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Huddersfield — January 2, 2023Welcome to Huddersfield.guide, packed with information about Huddersfield, West Yorkshire.
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Lighting up for Christmas
The Christmas tree in St George's SquareThis year's St George's Square Christmas lightsTree lights in New Street, HuddersfieldHolmfirth was lit up for Christmas last weekend.This year's festive decorations in Huddersfield were switched on in St George's Square on Saturday November 18 at a Festive Christmas Market.
There have also already been lights switch-on events in Milnsbridge, Denby Dale, Holmfirth, Skelmanthorpe, Lepton and Almondbury.
The official switch-on of the Meltham lights is on Saturday evening and Marsden will also be lit up on Saturday (December 2).
The village of Honley was among the first to light up for Christmas a couple of weeks ago, but this Saturday (December 2) it holds its Honley Christmas Together event with a market and barbecue in Church Street and stalls, music and Christmas activities at venues around the village, including St Mary's Church, Trinity Church, Honley Village Hall, the Con Club, scout hut and library.
Huddersfield Town away at Swansea
Huddersfield Town have the chance this weekend to build on their much-needed Wednesday night 1-2 win at Sunderland. The Terriers are away in south Wales at Swansea this Saturday (December 2, 3pm).
Town remained in 21st place after their midweek game, but the three points mean they are now just one point behind Swansea — 18th in the Championship before this game.
On Wednesday night, Michal Helik was first to score with a goal after 28 minutes. Sunderland, who seemed to have the ball for much of the game, managed to equalise by half-time, but Town got ahead once more when Delano Burgzorg scored in the 67th minute in the second half.
It was a welcome result for Town fans as the Terriers had been struggling with lost and drawn games for several weeks, most recently last Saturday’s home 1-1 draw against Southampton.
Strikes set to disrupt early December train travel
A strike day will affect TransPennine Express services on Friday December 8Railway trade union ASLEF continues its long-running dispute with employers and make another hit on train travel at the start of December. Services will be affected across the rail network between Friday December 1 and Saturday December 9 when ASLEF plan not to work overtime. There will also be one day of strike action at many railway companies, but these will mostly be on different days at each company. Late evening services before a strike day and early morning services after a strike day may also be affected. Services in and around Huddersfield will be hit by a full strike day by both Northern and TransPennine Express on the same day, Friday December 8.
Details of strike days affecting other companies operating in Yorkshire can be found at 
Yorkshire.guide.
Big changes in new train timetables in December
Recently-introduced push-pull Nova 3 trains are withdrawn in the new timetableTransPennine Express will still be running its Nova 1 trains — one pictured here at Slaithwaite New train timetables which come into effect from December 10 have just been published with big changes in TransPennine Express (TPE) services operating through Huddersfield.
While the new timetable provides fewer off-peak trains between Huddersfield and Leeds, it puts a big emphasis on commuter travel and, if operated reliably, should bring a higher frequency of service at local stations during morning and afternoon peaks and new routes offering more direct journey opportunities. It sees a restoration of a train link between Huddersfield, Wakefield and Castleford as part of a new Manchester-York via Wakefield service.
Northern services on the Huddersfield - Bradford and Huddersfield - Sheffield routes are mostly unchanged in the new timetables, but there is the loss of the present additional evening peak-time service on the Penistone Line towards Sheffield. The usual hourly train continues.
The new timetables have also been set to take account of expected disruptions due to the Trans-Pennine Upgrade which continues along the line, including work taking place at Huddersfield. The Northern timetable includes weekend changes expected between mid-February and mid-March when another phase of Trans-Pennine Upgrade line closures is expected in the Huddersfield area.
Here are more details of the TPE timetable changes:
• The new TPE Manchester Piccadilly - York via Wakefield service restores Huddersfield - Deighton - Mirfield - Wakefield Kirkgate - Normanton - Castleford journeys reduced to a replacement bus in the current Northern timetable. Extension to Manchester Piccadilly will also bring stops at Marsden and Slaithwaite and York can be reached beyond Castleford, possibly on trains less-congested than peak travel via Leeds.
Two morning and two evening peak journeys each way cover the entire route and there is also an additional early morning journey from Wakefield Kirkgate to Manchester Piccadilly and a late evening journey from Manchester Piccadilly to Wakefield Kirkgate. The improvement to east-west journeys will bring direct Wakefield to Manchester and Wakefield to York services for the first time in decades.
In terms of journey times, Huddersfield to Wakefield Kirkgate will be back down to 22 minutes compared with 54 minutes on the replacement bus or by changing trains at Leeds or 1hr 15 minutes by regular bus.
• The new service via Wakefield extends at peak hours the hourly stopping service between Manchester Piccadilly and Huddersfield which calls at Marsden and Slaithwaite. At peak times these stations will have a half-hourly service, mostly supplemented by trains which continue from Huddersfield as fast trains to Leeds. Manchester-bound the extra trains at Slaithwaite and Marsden will be mostly all-stops from Leeds services.
• The Huddersfield - Deighton - Mirfield - Ravensthorpe - Dewsbury - Batley - Morley - Cottingley - Leeds service will not be operated as a shuttle in the new timetable. Some peak and evening trains will cover all stops between Manchester Piccadilly and Leeds, while during daytime the hourly service at these stations will be provided by a Manchester - Hull train operating a fast service to Huddersfield before making the seven stops to Leeds. An evening train to Hull runs non-stop between Huddersfield and Leeds with later trains commencing at Leeds.
• The general pattern of trains through the day from Huddersfield towards Manchester is one stopping train per hour to Manchester Piccadilly and three fast services with destinations of Manchester Piccadilly, Manchester Airport via Manchester Victoria, and Liverpool Lime Street via Manchester Victoria, the latter also calling at Stalybridge.
• The general pattern of trains from Huddersfield towards Leeds will be two fast and one stopping services per hour during the off-peak part of the day. Newcastle and Saltburn will be the main destinations of the fast trains, which will also call at Dewsbury. At peak hours there will be extra trains mostly operating non-stop between Huddersfield and Leeds with Leeds, York or Scarborough as destination.
• Scarborough, a popular summer destination from Huddersfield, is served for most of the day by trains starting at York in the new timetable, but there are morning and evening peak trains from Liverpool or Manchester to Scarborough which call at Huddersfield, one also calling at Marsden and Slaithwaite.
• TPE is withdrawing its Nova 3 trains which operated many services on the route from its new timetable. The Nova 3 involves new sets of five coaches with a streamlined driver cab end which are pushed and pulled by diesel-fueled locomotives in matching TPE livery. The new timetable will be operated by its Nova 1 Class 802 bi-mode (diesel or electric) streamlined five-carriage units and its well-established fleet of Class 185 three-car diesel units, some of which will be coupled into sets of six coaches.
• TPE say a reduction in its through journeys between north west England and north east England is a temporary one aimed at addressing issues that have impacted on its reliability.
This report covers general patterns of service with a focus on weekday operations. Exceptions to the general pattern occur in the timetable with additional stops and timetable variations, particularly at peak hours. Services are also frequently varied due to engineering work on this line. Passengers are strongly advised to check journey planners for travel details at their time of travel.
For more information on the Trans-Pennine Route Upgrade see the 
Trans-Pennine Route Upgrade website.
Journeys can be checked with operators and on the National Rail journey planner.
Huddersfield area to benefit from latest allocation from Government's Levelling-up Fund
Huddersfield Open Market is based around its Victorian former wholesale market buildingAn allocation of £47.9m has been made for for an upgrade of the Penistone LineHuddersfield is set to benefit from part of a Government spread of £1.1 billion in the third round of allocations from its Levelling-up Fund announced on Monday November 20.
The money will be spread across 55 projects which have been provisionally selected by the Government. The Levelling-Up projects are in places across Britain, outside London, from Torbay in the south of England, across Wales and the North of England to Moray in the north of Scotland.
Among the projects is the Huddersfield Open Market Regeneration Project which is set to receive just under £16.65m.
There will also be £47.9m for an upgrade of the Penistone Line. The upgrade aims to help reliability of rail travel between Sheffield and Huddersfield. The funding will also help provide enhanced station facilities such as electric vehicle charging points, car clubs, cycle hire and parcel delivery lockers.
Making the announcement, Levelling up Secretary Michael Gove said: "Levelling up means delivering local people’s priorities and bringing transformational change in communities that have, for too long, been overlooked and undervalued."
• Meanwhile, the Government also announced on the same day that West Yorkshire would be the third of its 'Investment Zones' — one of 12 to eventually be rolled out across the UK. The West Yorkshire Life Sciences Investment Zone will be based around universities in Leeds, Bradford and Huddersfield and a cluster of life sciences businesses. The zone could unlock over £220 million of investment over five years, supported by Government funding and tax reliefs.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt, visiting Huddersfield business Paxman Coolers Ltd to make the announcement, was also confirming the Investment Zones programme in England would be extended from five to 10 years.
The Government announced its first Investment Zone in South Yorkshire back in July with the news that investors, developers and start-ups would be offered support and financial help to start, scale up and relocate businesses there. The first investment announced was a £80m-plus research project led by USA aircraft giant Boeing into manufacturing lightweight structures for aeroplanes.
Huddersfield station listed among best in World
Huddersfield Railway StationHuddersfield railway station has won many plaudits for its architecture.
It is one of very few stations in England to have a Grade One listing on the national heritage list.
Now it has been listed among the 15 Most Spectacular Stations — in the World!
The judgement was made in a report by the global magazine Time Out earlier this year. Huddersfield is described as "A Corinthian palace of a station" and is the only UK station to make the list, ranking alongside stations including Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in Mumbai, Kanazawa Station in Japan, New York's Grand Central station in the USA and Liège-Guillemins station in Belgium.
Construction of the Huddersfield station building began in 1846. It was designed as the meeting point of the Huddersfield and Manchester Railway and Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway. The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway was being formed that year from the Manchester and Leeds Railway, which ran a line along the Calder Valley, and which had also absorbed the planned Huddersfield and Sheffield Junction Railway. The station was completed in 1850, by which time the Huddersfield and Manchester Railway and Canal Company had been taken over by the London and North Western Railway.
Huddersfield station was once described as having the most splendid station facade in England by the late poet John Betjeman (later Sir John and poet laureate) whose notable achievements also included helping to save St Pancras Station in London.
New building under way at former infirmary and college site
The front of the old Royal Infirmary is partly concealed by trees and demolition vehiclesThe side of the old Infirmary across the Lidl siteThe Portland Street side of the old InfirmaryAmong much new building work around Huddersfield at the moment, work is progressing at a location which over the years has been visited by many Huddersfield people through its history as the original Huddersfield Royal Infirmary, Huddersfield Technical College and later Kirklees College.
The main frontage and grand entrance of the late-Georgian infirmary building is among parts that should be retained as part of a residential and office complex which also involves new buildings. The hospital had a number of Victorian extensions and a later extension in the 1930s. Some of these extensions have been lost in the site clearance for the new development. The hospital had casualty and outpatient entrances at the rear of the building in Portland Street.
The hospital building first opened in 1831, built with money from public subscriptions. Both the old Infirmary building and the early 20th century statue of King Edward VII outside are listed on the National Heritage List.
More modern blocks, which were created for the college, have also been demolished on the site at the corner of Trinity Street and Castlegate, where construction work is now under way on a new Lidl supermarket .
Work progressing on New Street improvements
New Street, HuddersfieldTrees, vertical planters and flower beds have been added as work slowly progresses to improve the New Street pedestrian area in Huddersfield town centre.
Repaving of the street has gradually progressed from the end of the street nearest to Ramsden Street and the Town Hall and is now nearing King Street and Cloth Hall Street.
The vertical planters, grouped to one side of New Street near the Cloth Hall Street end, are sculptured artworks which close inspection will reveal to be individually themed.
Plans for the street also show seating and the abilty for some cafe premises to extend on to the pavement.
There could still be many weeks of upheaval before the work is complete with work apparently being targeted outside the main shopping hours.
New landmark health building takes shape
The new building at the corner of Southgate and Leeds Road takes shapeHuddersfield's newest landmark building is taking shape at the site of the University of Huddersfield's new National Health Innovation Campus at the ring road junction of Southgate and Leeds Road.
The new campus aims to lead healthcare innovation across the North of England and will feature a health and wellbeing academy, research and specialist clinical teaching facilities and public-facing features including a podiatry clinic, sports and phisiotherapy clinic and health coaching by video link.
The site has been vacant since the demolition of Ibbotson and Lonsbrough Flats and the former Huddersfield Sports Centre while an earlier plan for a new Tesco store on the site was abandoned.
Survey puts Kirklees among best places in UK to retire
With moors and National Park, Kirklees has plenty of green spacesAnalysis by consumer champion Which? has placed the Kirklees metropolitan district among twelve best places in the UK to retire.
Which? surveyed over 1,000 of its members in May and Kirklees was picked as the best place to retire across the Yorkshire region.
The most important factors used to determine the best places to retire included, healthcare access, green space and the proximity of local leisure activities. Low levels of violent crime, lower than average house prices and good general health, happiness and wellbeing also played a part.
Raising the roof on Kingsgate Leisure
Another storey is being added to Kingsgate as part of its new leisure complexMuch construction work is going on in and around Huddersfield town centre at the moment and among the latest schemes is one to add another storey to part of the Kingsgate Centre to incorporate new leisure facilities in the area previously occupied by the House of Fraser department store.
The part of Kingsgate nearest to Zetland Street is surrounded in scaffolding and the car park entrance there is currently closed. Car access at present is via the entrance in Venn Street.
Once complete The Light will bring to Kingsgate a £250m cinema and leisure complex. This is planned to include an eight-screen cinema, bowling, a games arcade, climbing centre, interactive darts, karaoke and fast food bars.
Repair and restoration work at Huddersfield Town Hall
Huddersfield Town HallWork is under way on a new phase of restoration work at Huddersfield Town Hall.
The work, which will go on until January 2024, will involve replacing sections of the Town Hall roof, continuing the work which replaced much of the roof in 2016.
The oldest part of Huddersfield Town Hall, at Ramsden Street, is now being restoredRainwater drainage will also be improved together with conservation of stonework, windows and flagpoles of the Grade II listed building. There will also be repairs and redecorations of interior rooms including the Council Chamber and Mayor's Office.
The Town Hall will remain open throughout the work but there will be reduced parking spaces and some pavement closures around the building during the work.
The older part of the Town Hall, including the Council Chamber and Mayor's Office, was completed in 1876 with the Concert Hall end of the building added between 1878 and 1881.
Local villages and districts
Check out our index of more than 100 villages, small towns, districts and hamlets in the Huddersfield area on our Villages Gazetteer page.
Discover more of Yorkshire
Find places to visit across Yorkshire and more than 1,000 villages, towns and cities in the Yorkshire A-Y Gazeteer at Yorkshire.guide
Recent news topics
Moore takes the helm: First game for new Town manager
One more year: Huddersfield Town Manager Neil Warnock stays for next season
Go-ahead for George : Approval for hotel plan
End of TransPennine Express: Government takes over as TransPennine Trains on May 29
Town clear of relegation: Terriers nine points up after winning last three games
Elections 2023: Labour retain control and gain more seats on Kirklees Council
George Hotel plan: Application submitted for partial demolition, refurbishment and extension for new hotel
Slaithwaite Moonrakers return: Village festival held for the first time since 2017
Archived:
News archive 2022: News from 2022.
News archive 2021: News from 2021.
News archive 2020: News from 2020.
News archive 2019: News from 2019.
News archive 2018: News from 2018.
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