A vibrant University, a town littered with architectural gems - and a football team that is playing some great stuff. What's not to like about Huddersfield?

The West Yorkshire town is fighting hard to keep its identity and ignore the ravages of spending cuts imposed on the local council.

There have been some impressive developments in recent years and hopefully others in the pipeline, such as Kingsgate 2 and the huge HD1 project linked to the John Smith's Stadium .

And the University of Huddersfield continues to grow and thrive, breathing new life into the old town.

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HISTORY

There has been a settlement in the area for over 4,000 years and indeed the remains of a Roman fort were unearthed in the mid 18th century near Outlane.

Castle Hill, the town's major landmark, was the site of an Iron Age hill fort and the town itself was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Oderesfelt and Odersfeld.

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The manor of Huddersfield was owned by the De Lacy family until 1322, at which it reverted to royal ownership. In 1599, William Ramsden bought the manor, and the Ramsden family continued to own the manor, which came to be known as the ' Ramsden Estate ', until 1920.

The textile industry was always vital to the life of the town and during the Industrial Revolution, it was at the centre of bitter unrest.

Weavers faced losing their livelihoods as machinery came into the mills and the Luddites were formed to destroy the new equipment. The Army were drafted into Huddersfield to take on the rebels , with up to 1,000 troops in the town at one point. The murder of mill-owner William Horsfall in 1812 prompted tough action against the Luddites but their legacy were new laws to protect workers.

PROPERTY MARKET

Huddersfield has a huge mix of housing, from former mill-owner's mansions in Edgerton to sprawling local authority estates and high-rise tower blocks.

Large swathes of terraced streets on the fringes of the town centre in Turnbridge vanished half a century ago but many areas close to the centre still have rows of back to back houses.

Huge new developments are planned, some of them controversial, for areas such as Lindley Moor and Grimescar Valley .

Show homes now open to the public at Farriers Croft, Lindley Moor.

Rightmove reports that most of the sales in Huddersfield over the past year were terraced properties which on average sold for £112,758. Semi-detached properties had an average sold price of £152,549 and detached properties averaged at £282,993.

Huddersfield, with an overall average price of £159,952, was similar in terms of sold prices to nearby Almondbury (£161,136) and Kirkheaton (£158,674), but was cheaper than Netherton (£249,599).

In the past year house prices in Huddersfield were 3% up on the year before and 6% up on 2014 when they averaged at £150,630.

SCHOOLS

Few families live in the town centre area, where most of the residents are students from the University of Huddersfield, and elderly people in flats

But there are schools catering for the children in areas such as Newsome, Birkby and Hillhouse, as well as Greenhead College and Kirklees College.

Birkby Infants School - Good

Birkby Junior School - Good

Birkby Junior School
Birkby Junior School

Hillside Primary School - Good

Moldgreen Community Primary School - Good

Kirklees College - Good

Greenhead College - Good

TRANSPORT

Huddersfield Bus Station in Upperhead Row was opened in December 1974. It is owned and managed by Metro and is now the busiest bus station in West Yorkshire.

There are 25 pick-up and three alighting only stands at the bus station.

The main operators at the bus station include First West Yorkshire, Arriva Yorkshire, Yorkshire Tiger, First Greater Manchester, Tiger Blue and Stotts Coaches.

Police made the discovery after stopping a group of teenagers near Huddersfield Bus Station
Police made the discovery after stopping a group of teenagers near Huddersfield Bus Station

They operate 68 services to districts all over Huddersfield as well as other towns and cities including Dewsbury, Batley , Brighouse, Bradford, Leeds, Oldham and Manchester.

National Express coaches also run nationwide from here.

For bus service details : MetroLine 0113 245 7676 or wymetro.com

The town's imposing railway station was described by the poet John Betjeman as "the most splendid in England" and stands in St George's Square .

It is managed by TransPennine Express which runs services between Manchester and Liverpool in the North West and Newcastle and Middlesbrough in the North East, and to York, Scarborough and Hull via Leeds.

Huddersfield station is the most used station managed by TransPennine Express with 4.9 million passengers exiting and entering the station between 2014/15 .

It is also served by Northern trains on the Huddersfield Line, between Leeds/Wakefield Westgate and Manchester Victoria station.

Huddersfield Railway Station.

The Penistone Line to Sheffield uses one of the six platforms, with links to the Midland Main Line for Leicester and London. More recently the Caldervale line for trains to Brighouse , Halifax and Bradford have become popular.

SHOPPING

As the major shopping centre in Kirklees, Huddersfield boasts a variety of multiples and independent stores.

The four main shopping areas are the Kingsgate Centre, The Piazza Centre, Queensgate Market Hall and the Byram Arcade .

Kingsgate features major names including Next, Top Shop, Clarks and House of Fraser, while there are also plans to build a major extension with more shops and a cinema complex run by The Light .

The Piazza includes Boots, W H Smiths, Thorntons and Superdrug, while Queensgate has about 100 stalls offering everything from fresh fruit, bread and fish to clothing and hardware.

The historic Byram Arcade is spread over three floors and includes a variety of independent shops and businesses.

Byram Arcade, Westgate, Huddersfield.
Byram Arcade, Westgate, Huddersfield.

The town also has a large outdoor market in Brook Street, with a covered section and rows of stalls.

On the fringes of the town centre are major supermarkets including Sainsburys, Tesco and Lidl.

SOCIAL LIFE

Whatever you want, Huddersfield has it for a night out - or a busy day.

There are numerous pubs, clubs and bars with traditional boozers standing shoulder to shoulder with trendy nightspots aimed at the huge student population.

Many venues offer music and there are nightclubs including Tokyo, Mavericks and The Camel Club.

Camel Club in Byram Court, Huddersfield town centre
Camel Club in Byram Court, Huddersfield town centre

For diners, there is virtually every type of cuisine within the ring road. You can eat Italian, Thai, Chinese, Indian, Mexican, Brazilian or English at any one of a number of restaurants, and there are a huge number of cafes, coffee bars and takeaways.

OUT & ABOUT

Huddersfield has a number of walking trails in the town centre which include The Heritage Trail, taking in historical sites such as St George's Square, Market Place, the Town Hall , St Peter's Parish Church and the Lawrence Batley Theatre .

There are also three short walks: the Culture Walk, the Green Spaces Walk and the Water Walk.

Talking of the latter, the Huddersfield Broad Canal and the Huddersfield Narrow Canal meet at Aspley Marina.

Walks near water - Huddersfield Narrow Canal at Linthwaite.

For the sports lovers, the John Smith's Stadium is just a 10-minute walk from the railway station and is home to both Huddersfield Town and the Huddersfield Giants Super League side.

Greenhead Park , which underwent a £3.5m renovation, is a wonderful oasis of calm just five minutes from the Ring Road and includes bowling greens, tennis courts, children's play areas, the town's imposing Belvedere war memorial and a lake. It also hosts the extremely popular weekly Parkrun, attracting hundreds each Saturday.

And St Peter's Gardens, in the shadow of the historic church, is a quiet place to enjoy at any time.

The Piazza, which hosts events such as the Christmas lights switch-on, nestles alongside the Library and Art Gallery which are worth a visit.

DID YOU KNOW?

Huddersfield has a proud musical tradition, with the Huddersfield Choral Society founded in 1836 and the town hosting both the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and the Mrs Sunderland Musical Festival . And infamous punk band The Sex Pistols chose the town's Ivanhoes club for their last-ever gig on Christmas Day 1977.