By David Wyles

I hope our members and their families have stayed free of the virus but if you have been infected, I wish you a speedy recovery.

Digital committee meeting
Your committee held its first online meeting on May 18 and was pleased to receive a presentation by Karl Battersby, Kirklees Strategic Director for Economy and Infrastructure. Work to realise key ambitions within the Blueprint is moving ahead and you may have seen reports on our web site and in the Examiner relating to the purchase of the George and other strategic buildings.

Funding has been secured for an Heritage Action Zone (an initiative by Historic England to unlock the economic potential of historic areas), based on the St George’s Square area, particularly focusing on the George Hotel, Estate Buildings and possible acquisition of the Railway Warehouse.

Slow progress continues on shopfront improvements along a section of John William Street, with property owners pursuing grants to renew a number of frontages, regularly highlighted by HCS as being unsightly and contrary to their listed status.

To reinforce the status of the Blueprint, Kirklees Council decided to enshrine its key components into a supplementary planning document to provide guidance, on how policies or proposals in the Blueprint will be implemented, and to support the delivery of the town centre regeneration programme including future funding applications.  Your committee has, of course, submitted comments as part of the statutory process. Further detail and links to relevant documents will be available on the website. 

Cycling & Walking
HCS have called for involvement in the promised Kirklees Strategic Cycle Forum and the development of a cycling and walking delivery partnership.  Your committee believe significant improvements in both cycling and walking are crucial to a ‘post covid’ recovery and improving the functioning and attractiveness of the area. Updates will be provided, via the website, as they develop.

Online Speaker Event: Bike Friendly Towns, 2 June 2020
All members should have received my recent email about the HCS online speaker event. My error for omitting to thank committee colleague, Chas Ball, for organising this. Don’t forget to book your free place by following this link to Eventbrite.

Discover Huddersfield Walks’ Programme
Due to a concern that people will be reluctant to join walking groups, even when lock-down rules are relaxed, the DH partnership has decided to cancel further guided walks through to the end of August.

Having produced the 2020 walks’ leaflet just before restrictions were enforced this is a big disappointment, not least because our voluntary group relies on the annual income from those participating, to fund future production of published trails.

A further move into the digital era is heralded by development of a web app intended to make these trails available via mobile phone. This has only been made possible with the help of Dave Pattern, computer expert and administrator of the Huddersfield Exposed web site – recommended for those interested in the history of the town.

Highfields – A Most Handsome Suburb
HCS will be publishing a new book by David Griffiths based on the historic development of the Highfields area. David, author of a number of local history books including The Villas of Edgerton has prepared initial drafts and it is expected that the book, which will be sold as a companion volume to ‘Villas’, will be available from early November – an ideal present for Christmas! Our publications continue to be available through our web site online store.

​Huddersfield Civic Society will hold its first online event next month when Richard Armitage gives a talk on bike-friendly towns.

Zoom will be used in webinar format to enable members to engage with our speaker at the meeting on June 2 at 7pm. The committee has been using this software successfully since March.

Richard, the Executive Director of the European Cycle Logistics Federation, will discuss what an ambitious cycling strategy for Huddersfield and south Kirklees might look like.

Booking for the event on Eventbrite is now open. If you register you will receive the Zoom link on June 1.

The leader of Kirklees Council has spoken of his commitment to the Huddersfield Blueprint, despite the financial effects of the Coronavirus.

Coun Shabir Pandor was asked what impact a financial hole would have on elements such as the £250m Blueprint and Kirklees' commitment to climate change.

'We remain absolutely committed to delivering our long-term vision for Kirklees. The budget we passed before the pandemic struck was all about investing in Kirklees and all its towns and villages, its people and its places,' he told the Huddersfield Examiner.

'Coronavirus hasn’t dented those ambitions, it’s made them more urgent. The same is true of the climate emergency, It hasn’t taken time off during the pandemic. It’s as critical as it was eight weeks ago and will become more so. Our capital investment needs to be as ambitious as it was before the crisis.'

Asked about the potential for the financial collapse of the council, he said: 'I am talking to Government on a weekly basis but right now our priority is about saving lives and making sure everyone stays safe; we’re not speaking about financial collapse.'

Meanwhile, Kirklees is is preparing to buy another key building in Huddersfield town centre. A report to next week's meeting of the council's Cabinet outlines the intention to buy what is described as 'a strategic property'.

The building, which has not been identified, is among the 'land assembly' required to deliver the Huddersfield Blueprint.

​Civic Voice, the national charity for the civic movement in England, has arranged a series of online In Conversation with…. interviews.

Subjects with a background or interest in planning, design or architecture are interviewed by Kevin Trickett, acting chair of Market Weighton Civic Society. 

The interviews – conducted via Zoom video conferencing and about 30 minutes long – are open to all. The first took place on May 6, when planning consultant Graham Galpin was the interviewee. 

Here is the schedule of coming interviews:
 
May 14: In Conversation with Bob Colenutt. We will discuss his new book, The Property Lobby. Bob says that the housing crisis is no accident, but the calculated product of an elite group who have no reason to fix it.
 
May 20: In Conversation with Nicholas Boys Smith, Chair of the Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission: Covid 19: How will we build better and beautifully?
 
May 25: In Conversation with Vidhya Alakeson. Why we need to do high street regeneration differently.
 
May 27: In Conversation with Matthew Mckeague, CEO of the Architectural Heritage Fund. 'What is the future for our heritage high streets?
 
June 2: In Conversation with Steve Quartermain. Planning in a post-covid world. Until March, Steve was the Government's chief planner
 
June 4: In Conversation with Mary Parsons, Chair, Town and Country Planning Association. Why we need a Healthy Homes Act!
 
June 10: In Conversation with Cllr Karen Rowland. Why we need Heritage Champions.
 
June 18: In Conversation with Joel Mills. In our first transatlantic interview, we will hear a planning perspective from the United States.
 
More interviews are to be added, so keep an eye on the Civic Voice and Eventbrite pages for updates.
 
If you wish to book a place, you will need to do so via Eventbrite. Events are free for Civic Voice members but some incur a charge for non-Civic Voice members. Places can be booked here.  
 
You will need to have Zoom installed on your device which will mean opening a Zoom account. You will need a camera and microphone either standalone or built into your device. Remember to turn the sound on to hear the interview.
 
Please note that sessions are not interactive, although you will be able to submit questions in advance or by using the on-line Chat facility within Zoom.

The Lawrence Batley Theatre invites people to collaborate with Ian McMillan on a new poem to celebrate the strength of our community in light of the pandemic.

"While we’re all staying home and getting on with lockdown, we want to recognise the community spirit found in our region," the Huddersfield theatre says.

"To get involved, we’re asking you to reflect on what Kirklees means to you. This could be what you love most about living in Kirklees, what the best thing about your community is or what sort of place you hope Kirklees will be in the future."

Ian McMillan, Yorkshire poet and curator of A Poem for Kirklees says: “In these fragmented and isolated times I’m proud to be part of a project that brings the people of Kirklees together through the most vital of community assets, the power of words!” 

The poem will be inspired by your words, which will be written into the final piece by Ian and accompanied by a short film featuring community members, key workers and local public figures.

An entry form can be found on the theatre's website and the deadline for entries is Monday, June 1.

Banney Royd, the Arts and Crafts house in Edgerton designed by the architect Edgar Wood, is again on the market.

The Grade I Listed villa, rich in Art Nouveau features, has been described by the architectural historian John Archer as 'an exceptional house of its generation'.

He writes: 'Throughout the house the best materials were used, and room by room the detailing was originally designed, from the fireplace down to the finger plates on the doors. Various features have the elongated forms characteristic of British Art Nouveau, but the general character of the design is robust and vigorous.'

It was built in 1901 for William Henry Armitage, founder of the chartered accountants Armitage & Norton, and acquired in 1918 by Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Emmanuel Hoyle of Joseph Hoyle and Sons, woollen cloth manufacturers.

Requisitioned in 1942 by Huddersfield Corporation's Civil Defence Committee, it found later use as a fire service training centre. It became a Huddersfield Education Department Teachers' Centre in the 1960s and was reinstated as a private house in 1991.

The ground floor includes an impressive entrance hall with oak panelling, an important ashlar fireplace, a drawing room, library and orangery. The dining room contains another ornate fireplace behind a broad round arch with a gilded figure of “The Angel Of The Rains”.

An oak staircase with mullioned window and barrelled ceiling leads to nine bedrooms and a further staircase give access to the second floor. To the rear of the house stand a coach house and cottage.

Banney Royd is for sale through Savills for £2.3m and a more  comprehensive account of its history and architecture may be found in the HCS publication The Villas of Edgerton: Home to Huddersfield’s Victorian Elite by David Griffiths. 

Volunteers have converted a overgrown riverside open space into an attractive place to visit.

Snow Island, off King’s Mill Lane, has been developed as a public amenity by The Greenstreams Project, led by local environmental organisation Environment Kirklees.

It has improved the pathways, installed distinctive artworks at gateways, cleared rubbish, provided picnic tables, with wheelchair space, and seating.

Steps to the viewing area at Kingsbridge have also been installed with maps and signposts to direct people along the wider ‘Riverside Way’ network. 

The erection of long lasting woodcrete bird and bat boxes and creation of a wildflower meadow at Snow Island, should help attract more birds, bats and insects and add a splash of colour in the summer. 

The site now offers picnicking, river and canal walks, wildlife watching, angling and information about the wider waterways network of access routes. 

The Society is very supportive of the approach, vision and ambition incorporated in the Huddersfield Town Centre Blueprint Supplementary Planning Document (SPD).
 
The types of change, areas of focus and sites identified for re-purposing represent a cogent strategy, with an appropriate mix of deliverable and aspirational elements, to give focus and direction for the town centre for the next 10 years.

As a policy document we assume the SPD should assist a Council planning lawyer refuting an ‘off message’ application by a developer. To achieve this for each of the SPD’s six key areas, there needs to be a succinct set of objectives, e.g. “mainly conversion to residential with limited new build plus new, high quality public realm...” followed by a bullet point list of the types of deliverables to be expected in any plan submitted for the area concerned. 

Here is a summary of the key additions and changes the Society believes should be made before the SPD is confirmed:

• An objective and related policy to enhance and better use the existing town centre yards,
• The Museum, Library/Art Gallery and Archive should remain focused in the Cultural Quarter,
• Simple provision of recycling bins, on town centre streets, is not enough. A strategy is required for working with local vendors to manage takeaway packaging and its’ disposal.
• Greater emphasis on ‘Family Friendly’ activities, both indoors and outdoors, with relatively low-cost provision being a ‘quick win’, eg in all plans for the piazza,
• Emphasis on a major increase in town-centre living for people of all ages, not just students,
• A clearer statement on the dependency with the TransPennine Rail Upgrade Project, given that the latter is currently incompatible with the SPD’s proposals for the station’s west side,
• A far better – safe & step-free pedestrian route – between bus and railway station platform level,
• A clear statement on plans for the George Hotel, now that it is in Council ownership,
• A framework for action to improve property frontages, of both heritage properties and High St outlets
• Inclusion of the Town Hall, as a concert and events venue, in the overall strategy for the Cultural Quarter
• Consideration of the threat to viability of the Open Market, particularly its retail element, given its distance from other retail areas and the bus station, even if a free town bus were offered,
• A clear statement on how personal safety and security is to be addressed by changes in policy to deliver the ‘safe’ environment necessary for the success of the project.
• Address the relationship between this SPD and, potentially conflicting plans, to enhance facilities at HD One around the Stadium,
• A statement of how the SPD will be owned, reviewed and updated over the next 10 years.

By Chas Ball
​
​HCS has submitted counter proposals to the Leeds Road (A62) Smart Corridor consultation on Phase 1 from Huddersfield Railway Station to Fieldhouse Lane.

The Society's response says that the proposed route does not provide a continuously safe cycle despite the Council’s proposal to “upgrade the existing cycle provision to include separate cycle ways and on-road cycle lanes”. 

In its evidence, HCS says that the scheme fails to achieve the aim of encouraging more cycling because “it is severely compromised by designing cycling to take place in close proximity to heavy traffic. 

“Constructing protected cycle lanes for a part of the route provides only limited incentives to those considering cycling as a means of transport.

“Until the scheme is redesigned to allow for continuously safe cycling, we feel unable to comment on the detailed proposals. Instead we propose an alternative separate route that is largely parallel to the Leeds Road.

“We need to be confident that residents and school students will use this route. The criteria for an acceptable route is one that would be suitable for a school pupil who has achieved Bikeabilty level 3 which ‘equips riders with the skill and confidence to ride in more challenging roads and traffic situations – busier streets, queuing traffic, complex junctions and roundabouts. It also includes planning routes for safe cycling.’”

In its overview paper, HCS says: “The basic principles of the scheme are not in line with the Leeds City Region Climate Change Emergency policies. If implemented this scheme will make it more difficult to achieve the 2038 zero emissions target adopted by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority.

By David Wyles
​I start by thanking colleagues on the committee and our members for their contribution to the many and various events we organised over the year. The range of work, from speaker events to the town centre clean up, from environmental workshops to participation in partnerships such as Discover Huddersfield, has demonstrated that HCS is a strong and influential ‘voice’ for the town.

Sadly, one of HCS’s leading members, former President Richard Ward, who had been instrumental in driving, guiding and initiating many elements of our work over many years, passed away in September 2019.

In July 2019 Kirklees Council unveiled its Blueprint for the town centre. Amidst growing concerns and, indeed, despair regarding the declining fortunes of the centre, HCS played an active role in submitting its views and establishing a working dialogue with senior Council officers. Proposals were augmented by other initiatives regarding shopfront and highway improvements and whilst there have been disagreements concerning specific details and frustration over slow progress, the society is pleased to have established itself as a ’critical friend’ of the Council.

Finally, I should like to emphasise the society’s broadening goals in respect of our work and the town’s future. In the past, civic societies have concentrated to a very large degree on the built heritage of their areas of interest. By recognising that heritage alone will not preserve or enhance the town for citizens of today and the future, HCS has expanded its remit to encompass issues including transport, the climate emergency, partnership with other organisations and improved communications. The following resume outlines this broader approach and at the end I summarise some of the challenges for 2020 and beyond.

Planning and Development Issues
Detailed comments have been submitted to Kirklees regarding several major applications, namely: 
Castle Hill. Objections and concerns lodged and publicised with regard to both the current proposals and the manner by which Kirklees Council has dealt with significant changes to the planning application as an amendment to previous plans. Co-ordination has also taken place with other groups and organisations opposed to the proposals.
George Hotel. Support for the application for hotel and ancillary uses. However, HCS appreciates that the viability of the scheme will be undermined, unless those proposals to link the station and St George’s Square to the railway warehouse and adjacent land are implemented, as suggested in the Blueprint.  

Publicity
The website, launched in January 2019, has recorded a healthy level of visitors (2008 who viewed 3,859 pages). It is regularly updated with photos, news, event details, planning updates, town centre initiatives and other information. Facilities for the purchase of HCS publications and membership have improved and corporate members have benefitted from the addition of logos and links to their business web sites.
Improvements have continued in updating and revising our membership list and circulating information such as the membership card and programme and events information. Further publicity is achieved through HCS’s key role in the Discover Huddersfield partnership and Kirklees Heritage Open Days committee (see below).  

Speakers and Events
Our programme ranged from the annual joint HCS/University lecture on the ground-breaking development at Eddington, Cambridge to informative talks concerning electric vehicles and infrastructure, opportunities for improving transport systems, the photographic archive of Harry Bray and Huddersfield finest buildings. The well-attended workshop on town centre master planning, the trip to Johnson Wellfield quarries and the day visit to Sheffield, including an eye-opening tour of the regeneration of Kelham Island, all made for a stimulating mix. In addition, nominations were sought for completed developments in the 2019 Design Awards, the winners of which will be announced at a later date.

Partnership Initiatives
I have represented HCS on a number of committees, particularly Discover Huddersfield and Kirklees Heritage Open Days. These are working committees, the former producing free themed trails (currently numbering 16) and an annual programme of walks; the latter a programme of (in 2019) 68 events and venues, many not usually open to the public, as part of the national Heritage Open Days festival in September. The DH walks’ programme attracted an average of 29.5 people per walk while HOD events attracted over 5,000 people with 1,100 people visiting new sites. 

Publications
Our books, particularly The Villas of Edgerton and The Buildings of Huddersfield continue to sell steadily and have helped raise our profile. Improved methods of selling via the web site have recently been implemented.

Other
Many of our committee members are involved with other organisations, particularly in relation to cultural, environmental and transport matters and these links enable HCS to co-ordinate, share ideas and receive intelligence on issues affecting the town. 

Looking Ahead
Whilst I believe much progress has been made and HCS remains a unique force in promoting and highlighting Huddersfield’s civic pride there are a number of key areas which I hope can be pursued:

• Continue to press for key improvements within the town centre through engagement and dialogue with Kirklees officers and members.
• Maintain regular and improved levels of consultation regarding streetscape and shopfront improvements, with emphasis on both heritage, transport and environmental issues.
• Seek to stimulate commercial interest in the town centre, particularly in relation to vacant buildings and yard areas, by attracting residential and commercial developments.  
• Maintain and extend our response to key planning applications and related issues that affect the heritage, visual amenity and economic wellbeing of the town.
• Continue to improve our membership ‘offer’, particularly in relation to the promotion of corporate membership.
• Continue to improve our partnership working with local organisations, again, particularly in respect of town centre vitality, environmental and transport matters.
• Maintain our input to local and regional organisations and initiatives, including YHACS, Discover Huddersfield and Heritage Open Days.​

And finally, to achieve the above, I would welcome support from individual members. Some of our joint working initiatives, e.g. Discover Huddersfield and Heritage Open Days, operate through small, enthusiastic committees and volunteers. If you have an interest in specific areas of work and have a few hours a month to provide practical support, please contact me.​​

HCS members are invited to a seminar next month at Leeds University: 'Traffic Removal in Leeds: Reshaping the City for People'.

The event is organised by the Traffic Removal UK network, the Institute for Transport Studies at University of Leeds and Act TravelWise. 

Speakers include expert practitioners who are leading initiatives to reclaim space from motor vehicles. Some of these efforts are under development in the city centre and in new residential neighbourhoods. 

Plans in York to eliminate non-essential car trips in the city centre will also be discussed.

A walking tour from the university through the city centre will be followed by an optional pub social. 

The event, at the  Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds, is on Thursday, April 2 from 1pm to 4.30pm. Registration is free via Eventbrite. 

Invited speakers:

• Dr Steve Melia, Centre for Transport and Society, University of the West of England on 'What is Traffic Removal and Why is it Becoming More Important?'
• Dr Caroline Mullen, Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds on 'Clean Air, Inclusive Mobility and Healthy Communities: The Case for Prioritising Pedestrians in West Yorkshire'.
• Sophie Best, Transport Planner, WSP on the project underway to create a more pedestrian-friendly Leeds city centre.
• Jamie Keats, Citu on the Climate Innovation District being built on a central Leeds brownfield site.
• Coun Jonny Crawshaw, City of York Council, author of the approved plan to reclaim York from cars

The Changing Face of Birkby was due to be the first guided walk in the new season arranged by Discover Huddersfield.

However, given the worsening situation with Coronavirus and the age of many of our support team and walkers, we feel we must cancel this and the next three walks of the season.

For clarity, they are: The Changing Face of Birkby (April 5), Lion Hunt ( April 26), University Campus Trail (May 17) and The Age of Architectural Decoration (June 4).

The walks in the 2020 programme are led by experts in the history, culture, architecture and heritage that have shaped the town. They range from Beerhouses, Brothels and Bobbies to  Slaithwaite's Radical Past.

Each one lasts for up to two hours and costs £3 per person, though the four walks conducted on heritage open days are free of charge.

The new brochure contains full details of times, venues and contacts and may be downloaded below. 

Those who enjoy the gentle rhythm of walking will also enjoy the Music Trail, below. Huddersfield’s musical traditions vary from from brass bands and organ-building to sound systems and Bhangra. 

This introductory walk was created by students and staff at the University of Huddersfield and takes in key buildings including the Parish Church, the Town Hall, Ivanhoe's and The Hippdrome.

A pop-up climate emergency hub is being run for six days from March 9 in a vacant shop in The Piazza, opposite Huddersfield Library.

It is being organised for Kirklees Culture Declares Emergency, part of a global movement. 

People are invited to 'look, listen think and do in a week of activities'. They include pop-up art, books, music and video installations, craft demonstrations, poetry, upcycle fashion and public discussions.

Further details may be found on the Creative Kirklees website.

Our March 3 meeting will take the form of a lecture by the influential architect Alex Whitbread at the University of Huddersfield's Charles Sikes Building.

Alex, above, is a Partner at Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, a national architectural and urban design practice which has considerable experience in designing for education, housing, masterplanning and urban design as well as places for art and the creative reuse of historic buildings. 

In Leeds, his hometown, he led the design for the award-winning Broadcasting Place (the ‘Rusty Building’) for Downing / Leeds Beckett University and the recently completed St Alban’s Place VITA building for Select Property Group. 

He led the masterplan design for the Wellington Place site and is working on the wider masterplan for the Temple Quarter in Holbeck for Commercial Estates Group (CEG). In Manchester Alex is working on the city’s largest speculative development at Circle Square on the site of the former BBC HQ on Oxford Road.

In addition to the masterplan for the site, he has led the design for the first phase workplace buildings, a new public space with leisure pavilions and a car park/hotel building, all of which are on site. 

Prior to this, Alex was involved working with Salford on the Greengate regeneration framework which is undergoing major development. In Trafford, he is working on joint ventures between developer Bruntwood and Trafford Council.

In this Civic Society/University of Huddersfield annual lecture, he will look at opportunities and challenges across towns and cities on both sides of the Pennines, including the use of more sustainable design principles in future work. 

FCBStudios are part of the steering group that launched ‘Architects Declare’ and are at the forefront of defining and implementing the rapid and unprecedented changes needed.  By 2025, all their projects completed on-site will include zero carbon plans with operational performance targets for 2030.

We hope you will be able to join us for what promises to be a stimulating evening.

​The greening of a town can come about in surprising ways – perhaps none more so that in the video above.

A wet and windy February day may be apt time to remind ourselves of the sunny grand finale of the 2014 Yorkshire Festival that celebrated the Tour de France's Grand Départ.

Overnight, St George’s Square was turned into a French rural idyll, complete with animals, flowers, fruit and vegetables plots. And the reaction was overwhelmingly positive...

A pavement is the skin of a town and an expression of its evolution. For such a shallow surface, it can say much about the values of those who provide and use it.

Pavements as we recognise them began to appear in smart squares in Georgian London, affording an alternative to the filth and squalor of the roadway. Voltaire, visiting in the 1720s, saw them as a method of democratising the city. 

In 1765 the Westminster Paving Act required streets be equipped with pavements, drainage and lighting. Soon shops began their linear spread, transforming simple thoroughfares into precursors of the modern streetscape.

In parts of Huddersfield the evolution continues with significant public realm investment as part of the £250million, 10-year masterplan to transform the town centre. In Half Moon Street, worn and cracked flags pocked with asphalt repairs are being replaced by new Yorkstone flags and kerbs. The result looks crisp, strong and safe.

In St George’s Street – the link between St George’s Square and Westgate – the Yorkstone flags used to create a wider pavement are edged with granite kerbs from Portugal. New grey, granite setts form the roadway in this conservation zone while old setts, uncovered during groundworks, are to be recycled elsewhere. Old stone flags from the foot of the street will replace broken ones on Kirkgate.

One aim behind these works is to reduce the palette of surface materials in the town. Simon Tidswell, Kirklees Council’s Principal Maintenance Engineer, explains that the finishes have been designated Gold, Silver or Bronze according to the architectural importance of each street.

So, for example, Gold-rated Dundas Street will be provided with Yorkstone flags, granite kerbs, parking lay-bys in granite setts, silver birches and a new tarmac road surface. Silver-rated Upperhead Row will have granite flags and kerbs and Bronze areas will be flagged in a composite material.

Cross Church Street, due to be closed this year from Queen Street South to Kirkgate to all except delivery vehicles, will become a tree-lined cycle route. A planting system will be employed to prevent root damage to this Gold-rated thoroughfare.

A Yorkshire firm, Marshalls of Halifax, is the source of much of the stone, though some granite is being imported from Vietnam. The council says it was chosen for aesthetics and quality and, where suitable, checks are in place to make sure that modern slavery practices are not employed in the suppliers’ quarries.

David Wyles, HCS chairman writes: "The work on St George's Street will hopefully prevent vehicular/pedestrian conflict and improve access to and from the station for cyclists. It is also a positive step (literally) in linking bus and rail stations for pedestrians.

"My only quibble is the granite kerbs. Whilst I think the treatment of Half Moon Street and adjacent streets looks first class I would have preferred local sandstone for the kerbs on St George's Street as is predominant in other key streets within the Conservation Area, especially in the 'new town' area.

Because of the street closure I was forced to walk through Temple Close (back of Bramleys and other businesses and flats). The filth and litter here (including food waste) was appalling, something usually associated with to the poorest of urban areas in the third world. It is not only a visual disgrace but, I imagine, a considerable health hazard."

There was a competitive edge to our well-attended pre-Christmas social at the Head of Steam pub in St George's Square.

Our chairman David Wyles had compiled one of his celebrated quizzes and members broke into groups to test their knowledge of the town and its history.

Only one group managed 100 per cent – but others came close with answers to questions such as:

• Who was the Huddersfield born entrepreneur, corporate raider and asset stripper nicknamed ‘Lord Moneybags’?
• Who is the iHuddersfield-born musician best known as a member of the 1980’s band Ultravox?

​Confident you know all the correct answers? Take the test now!

Answers here.

BY DAVID GRIFFITHS
​
Huddersfield Corporation made history in October 1919 when it agreed to buy the 4300-plus acres of the Ramsden estate for £1.3 million. 

The estate comprised nearly half the land within the Borough boundary and the whole of the town centre. The deal was struck via locally-born entrepreneur Sam Copley and finalised on September 29, 1920.

To mark the centenary, Alderman Clifford Stephenson’s classic account of events, The Ramsdens and their Estate in Huddersfield: the Town that bought itself has been republished on our website.

Stephenson, who chaired the Corporation’s estates committee, published his booklet in 1972. It follows the story of the Ramsdens in Huddersfield from their purchase of the manor in 1599 to the sale in 1920.  

Its re-publication begins a year of activity by Kirklees Council, West Yorkshire Archive Service, Huddersfield University and local societies to mark the historic centenary. The main focus will be in September and October 2020, when events will include:
​

• Publication by the University and Local History Society of a full-length book on the Ramsdens in Huddersfield, edited by locally-born historian Edward Royle, now emeritus professor of history at York University.
• A mobile exhibition to be developed by University history students, 
• A make-over for the ‘Ramsden Town’ gallery at the Tolson Museum.
• A community play about the events of 1919/20 at the Lawrence Batley Theatre.
• Other walks, talks and visits as part of next year’s programmes of Discover Huddersfield walks and Heritage Open Days events.

Cllr Robert Walker, Kirklees Council's Cabinet lead for Culture and Environment says: "Huddersfield may not be an ancient settlement but it has a fascinating history."

"We are graced by a strong community of local historians who do a great work in exploring and presenting this story.  Huddersfield University has a vibrant history department and I am very pleased that students are involved in presenting the story of the momentous events 200 years ago that shaped or town’s future."

The story of Sam Copley and ‘the town that bought itself’ is already commemorated by an information panel in Huddersfield Town Hall and a blue plaque on Copley’s home at Berry Brow.