November 2020 Newsletter

Our newsletter for November is now available to read online or download in PDF format.

The contents include:

  • details of upcoming events
  • New book: “Highfields – a Most Handsome Suburb”
  • Roy Brook & Brian Kilner Collection
  • “Are Our Museum Collections Under Threat?” by Brian Haigh
  • “Hands across the Sea: from Huddersfield to Milwaukee” by John Rumsby
  • Spooky spirits in Hillhouse and the centenary of the Atlanta Ladies’ Football Club

Any corrections, comments or feedback are welcome and will be added to this page.

February 2020 Newsletter

Our newsletter for February is now available to read online or download in PDF format.

The contents include:

  • new publications
  • Discover Huddersfield news
  • events in late February & March 2020
  • Press Release: Burial Ground Management System
  • “A Century of Progress: 1868 to 1968”
  • Huddersfield & District in the Past

Any corrections, comments or feedback are welcome and will be added to this page.

January 2020 Newsletter

Our newsletter for January is now available to read online or download in PDF format.

The contents include:

  • new publications
  • celebrations planned for “The Town that Bought Itself”
  • events in early 2020
  • appeal from the British Federation of Women Graduates
  • The Panto Vicar and his (Upper)Thong Birds
  • Huddersfield & District in the Past

Any corrections, comments or feedback are welcome and will be added to this page.

Lunchtime Club 2020

Kirklees Libraries’ Lunchtime Club is an informal meeting of people with an interest in local history. Meetings are held every two months in Huddersfield Central Library and begin at 1pm. Light refreshments are provided.

Although the talks are free, you are requested to book places in advanced at ticketsource.co.uk/kirkleeslibraries

The advertised talks for 2020 are:

  • 15 January World War One Peace Pageant in Dewsbury by local historian Stuart Hartley
  • 11 March “I Wished to Tell the Truth”: Ann Bronte at 200 by Diane Fare, Bronte Society
  • 20 May Huddersfield in 50 Buildings by local author and historian Chris Marsden
  • 15 July A Bradford Pal by local author John Broadhead
  • 15 September Brass Bands Around Huddersfield c1840—1914: Inventing Myths of Northernness and Class in an Industrial Landscape by Dr Stephen Etheridge of Huddersfield University
  • 18 November A Brief History of Farming in Kirklees by historian Dr Stephen Caunce

Marsden History Group 2020

The 2020 programme of events for Marsden History Group has now been announced, which includes four talks:

  • 9 March — Peterloo Retold 1819-2019 — Janette Martin
  • 11 May — Who was the real Anne Lister? — Jill Liddington
  • 13 July — Marsden Mechanics’ Men: The Movers & Shakers of 19th Century Marsden — Stephen Challenger
  • 9 November — A Brave and Beautiful Spirit: Dora Marsden 1882-1960 — Les Garner

Further details can be found on the Marsden History Group web site.

Windrush Huddersfield Exhibition

Details of the Windrush Huddersfield Exhibition on Saturday 19th October 2019 are given below.

In celebration of Black History Month Education 2000, Amour Promotions and Kirklees Local TV in partnership with the University of Huddersfield Heritage Quays are delighted to invite you to our Windrush Huddersfield Exhibition.

Date: Saturday 19th October 2019

Venue: University of Huddersfield Archives, Heritage Quay

Time: Doors open at 12.30 pm

Refreshments and an opportunity to view the exhibitions of Venn Street Sound System and Culture Huddersfield, Echoes of Colonialism and the Windrush Generation Huddersfield

  • 1.15 pm: Windrush The Years After Documentary
  • 2.20 pm: Presentation Natalie Pinnock Hamilton, Denzil Nurse and Debbie Johnson
  • 3.00 pm: Windrush Panel, Questions and Answers
  • 3.30 pm: Close

Exhibition Overview:

Venn Street Sound System and Culture
This exhibition explores three generations of community activism, bringing reggae music to Huddersfield. The exhibition includes pictures of Sound System’s reggae music events, dance hall clashes, the camaraderie, fun and celebrates African Caribbean individuals, families and the community.

University of Huddersfield Archives, Heritage Quay: Echoes of Colonialism
This exhibition explores the impact of British colonialism throughout the world, as seen in Heritage Quay’s archive collections. Curated by University of Huddersfield History students, the display features textiles, sporting collections and more.

Windrush Huddersfield
The exhibition traces from the Caribbean’s history of enslavement through to African Caribbean peoples coming to Huddersfield between the 1940s and the 1980s. It portrays how those early pioneers created organisations and associations to create a safe space that enabled African Caribbean families to build solid and stable lives in Huddersfield.

Windrush The Years After Documentary
This documentary captures the memories of African Caribbean people and their families coming to England and settling in Huddersfield West Yorkshire between 1948 and 1972. The documentary highlights the personal testimonies of community activists, faith leaders, mothers, fathers, musicians, writers, professionals and others. People overcame barriers of race, prejudice and many forms of discrimination. Three generations of African Caribbean descendants showed courage and determination to succeed.

Presentations will include:

Debbie Johnson: Debbie has been developing skills as a genealogist for over ten years. Debbie will present the importance and excitement of tracing her family tree through DNA mapping and research.

Natalie Pinnock Hamilton: Natalie will present her early classroom experiences as a child and then as a teacher in the British education system.

Denzil Nurse: Denzil will share his experience within the Health Service, for example, the recruitmentjourney for African Caribbeans.

Our three presenters will form a panel and give the audience members an opportunity to ask questions.

Heritage Open Days 2019

Heritage Open Days is England’s biggest festival of history and culture. Every year, in September, thousands of sites across the country invite you in to explore local treasures of every age, style and function, and many special events are held. It’s your chance to see hidden places and try out new experiences — and it’s all FREE. In 2019 it will run from 13 to 22 September. All events nationwide are posted on the Heritage Open Days website.

Locally the programme is coordinated by the Kirklees Heritage Open Days Committee, a Borough-wide partnership, supported by Discover Huddersfield. In 2019 the Kirklees programme offers a record total of 68 events, including 30 new ones.

The local brochure can be viewed here and will be widely available in print from about 19th August.

Discover Huddersfield will be offering several free walks, which must be pre-booked. Bookings will open on 24th August.

Woven in Kirklees

Taking place between the 8th and 16th of June 2019, WOVEN is a celebration of innovation in textiles across Kirklees.

WOVEN is a Kirklees Council initiative that has been created in partnership and collaboration with cultural organisations, artists, education settings, businesses, industry and heritage sites across the district. WOVEN’s theme is generations of innovators, connecting a strong heritage with today’s innovative developments in industry, university research, a strong arts and crafts scene and the creative expression of the district’s rich and diverse communities.

For full details of the events taking place, please see the WOVEN web site:

You can also find WOVEN on social media:

Discover Huddersfield 2019

The Discover Huddersfield season of guided walks for 2019 has been announced. Please see the PDF leaflet for full details and remember to keep an eye on the Discover Huddersfield web site and Twitter feed for details of any changes to the announced programme.

  • Sunday 31 March — Literary Huddersfield Walk
  • Sunday 14 April — The University Campus Trail
  • Sunday 12 May — Punks, Parratt and St Peter’s: Musical Sites of Huddersfield
  • Thursday 23 May — Exploring Greenhead Park
  • Sunday 9 June — Huddersfield’s Historic Transport Systems
  • Thursday 20 June — Huddersfield’s Significant Buildings: A Personal Selection
  • Sunday 7 July — Lindley Chapels, Grand Houses and Mill Workers: A Walk through Lindley’s Story
  • Thursday 18 July — Public Art Walk
  • Thursday 25 July — Hidden Highfields
  • Sunday 11 August — Huddersfield’s Architecture: What Did the Romans (and Greeks) Do For Us?
  • Thursday 22 August — Building Stones
  • Sunday 15 September — Walking with Women’s Suffrage
  • Thursday 19 September — Almondbury’s Astonishing Past
  • Saturday 21 September — Surprising Lockwood: From a Beautiful Spa Village to an Industrial Hub
  • Sunday 22 September — Huddersfield’s Radical Heritage
  • Sunday 13 October — Huddersfield History with a Caribbean Flavour
  • Sunday 27 October — The Changing Face of Birkby: From Green Hamlet to Global Suburb