By Steve McKenna
Copyright brisbanetimes
Halifax is another Calder Valley (or Calderdale) line highlight. Its star is the Piece Hall, the oldest remaining Georgian cloth hall in the world. Watering holes, restaurants and boutiques now colonise the hall’s restored colonnades by a courtyard that stages open-air summer concerts and events.
Performers who’ve rocked the space, which resembles an Italian piazza, include Tom Jones, Nile Rodgers & Chic, Grace Jones and Deftones. The courtyard has a statue of Anne Lister (1791-1840), the protagonist in Gentleman Jack. In Lister Park, on Halifax’s leafy fringes, you can visit Shibden Hall, her half-timbered Tudor mansion.
There are heaps of events this year in neighbouring Bradford, the 2025 UK City of Culture. Also the first ever UNESCO City of Film, and many-time Curry Capital of England, Bradford recently hosted and has glossy new entertainment venues and food halls.
At Darley Street Market, there’s a mosaic portrait of revered Bradfordian David Hockney, whose works grace galleries in and around the city. Pedestrianisation schemes have made Bradford more walkable and there’s impressive Victorian architecture, including one of England’s grandest city halls and a gorgeous bookstore: a branch of Waterstones in a Venetian gothic-style wool exchange.
