53°39N 1°47W, urban area pop (2000e) 220 200. Town in West Yorkshire, N England, UK; on the R Colne, 17 km/10 mi S of Bradford; railway; University of Huddersfield (1992, formerly Polytechnic); woollen and worsted textiles, textile machinery, clothing, dyes, carpets; football league team, Huddersfield Town (Terriers).
Huddersfield is a large town near the confluence of the River Colne and the River Holme.
History
Although there had been a settlement in the vicinity since Roman times, as evidenced by discovery of the remains of a Roman fort at Slack, just west of the town.
Huddersfield was incorporated as a municipal borough in the ancient West Riding of Yorkshire in 1868. Huddersfield expanded in 1937, including parts of the Golcar, Linthwaite, and South
Crosland urban districts.[[ The county borough was abolished in 1974 and its former area was combined with that of other districts to form the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West
Yorkshire.
Huddersfield has been known as a Market Town since Saxon times.
Attempts by the local council to gain support for city status were rejected by the town's population in an unofficial referendum held by the local newspaper, the Huddersfield Daily Examiner.
According to the 2001 census the population of the Huddersfield urban sub-area of the West Yorkshire Urban Area was 146,234, and the population of the former area of the county borough was
121,620. The wider South Kirklees area had a population of 216,011.
Honours and freedoms
In 1952, in recognition of historic ties and links with The Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding), Huddersfield conferred on the regiment the Freedom of the Town.
Institutions
Schools and colleges
Huddersfield is the home to two sixth form colleges, Huddersfield New College located at Salendine Nook, and Greenhead College. It has one general further education college, Huddersfield Technical College and one establishment of higher education in the University of Huddersfield.
Hospitals
Huddersfield currently has one main hospital, the Huddersfield Royal Infirmary situated in Lindley, plus the smaller St Luke's Hospital at Crosland Moor, which mostly provides geriatric and psychiatric care.
Historical landmarks
Huddersfield is notable for its abundance of fine Victorian architecture.
The colonnaded Huddersfield railway station in St George's Square was once described as 'a stately home with trains in it', and by Sir Nikolaus Pevsner as 'one of the best early railway stations in England'.
The distinctive art nouveau clock tower in the village of Lindley (a suburb to the west of the town) was constructed in 1902 by a local mill-owner so that his workers would not have any excuse for being late for work. St Peter's Church, or 'Huddersfield Parish Church' was constructed in 1838 and is located in the town centre near the Pack Horse Centre.
The most conspicuous landmark in the Huddersfield area is Victoria Tower on Castle Hill.
Shopping and entertainment
Huddersfield has a large and diverse shopping area compared to most towns of its size. All of which are within the central ring road and an easy walking distance from the rail and bus
stations
Transport infrastructure
Road
Huddersfield is well connected to the national motorway network via the M1 and M62 motorways.
The Huddersfield Corporation built an inner ring road (part of the A62) in the 1970s.
Rail
Huddersfield railway station enjoys a comprehensive local and regional rail service. There are also local stopping services operated by Northern Rail which link Huddersfield with Leeds,
Dewsbury, Bradford, Halifax, Wakefield, Barnsley and Sheffield.
Bus
Huddersfield Bus Station is the busiest bus station in West Yorkshire with a daily footfall of almost 35,000.
Huddersfield's bus operators reflect the national situation; Halifax) who provide most local services across Huddersfield, Arriva Yorkshire, who provide frequent services along Leeds Road towards Dewsbury and Leeds and Stagecoach Yorkshire through its recently-acquired subsidiary, Yorkshire Traction, who provide almost all services in the south east of the town. The service possibly makes Huddersfield the only region to have a "Free Town Bus" as opposed to a "Free City Bus". A video of the bus making a full journey can be found on VirtualHuddersfield.com/video.htm
Canal
The Huddersfield Broad Canal, originally the Sir John Ramsden Canal, and the Huddersfield Narrow Canal (both navigable by narrowboat and the former by wider craft also) wind around the south side of the town.
Development
Huddersfield has seen many new development projects proposed and approved. Queensgate Revival, A £200m scheme centred on the Piazza, Public Library and Queensgate Market Hall The Waterfront Quarter: A £175m scheme to regenerate a slice of land off Chapel Hill Huddersfield Media Centre expansion The Leeds Road corridor, set to become the heart of a new economic zone attracting more than £100m investment St George's Square Revival Kingsgate II
Sport
Association football
Huddersfield Town FC is the town's senior association football team, founded in 1908, and currently playing in Coca-Cola League One.
In 1921-22 Huddersfield won the FA Cup and between 1923-26 they became the first club to win the League Championship three times in a row, an achievement matched only by three other teams. Bill Shankly and Herbert Chapman are notable former Huddersfield Town managers.
Rugby union
Rugby was first played in the town in 1866 and the Huddersfield Rugby Club formed in 1870 when there were twenty players a side.
Disavowing professionalism, amateurs continued playing at neighbouring clubs until 1909 when the union club was re-established as Huddersfield Old Boys - nomadically playing in five grounds until buying farmland at Waterloo in 1919 and, in 1946, retitling the club as Huddersfield RUFC. Huddersfield is still a focus for rugby league, being represented by the Huddersfield Giants in the Superleague, and the Huddersfield Underbank Rangers in National League 3, as well as many amateur teams.
The Huddersfield Giants have won the Rugby League Championship seven times, most recently in 1961-62, and the Challenge Cup six times, the last success being in 1952-53.
Motorsport
The expansion of the engineering sector in 19th and 20th century Huddersfield, accompanied by the founding of the local Mechanics Institutes which later stimulated the establishment of the town's Technical College and University, has engendered a corresponding interest in motorsports in the area's population.
Although people from Huddersfield compete at all levels in all kinds of motorsports, outstanding local people include James Whitham, of superbike fame, and former British Stock Car Association (BriSCA) Formula 1 driver, Kev Smith.
Arts
Music
Huddersfield Choral Society, founded in 1836, claims to be the UK's leading choral society.
Huddersfield is home to the Lawrence Batley Theatre, the annual and internationally-famous Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, the Huddersfield Philharmonic Orchestra and the Huddersfield Singers. As well as its strong orchestral and choral tradition, the Huddersfield area also hosts the Marsden Jazz Festival ] and, reflecting the town's fondness for popular live music, the now-defunct Ivanhoe's venue is where, on Christmas Day 1977, the Sex Pistols played their last UK gig before embarking on the ill-fated US tour that forms the backdrop to the Alex Cox film 'Sid &
Home-grown musical talent of all kinds are complimented by the consistently high standard of the student intake to the University of Huddersfield's music department.
Film and televisual arts
Various long-running television series have been filmed in and around Huddersfield, including: Last of the Summer Wine, usually associated with Holmfirth but which has made use of various locations in the area including Dodlee; The series will discontinue filming by the end of 2006
Playing lower-key roles in television production with reputations based on their expert knowledge of their subjects, Huddersfield can claim links with Time Team by way osteoarchaeologist Alice Roberts and Life on Earth through local teacher Dr Jeff Carr's encyclopaedic knowledge of polar bears.
Politics
Huddersfield had a strong Liberal tradition up to the 1950s and this is still reflected in the large number of Liberal Social Clubs in the town.
Huddersfield has four twin towns:
Besançon Bielsko Biala Kostanai Kreis Unna
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