Hebden Bridge Hotel Accomodation

Pennine Market Towns

Our towns and villages have been created out of the Pennines themselves. Millstone grit rock, taken over generations from little hillside quarries, gives Pennine Yorkshire its distinctive landscape, and offers a beautiful and unique destination for short breaks and romantic getaways

Hebden Bridge, Haworth, Marsden, Holmfirth and the other valley communities have transformed themselves from their workaday past, to realise their potential as places of real beauty.

What happens in the towns has been transformed too. Independent shops line the streets, selling local crafts, designer-made jewellery and local food. Cafés and café-bars have sprung up alongside award-winning restaurants .

Haworth and Brontë country

Haworth gave the world the prodigious talent of the Brontë sisters.  Whilst their father took services in the parish church, Charlotte, Emily and Anne lived in the Parsonage, walked the moors and wrote.

The Brontë Parsonage Museum, is the family’s former home, a Georgian house filled with the Brontës' own furniture and possessions.  Regular exhibitions are also staged throughout the year.

Haworth lies at the end of the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, which featured in the classic film ‘The Railway Children’. Today visitors can take a steam train through the heart of Brontë Country or even learn to be a train driver themselves!

In Haworth village small independent shops line cobbled Main Street, and traditional pubs and comfortable tea shops add to the atmosphere of this unique part of Yorkshire. Events in Haworth also add to the atmosphere, including the 1940s Weekend held in May and the six weekends of Christmas events that form Haworth's Christmas Festival, including the Scroggling the Holly annual event in which holly is gathered. Children dressed up in Victorian garb parade behind a Holly queen for a crowning ceremony. The Holly queen then welcomes the spirit of Christmas into the village.

Haworth is the start of many footpaths that include views of the Stanbury reservoir, Brontë Stone chair, Brontë waterfalls and the Brontë Bridge. You can pass by Ponden Hall and Top Withens, both spots that can be found in Wuthering Heights. Top Withens is a ruined farmhouse that was the inspiration for the Earnshaw house found in Wuthering heights and a plaque describing this is found at the site. It sits on the Pennine Way National Trail, and the stunning moorlands of Haworth and Keighley Moors are popular with walkers.

The 43 mile (69km) Brontë Way is the definitive trail for Brontë fans. The trail takes in many key sites related to the Brontës including Thornton/Pondon Hall inspiration for Thrushcross Grave in Wuthering Heights, Haworth village and the Bronte Parsonage and the Kay-Shuttleworth's home Gawthorpe Hall in Padiham near Burnley to which Charlotte Brontë made frequent visits. Pick up a copy of the Ramblers Association's publication 'Brontë Way' by Marie Wilson for a comprehensive guide to walking this trail and its links and historic sites pertaining to the Brontës.

The Haworth arts festival is a weekend of artists, performers and professional musicians that has slowly been growing in size and popularity each year. It is usually held on the first weekend of September. Haworth also has one of the oldest secular music organizations in the area and a brass band has been in residence since 1854. The band has played at many occasions, including victories in battle and general concerts. The band is still in operation today.

Haworth is only 20 minutes drive from Croft Mill and one of the most popular destinations with our guests from all over the world.

Shirley Country - the land the luddites roamed

Charlotte Brontë's ‘Shirley’ caused a real sensation when it was published in 1849. The novel is set in 1811 and 1812 against the backdrop of the Luddite riots. The Elizabethan manor house Oakwell Hall features in Shirley, and nearby Red House in Gomersal (home of Charlotte's lifelong friend Mary Taylor) are not to be missed in your Brontë trail.

Halifax

Famous as a centre of the wool trade and the home of Mackintosh (later Rowntree Mackintosh) toffee, Halifax’s heritage extends well beyond the 19th and 20th centuries. Shibden Hall dates back to the early 15th century and it was the home of diarist Anne Lister at the turn of the 18th century. At the back of the Hall is The Folk Museum which features a 17th century aisled barn with a collection of horse-drawn vehicles and displays showing the interior of blacksmith, wheelwright’s and cooper and many more conserving examples of the traditional trades and crafts of the area. The Piece Hall is internationally recognised for its architectural signficance. This Grade 1 listed building has been a landmark of the Calder Valley for over 230 years s now undergoing refurbishment, reopening as a heritage centre in 2016.

One of Halifax’s more unusual attractions is the gibbet - an early form of the guillotine used to execute criminals until the mid-17th century.

Visitors to Bankfield Museum can explore the 300-year history of the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment, whose regimental collection is housed at the museum.

Halifax isn’t just about the past though. The Visitor Centre and Art Gallery hosts exhibitions of both modern and more traditional art. Children can take a voyage of discovery at Eureka! - the national children’s museum.

Wainhouse Tower in Halifax is one of Calderdale’s most recognisable landmarks, towering over 250ft above King Cross. It is open for visits on certain days each year. The tower was originally commissioned as a chimney for the local dye works by John Edward Wainhouse in the late 19th Century. It was never actually used as a working chimney and, as such, has been regarded by many as one of Britians finest follies.

Halifax is also home to The Cooking School at Dean Clough. The award winning school invites you to release your inner chef, whatever your level of expertise in the kitchen.

Further information on events and attractions is available from the local Tourist Information Centres.

Marsden in the Colne Valley

Peaks, canals, valleys and reservoirs - come to the Colne Valley and explore a wealth of outdoor delights and a rich industrial heritage.

Almost six thousand acres of open moorland await you at the National Trust Marsden Moor Estate, with spectacular views and rugged landscapes home to an abundance of wildlife.

The valley villages of Marsden, Slaithwaite and Golcar, built on the textile industry, offer much to today's visitors. Former inns are now award-winning restaurants. Walking shoes, not clogs, tread the footpaths. Canal boats, once used to transport coal, carry groups of friends on holiday together. Mountain bikers of all abilities come to test themselves on the gruelling Colne Valley Mountain Bike Challenge over 30 miles of the Valley’s demanding trails and roads.

Further information on events and attractions is available from the local Tourist Information Centres.

Don't miss...

Holmfirth

Visitors can get a curious sense of déjà vu when they arrive in Holmfirth:  don't those cobbled lanes and flights of stone steps seem somehow familiar? 

There's a simple explanation: this Pennine market town provide the setting for the gentle TV comedy Last of the Summer Wine.  Hop aboard the vintage tour bus, which takes you up the little hilltop roads above the valley to some of the stunning Pennine locations used in filming the series.  And there is the Summer wine exhibition, lovingly put together with the aid of Bill Owen, the actor who played Compo. 

It would be wrong to come to Holmfirth just for the nostalgia, however.  This is a lively market town packed with interesting independent shops that also has a growing reputation as a centre for artists and craftspeople. In fact the town hosts a number of festivals throughout the year including an Arts Festival, the Festival of Folk, Film Festival and the Food and Drink Festival combining cookery master classes with a superb open air food market.

Further information on events and attractions is available from the local Tourist Information Centres.

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