A town buzzing with a fascinating history (Huddersfield in General)

Member Name: leanne8686

Product:	Huddersfield in General
Date:	13/01/09 (294 review reads)
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I was born in Huddersfield, when I was four my family (me, mum, dad and big brother) moved to Bridlington for a taste of seaside life. We got more than a little homesick and returned to Huddersfield when I was in the last year of junior school; minus my big brother, who had fallen in love with a Brid girl and moved in with her.

All my family live in Huddersfield and I don't have any plans to move away, in my opinion Huddersfield has everything you could ever want.


** A bit of background...................
Huddersfield was one of the largest and most important textile towns in its time (second only to Bradford in the UK) any visitors will notice the vast amount of empty/renovated textiles mills around the town. I live in one such conversion and have to say these buildings are fascinating, the walls in my lounge are over 2 foot thick and the building has such charm.
The university has also taken up residence in one of the largest textiles mills in the town centre, this conversion is a talking point amongst everyone in the town (even my Nanna thinks it's such a beautiful use of an old mill) I have to say it added such character to my textiles lectures in my time at the uni if they were housed in this building.

Huddersfield is officially the largest town in the country, many question why it hasn't been made an honorary city but I feel that would make little or no difference to the community and I'm more than happy to live in this town.

Harold Wilson was also born here and his statue stands proud in the square outside the Railway station.


** Sport............
Rugby League was actually founded in the George Hotel in the town centre in 1848 so we also have a huge sporting history, the town's rugby team is the Huddersfield Giants (formerly Fartown Giants) and they play in the Gapharm Stadium down Leeds Road.
Huddersfield Town football team are not as successful as their rugby counterparts but the atmosphere at home games is second to none.


** Canals...........
Due to the towns textiles history, canals are a major part of Huddersfield, we have the Huddersfield Broad Canal which runs into the Huddersfield Narrow Canal.

The Broad canal runs from Leeds to Aspley in the town centre, Huddersfield Narrow Canal runs from the town centre for 20 miles all the way to Ashton under Lyne; passing through the Standedge Tunnel on the way (this tunnel is the longest canal tunnel in the UK) The canal has recently undergone a huge rejuvenation project and was re-opened for navigation in 2001. This was around the time a lot of the mills and the university mills were converted and the canal paths were really cleaned up. It's a pleasure to walk along the canal in the summer and we often walk from where we live (Milnsbridge) along to the start of the tunnel at Marsden.


** Architecture...................
The buildings in the town centre are some of the most beautiful I have ever seen, the Town Hall is just one example of the fantastic Victorian architecture along with the Library and many of the older shops.
The Byram arcade is a Victorian arcade which has never lost any of its old charm, u really do feel as if you've stepped back in time when you enter this place.

The railway station is one of my favourite buildings; very similar to the town hall in Leeds with all the columns running along the face of the building.

Obviously the Mill buildings add a lot to the towns architecture and nobody can deny the impact of these impressive structures. Titanic Mill (absolutely huge) is now one of the most gorgeous Mill conversions ever, check out www.lowryhomes.com/titanicmill.


** The Moors................
One of the best things about my home town, you have everything you could need from an urban town but then get in your car, drive 10 minutes in any direction and you are in the middle of the moors in the middle of nowhere!
There are miles and miles of barren moorland with old farmhouses dotted around this bleak canvas. Perfect for those Heathcliffe moments.....
I love the combination of these two extremes, you really could never want for anything here.


** Castle Hill..................
Before I moved out of my mum and dads house last year I lived with them in the middle of nowhere very close to here. They still live in the same area but moved slightly closer to civilisation and actually live on a road now but still they love their view of Castle Hill.
Castle Hill doesn't actually have a 'castle' just one tower, erected for Queen Victorias jubilee in 1897.
There are said to be old tunnels which run through the well on the hill and these lead down into the nearby village of Berry Brow, apparently these were used by people escaping the tower and not wanting to be seen.

The hill has a lot of history much further back than these times though, it was originally an Iron Age hill fort and other buildings will have stood in place of the tower.

A fantastic landmark in the town.


** Storthes Hall.................
Now the main student digs for the university, the old hall buildings were pulled down (god only knows why, they were so amazing) and new buildings were built in their place.

Storthes Hall was one of the largest Mental Asylums in the country (it really was absolutely huge and covered tens of acres of land); the place has a horrible history. They pioneered electric shock 'treatment' here, women were locked up for getting pregnant out of wedlock and they also kept people with Downs syndrome and other such illnesses locked up. This was the norm for the time and not specific to Storthes Hall but it doesn't make it any more acceptable.

The woods around the site are said to be haunted by the many souls which escaped and found themselves lost in the dense forest, most were found hanged.

In the 1980s the asylum was shut down and the poor patients were just released into the town to fend for themselves.

Only one of the old buildings still exists and this is a long way from the uni digs.
A very sad but amazing building.


** Shopping...............
I love all the history but a girl loves her shopping too!
In the town centre we have every high street shop I can think of (except H and M for some reason!)
The Kingsgate centre is the newest addition and the new centre-point of shopping in the town, it was opened around the year 2000 and houses around 40 stores including Miss Selfridge, House of Fraser, Office, Republic, New Look, a huge HMV and many more. There are plenty of cafes/food places too, these include: Bagel Nash, Costa Coffee, House of Fraser café, a juice bar and Greggs.
The second phase which will include a hotel and leisure centre has just been given planning permission and this will be an exciting addition, work will be starting later this year.


** Eating out..................
There are plenty of places to eat in the town. Many main stream cheapish food places such as Pizza Hut and McDonalds take pride of place in the centre. The food at many of the bars is great too especially Varsity and Yates'.
There are plenty of coffee shops, mostly open until 7pm-ish too.

The viaducts by Tesco are home to 2 cool new restaurants; Cibos (Italian) and Gringos (Mexiacan) both owned by the same man and hidden under the actual viaducts.

There are plenty of curry houses, Italian restaurants, a few Spanish Tapas bars, everything really. Nothing is too expensive in the town centre, if you start venturing out a bit into the surrounding villages you will find more upper class expensive places such as Trattoria in Honley.

If you drive a bit further out of the centre (10 min or so) you will find lots of old country pubs dotted among the lovely landscape and these serve good old fashioned British grub!

There are hundreds of takeaways too so if you fancy eating in but not cooking you have plenty of choice.


** Education....................
Huddersfield is known as a town of higher education.
There are 2 main colleges in the town centre; Greenhead College and Kirklees college (formerly Huddersfield Tech).
The University is huge and offers many different courses, I loved my time there I really did. They quite predictably specialise in Textiles courses, which I took.


** Nightlife....................
Last but not least :)
The nightlife centres around 'The Yards' an area outside the Kingsgate centre which used to be the old yards for little shops and pubs in Victorian times, the street is still cobbled but now houses bars such as Yates', Lloyds, Zephyr and many more. Great on a rainy night as you don't have to walk far (also good for those in ridiculously high heels...me)
The main night club used to be Visage or Heaven and Hell but both of these closed down and now people tend to go to smaller clubs such as Tokyo's or The Camel Club. It's a great night out in Huddersfield and you always seem to find somebody you know as everyone frequents the same places!



I could probably talk forever about this town, I love the place. I don't want to bore you by going into insane detail but there is so much more to find out about Castle Hill, the textile mills and Storthes Hall if you want to! I really have only briefly touched on these subjects.

Thankyou for reading.

Leanne xxx

Summary: Happy to be a Huddersfield girl.