REPORTS OF HCS EVENTS

After the HCS AGM on the evening of March 25, 2026, members and guests enjoyed an informative talk by Felix Kumi-Ampofo (above), Director of Inclusive Economy, Skills & Culture at the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, the collaborative organisation covering all five West Yorkshire councils. Felix had described his objectives as including to “set out the…

Local historian David Griffiths gave a talk titled Shaping Huddersfield’s suburbs – the Arts & Crafts influence to more than 50 members and guests of Huddersfield Civic Society. From the 1880s to the 1930s Huddersfield had a strong tradition of domestic architecture rooted in Pennine vernacular styles, documented in David Griffiths’ new book, Huddersfield’s Arts & Crafts Houses.  David…

Written by Amanda Boothroyd Three speakers talked about the great work going on to protect and enhance Huddersfield’s green spaces, its precious nature and valued wildlife. The Huddersfield Civic Society event featured Deb Clarke, the development manager from White Rose Forest which is one of the largest community forests in England; Jeff Keenlyside, director from…

A free event spiced up Yorkshire’s history at a special event in Huddersfield. An afternoon called A Bit Of Yorkshire Spice featured four speakers talking about Yorkshire’s history and heritage on Sunday, November 23. The speakers were Ian Stevenson, Christina Longden, Rod Dimbleby (pictured above) and Yahya Birt. During the pandemicIan Stevenson, Chair of Huddersfield…

A new book looks at some of Huddersfield’s most magnificent houses and how their design shaped architecture in the town. Huddersfield’s Art & Crafts Houses: from Edgar Wood to the 1930s has been written by local historian David Griffiths and is being published by Huddersfield Local History Society with the support of Huddersfield Civic Society….

Author and Huddersfield Civic Society committee member Ann Denham gave a talk about her new book on the town’s Tolson Museum. The event was attended by an audience of more than 40 HCS members plus The Friends of Tolson and Ravensknowle at the Brian Jackson Centre on Wednesday, October 15, 2025. The talk was the…

The Turnbridge Mills complex is one of Huddersfield’s last remaining working textile mills and was visited by 26 Huddersfield Civic Society members. The landmark mill is on Quay Street next to the Turnbridge Lift Bridge and forms one of the development zones in Huddersfield’s Station to Stadium Enterprise Corridor. During the visit on October 2,…

HCS and Huddersfield Local History Society invited photographer Neil Horsley to give a presentation of his work showing how old mills have been transformed in and around Huddersfield as part of the 2025 Heritage Open Days festival. The talk took place at the Brian Jackson Centre in Huddersfield on Wednesday, September 17, 2025, and follows…

By David Wyles I’ll begin by saying that if you weren’t able to join Huddersfield Civic Society colleagues and friends on this tour of the mill’s archives I urge you to go at some point. Sunnybank Mills produced fine worsted cloth and the carefully preserved archive is so much more than a dusty record of…

Huddersfield Civic Society at St John The Baptist Church on a visit to Penistone on May 2025

Around 30 members of Huddersfield Civic Society were treated to a fascinating talk and tour of the University of Huddersfield’s Daphne Steele Building. Led by Tim Hosker the University’s Director of Estates and Facilities, the talk and tour on Thursday, May 15, was arranged by HCS President Bernard Ainsworth, a member of both the University…

Charles Smith, Policy Director at Historic England – the government’s adviser on the historic environment – gave an excellent and very informative presentation on the role of Historic England, and also localised it to Huddersfield. Before joining Historic England in 2013 Charles was Team Leader for Conservation and Design at Kirklees Council and remains a…