sowerbybridge Archives - Page 2 of 2

Britain’s best high streets

September 28, 2024November 30, 2012 by Neil Turner

It’s not a paper that I would choose to read, but in the Daily Express last week was an article entitled ‘Britain’s best high streets‘, and, pleasingly, it mentioned Wharf Street in my adopted home town of Sowerby Bridge – pictured above during the Rushbearing festival.

Now, since it only features three towns, it’s not exactly an authoritative article and I’m sure there are many better high streets out there. But Wharf Street is pretty good as high streets go – we have an independent bakery, grocer, butchers, a post office, two banks and a wide range of specialist and boutique shops. There’s also a number of restaurants, including two good curry houses, and a bistro which is listed in the Good Food Guide. And there’s a market which is open most days of the week.

Sowerby Bridge’s high street has held up against two supermarkets. Lidl is just up the hill, and there’s a reasonably-sized Tesco at the western end of the town. It’s probably because the independent shops here tend to offer services that are better than, or different to, what the supermarkets can provide.

It’s not perfect though. Three of the pubs on Wharf Street are currently shut – two have closed recently and one has been shut for some time. And with it being the main road between Halifax and Rochdale it is very busy with traffic, making it a rather noisy place to be with rather narrow pavements. However, the variety and quality of shops is one of the things that drew us to the town and, two years after moving here, we’re still generally in love with the place.

Rushbearing in Sowerby Bridge

September 28, 2024September 2, 2012 by Neil Turner

This weekend, like every first weekend in September, is the annual Rushbearing festival in my adopted home town of Sowerby Bridge. It’s a modern revival of a tradition which originally saw freshly harvested rushes being delivered to churches in the area to cover the floors. Although it died out in the 19th century, it was revived in 1977 to celebrate the Queen’s Silver Jubilee. 35 years later, in the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee year, it is still going.

The modern event takes place over two days – the Saturday and Sunday of the first weekend in September. It involves local men pulling a one (imperial) ton cart around the town to deliver a token rush to each of the town’s churches. The cart also calls at most of the town’s pubs, of which there are a lot – 14 just in the town centre itself. Essentially, this makes the rushbearing a large and very glorified pub crawl, and indeed many of the participants carry a tankard. In fact, there are even several tankards attached to the cart itself.

The same cart is used every year, and this one was built in 1984. A ‘cart maiden’, usually an 18-year-old girl, sits atop the cart and waves at people. Behind the cart is usually a marching brass band and several traditional British dancing groups – usually Morris Dancers, but in various different forms.

Last year we missed the Rushbearing as it was the same weekend as Bingley Music Live. But with the somewhat lacklustre line-up, increased ticket prices, and the need to save money for our forthcoming nuptials, we decided not to go this year. This gave us chance to experience a rather different festival closer to home. Although I’m sure the nice weather helped, it was well-attended with many people turning out to line the streets, and patronise the various drinking establishments that the cart called at en route.

Modern-day rushbearing isn’t unique to Sowerby Bridge and it does take place at other northern towns and villages, although these are all in Greater Manchester, Lancashire or Cumbria; Sowerby Bridge is the only Yorkshire town to retain this custom. For a town that is home to yuppie commuters like ourselves, it’s nice to see it keeping in touch with some traditions.

There’s more about the tradition of rushbearing on Wikipedia, and a more detailed history of Sowerby Bridge’s festival on the official web site. And you can view my photos of the event on Flickr.

Cinemas and Sowerby Bridge

September 26, 2024May 2, 2012 by Neil Turner

When we moved to Sowerby Bridge almost 18 months ago (no, I can’t believe it has been that long either), one thing I moved away from was an easily accessible cinema. In Bradford, I was well catered for – the Cineworld multiplex by the Interchange shows all of the new releases, plus there’s the National Media Museum showing IMAX films as well as regular films in its Pictureville and Cubby Broccoli cinemas.

But Sowerby Bridge doesn’t have a cinema of its own; nor does neighbouring Halifax, although this will change this summer when a Vue multiplex opens opposite the bus station. The nearest big cinemas are back in Bradford, or the Odeon in Huddersfield, although its out of town location makes it awkward to get to without a car.

As the crow flies, the Rex Cinema in Elland is closest, although getting there by bus means changing at Halifax which is a bit of a pain (Elland’s railway station closed in 1962, and though there’s talk of building a new one, no plans have come to fruition). It’s a small, independent cinema which shows films every evening, but these aren’t usually the latest and tend not to be the big blockbusters. Same for the Hebden Bridge Picture House, further up the valley, which I wrote about in January.

But it wasn’t always like this. Sowerby Bridge, like many towns in days gone by, did have its own cinema. In fact, it had two – both on Wharf Street, the main road through the town.

Electric Cinema

A photo of the Roxy Bingo Hall in Sowerby Bridge — **The Roxy Bingo Hall – Wharf Street** © Copyright Betty Longbottom and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

The first was the Electric Cinema. The building dates from 1915, although the exact date that it opened seems to be disputed by various web sites and may have been as late as 1917. It later became the Roxy Cinema, and was operated by Gaumont Cinemas until 1951, with an impressive capacity of over 800. It closed in 1962, where upon the building lay dormant until 1972, when it became a bingo hall. Sometime around 2009, the owners converted it into a bistro and late opening venue, which is how it survives today. [Credit: Malcolm Bull’s Calderdale Companion [1] [2], Bingo VG]

Essoldo Cinema

The other cinema, which was literally around 200 metres further down the high street was the Regent Cinema, opened in 1939. It became the Essoldo Cinema ten years later in 1949, before closing in 1967, again to become a bingo hall. More recently the bingo hall shut and the building was converted into shops, and now houses a charity pound shop and a newsagent. [Credit: Malcolm Bull: [1] [2]]

Although it’s good that both buildings survive and are in use (something that sadly can’t be said for Bradford’s 1930s former Odeon cinema), it’s a shame that the town hasn’t managed to retain a cinema despite having two at one point. Still, it will be nice for Halifax to have a cinema again, even though it will be a big multiplex run by a national firm, rather than the small, independent community cinemas in Elland and Hebden Bridge.

A year out of the city

September 28, 2024November 23, 2011 by Neil Turner

It’s now been a year since Christine and I moved in together in Sowerby Bridge. It’s also therefore a year since I moved out of Bradford, where I’d spent most of the previous 8 years. We like the town – it’s small, relatively quiet (apart from the main street) and full of interesting pubs and restaurants, of which some we still haven’t been to yet. It’s also an easy commute for both us to get to walk, and has good public transport links with regular trains and buses, so we haven’t felt isolated.

Although the first flat we moved into didn’t work out, we’ve had no problems with the second one that we moved into in April – and it ended up being cheaper, larger and generally nicer than the first one, all things considered. We’re hoping to stay in the flat for some time to come, after which we’ll probably look at buying a house rather than renting as we do at the moment.

This year has also seen us build upon our relationship, going from being 65 miles apart and generally only seeing each other at weekends, to living together and ultimately becoming engaged last month. Living together has worked well – Christine’s a great cook, and so whilst she does most of the meals I’m happy to do other bits of housework.

So here’s to another year of living together.

Flat-warmed

July 11, 2025May 10, 2011 by Neil Turner

At the weekend we had a flat-warming party, barely 3 months after the last one in the previous flat. Hopefully it’ll be the last one for a while.

Now that spring is here, Sowerby Bridge is lovely – there are plenty of trees and the view across the valley from our balcony is now very lush and green. There’s also a number of ducklings and goslings on the rivers that run through the town.

On Friday night we went to see Uncaged Monkeys in Manchester – it’s roughly equal parts stand-up comedy and science lecture, and was very good. Speakers included Professor Brian Cox (whose wife I met a few years ago), Dr Ben Goldacre, Dr Simon Singh and a few others. It was at the O2 Apollo theatre near the university campus, and was a sell-out – full of several hundred geeks who were happy to spend their Friday night being lectured about the silliness of homoeopathy, our tiny insignificance in the universe and why we’re fortunate that we’re not male anglerfish.

At the university the exams have started, which means that I’ll be invigilating a couple of them. Five years ago, I was the one sitting them, and whilst invigilation isn’t the most interesting of tasks, I’d rather be doing that then having to do the exams again.

This weekend sees us at a friends’ house in Leeds to watch the Eurovision Song Contest. It’s always good fun to watch as a group, especially when there’s some alcohol involved.

Moved

December 31, 2024November 28, 2010 by Neil Turner

Things have been a little quiet here due to my house move. Thankfully, Christine and I are now settled in our new place, and mostly unpacked. (the picture above was taken before we started any unpacking)

We’ve opted for a flat, which is in a converted mill just off the main street in Sowerby Bridge. It’s on the fourth floor, which has the benefit of some gorgeous views across the Calder Valley (especially on a sunny day like today with snow on the ground), but the disadvantage that there’s a lot of stairs, and sadly the building doesn’t have a lift. It’s a very recent conversion though, and all of the fixtures and fittings are to a high standard; plus, it’s not that expensive to rent.

Although the unpacking is mostly done, we still need some furniture (namely wardrobes and shelves) to put some stuff away. But the essentials are there.

We don’t have a landline yet, so we’re relying on using tethering through my iPhone for an internet connection. Thankfully, 3 not only allows you to tether your iPhone to the computer to use it as a modem, but includes your usage in your monthly data allowance (1 GB for me), so it doesn’t cost extra. That being said, I’m using it somewhat sparingly until we get the landline enabled sometime in the next couple of weeks. As an aside, Christine’s Android phone lets her use it as a Wireless Access Point but I’m not sure if Vodafone will charge her extra.

We’re also stuck with just three analogue TV channels; Freeview hasn’t made it to this area yet and won’t do until September next year, and there isn’t a strong signal for Channel 4 or Five. Looks like we’re getting a Freesat box for Christmas.

Commuting-wise, the location of the flat is great – we’re within walking distance of Sowerby Bridge station, from which it’s only 20 minutes by train to Bradford direct. The trains are hourly most of the day but some extra services stop at peak times; certainly getting to and from work hasn’t been a problem. For getting around, an £80/month MetroCard ticket gets me on any bus and almost any train within West Yorkshire; it works out at approximately £4/weekday but we’ll be using it at weekends.

As for the town, it’s really nice. Sowerby Bridge is about 40 minutes by train from both Leeds and Manchester; consequently it’s a major commuter town and the local amenities cater for this. There are lots of really nice bars and restaurants, covering a wide variety of tastes and cuisines (Mongolian BBQ, anyone?), as well as the basics like banks, post office and a reasonably-sized Tesco.

Compared to the hustle and bustle of the city, I’m glad we moved here.

Moving out of the city

September 28, 2024October 27, 2010 by Neil Turner

Next month will see Christine and I move in together. Furthermore, it’ll see me moving out of Bradford, which has been my adopted home city for over 8 years (bar a few gaps).

Right now, we’re looking at moving to Sowerby Bridge, a market town in Calderdale which is around 20 minutes away from Bradford by train. It’s quite a nice little town – it’s in the Calder Valley which is quite picturesque and almost all the buildings are stone-built. We haven’t yet settled on a specific house or apartment but we have some viewings over the next couple of weeks.

Compared with Bradford, Sowerby Bridge is very different. Bradford’s population is around 300,000 – Sowerby Bridge is home to around 10,000 people. I’ll also need to start commuting to work, unlike now where it’s within walking distance; that being said, I don’t expect to have to travel more than an hour each way in total, provided the trains behave themselves.

There’s also the issue of broadband internet. Generally the UK is good at providing fast broadband in cities, and I believe Virgin Media is due to roll out its 100 Mbps service in Bradford shortly, but out in more rural areas the speeds available drop quite a bit. The SamKnows Broadband Checker tells me that ADSL Max is available, and I can expect speeds of up to 6 Mbps, but that I’ll have to go with either TalkTalk, BT, or another ISP that has a package through OpenReach Wholesale. There’s no cable either, so no Virgin Media.

Yeah, I know. Trust me to focus on internet availability.

Still, I’m looking forward to a change of scenery. As much as I like Bradford, it would be nice to move somewhere a bit quieter, but still within easy reach of Leeds, Bradford and Manchester – in fact, Manchester and Leeds would be roughly the same distance away.