Huddersfield heritage was unlocked this weekend with a behind the scenes look at our town’s hidden treasures.
This year’s Huddersfield Heritage Open Days featured the biggest ever programme of events and visits with 30 entries – 17 of them included for the first time.
From Sikh Temples to the crypt at Holy Trinity Church, Huddersfield and even a trip back to the classrooms at Huddersfield Grammar School there was plenty to discover throughout the weekend.
Historian and Discover Huddersfield Treasurer, David Griffiths, led one of three heritage walks across Huddersfield.
David said: “We’ve had a big response to this year’s events with a bigger programme across a more diverse range than ever before.
“I was involved with the Ramsden Heritage trail which is a two hour walk around the town centre.
“The Ramsden family were Lords of the Manor in Huddersfield for three centuries.
The tour encorporated the Ramsden University building, Sir John Ramsden Canal, the Beast Market and Byram Street.
New venues in the Huddersfield area included in the programme were Briarcourt at Lindley, Holy Trinity Church crypt, Huddersfield Town Centre Lion Hunt, the John Smith’s Stadium, St Stephen’s Church at Lindley, Lindley Churchyard tours and St Thomas’s Church.
Huddersfield University’s archive department, Heritage Quay, also hosted a mix of walks and talks from experts and amateurs in the field of psychogeography.
The event included a high-speed one-hour walk through the town centre from Lord Wilson’s statue in St George’s Square.
Other events on Saturday included a scavenger’s hunt following a trail around the university’s Queensgate campus in search of “items and stories, mundane or otherwise” to be exhibited in the “Instant Museum of Curiosities” at Heritage Quay.
Huddersfield Station Water Tower was another one of the venues which is only open to the public on heritage days.
Volunteer Peter Roberts, said: “We’ve had quite a bit of interest. Heritage is important and events such as this show people things they wouldn’t usually see.
“We’ve been showing visitors the the 1870s metal water tower, which used to contain 25,000 gallons of water to supply steam to locomotives with water.
“They have also seen how the building has been restored with a low carbon footprint in mind.”
The Heritage Open Days programme was developed for Discover Huddersfield by Huddersfield Civic Society, Huddersfield Local History Society, Kirklees Libraries and Museums, Heritage Quay and the Huddersfield Society of Architects, supported by a student intern from the University History Department.
