What's On in Hebden Bridge
and the surrounding area - 2024-2025
The Story of The Halifax Zoo
A Talk by Christine Leveridge - The Story of the Halifax Zoo to the Todmorden u3a Meeting at the Todmorden Learning Centre and Community Hub (Tod College) at 2pm on 16th January 2025.
Most people in Halifax have never heard of the time the zoo came to town, but it remains one of the strangest sagas in its history. This bizarre chapter in Halifax's history started when the zoo was founded in 1909 on the top of a small escarpment on Exley Hill by an eccentric animal collector named Alfred R McKill, who would baffle his neighbours by taking his pet camel for walks through his local village.
In its short history, it was incredibly popular and even received a royal visit from King George V and Queen Mary in 1912.
The Meeting starts at 2pm at Todmorden Learning and Community Hub in Todmorden and is open to paid up members of the Todmorden u3a, but if you would like to attend you can enquire by going to www.u3atod.org.uk or by contacting membership@u3atod.or.uk
Climate Action: Rally in the Square
Saturday 18 Jan, 12-2pm.
There will also be a photo call of activists with a large 'We support the climate and nature bill banner'.
Sunny Side Dance Weekender
Hebden Bridge Town Hall
10am-4pm each day
Free for Calderdale residents
Join us for a weekend of creativity, movement, and connection with Northern Rascals' Sunny Side Dance Weekender!
Designed for young people aged 16-25, this 2-day event includes:
• Northern Rascals Signature Classes
• Creative workshops in Dance, Script and Narrative development
• Introduction to Storyboarding for film
• Insight into Northern Rascals' Process
• Q&A with the Artistic Directors on training, devising and career sustainability
Sunny Side is a project rooted in the real experiences of young people in Calderdale, exploring mental health and coming of age in a turbulent world.
Join us to learn new skills, connect with like-minded people, and contribute to a documentary about the show's origins.
Limited places: Book here
Visioning Day - postponed until 19 January
Join us to look back on the year just gone, reflect on your priorities and create a clear vision and purpose for your year ahead.
Venue: Wadsworth Community Centre.
Times: 10:15 - 5:00.
Cost: £30 (concessions available)
Contact: Pam Barmby or Christine Brown 07977 462769 to learn more or click here to register
Repair Cafe Mytholmroyd
Bring out your repairs!
Repair Cafe Mytholmroyd will be up and running on Sunday 19 January from 1pm to 4pm
St Michael's Church Hall Mytholmroyd, HX7 5DS
Hot drinks and refreshments.
We can look to repair, clothes, bags, furniture, toys, bikes electrical appliances (not microwaves) knife/tool sharpening
Come and see what its all about.
Contact us:
Email: repairmytholm@gmail.com
Facebook: Repair Cafe Mytholmroyd
Instagram: Repair Cafe Mytholmroyd
Hebden Bridge Local History Society
Then and Now – photographs of vernacular buildings
Kevin Illingworth
The presentation will be very visual, showing photographs of buildings taken by Ralph Cross before 1978, compared directly with photos taken by Kevin, of the same building, in modern times. The buildings are mainly in the Lancashire and Yorkshire Pennines.
Kevin was born Galgate, near Lancaster and has had a varied career stretching from operating excavators and bulldozers in motorway construction to working with pigs in Lincolnshire. In between he studied at art college and Bath Academy of Art. He has worked as a self-employed 'Landscape Builder', especially in gardens of historic farmhouses. His detailed knowledge and photographs of vernacular buildings of Yorkshire and Lancashire are widely respected.
Methodist Church, Market Street. Hebden Bridge. 7.30pm, free to members; £4 for visitors
Dark Matter Promotions + Sloman Music present
presents....
A Burns Night Celebration
With Calderdale trio Outside the Box (Scottish infused folk, alt. country, bluegrass and other musical shenanigans. Expect foot tapping tunes and glorious three-part harmonies)
Trixxi Corish (irish a cappella)
Haggid, neeps and tatties + pipes
Todmorden Working Men's Social Club
Doors 8pm
Tickets Skiddle
Dark Matter Promotions presents....
Dirty Circus + Roller Boot Dogs
(live bands - breakbeat - acid - guitars)
Plus DJ set from Sie Norfolk (shindig magazine writer)
Golden Lion Todmorden (upstairs)
Doors 8pm
Tickets and bf Skiddle
Poetry at The Dusty Miller
7.30 pm in The Coiners Room, Dusty Miller Inn, Burnley Road, Mytholmroyd HX7 5LH
The first Dusty Miller poetry evening of 2025, featuring four wonderful poets:
- Sally Baker
- Jack Faricy
- Mary Matusz
- Robert Powell
Hat passed round for poets. Books to buy
Car park at rear - bus stop outside - station 5 minutes walk
Free. All Welcome
Dave's World Famous Quiz
Hebden Bridge Local History Society
Whatever happened to the townships? The part they played in our local history
Speaker: David Cant
The ancient parish of Halifax was subdivided into 23 townships. David will answer some questions about their history: Where were they? How did they functions? Why is it important for local historians to know?
David has lived in this area for more than 35 years and is still fascinated by the landscape, buildings and history. He is a regular speaker at Hebden Bridge and across Calderdale, sharing his knowledge and enthusiasm.
Methodist Church, Market Street. Hebden Bridge. 7.30pm, free to members; £4 for visitors
Dark Matter Promotions presents....
Fast rising Lisbon trio MAQUINA.
Touring their album 'Dirty Tracks for Clubbing' (Fuzz Club)
Plus FLEX (dungeon techno with live drums)
Golden Lion Todmorden (upstairs)
Doors 7.30pm
Tickets on Skiddle
Dark Matter Promotions presents....
2 live bands:
Parastatic (post rock/shoegaze from the north east)
Warm Parts (electroshoegazepsyche from Todmorden)
Golden Lion Todmorden (upstairs)
Doors 8pm
Tickets on Skiddle
Dark Matter Promotions presents....
2 live bands:
The DSM IV (music for the people, living in strange times "with lashings of magic and a spoonful of spite.")
Fat Frances (Todmorden group bring fuzzy kitchen rock from the swamp)
Golden Lion Todmorden (upstairs)
Doors 7.30pm
Tickets on Skiddle
Hebden Bridge Local History Society
The experience of civil conflict: Sowerby, 1638-1660
Speaker: Murray Seccombe
The men and women of Sowerby felt the crisis years of the mid-seventeenth century deeply and not just as a series of events in far away Westminster, dramatic as those were. They argued, they fought, they paid exorbitant taxes, they took up new forms of religious worship. This was a formative time for ideas of governance and accountability, and the township's leaders responded energetically. Drawing on the unrivalled source material of Sowerby's constables' accounts, this talk will ask questions about how deeply republican ideas penetrated and what was the legacy of those heady years.
Murray lived in Hebden Bridge for 38 years (and was President of HBLHS) before his recent move to York. He completed a PhD at Lancaster University in 2022, researching manorial and township governance of highways in the parish of Halifax, c.1550-1700. Before retirement, he worked in the community-based transport sector. When not reading or walking, he is currently editing the Sowerby constables' accounts (1628-1714) for the Surtees Society.
Methodist Church, Market Street. Hebden Bridge. 7.30pm, free to members; £4 for visitors
Hebden Bridge Local History Society
The growth, development and decline of football in the Upper Calder Valley
Speaker: Derek Kettlewell
How did the new sport of "Socker" become established within the Upper Calder Valley, and why has the area no football teams of note currently? The talk will explore the challenges faced in developing the game as well as the footballing highlights provided by such teams as Hebden Bridge, Portsmouth Rovers & Luddendenfoot, and the notable players from, and visitors to, the area.
Derek Kettlewell is an enthusiastic researcher into the histories of both football and Rugby League, with a particular focus on sport at a grassroots level. He lives in Hebden Bridge and is a member of HBLHS. He is a supporter of Farsley Celtic FC and a former supporter of the now defunct, Bramley RLFC.
Methodist Church, Market Street. Hebden Bridge. 7.30pm, free to members; £4 for visitors
Repair Cafe Mytholmroyd
Bring out your repairs!
Repair Cafe Mytholmroyd will be up and running on Sunday 16 March from 1pm to 4pm
St Michael's Church Hall Mytholmroyd, HX7 5DS
Hot drinks and refreshments.
We can look to repair, clothes, bags, furniture, toys, bikes electrical appliances (not microwaves) knife/tool sharpening
Come and see what its all about.
Contact us:
Email: repairmytholm@gmail.com
Facebook: Repair Cafe Mytholmroyd
Instagram: Repair Cafe Mytholmroyd
Hebden Bridge Local History Society
The opening of Hebden Bridge Trades Club and the first Labour Government
Speaker: Alan Fowler
The Trades Club was opened in February 1925 and the foundation stones were laid in May 1924 a few months before One of the foundation stones was laid by Tom Shaw , Minister of Labour in the 1924 Labour government and member of Britain's first ever Labour cabinet. His speech reviewed the success of the government; but by 1925, when the Trades Club was opened, Labour was in opposition.
The key figure at the formal opening was J.W.Tout, former Oldham MP and Secretary of the Todmorden Weavers, who became the Calder Valley's first Labour MP. The talk explains the significance of these two ceremonies and how they reflected the wider change of the 1920s in Britain.
Alan taught economic history at the Manchester Metropolitan University. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and has given many memorable talks to HBLHS about the Labour and Trades union movements in our area.
Methodist Church, Market Street. Hebden Bridge. 7.30pm, free to members; £4 for visitors
Pace egg Play
See this HebWeb feature for photos and info
Duck Race
Repair Cafe Mytholmroyd
Bring out your repairs!
Repair Cafe Mytholmroyd will be up and running on Sunday 18 May from 1pm to 4pm
St Michael's Church Hall Mytholmroyd, HX7 5DS
Hot drinks and refreshments.
We can look to repair, clothes, bags, furniture, toys, bikes electrical appliances (not microwaves) knife/tool sharpening
Come and see what its all about.
Contact us:
Email: repairmytholm@gmail.com
Facebook: Repair Cafe Mytholmroyd
Instagram: Repair Cafe Mytholmroyd
The Handmade Parade is Back in Hebden Bridge on 22 June. Now known as "The Summer Parade". Funding is from the Arts Council and Calderdale Council. New big puppets, artist training, volunteer sessions, music, stiltwalking classes and loads more are coming in 2025. See this HebWeb Feature on the Parade with photos and info since 2008.
Repair Cafe Mytholmroyd
Bring out your repairs!
Repair Cafe Mytholmroyd will be up and running on Sunday 20 July from 1pm to 4pm
St Michael's Church Hall Mytholmroyd, HX7 5DS
Hot drinks and refreshments.
We can look to repair, clothes, bags, furniture, toys, bikes electrical appliances (not microwaves) knife/tool sharpening
Come and see what its all about.
Contact us:
Email: repairmytholm@gmail.com
Facebook: Repair Cafe Mytholmroyd
Instagram: Repair Cafe Mytholmroyd