6] Two separate 3 ft (914 mm) gauge tramways transported ore from the quarries, one serving the Hanging Houghton pits.

An aerial ropeway connected the two tramways to sidings on the Market Harborough to Northampton railway line.

The pits were originally hand-worked, but in 1933 steam dragline excavators were introduced, which made the quarrying faster and more efficient.

[6] During the Second World War, a new standard gauge branch line was laid to the Hanging Houghton quarries.