HCS Members’ Update June 2026

Members Newsletter.  June 2026.

Welcome to our newsletter which this month covers:

  •  Castle Hill (Again)     
  •  Cultural Heart, Phase 2
  •  HCS meeting with Kirklees council
  •  Planning
  •  Heritage Open days 2026
  •  Tolson Museum – Book Review
  •  Dates for your diary

1. Castle Hill.  Further opinions?

A very interesting video has been developed by local residents Linda and John Beever and produced by WC21 (UK) Productions Ltd. Linda presents her arguments against and the wider implications for historic monuments in our country.

Click on the image or here to go to the video

If you would like to help Linda and Huddersfield and District Archaeological Society, please get in touch via this website: https://www.huddarch.org.uk/contact

2. Cultural Heart Phase 2

As written by Martin Shaw AT Huddersfield Hub

A new planning application has been submitted for the new Huddersfield Museum and Art Gallery – along with updated images of what it could look like.

A previous planning application for the Grade II-listed former Huddersfield Library in Princess Alexandra Walk was approved back in January 2025 but architects have now amended the design.

The 1930s building will see a full height extension built at the back which will have an entrance foyer, café and shop. Outside there will be a café terrace.

The overall plans haven’t changed a great deal and the building will still provide a home for the town’s museum and the ‘Huddersfield Collection’ of historical artfacts and also state-of-the-art gallery space to stage exhibitions and also display artwork owned by Kirklees Council.

The changes are mainly to the basement and lower ground floor, which won’t be public areas.

The basement has been made smaller and cycle storage and workshops for staff will be moved from the basement to the lower ground floor.

A key change will see an external courtyard re-designed so that it can provide a secure and private education space for school visits and the like.

Some historical features inside have also been impacted by the removal of asbestos which was found within or behind panelled walls.

When the previous plans were approved in January 2025, the expected cost of the project was £73 million with an estimated opening date of Spring 2029.

The design and access statement published with the latest planning application says the changes to the staff area improve “operational efficiency” and the courtyard education area provides a “generous, safe and secure space for the education team to use for activities in collaboration with local schools and community groups.”

On the asbestos removal, architects have worked closely with the council’s conservation team to repair and restore where partial demolition of walls has been necessary.

A heritage statement says: “The core principles of the brief… is to retain and repair the key heritage assets of the existing building, whilst allowing the building to perform to the highest standards of the day in order to house high profile exhibits and artefacts that are significant to the history of Huddersfield.”  Kirklees Council is continuing to develop the wider Our Cultural Heart regeneration project.

Phase 2 of Our Cultural Heart is the museum and art gallery and Phase 3 will be the demolition of the Piazza Centre to open up the area and create an urban park.

Regarding the ongoing phase 1 work, The countdown is on to the opening of the new Library Hub in September 2026 with a new public square outside.

The library will combine traditional library services with modern community spaces, digital work spaces, creative workshops and a history archive. A public vote is currently underway on a name for the new public square.

3.  HCS meeting with Council Officers

Committee members had a meeting to discuss various Planning and Enforcement matters with Kirklees Council officers on Monday 15 June.

HCS secretary Geoff Hughes made the following brief comments after the meeting:

“On Monday 15 June five HCS committee members – Ann Denham, Geoff Hughes, Chris Marsden, Gideon Richards and Howard Smith – plus HCS member Mike Prior met Kirklees Council managers now responsible for Enforcement against breaches of Planning regulations and also for the new ‘Biodiversity Net Gain’ element now required for the majority of planning applications.

The meeting was successful in HCS gaining a better understanding of how the many relevant regulations now operate, the practical constraints under which Council officers operate and how HCS can now best assist in bringing issues to the attention of the Council for satisfactory resolution. We were also invited to a further meeting, to be arranged for this July, with the new Kirklees Council Conservation Officers to pick up on the Society’s many issues regarding listed buildings and conservation areas around Huddersfield.

We are pleased to be establishing relationships with these officers and will provide an update on the subjects covered in HCS newsletters in the near future”.

4.  Planning

BT street hubs. 

 You may recall that BT submitted a number of planning applications to install seven ‘BT street hubs’.  Six in the town centre, including in conservation areas, and one on Westbourne Road in Marsh.  A previous attempt by BT to install six in the town centre was rejected by Kirklees Council early in 2023.

Huddersfield Civic Society objected to the applications. 

Those within the town centre conservation area have thankfully been refused.

Extract from the council decision :-

“The proposed Street Hub would have included illuminated screens on both sides. These are an integral part of the development under consideration. The proposed Street Hub and digital display screens, owing to their scale, prominent siting, and means of illumination, would be a visually incongruous and intrusive feature that would cause harm to the significance of the Huddersfield Town Centre Conservation Area, in which there are several listed buildings close by. The public benefits associated with the proposed development would not outweigh the less than substantial harm caused to the significance of the Conservation Area”.

“The proposed digital display screens, owing to their scale, prominent siting, means of illumination and the presence of other similar installations in the immediate vicinity, would be a visually intrusive feature that would cause harm to the visual amenities of the locality and less than substantial harm to the significance of the Huddersfield Town Centre Conservation Area. Having regard to the cumulative impact of similar installations already in existence, including on New Street, Ramsden Street and High Street, the introduction of a further pair of digital display panels would add further illuminated street clutter which would detract from the character of the wider Town Centre, and would prejudice the aims of the Huddersfield Blueprint, a ten-year regeneration initiative to rejuvenate the town centre and enhance public spaces”.

However, the application to place one hub alongside Westbourne Rd in Marsh (a busy roadside pavement, but not a conservation area) has been approved

NB. As of 26th May, the applicant has lodged appeals to some of these refusals.

Other projects ongoing at the moment :-

Huddersfield Bus Station 

Preparatory works have started on £28 million plans for a brand new bus station. Bus stands were due to be changed this weekend and groundworks officially due to start on Monday June 15. Completion is Spring 2028.

Huddersfield Open Market

Kirklees Council is preparing to start work on a £16 million restoration of the market hall. Between now and August a temporary market is to be set up before the market hall itself is closed. The target date for completion is early 2028. The area between the market hall and Tesco is currently being fenced off in preparation for the temporary building.

5.  Heritage Open Days

Everyone is welcome to England’s largest festival of history and culture! Every September thousands of volunteers across England organise events to celebrate our fantastic history and culture. It’s your chance to see hidden places and try out new experiences – all of which are FREE to explore. This year the festival runs from 11-20 September 2026 and many organisations and sites are starting to register.  Events started to be listed on the website from 1 June.

This year’s festival theme, ‘Everyday Histories’, is presented by leading family history website, Findmypast. With billions of historical records and detail-packed newspaper archives from every corner of England, Findmypast is the perfect resource to help research local and family history.

Thanks to the support they’re offering the community, in Kirklees, we’re looking forward to a festival even more full of fascinating new stories. Building on that support, we’re delighted to announce that Findmypast are also launching a competition to further celebrate the work of our Everyday History Heroes. The prize is public recognition as England’s Everyday History Heroes with £1,000 to continue your work.  All information is on the website: https://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/resource/everyday-history-heroes-competition.html

If anyone wishes to organise and register an event please go to https://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/get-involved/get-started.html for information, or contact Sylvia Johnson who is on the Kirklees HOD Committee on  

6. Tolson Museum – Book Review

“How Ravensknowle House became the Museum of Huddersfield” – A review of HCS Committee Member, Ann Denham’s book in the summer edition of the magazine of the British Association ofFriends of Museum

“Britain is one of the most important progenitors of the modern museum.  Many of these started out as 18th century private collections, such as that of Sir Hans Sloane which became the basis of the British Museum, and those from country houses. 

In the 19th and continuing into the early years of the 20th century private philanthropy and collections combined with public philanthropy, civic pride, self-help and an energetic sense of national progressiveness helped to create scores of museums and educational establishments throughout the British Isles. 

Each of these creations are now part of our history and progress.  It is a great source of pride and achievement that so many of these still exist, often with the existential assistance of Friends groups.  Any recording of this history is most welcome and adds one more thread to our knowledge of the whole.

Ann Denham has written an excellent history of the Tolson Memorial Museum, Huddersfield which is a fine example of private and public philanthropy.  It is of interest as the specific history of this particular museum and as such will be of importance to those living in and around Huddersfield. 

However, it is of much greater interest as much of its history is similar to that of museums throughout the country.  In this it touches on the general development towards municipal museums throughout the nation and as such is a useful volume for anyone who wants to understand the 19th and early 20th museum movement in Britain. 

There is also included the rise of the textile industry in the English midlands, specifically that centred on Huddersfield and a number of the individuals involved, railway development, the political impetus for local museums and the individuals who were responsible for the founding, designing and gathering of the collections for the Tolson Memorial Museum. 

From the perspective of the BAFM it is most pleasing to see the work of the Friends of Tolson and Ravensknowle recognised.  For such a concise book it covers much ground.

It is the pleasure of this book in that it combines the specific with the general.  Therefore, it should be read far beyond the confines of those interested in the Museum of Huddersfield.  There is a bit of the history of all of our museums in this fine book.”

7. Dates for your diary

Tuesday 30 June, 2.30 pm.  Visit to the Portland Works in Sheffield.

Referred to as the birthplace of stainless-steel cutlery manufacturing. It was built in Sheffield in 1879 and is now one of the last remaining working examples of a purpose-built metal trades factory. Following a half-century of neglect, the building was purchased in 2013 by a social enterprise comprising more than 500 community shareholders who, having saved it from residential conversion, are now undertaking an extensive renovation.

The grade 2* listed building has been reborn as a centre for small manufacturing, independent artists and craftspeople, with many small businesses now based within the 2600 square metre floor space. These include knife makers, an engraver and several engineers; cabinetmakers and joiners; jewellers and silver platers; artists; rug and guitar makers; photographers, a Yorkshire based gin distillery and even a high-tech CNC manufacturing site.

There is usually a tour around the yard and into a couple of workshops (depending what is open on the day). A volunteer historian will hopefully be available to answer any questions.  The tour lasts approximately 2 hours and we can only take up to 20 people.

It is a busy working site and the tour is mostly outdoors around the yards, so sensible footwear is best.  There are lots of stone and metal steps (no lifts) and the opportunity to go up onto the flat roof. The site is not massively accessible so if anyone requires help and cannot manage the steps please do contact Sylvia Johnson as below, so we can take advice.

The cost is £5 for members and £7 for non-members. Could you please pay by bank transfer to Huddersfield Civic Society, Sort Code: 20-43-04, Account no. 50525022. Please use your surname and “Portland” as a reference please.

For more information please click here

To reserve a place please email Sylvia Johnson on 

Tuesday July 7, 7pm to 9pm. A walk to see Arts and Crafts houses in Huddersfield.

There are still a few places left to join HCS in the company of local historian David Griffiths, author of the recent book Huddersfield’s Arts & Crafts Houses: From Edgar Wood to the 1930s, for a Civic Society guided summer evening walk around our town’s richest area of such housing in the Lindley and upper Birkby district.

Meet at 7pm at Briarcourt, 28 Occupation Road (approximately 200 metres from Lindley Clock Tower), assembling in the front garden. There are pubs but no public toilets near the start. The walk will cover a range of pavements, paths and several road crossings. There is planned to be at least one pleasant surprise en route.

Finish around 9pm having returned up Daisy Lea Lane towards the recreation ground and Lindley Clock Tower. 

We have a total of 20 places available for a tour on a first-come, first-served basis. The walk is free for HCS members; £5 for non-members. To book your place, please email Geoff Hughes .

Tuesday 11 August, 6.15pm. Almondbury Walking Tour.

We have organised a guided evening walk around the historical areas of Almondbury.  It will start at 6.15pm and end approximately 7.45pm, with a supper at The Woolpack pub in Almondbury from 8pm.  If you would like to reserve a place, please contact Sylvia Johnson on   The cost is £8 for members and £12 for non-members including supper. It is mainly walking on pavements with some inclines but nothing too steep!

Friday 14 August, 10am.  A visit to the Bronte birthplace in Thornton, near Bradford. 

(This was previously advertised for a guided tour at £24 but no bookings were received. We have therefore been offered a revised price of £14 for a self-guided visit.)

Meet at the venue at 10.00 am for a guided visit of the house, followed by tea/coffee and cake.  The entire ground floor of the property is accessible by wheelchair and there are accessible bathroom facilities. For those unable to ascend to the second floor, the guide can offer some time with a virtual 3D tour.  Home – Brontë Birthplace

At around 11:45 we will do a short walk to the historic Bell Chapel (information at  Welcome to the Bronte Bell Chapel Homepage )  The tour will end at approximately 1215/1230. If anyone wants to then do a longer walk after lunch perhaps there is the famous Viaduct Walk.

The cost including refreshments is £24 per person. (The Civic Society is not adding on any extra to the amount charged by the venue.)

To reserve a place please email Sylvia Johnson on 

Regular guided walks with Discover Huddersfield. 

A programme of 14 guided walks through Spring and Summer started in Marsden in April.  Experience some of the wondrous sites and heritage of Huddersfield town centre and surrounding areas.  This is a varied programme of walks continuing until October. The next walk is Sunday 28 June at 14:30 – Exploring Beaumont Park.

Walks usually last between 90 minutes and two hours and cost £5 per person. All walks must be pre-booked and bookings can be made up to 14 days before each walk.   Some free walks are included as part Heritage Open Day events in September. 

For Further details about the walks and how to book see  https://discoverhuddersfield.uk/walks/

Details about the walks can also be accessed via the HCS website

Wednesday 16 September at 19.00. Joseph Kaye, ‘Builder of Huddersfield’

Brian Jackson House, 2 New North Parade, Huddersfield HD1 5JP.

As a builder Joseph Kaye (1778/9-1858) was responsible for some of Huddersfield’s most notable Georgian and Victorian buildings, which shaped the town we still know today, including the Grade I listed Railway Station, George Hotel, old Infirmary, chapels, churches and more.  Born in humble circumstances, and an orphan by the age of seven, he was also a publican, brewer, quarryman and millowner, and was much involved in the public life of the fast-growing town.  This illustrated talk, by local historian David Griffiths, will trace all these aspects of Kaye’s career and impact on the town. The event is jointly organised by Huddersfield Civic and Local History Societies.

This will be a free to attend HODs event and any booking requirements will be stated in the programme for Heritage Open Days, 11-20 September 2026, when it is published.

Local events being run by other local groups

Members might be interested in a free event being run by our neighbours at Halifax Civic Society or by two chargeable events by our friends at the Victorian Society (costing £10 for non-members of that Society) to which HCS members are also welcome.

Halifax Civic Trust Visit to Hull Civic Society – Wednesday 8 July

Join Halifax Civic Trust for a special summer visit to Hull, where we will be welcomed by our friends at the Hull Civic Society for a fascinating guided walk around some of the city’s most remarkable historic and architectural sites. This is a full day FREE guided tour with breaks and lunch (not included) with a detailed tour itinerary. The timings match well to arrivals and departures of hourly direct trains from Huddersfield. See Eventbrite link for booking. 

Wakefield – Waterfront and Mills to City Centre. Saturday 27 June, 10.30am-12pm. Followed by an optional second walk to and around the city centre (included).

Join Kevin Trickett MBE (Wakefield Civic Society) for a guided walk around the industrial waterside area of Wakefield. Exploring the area now known as Wakefield Waterfront, we’ll focus on historic buildings but will also take some time to look at the area’s post-industrial regeneration. For those who would like to continue to explore Wakefield, Kevin has also offered a second walk in the afternoon, back to the city centre (with a break to visit a cafe for lunch) and around some of its architectural treasures. This walk will finish at around 3pm (although those who need to are welcome to leave earlier) and is included in the ticket price. 

Note: this covers different areas to HCS’ previous visits to Wakefield.

Book online at Eventbrite

Sowerby Bridge and ‘Fire and Water’. Saturday 11 July, 2pm-4.30pm. 

A visit to this historic canal town and textile centre, led by Sowerby Bridge based architect Phil Hawdon (https://hra86.com/). We’ll start with a private tour around ‘Fire and Water’ (the town’s original fire station and swimming pool, which is now being brought back to life by the local community, ) and then have a guided walk through Sowerby Bridge’s old mill area and along the canal, finishing at the canal basin. There will be the option of drinks afterwards, hopefully in the sun by the canal!

Tickets via Eventbrite – Find out more about Fire and Water via this link