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Original poster

hebden bridge

29 replies

TwinSetAndPearls · 08/05/2005 00:19

Am still thinking of relocating to Yorkshire. Talking to a friend today and she suggested Hebden Bridge as it was very me.

Anyone else live there? Would you recommend it?

OP posts:
Janh · 08/05/2005 00:25

It's very cute but sort of arty-farty-crafty-hippy from what I understand - lots of second-hand bookshops and clogshops and old mills converted into little craft shops. (Or was that Saltaire?) Are you arty-farty-crafty-hippy, TSAP?

Janh · 08/05/2005 00:26

Community website - 4th funkiest town in the world, it says here!

dropinthe · 08/05/2005 06:54

My mum lives not far-Hebden bridge is lovely-Yorkshire is lovely-she lived in London most of her life then met someone five years ago and off she went-she adores it up there-great walking county-lovely buildings/walls etc. Very quiet-were do you live at the mo?

Original poster
TwinSetAndPearls · 09/05/2005 10:41

JanH despite the twinsets and pearls I am very arty farty craft hippy and adore second hand book shops so it is very me. I seem to be a fish out of water here and wanted to move somewhere with more like minded people so hebden Bridge sounds perfect.

I have seen the community website and the 4th funkiest town claim- not sure how much of an unbiased opinion it was!

At the moment we live just outside Blackpool and my dp and I hate it.

I have lived in London which I loved but that is out of our budget and I would rather do pretty rural or city,rather than some no mans land of a town.

WE go walking nearly every weekend which involves schlepping up to the lakes with dd and the dog, it would be nice if the walking could be more on our doorstep and we just want a better quality of life for our daughter than she can have here. the only thing that keeps us here is that my mum lives here and she is our babysitter but she is working in Leeds for a few years so yorkshire would be great. And dd future primary school is very good here, so want to move somewhere with an equally good school.

WE are also regular churchgoers which is very important, do arty farty hippy villages have catholic churches??!

OP posts:
Fennel · 09/05/2005 10:51

dp's family and a few friends live around there. it's very nice. good schools too I think. it has a good Alternative Technology centre.

we nearly moved there once but it was too far back into Manchester for work (slow train connections). i would love to live there. the only real downer is the weather it is dark and rainy a lot of the time. glorious when the sun does shine but that's not so often.

i don't know about the catholic church options. Todmorden, just 4 miles along the valley, is bigger and would have one.

pupuce · 09/05/2005 10:55

I went to Todmorden and Hebden Bridge 2 weeks ago - it was LOVELY!
Hebden Bridge is quite expensive (house wise) I believe.
I was looking through the estate agent's windows and was surprised at how much houses were... I was told Todmorden is much cheaper???

Fennel · 09/05/2005 10:57

Todmorden is cheaper (bits of it anyway, it's larger than Hebden bridge). but it's not as hip. and if you care about the secondary schools, the HB one is supposed to be better, I know people who've moved from Tod to HB for that reason.

however both are much nicer than where we live

Janh · 09/05/2005 11:04

Sounds like a match made in heaven then, TS&P - you'll have to change your name though!

Have you had a look on rightmove in HB and Tod to give you an idea re prices?

Tinker · 09/05/2005 11:06

Hebden Bridge is lovely - quite arty, biggest lesbian community in UK, I believe, good pubs and cafes.

Janh · 09/05/2005 11:07

Walking on your doorstep !

(If it times out, it's Wadsworth Lane, HB - £128,000 - look at that view!)

Janh · 09/05/2005 11:09

btw the 4th funkiest thing was from the British Airways in-flight mag! And to back up Tinker it includes this:

muminlondon · 09/05/2005 11:59

When I was growing up all I knew was that Todmorden meant death twice in two languages and it was Ted Hughes/Sylvia Plath landscape. Sounds like it's changed a lot!

triceratops · 09/05/2005 12:37

I think you would have to like steep hills, but the walking is fantastic. You will have to learn to juggle as it is compulsory. They have more magic mushrooms there than anywhere else in the world and the train station is lovely. Quite a lot of community living available in converted mills if you are into that kind of thing. You don't get a lot of sun though as it is in the bottom of a steep valley, I would find that a bit depressing.

My friend lives in a barn conversion up there that was dead cheap due to being directly underneath the biggest pylon you ever saw in your life. It is kind of pyramid shaped though so maybe that will counteract the leukemia effect

Fennel · 09/05/2005 12:43

it's also Bronte land (Hawarth is walkable along the valley) - more evidence it can be a depressing wuthering grim landscape....

one bit of HB is called Slack Bottom. that would be a fun address.

muminlondon · 09/05/2005 12:52

Years ago I had a lovely book with poems by Ted Hughes and photographs by Fay Godwin called Remains of Elmet. It shows a landscape really hostile to civilisation - lots of blackened and derelict old mills and methodist chapels. It's very dramatic.

Did I imagine it or was Todmorden ever in Lancashire?

Janh · 09/05/2005 13:01

Yeah, it got swapped, mil - Lancs acquired places like Barnoldswick and Earby, and Tod went the other way - in that 1973 shake-up I think.

Cricketing Yorks dads minded desperately because you have to be born in Yorks to play for them so their babies get born at Airedale in Keighley, rather than Burnley which is nearer. There is still a campaign to put back in Yorks the bits that left (not sure if anyone cares the other way?)

Janh · 09/05/2005 13:05

(I'm wondering now if it got divided - if you google Todmorden, Lancs and Todmorden, Yorks you get entries for both!)

suedonim · 09/05/2005 13:35

A friend of mine goes to Hebden Bridge to see family. She thinks it's a bit gloomy, dark satanic mills type thing. Also her cousin's garden is like a cliff face, it's so steep and not very good for their littlies. What about Wharfdale, Ilkley, Skipton? - it's more 'open' iykwim.

Janh · 09/05/2005 13:37

Ilkley vvv expensive. Skipton might be good - not arty-farty-hippy though, very down-to-earth.

suedonim · 09/05/2005 13:56

I love Skipton - it's my kind of place. Dd1 still gets a birthday card each year, from Bizzie Lizzie's!

hazeybabes · 24/06/2011 12:21

I live in Hebden and love it (lots going on for children and parents). There are catholic churches in Mytholmroyd (walking distance from Hebden) and Todmorden. There's an RC junior school in Todmorden if you feel you need it or a really good CofE school in Hebden. Some people find the deep valley claustrophobic and dark, others feel hugged by the hills. Either way, you are deeply affected by the changing seasons (did that come across too hippy? it's hard to tell when you live in Hebden!). If you are affected by the light, Mytholmroyd is more open than Hebden central and slightly cheaper too.

schobe · 24/06/2011 12:23

Since it was 6 years ago, I reckon she's probably made a decision by now.

EssentialFattyAcid · 24/06/2011 12:28

hazey is on hippy time

veritythebrave · 24/06/2011 12:37

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Fairyloo · 09/03/2014 09:07

Did you ever move?

I love hebden