Beautiful Places in Yorkshire | Visit Hebden Bridge & Heptonstall In One Day

In this video we're going to take you on a day trip to two of the prettiest places in West Yorkshire. The popular market town of Hebden Bridge and the ancient village of Heptonstall. We'll be starting and ending our day in Hebden Bridge, which is set in the upper Calder Valley. It's located midway between Leeds and Manchester and is well connected by direct train to both. This makes Hebden Bridge a convenient day trip option for anyone who fancies a day out in The town is known for its fascinating history, tranquil riverside location, proximity to beautiful countryside and nature spots, vibrant arts and crafts scene, independent boutiques and its award-winning open market. But more on that shortly. After arriving into Hebden Bridge train station, we started our day by walking along the Rochdale Canal towards the town centre. With the park on one side and the canal on the other, this walk was quiet and peaceful. Well, almost. If you enjoy waterside walks then you'll love Hebden Bridge. Rochdale Canal and the River Calder flow south of the centre, while Hebden Beck runs through the middle of the town. If you like, you can follow the picturesque canal to the town of Todmorden in one direction, or to Sobe Bridge in the other direction, but we'll be saving those walks for another day. After exiting the canal we made a beeline for the open markets. Winner of Britain's best small open market award in 2016, this market is now so popular that it's held four days of the week. The types of traders you'll find will vary depending on the day of your visit. If you visit on a Saturday like we did, you'll find homemade crafts and artisan products. Not only were there some really interesting items there, such as these bookmarks made from cutlery, this was probably the friendliest market I've ever visited, with so many of the vendors keen to have a chat about their products, the local area and just life in general. The market is set in Lees Yard, just off the lively St George's Square. In the square you'll see a sculpture of a fustian needle, a nod to the town's textile mills that historically specialised in manufacturing fabrics such as corduroy. Hebden Bridge used to be nicknamed Trouser Town because at its peak it would produce millions of pairs of trousers a year. There even used to be a Trouser Town beer, although sadly it's now out of production. Behind the sculpture you'll see Hebden Bridge Mill. After being abandoned in the 1950s and left totally derelict, it was saved from demolition in the 1970s and fully restored. Now it houses a shop, a cafe and information on the history of the mill. Even if you don't fancy going in, it's still worth appreciating this historical building from the outside. As we walk down Bridge Gate, you'll see the town mostly avoids chain stores. You might see the odd one, but it's mainly small, independent shops and cafes. I don't think even Greggs has managed to sneak its way in. A store we found particularly fun was Valley Antiques on Valley Road. This eclectic shop is a treasure trove of vintage items, antiques and collectibles. There is so much to see in there that you might end up spending a lot longer browsing than you expect. There are a couple more things around the town that I'd like to show you before we move on. If you're a cinema lover then you could stop by Hebden Bridge Picture House. Over 100 years old, this independent one-screen cinema is a beautiful grade 2 listed building that shows films every day of the week. As you continue to explore the town, you'll probably pass Hebden Bridge Town Hall. Another grade 2 listed building, this one built in 1897 and it's one of only a handful of community-owned town halls in the UK. Right next to the town hall you'll see St George's Bridge, whose sides are made from red and white painted cast iron. Standing on the bridge will give you lovely views down the back and you can see the old Pack Horse Bridge from here. The old bridge was built all the way back in 1510, replacing a medieval bridge that was built from timber. When you visit Heptonstall you will get some dramatic views over the valley. However, if you don't want to visit Heptonstall as part of your day trip and you just want to stay in Hebden Bridge, then you could walk up the buttress, which you will see straight ahead of you if you're crossing the Pack Horse Bridge, just past that fancy looking car over there. This pretty cobbled incline is worth the rather steep walk you're going to have to do to get to the top to get this beautiful vantage point of the valley. We've almost reached the road at the top of the buttress, but just over to the right here there's a lovely viewpoint. So here in front of us is Cross Lane's Methodist Graveyard and look at that nice view across the valley. Probably sound a bit out of breath, it was quite steep. For lunch we stopped at the People's Pizzeria on Bridgegate for a delicious wood-fired pizza topped with veggies before setting off on the 30-minute walk to Heptonstall. As Heptonstall sits high up above Hebden Bridge, you'll need to be okay with a steep uphill walk. If you drove to Hebden Bridge and you don't want to walk to Heptonstall, there is a car park in the village but it's only small so I would advise walking if you can. Walk up Heptonstall Road until you see a sign on the left pointing you up a public footpath. When you follow the footpath up from Hebden Bridge, you'll come to this signpost here, which can be a little bit confusing because there's lots of different arrows. You basically want to go back on yourself and head up that way. There, excuse fingers. Apart from that one potentially slightly confusing moment, following the woodland route up is pretty obvious. If you're visiting after rain or back-to-back storms like we did, then be aware that the path can get a bit boggy in places so make sure that you're wearing the appropriate footwear. Eventually you'll meet back up with Heptonstall Road which will lead you into the village. Compared with the bustling Hebden Bridge, Heptonstall was very quiet. We walked up the Cobble Town Gate which as you can see is also pretty steep, so if you think you'll be finished with the uphill walking once you get to Heptonstall then, well, you'd be wrong. Sorry. On this idyllic street you'll find a post office, a couple of pubs and a tea room. Make sure you pop behind the tea room because you can see an old pair of stocks and the barred window of an old dungeon door. If you then continue up Town Gate you will see signs for a museum where you can learn more about the history of Heptonstall. However, as we visited in February, the museum unfortunately wasn't open. Just past the museum you might notice that there are not one, but two churches standing in the same graveyard. Firstly, there are the ruins of the Church of St Thomas a Becket. After surviving a battle and a siege during the Civil War, it was actually a major storm that damaged the church in 1847 that resulted in the newer Church of St Thomas the Apostle being built to replace it. You can walk around the well-maintained ruins free of charge and open-air services are still occasionally held here. Heading out of the older graveyard you'll see a newer burial ground. In here lies the famous American poet and novelist Sylvia Plath, who tragically died in 1963 at the age of just 30. Many fans of her work travel to Heptonstall to visit her grave. Before returning to Hebden Bridge, we spent a little longer walking around the charming lanes of Heptonstall. As the village used to be a centre for handloom weaving, you might see that some of the cottages and terrace houses have large windows, which was to help provide more light. We also spotted this old water pump. Once we were ready to leave, we returned to Hebden Bridge the same way that we walked up. Our day ended with a beer at the local Vocation Breweries bar. If you're a craft beer lover too, then you might want to drop in here on your visit to Hebden Bridge. If you enjoyed this video, then you might enjoy our other videos from days out in Yorkshire, so I will add a playlist here. Whether you're after more market towns and villages, a countryside walk, a trip to the coast, or a day in a city, there will hopefully be something in this playlist that appeals to you. Thanks for watching.