From 10.00 a fleet of old buses will be travelling across Halifax and beyond so don’t miss your chance! They leave from the bus station and also stop in Market Street. Join in the fun to celebrate the final day of Halifax Heritage Week.
Historic Halifax has so much going on this week for you to enjoy!
Start with a free tour of the Bankfield Museum on Friday September 21st at 11.00. www.museums.calderdale.gov.uk
Then start Saturday September 21 with a talk and tour around Halifax Minster Graveyard at 11.00 followed by the Anne Lister tour inside at 14.30 www.halifaxminster.org.uk
Maybe fit in a Piece Hall Story tour also? www.thepiecehall.co.uk
Then Sunday is busy too, possibly starting with the guided walk around Akroyden including All Souls Church designed by Sir Gilbert Scott which is now usually closed. Inside is an art exhibition by a local water colour artist, Jane Austin called Time and Place. Saturday and Sunday 11.0-15.00
Then cross town to visit Lister Lane Cemetery which is open 12.30-16.00 for you to see the impressive tombstones of local industrialists, inventors and rather more ordinary folk too.
More information on all these events and more at www.visitcalderdale.com
So you haven’t heard of Rushbearing? Well, I don’t blame you as only a few places in the North West of England like Ambleside, Saddleworth and Sowerby Bridge still participate in this old ecclesiastical event. What about some history? It started in Medieval times when churches had earth floors. Covering them up with rushes, reeds and sweet smelling flowers helped to provide insulation as well as give a delicate perfume and stop dirt being trampled everywhere. Every year the rushes would be changed. The day varied but was often associated with the Saints day after which the church was named. Out would go the old and rush bearers would bring in the new, either in bundles or on a rushcart. To enhance the experience of laying them on the floor, the locals would be plied with ale and cake and Morris Dancers and musicians would entertain them as they worked. The church bells would ring out to announce the work in progress and no doubt it was great fun! This tradition lasted for centuries but died out when flagstones were laid. The church of St Chad in Saddleworth, high on the Pennines, previously in Yorkshire but now in Lancashire, was very late in losing its rushes in 1826 but now holds a Rushcart Festival at the end of August each year.
Sowerby Bridge, a close neighbour of Halifax, just 3 miles further up the Calder Valley, staged a Rushbearing Festival in 1977 (black and white photo at the top) to celebrate our Queen’s Silver Jubilee and it was such a success, it has continued every year since, taking place on the first weekend of September. 
Here you see the Rushbearing procession crossing our beautiful countryside
Following the Rushcart
Rushbearing is now the largest and most prestigious event to take place in Sowerby Bridge and surrounding villages and takes place this year on Saturday September 7th and Sunday September 8th. The highlight is a procession of people accompanied by a 16ft high 2 wheeled rushcart which has been lovingly thatched and decorated over the previous 10 days or so. A team of young ladies take turns to ride on it as it is pulled by 60 strong local men dressed in white shirts and black trousers with a Panama hat on their head and wooden clogs on their feet. Accompanied by a multitude of supporters dressed in Edwardian costumes, musicians and teams of Morris Dancers, this is a sight to behold! For details of the full route to be taken and approximate timings, please see www.rushbearing.com but it starts at St John’s Church Warley at 10.15 , then into Warley Town (really a village!) processing past 3 churches in Sowerby Bridge before ending Saturday at The Moorings next to the canal. Sunday starts at St Peter’s Church Sowerby, then visits the aptly named Rushcart Inn and St Mary’s Church down in Sowerby Bridge before heading West to Triangle, finishing at St Bartholomew’s Church in Ripponden.
Come and join in the fun!
Originally called Victoria Hall, then the Civic Theatre, this impressive building opened on February 8th 1901 with a performance by the Halle Orchestra and since then it has been the cultural centre of Halifax, hosting many musical and theatrical big ‘names’ such as Status Quo, Morrisey and The Jackson 5. Retaining many of its original features, it has undergone extensive modernisation with both accessibility and technical improvements to sound, lighting and Wi-Fi. It is now an extremely comfortable large theatre experience seating over 1500 people as well as having the more intimate Green Room Bar and the VIP lounge.
Tickets are now being sold for a variety of future performances such as the local (and world famous) Brighouse and Rastrick Band on Saturday August 31st, Roger Davis and His Band in Concert on Saturday September 14th, and Shrek The Musical performed by the Halifax Amateur Operatic Society from Wednesday September 18th to Sunday September 22nd.
For further information on these or later events, please take a look at www.victoriatheatre.co.uk or phone 01422 351158
It’s back! And it’s free!
Calderdale Pride returns with a bang! Saturday August 10th 12.00 to 19.00
Come and join in all the fun! Performances, stalls, food and drink.
Live entertainment starting with the Orangebox choir at 12.10 includes Almost Pink at 15.10 and Callum Butterworth as seen on The Voice at 16.10. This is a Halifax town centre event around Cornmarket with the stage at the top of Russell Street.
For more information, take a look at www.facebook.com/Calderdale pride and https://gayprideshop.co.uk
Dyer’s Cottage Halifax West Yorkshire is committed to inclusivity and welcomes all travellers. We have some availability in October and are now taking bookings for 2020. The success of ‘Gentleman Jack’ has generated a huge surge of interest in our 17th century cottage with a distinctive personality and style.
One of the finest family fun days in Halifax, this event takes place on Saturday. Watch ferret racing, donkey driving, Punch and Judy, circus acts and the judging of a wide range of agricultural and domestic animals. Visit the farmers market, craft stalls, a kids farm and a mini zoo. It’s all happening at Savile Park, just 10 minutes walk from us, starting at 10.00.
For more information visit https://halifaxshow.org.uk
Halifax is one of the filming locations for ‘The English Game’ a 6 part dramatic representation of a true story from 1879 which is due to be screened next year on Netflix.
The cameras and crew were seen in July in Saltaire, a ‘model village’ built by the mill owner Sir Titus Salt about 10 miles away, but this week they’ve been spotted round and about Halifax in such varied locations as Brackenbed Lane and Manor Heath, which incidentally has also been seen this week on C4 in ‘Ackley Bridge’.
The drama, written by Julian Fellowes, creator of ‘Downton Abbey’, is centred around a young football player from Glasgow who ventures South to play for Darwen in Lancashire. The cast includes Edward Holcroft from ‘Kingsman’, Kevin Guthrie (Fantastic Beasts:-The Crimes of Ginderwald), Craig Parkinson from ‘Line of Duty’, Charlotte Hope who played Myranda in ‘Game of Thrones’ and Katy Phillips of ‘Peaky Blinders’.
Each day of this event, next weekend, in Hebden Bridge is different! On Saturday August 3 a fun day is promised with most vehicles described as ‘Classic’ registered between 1975/1998. The Sunday rally is for older vehicles registered up to 1976 with categories called Veteran, Vintage and Post War. There may be up to 800 vehicles of all types on show; cars, motor bikes, commercial vehicles as well as lots of stalls selling a wide range of vintage memorabilia, crafts etc. Listen to the Jazz music, enjoy the children’s entertainment and eat well!
http://www.hebdenbridge-vintageweekend.org.uk/
Calder Holmes Park Hebden Bridge HX7 6JE Saturday and Sunday 10.00 to 17.00
Raising funds for the Rotary Club of Hebden Bridge, this will be a great day out for everyone.
Dyer’s Cottage has availability from Tuesday July 30 to August 6 if anyone wants to stay with us!
We have compiled a few secret and better known shooting locations of BBC/HBO’s ‘Gentleman Jack’ in Halifax and the surrounding area. We highly recommend visiting and bringing the TV series and the previously-unknown story of Anne Lister to life.
Shibden Hall features the most in the show, and the viewer sees it from all angles. Built in 1420, it was the home of the Lister family for over 300 years. This filming location was really the home of Anne Lister (1791-1840), who was both embarrassed by its shabbiness but needed income from it to pay for her passion of travelling. She, her father and her aunt were each left one third of the estate after her uncle died in 1826, but Anne took over the management of the agricultural tenancies, rental properties in Halifax, the coal mining and stone quarries. After the death of both her aunt and father in 1836, Anne was in sole ownership and keen to make improvements using Ann Walker’s money, which included a new gatehouse in 1836, a drive and bridge in 1837, the addition of a Gothic tower to the Hall in 1838 and a new waterfall and lake.
The Chaumiere features in episode 3 and is a secret hideaway in the woods for Anne and Ann to meet. Also known as the Moss House, it was specially constructed in the grounds of Shibden for filming during the summer of 2018. Located near the woodland path from the pond towards the playground, it was sadly demolished afterwards.
Lister Bridge and Lister Drive feature in several episodes as the Lister coach enters or leaves Shibden. Lister Drive is the track from Shibden Hall to the gatehouse exit onto Lister Road. Lister Bridge, with its distinctive door shaped opening, was required to cross a steep valley. Lister Drive was first used by Anne on June 27 1837 when she drove into Halifax to hear the proclamation of the new Queen Victoria. It winds through Troughabolland Wood where Anne arranged for the planting of many new species, both trees and flowering shrubs.
The Lister coach is seen several times and each time we have been looking for it set amidst a moorland background. There was just a flash of the filming which took place at Roils Head near Norton Tower to the West of Halifax, when Anne returns from her trip to Copenhagen.
The first scenes we see in episode 1 are set on a cobbled road called Wakefield Gate close to the tallest folly in the world, Wainhouse Tower, which Anne never saw as it was completed in 1874. However, the road has changed little over the centuries and it is here that we see the action packed preliminary ascent of the hillside prior to the gig/cart collision involving the Misses Walker, the Hardcastle family and Christopher Rawson. The same location was used to film Anne and Marion taking a walk down into Halifax in episode 4 when they were in fact walking away from the town towards Sowerby Bridge.
Sowerby Bridge is a smaller town than Halifax and a road on the far side of the town features as a filming location. Here we see the distinguished 18th century house where Eliza and William Priestley live. A gentle affable man, William is a cousin of Ann Walker. By coincidence, this handsome property was actually the real home of some of the Rawson family for over 150 years, who were bankers, coal miners and industrialists. Series 1 did not portray the men very sympathetically but the matriarch had a wicked sense of humour. The house features in episodes 2 and 4 and the drive is shown as the location for the forthright conversation between Anne and the Reverend Ainsworth in episode 5.
Moving up the hillside, we come to the village of Sowerby where the parish church of St Peter was used as an internal substitute for St Martin-in-the-Fields, London which Anne attended for the wedding of Miss Vere Hobart and Captain Donald Cameron.
Rawson’s coal mine was actually filmed in a disused stone quarry called Nabb End further along the ridge towards Cragg Vale. Public access is allowed to people but safety warnings are in place and it is now a conservation site. There is no road access so be prepared to walk from Moor Bottom Lane.
Drop down from here to the charming village of Luddenden, which clings to the hillside with its narrow streets and attractive cottages. Here you will find the Lord Nelson pub, which had a temporary name change to the Stags Head Inn. This is where the external shots of the rent collection session in episode 1 were filmed, with the internal ones shot in the Fleece at Elland, a few miles away.
Whilst in Halifax we also suggest you visit the magnificent Piece Hall, which Anne Lister used to visit. Built in 1779 for handloom weavers to sell their ‘pieces’ of cloth, it is one of Britain’s most outstanding Georgian buildings. After extensive renovation, it reopened on August 1 2017, Yorkshire Day, and hosts a wide range of open air cultural events and seasonal festivities as well as being the home of a museum, tourist information centre, Halifax Library and many independently owned shops and cafes.
Adjacent is the Square Chapel, built in 1772 on a square base with no internal supporting structures. It is now a lively arts centre.
Close by is Halifax Minster, over 900 years old, which is dedicated to St John the Baptist. Anne Lister came here to worship and it is fitting that this is also her final resting place, although the exact location of her coffin is not identified. However, there is a stone, unfortunately damaged and incomplete, underneath one of the side stained glass windows.
Dyer’s Holiday Cottage in Halifax is a charming, beautifully restored 17th century cottage, ideally situated to explore all these filming locations. Sleeping up to 3 adults and a child, it offers you a real “home away from home” rather than the impersonality of most hotel rooms. Fully equipped with a contemporary stylish bathroom, it is spacious with high ceilings and a sunny enclosed garden. For more information, including availability, please visit: https://www.dyerscottageyorkshire.co.uk
Here’s an event for your diary! Chow Down at the beautiful Piece Hall in the centre of Halifax West Yorkshire
July 26-28
Sample a wide variety of street food from around the world.
More details on http://www.the piecehall.co.uk/
Thank you Jane; our expectations are always exceeded when we visit.
PM Dec 2024 UK
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And still the cosiest cottage we have ever been to.
Thoroughly enjoyed ourselves (in spite of the weather)
LR UK Nov 2022
We have stayed in many cottages over the years but none compares. DH UK April 2022
The cottage has everything you need plus more! Loved our welcome biscuits and above all the toiletries etc. Thank you for making the cottage so homely and spotless. We’ll be back for sure. CC UK October 2021
