A hydraulic damper spool valve for a hydraulic damper having a main piston reciprocable within a main cylinder to define first and second working chambers on respective opposite sides of the main piston and comprising: a valve sleeve providing an internal cylindrical bore that is open at both ends, and an external cylindrical surface, a sharp edged land feature, a first effective piston area, and a stop face; a cylindrical valve spool having an open end, a closed end defining a second effective piston area, and a shaped aperture defined in a wall of the valve spool; the valve sleeve being adapted to accept the valve spool with a predetermined, close tolerance radial clearance that is configured to allow longitudinal movement of the valve spool within the internal cylindrical bore of the valve sleeve while preventing hydraulic flow through the radial clearance; a valve body affixed to the main piston or the main cylinder of the damper having a first chamber and a second chamber interconnected by a cylindrical passage, the cylindrical passage being adapted to accept the valve sleeve with a predetermined, close tolerance radial clearance that is configured to allow longitudinal movement of the valve sleeve within the cylindrical passage while preventing hydraulic flow through the radial clearance; the valve body defining a first passage that provides an unobstructed hydraulic path between an upper portion of the hydraulic damper and the first chamber and a second passage that provides an unobstructed hydraulic path between a lower portion of the hydraulic damper and the second chamber; and one or two resilient energy storage member(s) arranged between the valve sleeve and valve spool so as to bias the valve sleeve and valve spool in an opposing direction to a force vector generated by the operating pressures in the damper's hydraulic fluid; whereby, when the main piston is moved in a first direction, the operating pressure generated in the damper's hydraulic fluid acts upon the first effective piston area and induces longitudinal movement of the valve sleeve, proportional to the pressure, against a biasing force of the, or a first, resilient energy storage member (60,61) causing the sharp edged land feature to move relative to the shaped aperture thereby varying fluid flow through the varying exposed, open shaped aperture, and, when the hydraulic damper's main piston is moved in a second direction, the operating pressure generated in the damper's hydraulic fluid acts upon the second effective piston area and induces longitudinal movement of the valve spool, proportional to the pressure, against a biasing force of the, or a second, resilient energy storage member (60,62)) causing the shaped aperture to move relative to the sharp edged land feature varying the fluid flow through the varying exposed, open area of the aperture. a valve sleeve providing an internal cylindrical bore that is open at both ends, and an external cylindrical surface, a sharp edged land feature, a first effective piston area, and a stop face; a cylindrical valve spool having an open end, a closed end defining a second effective piston area, and a shaped aperture defined in a wall of the valve spool; the valve sleeve being adapted to accept the valve spool with a predetermined, close tolerance radial clearance that is configured to allow longitudinal movement of the valve spool within the internal cylindrical bore of the valve sleeve while preventing hydraulic flow through the radial clearance; a valve body affixed to the main piston or the main cylinder of the damper having a first chamber and a second chamber interconnected by a cylindrical passage, the cylindrical passage being adapted to accept the valve sleeve with a predetermined, close tolerance radial clearance that is configured to allow longitudinal movement of the valve sleeve within the cylindrical passage while preventing hydraulic flow through the radial clearance; the valve body defining a first passage that provides an unobstructed hydraulic path between an upper portion of the hydraulic damper and the first chamber and a second passage that provides an unobstructed hydraulic path between a lower portion of the hydraulic damper and the second chamber; and one or two resilient energy storage member(s) arranged between the valve sleeve and valve spool so as to bias the valve sleeve and valve spool in an opposing direction to a force vector generated by the operating pressures in the damper's hydraulic fluid; whereby, when the main piston is moved in a first direction, the operating pressure generated in the damper's hydraulic fluid acts upon the first effective piston area and induces longitudinal movement of the valve sleeve, proportional to the pressure, against a biasing force of the, or a first, resilient energy storage member (60,61) causing the sharp edged land feature to move relative to the shaped aperture thereby varying fluid flow through the varying exposed, open shaped aperture, and, when the hydraulic damper's main piston is moved in a second direction, the operating pressure generated in the damper's hydraulic fluid acts upon the second effective piston area and induces longitudinal movement of the valve spool, proportional to the pressure, against a biasing force of the, or a second, resilient energy storage member (60,62)) causing the shaped aperture to move relative to the sharp edged land feature varying the fluid flow through the varying exposed, open area of the aperture.