Halifax Trail

The minster town of Halifax derives its name from the Old English halh-gefeaxe, meaning “area of coarse grass in the nook of land”, a name that bears little resemblance to the town today. Whilst not mentioned in the Domesday Book, it was probably in existence by the end of the eleventh century and rose to prominence during the fifteenth century as a centre of woollen manufacture. Of course, the Industrial Revolution only bolstered this further, and it became a mill town with lucrative cotton, wool and carpet industries. This is of course mostly a thing of the past, but the town continues to thrive and has left its mark on other industries: as well as being home to Halifax plc (now part of Lloyds Banking Group), it was also the home of confectionary manufacturer John Mackintosh & Co Limited, which later merged with Rowntree Limited to become Rowntree-Mackintosh, later purchased by Nestlé. It has darker claims to fame too: it is infamous for its gibbet, used to decapitate criminals until 1650, the original blade of which survives in Bankfield Museum in the outskirts of the town. A replica of the gibbet still exists on the site of the original, some distance from the route of the walk.

Halifax Trail Google Map.

Halifax Railway Station originally opened in 1844 as Halifax Shaw Syke, some 200 yards west of its current location. It was re-sited and renamed Halifax in 1850 and rebuilt and enlarged in 1885, before being renamed Halifax Old in 1890, then Halifax Town in 1890, before once again being renamed Halifax in 1961. The station building built in 1855 is no longer used as part of the station, but survives and is now known as the 1855 Building; it is Grade II listed. From the station entrance, walk straight ahead to a crossroads (look over the wall on the left to see the 1855 Building and the Eureka! National Children’s Museum), then turn right, passing Square Chapel and the surviving steeple of the demolished Square Church on the left, followed by the Calderdale Industrial Museum. The Square Chapel, which opened in 1772, is notable for being built out of brick, rather than stone like most of the historic buildings in Halifax. The Square Church was built later, during the nineteen-fifties, and apart from the now-listed steeple was demolished in 1976. The museum is housed in the former Albion Works, which was built c.1889 as a warehouse. Just past this, turn left, then turn left again to enter the Piece Hall.

The Piece Hall.

Possibly Halifax’s best-known building, the Grade I-listed Piece Hall was built as a cloth hall in 1779, for the sale of woollen cloth “pieces” made by handloom weavers. After an extensive restoration project in 2014, it reopened in 2017. It is now home to numerous shops and cafes, and is also used to host events. It is worth having a good look round, after which we leave it via the South gate and walk straight ahead down Cross Street, passing the Railway public house on the corner. Turn right and follow Horton Street, continuing straight on when it becomes Ward’s End. At the next crossroads, look across to the left to see the former Picture House. Halifax once had an abundance of cinemas, of which several survive, albeit no longer used for their original purpose. The Picture House opened in 1913 and survived and a fire and two name changes before closing in 1982. It later became a nightclub and is a Grade II-listed building.

From the Picture House, turn right into Commercial Street, passing Victoria Theatre on the corner. This opened as the Victoria Hall in 1901 and is still used as a theatre today. By contrast, the Theatre Royal, which we now reach by turning right along Alexandra Street, then left along South Gate, does not: built in 1904-1905 on the site of an earlier theatre (which burned down), it became a cinema (the Royal Cinema) in 1937, before closing in 1966 and – like so many former cinemas – reopening as a bingo hall. Since then, it has been a nightclub, a Chinese restaurant and a bar, and plans are currently afoot to turn the Grade II-listed building into a hotel.

Turn right again immediately to enter Westgate Arcade, then turn left to reach Albion Street halfway down the arcade. Continue straight ahead and enter Halifax Borough Market, a Grade II*-listed market built between 1891 and 1896, and exit on Russel Street. Here, we then turn left, passing the on the corner. From here, we turn left again along Corn Market and at the next crossroads turn right and follow King Edward Street back to Commercial Street, before turning right to where the former Halifax General Post Office building can be seen.

After recently passing three cinemas and theatres past and present, we now enter an area with an abundance of banks, as we turn left to follow Rawson Street to Barum Top, passing between the impressive Lloyd’s Bank building and the former Lancashire & Yorkshire Bank Chambers directly opposite it. Next, turn right and then right again and follow George Street to return to Commercial Street again, then turn left and then right along Crown Street, first looking left to see another handsome pair of bank buildings, the Halifax Commercial Banking Company building and the former National Provincial Bank (now home to NatWest). At the next crossroads, turn left along Princess Street, passing the White Swan Hotel on the left, to reach Crossley Street and Halifax Town Hall. Another Grade II*-listed building, this was built in 1861 to a design started by Charles Barry, the architect responsible for the rebuilding of the Palace of Westminster during the nineteenth century.

Walk along Wesley Crescent to the left of the Town Hall and on reaching Broad Street cross straight over. Follow Orange Street, continuing past a roundabout and following the pavement as it descends to reach a subway under Burdock Way. Turn left and walk under the road bridge, then turn right and descend stone steps to reach Dean Clough. Turn left and walk up Crib Lane, then sharp right to descend more stone steps back down to Dean Clough. Turn left, then immediately right and follow a path between two of the mill buildings that make up the Dean Clough complex. This large Grade II-listed group of factory buildings was originally built over two decades from the 1840s for Crossley’s Carpets and became the world largest carpet factories. It now houses various large and small businesses.

Continue along the path between the huge mill buildings, then turn left and right to climb stone steps to Old Lane. Turn right and walk downhill, then bear left and climb more steps and then a ramp to reach Haley Hill. Turn left and follow the road to All Souls Church, which was built in the 1850s and paid for by local textile mill owner Edward Ackroyd to serve his nearby model village “Akroydon”. From the church, turn right along All Souls Road and follow it up the hill to a crossroads. Turn right along Range Street and walk to the end, then turn left along Range Lane. Walk to Range Bank, then turn right and follow it downhill, enjoying the views of the town centre, until it becomes a path and ends at New Bank. Turn right and follow the pavement, then cross Haley Hill, turn left and follow it to North Bridge.

Cross North Bridge and on the other side follow Northgate, continuing along the road as it eventually becomes Market Street. On reaching the Duke of Wellington Regiment Memorial, turn left along Woolshops, crossing a car park at the end and descending steps to Charles Street. Turn right and then left along Causeway to reach Halifax Minister. Formally the Minster and Parish Church of St John the Baptist, this Grade I-listed building dates from the fifteenth century, but incorporates fragments of an earlier, twelfth-century church.

The Minster and Parish Church of St John the Baptist.

Bear right across the churchyard to Church Street, then turn left and walk to a roundabout. Turn right and follow Berry Lane, shortly passing under a railway viaduct to reach Bailey Hall Mill. Here, turn right and follow a path next to the railway track, which gradually becomes Waterside and crosses a bridge over Hebble Brook. This is a tributary of the River Calder, and lends its name to the Calder and Hebble Navigation, a branch of which (now mostly infilled) once connected the main line of the Navigation to Halifax town centre via fourteen locks. When Waterside ends at Water Lane, turn right and follow it back under the railway line to reach South Parade. Turn left and follow this to a roundabout, then continue straight ahead along Church Street, finally turning right to return to the railway station.

From Halifax we proceed along the Calder Valley Line, which makes for an increasingly scenic train journey as slowly climbs into the Pennines. This is reflected in the next four walks, which also introduce us to the third of the three trans-Pennine canals (after the Huddersfield Narrow and the Leeds and Liverpool on previous walks), as we shall discover at our next stop, Sowerby Bridge.