I WFH full time, but previously I walked to work, bought a coffee on the way in - went out for a sandwich at lunch, and sometimes went shopping, got a bacon sandwich on Fridays, would sometimes go for sone drinks or a meal with work colleagues on a Friday, and would always get food shopping walking back from the office. Now I sit at home watching TV all day and get everything delivered and bought online. Almost no interaction with work colleagues as nobody really leaves home. Must be the same all over, and I don’t think it’s a good direction. No wonder town centres are dying.
consuming era is finishing, we live in artificial superficial world, time for people to evolve, and instead of consuming, listening government and system like robots, start to create. You don't need to consume to meet and talk to people. Imagination is there for a reason.
I live in Bulgaria now - the high streets are booming. NO Amazon, No uber, the cities have invested very heavily in making the high streets profitable places to do business. it does not happen by magic, it happens by planning and money. My city is Burgas in Bulgaria you can look it up and there are walking tours on RUclips - the streets are always full of people.
I hate driving through Huddersfield. I worked at Elland for a bit and had to drive from just North of Sheffield. It was quicker to skirt around through Grange Moor than follow the main A629 that passes my house.
@@wanderingturnipIt would be impossible to see the entire england and visit every town and the only way is your vidoes for millions of people so thank you very very much....
Thank you for covering Huddersfield. I am 40 years old. I was born in Huddersfield and it has got gradually worse all my life. Lovely people, nice surrounding areas, but it has been very badly managed and has been in decline for decades, especially since the closing down of the textiles mills.
I'm 45, from Huddersfield too, not been to my home town for some time, I'm absolutely horrified at the state of it. It was never like that in my childhood. My mum always goes to Halifax instead of into town.
This wasn't the Huddersfield I knew in the 60s & 70s where I met my future wife. Back then it was a vibrant place. I'm glad she never saw it like this!
The problem with charity shops is the managers today look at items gifted as in cost nothing but then they go on eBay and look at similar items and price them accordingly. What they fail to realise is, if we want to pay eBay prices for an item we go on eBay. Charity shops are ruining it for themselves with this pricing policy and they are too thick to realise it. The days of buying a vase from a charity shop for £5 and finding out it's worth £50 or £500 is over I'm afraid and for this reason I no longer visit charity shops.
I am an adviser for a local charity shop for antiques and collectables, I pretty much tell them the same thing. An eBay seller has potentially millions of customers every day, the charity shop maybe a few hundred each day (if they're lucky), so I always give them a dealers retail price and what I think they should offer it for, more often than not, they choose the higher price and it's often still there three months later and they end up sending to head office as unsold stock, barmy way to run a charity shop in my opinion.
The villages outside of Huddersfield (Lindley, Slaithwaite, Marsden, Honley & Holmfirth) are thriving. There is actually no reason for us to mooch in to the town centre sadly. Overpriced parking and a lack of quality shops because the council charge so much rent has killed the centre. Lower the rent, bring in the decent shops, create footfall again. It’s not rocket science
Many fond memories of visiting my nan when she lived in Marsden and my aunties in Slaithwaite. Used to gather up the cousins and just play in the river and the little bit of grass by it. A few trips into the moors as we got older. The library had events for kids at occasions, nan had us go to the co-op if she needed anything. Chippy on the Fridays. I remember the second hand shop (not sure if it's still there?) Got a lovely dress in there. It was the first bit of clothing I got in adult sizes rather than kids sizes, I must have been about twelve? Ah, the days. Edit: even fonder memories of Newsome and Ashenhurst. Not half as good as Marsden and Slaithwaite but I spent a lot of time there. It snowed a few times when I was there and me and my older cousins would leave the house at gone midnight, in our pyjamas and go round Newsome High School, or even up Castle Hill (only once). Standing on the wall at the back of my aunties on Halloween, none of us with tops on, arguing about the football (half of us were Liverpool supporters, and the other half Man Utd)
Surely the reasons for town centre shops closing are (1) business collapses as a result of covid era; (2) people using Amazon for their shopping needs: (3) working people being allowed to work from home, which clearly cuts numbers travelling to workplaces in or around town centres. Government should've forced people back to their places of work - by whatever means necessary
A sad indictment of a once booming town! There's a comment that lays the blame with the council, are they wrong! Take a look at what was supposedly the listed building/internal infrastructure of the railway station that used to have a supposedly protected victorian counter; ask the council what happened to the listed building that was at castle hill, a large sandstone building that was just outside the town centre that burnt beyond repair! The amount of historical buildings that have been torn down! Then you go across to Halifax and Harrogate which have managed to maintain and work with their old infrastructure! The piazza - wasn't that area sold off to the university! Weren't the vendors that were located in the market hall given their walking papers?!! The man that said people don't care, not people, the council! Covid, WFH, online shopping killed off what once a booming town!
I was a teenager living in Huddersfiled in the late 80's. Such a fantastic place to live (I moved away in the early 90's). The town centre was bustling all the time. Great pubs and the amazing Pleasuredome nightclub or 'The Changing Lights'. The pubs on the outskirts of town were always good to visit, always something going on during the week. The Plazza was at the centre of the town where all the punks would hang out. I am glad you mentioned the architecture as the buildings are fantastic and a lot of people miss this. I never had a problem with parking when I lived there and when I have returned to visit. Great video, just very sad to watch
Me too. I worked on Fitzwilliam Street while I was attending Greenhead College and what was once the technical college. This would have been 1985 through 1987, then still worked there up until 1990. It was absolutely fantastic back then. Such good times and a great place to go out. It really had a sense of community back then. It is pretty heartbreaking to see it now. The only reason I might go is to visit The Merry England on Cross Church Street :-) Do you remember Piggy's and the Videotech and the White Swan? My goodness. Fun times.
I am now a teenager in Huddersfield and it’s just not a good place to live I wish i could’ve seen what you saw with Huddersfield but I can’t moving to Bridlington in a few days just to get out of Huddersfield
Agreed! The 60s was the worst time for architecture! The buildings were genuinely evil looking, either that or just plain dire. It isn’t any wonder why the only high streets that remain successful are those that are historic and visually pleasing.
@@TRACYxBEAKERThere is also some charm in ugliness, Huddersfield could easily have more tourists. Certainly should expose more its past industrial architecture, huge textile mills and so on.
To be fair to Huddersfield, the Domesday book listed numerous places as being "waste" - it meant those holdings paid no tax as they had nothimg of value, which in Northern England was usually down to Norman soldiers having come along and massacred people and destroyed everything of value in order to break opposition to Norman rule. Look up "Harrying of the North". Yorkshire was particularly affected by this violence - 60% of its holdings were waste by the time of the Domesday book, and only an estimated 25% of its pre-Norman population of 200,000 was still alive.
Yes, spot on. Many times WIlliam had to traipse up North to put down a revolt, and pretty much as soon as his back was turned it would kick off again, so no wonder he eventually lost his rag. 😂 As a northerner myself who now lives in 'wessex', I educate them about the 'Harrying of the North' every opportunity I get, whilst pointing out that them lot threw in the towel after just one battle. 😁
Huddersfield did not really exist until after the industrial revolution. The market town in area was Almondbury and the valley bottom where Huddersfield now is was too marshy or used for crops. The town only developed as the canals and railways arrived an Almondbury declined because of the steep bank to get up to the market and the new Cloth Hall opened in Huddersfield
In the 80’s , 90’s Tesco & Asda killed the independent locals shops then in the 2000 & 2010 onwards Amazon & online shopping finally putting the last few nails in the coffin ⚰️ only a matter of time time now before the final cremation….
Yes a lot of areas are monopolised by certain supermarkets, around here in West London we are surrounded by giant Tescos in all directions meanwhile two major High Streets are empty shells of their former selves.
@@exploringsuffolkProper milk in a proper glass bottle with a bit of cream on top. I’d much rather that than the processed stuff today delivered in a petroleum based plastic tub.
@@jobbingactor we still have a milkman, there's footage of a glass milk bottle being shaken on my channel, to mix the cream and milk, is much better and fresher too, got yoghurt and bread this morning too off them, old ways are better sometimes
*TO BE FAIR* everything is mouldy in Huddersfield - that's just the climate; it's why they manufacture the worlds best wool cloth there, the damp in the sandstone brickwork of the mills keeps the wool at the perfect level of flexibility to be woven. They even put the bolts of cloth in old mill-damp rooms to relax and settle before they deliver it
@@richard3004 - Even damper I believe - that's why you guys have cotton on that side of the Pennines cos the cotton thread does not snap, and we had / have [small amount] wool. I remember the sound of the old shuttle looms in the sheds when I was a kid in the 1970's. all gone now, and the very few that remain make some of the most expensive cloth in the world. And it is so different - I work with a lot of vintage cloth. Im wearing a pair of trousers made out of 100 year old worsted, you simply cant not buy cloth like this today.
The decline of our textile industry is a damn shame I served my apprenticeship for a ladies wear company who made their own cloth for some of the most beautiful high quality ladies wear which sold all over the world Sad it's all gone we used to get lunch cooked on site by a lady named Veronica This was in the 80's and we used to go to a packed market to buy cloth and make something to wear on Saturday night Happy times
I think you should investigate what is happening to all the Levelling Up funds. The cynic in me is it is just a Tory bailout for their developer mates. You've already been to Hanley, but there's boarded up "levelling up" brownfield sites that will never change. Funds are being cancelled. Another great video.
Well, Birmingham is a shithole a I just watched a couple of videos on that this weekend - and that rests with the now bankrupt Labour council. I don’t vote for either as they are two cheeks of the same arse. They are both deplorable, so time for a new party where candidates should be 40+ years old and have worked outside of politics - real people.
It's not 'cynism'; it's wisdom of experience from noticing paterns of behaviour and real world events, and then being repeatedly gaslighted to attempt to doubt yourself. Two very different things.
labour MP for decades (Barry Shearman)openly hates the town and the area. Having said as much many times. "Town" will get no help from it's MP until he's ousted once and for all.
Down here in Tasmania during the Covid lockdowns the Launceston council still had ticket inspectors wandering the near deserted streets giving tickets to those lucky few who could actually get into town to spend their money if they went a minute over their limit. Total madness. That’s councils for you.
Same here in Geelong Victoria.. funny thing is, councils ( local government) r all illegal.. they can't fine charge u or anything.. they have no head of power, Australians voted no to a referendum about local councils being formed. But corporate Australia, went ahead and instilled them anyway. Without the knowledge of Australian 's.. do some research on this matter, u will get your answers..
Looks like another place where the Council has destroyed the place, creating rubbish road networks, stupid parking charges and charging way too much rental for shops.
I moved to Huddersfield 14 years ago and in that time a once thriving town centre has turned into a wasteland. Some of the shops gone are - BHS, M&S, Wilkos, Iceland, House of Fraser, and even Farm Foods. The pace of decline has been rapid. The council is even closing its own customer service centre, an essential service for the more vulnerable who don’t have internet access or struggle with doing everything online. Truly shocking 😳.
@@jamielow3162 Huddersfield is Labour ran and has been since 1999. It's their policies that have ruined it. They're responsible for Town management, including housing, education, local planning, social services, and infrastructure. The Tories had little to do with the demise of Huddersfield.
I used to busk with an upright piano in Huddersfield 30odd years ago. It was a thriving bustle of people back then. Hard to believe I'm looking at the same town.
Me and my hubby are watching from Canada, we moved from Hudds well Holmfirth in 2015. It was so sad to see the town that way. My favourite place was the Open Market. It was so nice to see it again. Thanks great video!
Noticed you were from Holmfirth too, hello there! My partner is from near Ontario, (small world.) It's probably 15 years since I visited the streets of Huddersfield, just 6 miles north. It all looks a bit sad and un loved now. Holmfirth still has its tourists so things look brighter, (but more expensive.)
Holmfirth is still amazing, don’t worry. It has the picturedrome still going strong, really good coffee shops, bars, restaurants, an amazing ice cream place. Magic Rock opened a second location there. Every time I drive through it I wish I lived there!
1st time I ever went to Huddersfield was on the train from Sheffield to visit my new GF from Hudds. I remember walking out of the station and thinking how beautiful the square and the statue was. I've been all over the world and I do truly think it is one of the most wonderful train stations I've seen anywhere.
Who fancies walking in the pis*ing rain a mile to their car ( £5 parking charge) laden with their meat, fruit and veggies?? Better to order online in one's pyjamas.
It is reinventing itself. The reason the piazza is closed is as part of a big development project. There are plans for a new cinema, music venue, museum, open spaces. If Kirklees Council manage to pull it off it should be a big improvement.
I was a student in Huddersfield in the early 90's. I loved the place. Lived above a shop in Lindley near the hospital. No luxury student accommodation back then ! I remember it being a busy centre with a great market. Cheap prices, nice down to earth people (on the whole), amazing stone buildings including terraced streets not just the fancy buildings. I remember Fartown being a ghetto back then. Probably worse now. Always got a work-out walking round as it's hilly everywhere... Shame it's in decline but same as a lot of places nowadays. Brought back some memories thanks
I lived in Huddersfield from 84-86, yes as a student. I had a great time, not just there but the whole surrounding area. Yes, it was rough and ready, and absolutely freezing during winter, and you could easily get a battering if you didn't watch yourself! Yet I even thought about moving back there some 10 years ago, but I have to say now, that I'm glad I didn't. Sad to say. But yes, over all, very fond memories indeed.
The Piazza and Queensgate Market have been closed with a plan to be demolished - to become a ‘cultural heart’ of Hudds - an art gallery, museum and food hall. The big ‘indoor part’ you pointed out was formerly a British Home Stores back in the day. Great video! I went to Uni there so brought back some memories.
I was in High Wycombe the other day and the old shopping centre (The Chilterns) has been abandoned and all that's left is Primark and a vape shop etc. Some of the indie shops that left there and moved to The Eden Centre have either folded or going to fold in the next month due to high rents and shop lifting etc.
The Piaza shops all been closed for a massive new building project. Enjoyed your video. The main New street has been upgraded , new roads,trees . Just want more shops so people will come, lots of Huddersfield people go to Halifax to shop. Super day out there, plus The Piece hall.🙂
I used to live in Huddersfield (1993-2004 then 2008/9), and I considered it my second home, in fact I used to live just by those short,fat chimneys and I was dying to share my local knowledge, but you worked out what they are for. There's car parking above the bus station, (or at least there used to be). Queensgate market used to be ace and the Piazza area was thriving, (I'll have to ask my mate, the self styled 'King of Huddersfield' what's going on with that). Good to see the open/flea market is still going. There are rough areas, but most places have some rough spots and you don't have to venture far from town to find some stunning areas. Nice video, thanks for going to Hudds,
Reading some of the comments on here, there's some real 'glass half empty' type characters. I'm from a nice part of Sheffield but visited Huddersfield several times in the last few years, it doesn't seem bad to me, I've seen far worse places on my travels.
The Piazza has been scheduled for redevelopment for a long time. Plan is to demolish the whole thing and redevelop the area. The problem is, whenever plans like this get approved, they take decades to action. Same thing happened with the building of Kingsgate and redevelopment of the bottom of the town centre. They said they were going to do it, didn't, let businesses move in, bankrupted the businesses, did that for years, then took about 15 years to actually redevelop the area instead of doing it straight away. It's a shame more wasn't said about why Huddersfield has those regal buildings. At one point there were more Rolls Royce cars in Huddersfield than in London. Those fancy houses turnip drove past were the homes of the mill owners. It's this sense of past wealth in the town that adds to a sense of something lost. Of course that wealth wasn't shared equally, which is largely what led to the downfall of the textile mills in the first place but, there's a tremendous amount of humanity wasted in Huddersfield and it's tragic. This is true of much of the North that has an economy more like Eastern Europe than Western Europe- owing to the worst regional wealth inequality in Europe. The university doesn't really help people of the town. Same way it doesn't really help the people of Leeds. Not like industry does. Students have a vampiric effect the same way finance capital does. That's not me blaming students, it's the way resources are redirected.
@@willjohnson2722 Cheers. In my travels, over the years, I've lived in towns that have been marked for 'redevelopment' and it, sadly, never seems to turn out well, (major point in question: Hanley/Stoke). I have a, very real, fondness for Huddersfield, so I hope it sees better days again. I remember Venn street and that area before the Kingsgate mall of horror and I remember how run down it was; I also used to live on Gledholt bank, (as well as Marsh, Birkby, Fartown etc), as did many friends, so I've seen many of the big, former mill houses and you could tell that there was a lot of money in the town. I hope for a good future, I know it's possible as my home town, Sunderland, was heading that way in the 90's but seems to have reversed the decline, (not 100% though), and feels positive, (though I bet many here will disagree?)
Hope you found your car .... I own a retail business that's 154 years old and it's so sad to see the high street closing down. It's not just online sales that are killing the high street but the supermarkets selling everything apart from just food. I get great enjoyment from watching your videos, across the board. On about chimneys, you did your video on house prices in Peckham just down the road in camberwell is an old hospital, now residential and I'm sure it still has its massive chimney.
Know that hospital, went inside after it closed, it was a very small hospital yet had pretty much everything a larger hospital has, saw it rotting away, I lived across the road from it. Surprise surprise it was sold off and is now a residence for the middle and upper classes.
@@stevenhull5025 totally agree, about 13 years ago I tried to start a support your local shops account on twitter, had a few people support it but just made no difference, I support local shops as much as poss.
Yep, I agree. I've been living in this country since 2012 (by the way here in the West Yorkshire) and it's frankly doomed, the more I see the more I believe nothing can change the situation.
Theres less charity shops than ever. I see it everywhere i go. Nothing is being donated. The people who were donating are now re-using stuff or re-selling.
There's also bigger thrift or specialist ones (Music, Books, Clothes) appearing that are sucking up all the donations and a lot of Charites now put anything worth anything of real value on eBay so don't need the high street to sell on.
Sadly most charity shops charge an arm and a leg now. British heart foundation is a right rip off.. Charging double primark prices for a primark second hand vest is just greedy. I've also worked in many and management get a damn good wage.
Blimey, think that must be a regional variation, here in Sheffield, there's more than ever, in fact I think just in the Hillsborough area of the city we're in double figures, pretty high prices too usually but not always.
Frequent visitor of charity shops, and invariably these days it is just a visit rather than give them any custom, as over the last 2 or 3 years the quality of stuff has noticeably dropped while their stock of new items (socks/underwear/greeting cards etc) has only risen. Used to often find decent items but as others have commented the prices now have just gone silly.
I used to work just on the edge of the centre about 19 years ago, it looks just as it did back then to be honest! The piazza is scheduled for demoltion there is a new development which is why everything is closed - you will be pleased to hear the plan incorporates a new 350 space car park!!
The Piazza has been deliberately emptied over the past few years as the area is to be redeveloped as a "cultural quarter". We'll see how that works out 🤷♂️
I’ve lived here all my life. I’ll admit things are not great in the centre right now as with other towns and cities. But I haven’t heard it has a reputation for fun/knife crime. I have never felt unsafe in town or in the village. Lots of the surrounding areas and villages are lovely and are thriving, Honlet, Slaithwaite, Holmfirth. The Council here have recognised that the dynamics of the centre are changing. It’s no kinder a place to spend a day looking round the shops. They plan to conde ce the shopping area and redevelopment the rat into more social spaces, entertainment, leisure and outdoor spaces will be the focus going forward. It will take time to complete but will be a lovely space when completed.
Breaks my heart this. I went to Huddersfield University from Sept 2001 to june 2006. It was absolutely buzzing, no closed or boarded up buildings. Huddersfield will always have a special place in my heart.
The big problem we have in Huddersfield right now is that its completely filled with students but nothing for them to do, so they come here, take up housing but spend all their money in in Leeds, Bradford and Manchester. Its a sad sight. We had a massive project that would have seen us have a new cinema, ice skating, skiing and all matter of activities but its been delayed and pushed back and changed over the last 15 years.
I did a job just prior to lockdown in Huddersfield and vowed never to return after. The first day I got a bit lost and was entrapped into bus lanes TWICE! Two fines in a matter of seconds! I remember saying to myself, in a fit of pique, this town deserves to die, why are the folk in charge of towns and cities seemingly always the last folk you’d ever want in charge?
With parking so distant, I think about people with mobility issues, parents with small children, people struggling in really bad weather, older people, etc., and what a difficulty it would be for all of them. It seems a recipe for failure to not have at least some parking close by to encourage people to shop in the city center.
there are carparks above the bus station and next to the shopping centre but i guss if you dont know they are hidden and hard to find. The section he showed with the full street of empty buildings is goig to be turned into a 350 space one hopefully that should help too!
I’m not sure if he has a rule that the parking has to be free in this videos? He could’ve just parked at Kingsgate and taken a lift up to the shopping level. Or park in the giant car park that he walked through, which is just over the road from the bus station.
It’s crazy how Huddersfield has gone downhill so fast and yet a few short miles away, Brighouse is booming. It’s probably not something you’d be interested in visiting but the contrast is stark between these two towns.
@@larakathryn2955 I can’t really say. It’s a very friendly town with a thriving pub scene. There’s been about 6 small bars opened in the last 5 years and all are doing well. There are hardly any closed shops although there are several closed banks. I think shop rents are probably lower. There’s about to be a new Aldi built soon also.
Why don't we EXEMPT all parking charges, EXEMPT all local trade taxes for say around months and see what that does to local economy? Street Vendors are so so common in ASIA due to low tax rates
Sadly business rates are set by the government in the UK and any discounts for new businesses have to come out of the local council budget but I do agree with the car parking charges. My town of Rotherham has suffered massively because of the nearby Meadowhall shopping centre and Parkgate retail park with free parking. And a huge Tesco right in the town centre. However there are some good independent shops on the old High Street and a new cinema & leisure area is opening later this year.
Town centres need to contract in size to reflect the needs of the community. It doesn't make sense to try and keep places the same size as if it's the 1990s still. Incentivise shop owners to move closer together to avoid the dereliction and have a true town centre where all shops can make the most of the footfall. I think it's the only way forward imo.
Agreed. The days when everybody piled into town on a Saturday morning are gone forever. We need to recoginse that our town centres need to change from less retail to more entertainment/housing. Stop worrying about empty units that will never be filled and move on and re-purpose the buildings or simply demolish and build others. Our town centres have always been changing, and they always will.
I came to the comments to make the same point. People don't want to inhabit or visit dying cities and "levelling up" isn't going to stop this. My belief is that the only way these places can be saved, is to transform them back into smaller towns. Convert some of the retail and industrial units to affordable and desirable housing and replace the horrible 60's buildings with green spaces.
Found this so is a copy n paste! I live in Bulgaria now - the high streets are booming. NO Amazon, No uber, the cities have invested very heavily in making the high streets profitable places to do business. it does not happen by magic, it happens by planning and money. My city is Burgas in Bulgaria you can look it up and there are walking tours on RUclips - the streets are always full of people.
I went to uni in Huddersfield from 2013 to 2019 and none of these shops were to let. There was so much more activity and anything that was to let got snatched up in a few months. Covid and the movement away from the high street hit the Huddersfield incredibly hard.
Good video mate, I’m from hudds myself and this portrays the issues really well. It’s a lovely town outside the centre and the immediate villages to the centre. The outskirt villages are lovely and I love my hometown. Thanks for seeing some positives in it!
🐑I was born in Huddersfield and lived in Brighouse, Halifax & Hebden Bridge. (I now live in California 🌴) From what little I can see online Brighouse has managed to dodge “the death of the High Street” and has a waitlist for it’s downtown independent shop spaces… not as “bougie” as Hebden but enough to stay afloat. Halifax however appears to be in the same boat as ‘Uddersfield’… on the decline. 😢
I live in Huddersfield, moved here 15 years ago from East Yorkshire for a job at Syngenta. Would really like to visit with the possibility of moving to California, would be great to connect with you somehow to discuss this, your experience and insight would be fascinating as I’m a little obsessed with this idea and have been for.. well basically since Laguna Beach and the Hills lol.
@@cw3728 I would suggest it’s a bad idea. I am planning to move to Central America after 30 yrs in California. If you type “California Decline” in a RUclips search and go down that rabbit hole you will start to get the picture. After 25 years in the heart of the action (Los Angeles) I moved to a smaller town to escape all the traffic and crime and homelessness that was becoming impossible to ignore. However the whole state is so expensive, over regulated and poorly run that it cannot recover. It is now a lawless hellscape with the most illegal immigrants of any state and the highest taxes, the worst roads and the worst schools. The economy is being hollowed out and total collapse is inevitable. I have a nice lifestyle right now but I can have a better one in a calmer location that doesn’t have all these issues, expenses and restrictions. Sorry to put a downer on your aspirations but if you look at channels like Nomad Capitalist… there are so may better places now. California’s time is over.
@@cw3728 I have replied twice to this message and each time RUclips has deleted my response as I am very critical of California and and am preparing to move out of state after 30 years. California is really hollowed out economically… even though it’s a huge economy it is totally mismanaged. I would not recommend anybody move here.
Definitely a good thing. I also noticed the one near the street market. There's a couple in my town of Rotherham opened one with a cafe that usually seems busy when I pass. I just need to get myself a record player again... Weirdly I bought a limited edition Nirvana/Jesus Lizard split single from a record shop in Huddersfield just down from where Vinyl Tap is back in 1994 which I still have.
Makes me really sad seeing Huddersfield like this. I grew up nearby and have fond memories from when I was a teen to early 20s. The late 90's to mid 2000's I remember the town was such a pleasure to visit and the nightlife was epic. Now there's so much crime and all the shops shut. Really is tragic. Awesome content mate. Love your videos.
I worked at the university for years. Because only a few years ago it was just a technical college, with no prestige like other historical universities, they decided to go down the route of attracting foreign students who hadn't managed to get into Oxford or Cambridge, etc. There are whole villages of Chinese students, for example. And all these students bring in a massive amount of money from their fees, so the university is able to build and build, literally just taking over Huddersfield, with their horrible modern buildings. Local and British students have no hope of getting accommodation here because the foreigners always get priority, as they pay higher fees and so are well looked after.
Be thankful it’s changing into student accommodation. At least you have people moving into the town centre. My town had a uni and moved out, nightlife changed significantly. Thankfully we have a college still, else the town would be completely dead and unrecoverable. Funnily enough I nearly went to Huddersfield Uni but decided on elsewhere. Parking is a huge issue with these towns. All pedestrianised (in theory is great but when the high street is dying we need to encourage people popping in to town). Extortionate parking charges everywhere in town. People are deterred and instead go to “out of town” shopping, which is only a mile or so away, has free parking, the tenants pay smaller business rates, and the landowners bought the land dirt cheap. Councils are dumb and short sighted I’m afraid. Cherry blossom at the start was a nice touch though! And I’m digging the chode chimneys.
Students accommodation means it's all young venues and shops nothing for older folk. Students are transient they moving on so it's not fair to make it all about Students.
@@misscoutts6193 I appreciate what you say, but some students do stay and continue to contribute to the local economy. Indeed I know someone from my town who now lives in Huddersfield after attending uni there.
majority of student housing is just used for cheap housing for yuppy's to get away from their parents and have parties, drunk idiots doing useless uni courses which will never actually get them a job and majority wont even finish their courses. either that or its south east Asian exchange students, the entirety of the bottom of town is now a japanese/chinese/korean area whilst the top side is a completely pakistani/afghani/syrian area full of heroin dealers, gangs and murderers
The 66 year old guy, while he seems like a really genuine guy so im not having a go honestly, epitomises what the UK seems to do to many people. Not all obviously before people get triggered 🙄 I'm only 8 years younger than this guy but I live in SE Asia and I don't feel old at all, everything is just so vibrant here, the colours, the people, the street food, just the energy is totally different. That guy at 66 has just given up in his own words, he's treading water until they put him in the ground and I honestly feel a big part of that is just the whole atmosphere in suburban Britain. It's depressing.
@@chrischristofis8501 Yeah I'm in Hong Kong, originally from Scotland but been here 30 years and love it. Healthcare here is free for hospital care/ major stuff like the NHS effectively. For GP it depends where you go but I pay about 30 quid a time and get seen straight away that day no issues. However as much as I love HK it is an expensive city for certain things, housing especially. So I'm retiring to Malaysia shortly, although I love Thailand too and still plan to visit samui etc a lot Just I found the visa situation in Malaysia easier, English is an official language and everyone speaks it well I've found and luxury condos are actually even cheaper than Thailand if anything. That said I think Thailand is more exciting than Malaysia. But both are good with pluses and minuses. I'm not wedded to Penang so may try Samui too to live you never know. I first visited Samui in 89! Was quite different then😄
The problem is that there's no point to trying here anymore. Everything is getting worse but there's a parallel clown world of people in charge telling you things are improving.
You're right. The working class, traditional good blue collar people have been left behind. The old industries have gone, the Internet has killed the rest and the politicians local and national don't give a shit. Our labour and tory politicians can't see outside London. They live in a different world. When they've had enough, they fuck off to Cornwall with their PC middle class friends. Life is so good for the university liberal middle class. And i forgot, they love immigration and dump it in the old worn out working class areas. Don't vote labour or tory, they're treacherous scum. VOTE REFORM.
Doesn't have to be that way. I'm from suburban Manchester (Prestwich),10 years older than him and look it, but never feel old or down. Can outsprint most 30 year olds, do 30 miles on a bike and just bought an ebike to go further. I go on long (free) buses trips to cafes a couple of times per week, to watch the world go by and interact. Can laugh anything off; 70 odd years of supporting City gives you that ability.
I lived and went to uni in Huddersfield from 2017-2020 and always liked how bustling the town centre always seemed to be with a great selection of independent shops and cafes. It was a big step up from my hometown which had empty arcades and a ton of bookies. It’s honestly heartbreaking to watch this, so much deterioration in such little time.
I visited Huddersfield to go shopping yesterday. The town was busy and there were plenty of signs of renewal. The Byram arcade in particular is looking great with a new upmarket tea retailer and cool coffee shop on the ground floor. We also saw a thriving art supplies shop and modern furniture store in the same building. I ordered and collected a book from Waterstones which was so busy I had to queue. While there are plenty of empty shops the town centre is far from dead. As previous posters have said, the towns in the outskirts like Marsden and Slaithwaite are buzzing. I live in Halifax which also has it's problems but is now turning the corner mostly thanks to the piece hall. With Manchester booming just down the road, the vibe I get from these West Yorkshire towns is one of change and opportunity.
It’s fascinating for me a Huddersfield lad to follow your journey through town. It’s a bit like the Mac Donald’s ad they shot there in 2010 ish the guy went the completely wrong way but if you don’t know the place it makes sense 😅 like how you came out of the arcade and missed all them food tents. A lot of the villages on the peaks side (Colne valley and home valley) are becoming gentrified with beautify pubs and restaurants, greengrocers,butchers and independent shops. So less of us are heading to town. If you get chance head up to Slawit or Marsden for endless rolling green hills, mills, chimneys and good ale all along the canal. It may change your mind yet. Really enjoyed the video by the way 👍
The main reason why shops are shutting is because the local people are constantly being attacked when we go there, an 18 month old (blonde I believe) had acid thrown in her face by a couple of non locals on a moped, locals getting beaten up in town, young women night clubbing have been acid attacked, now we locals are made to feel uncomfortable when we go to Greenhead Park which is a tiny walk from the top of town. It isn't because of the students at all, we've always had students Huddersfield University has been there for decades the problem is the thing nobody dare say incase we loose our jobs or these days with Kier Stalin end up in prison, politicians are either sticking their heads in the sand or don't know what to do or they're deliberately trying to destroy the country and the economy. This home town of mine was once a vibrant beauty with flamboyant punks with shocking pink mohawks, before them were Teddy Boys, music was made, famous actors of the 50s would visit, we've had Michael Jackson, Tina Turner and other famous people living here inc Leana Heady, Pat Stewart, Roger Moore. When I was a child my hometown was magnificent. I stopped going in when they pulled up the Yorkshire cobbles and replaced them with cheep Chinese stone, but the council members are no longer Yorkshire people and they hate us. The main street in Huddersfield was like a cathedral with the sound of thousands of starlings settling down for the night. Now it's dead, a multicultural death.
Am 37 and grew up in Huddersfield. It's been such a constant decline and it's a real shame as it has some lovely and quite unique buildings and parades, and a lot of character. Largely down to Tory austerity but to be honest it was being forgotten about before then too. Even previous 90s developments, like the stadium, are falling to bits. I still love the place though, great people and some great independent shops and venues hanging on; I recommend the Byram Arcade which is a bit of a hidden gem
Thanks for following my suggestion from a few months ago. After watching your video it's actually worse than I thought. That huge 6,000 sq ft empty shop used to be Farmfoods, even they've disappeared 😢 If you'd headed a bit further south out of town you'd haven been in chimney heaven. I used to work at the place with the first chimney were you couldn't access it, it was a family run textiles mill called Bates and Co. Great video 👍
Used to shop in Huddersfield back in the day. The mills were all closing but everything worked and it seemed a prosperous, properly-functioning town. Used to use the railway station to go everywhere! The architecture's still fantastic but the ring-road is one of the worst and the trade has just left. Horrified to see how bad it's got. Still got friends round there but they haven't said how bad it's got. Nice to hear you so keen on chimneys!
Its good to see someone bringing attention to the decline of Huddersfield, my home town rotting away at the core. Only lucky thing is this was filmed during the annual Food and Drinks festival. Without that there is nothing around.
There isn't a thing in this country now that has not got mega problems. Railways, buses, roads completely knackered, post office, electricity/gas, water, town centres , scumbags bags everywhere. Believe me this was a pretty cool decent place once. This must be what they meant by Levelling Up or was it Northern Power House.
When a country spends literally billions on a defunct National Health Service, billions more on social security payments, billions on social services, billions on an out of date education system and billions squandered on government contracts, then do not be surprised when the infrastructure of the country starts to crumble around one's ears.
Huddersfield used to be lovely in the 80s and 90s. So many shops and small businesses. Halifax was the poor relative with closed shops and nothing much to offer. Take a look at Halifax now! They have got it right with the huge redevelopment of The Piece Hall now staging concerts and surrounded by small businesses. Huddersfield has a special place in my heart and I sincerely hope it is turned around before it is too late.
IMO the main reason places like Huddersfield have gone down the toilet is greed, corruption, and ideologically driven local councils. Therefore, most of the blame goes to the people themselves for repeatedly electing them on the promise of a few freebies that rarely materialize. Pedestinaising these kinds of towns is the last thing councils should have done. There is no excuse for buildings to remain empty if the council rates were reasonable and the town planners had done their jobs properly. If it remains empty for more than 12 months it should be compulsorily purchased for almost sod all and put to good use at radically reduced rents and rates. If you go behind the facade you will soon find that the developers built these buildings using large local council subsidies. They never were viable propositions at the rents that they were expected to bring in. Even the first tenants received local council incentives which eventually dried up. For an area to succeed the first thing it needs is MONEY. The main source around this area is the university which is quite tragic but better than nothing at all and at least a start. What Huddesfiel really needs is profitable industries in or close to the town. Even well-organized prostitution is better than nothing. Some money and a reason to go to Huddersfield, even cheap and well-organized prostitution and plenty of vibrant nightlife is better than nothing. Industrial policies from successive national; governments have led to the demise of towns such as Huddersfield. Why make it here when the Chinese will make it far cheaper, is their thinking? Why put up with the complaints and entitled aspirations of a cohesive working-class population when they can gradually replace them with 3rd Worlders who don't seem to mind living this way. Indeed however awful it is, see life in Huddersfield as a great improvement as long as the NHS Hospital stays open and the other benefits come in? Why indeed? This all costs the local council's fortunes and the money has to come from somewhere. Which is more fines, fewer services, higher parking rates, council taxes, and rents. This leads to further closures of whatever remains and an ever-faster march backward into dystopia unless a miracle occurs. Nothing will improve in Huddersfield because the people who are systematically running it down into the abyss, namely the local council are quite happy to continue to do so. The only answer the council likes is more central government handouts which come when the local population rises. As indigenous people fail to reproduce in sufficient numbers, their only answer to their only problem which is more money, is easy to understand. Lucky for me I live in Central London, where there is still loads of money around, and I mean loads of the stuff even in the poorer areas. The West End of London was so jammed with shoppers for weeks before Christmas I could not even ride my motorcycle around the roads as they were all full of people spending money like WWIII was about to start. Why should the people down here give a crap bout people up there, least of all any Labour politicians who spend most of their time living it high on the hoof in the most expensive restaurants and clip joints in the world after a night at the Royal Opera House at £290 a ticket? The last time I came across a Labour politician at my club he had just polished off his 2nd bottle of Mouton Rothschild 87, or was it his 3rd? Difficult to tell as this guy can handle his alcohol, that is for sure.
can't blame the people because they get a choice of voting between 2 old fogeys nobody has ever met or actually seen in there communities so nobody even gives a fuck about voting as it doesn't make a bit of difference, 2 sides of the same greed driven coin, they don't have money for youth clubs, the actual city or anything else but they can afford to spend billions on student housing, homing immigrants in tax payer funded business and forcing private businesses to house them at threat of legal action or losing their business and building a tram line to leeds which will cost billions, destroying any green land they can find to build housing nobody can afford in areas that don't have the amenities to support them. meanwhile half their own population lives in poverty and the second main bus stop in town centre is full of smack and crack addicts and alcoholics and people have to take their kids there and witness this, not to mention people chopping each other up in broad daylight with machetes
Huddersfield is my home town but I don’t live there now, however my parents do. I’m almost 50 and it’s changed so much for the worse. It used to be a great town when I was a kid but the supermarkets and Amazon and online shopping has killed it. Plus Kirklees council are utterly hopeless, they wasted tens, maybe hundreds of thousands of pounds on those god awful white statues you walked past. Clueless!!! I’d never move back.
One of the saddest introductions ever. Seeing the housing and hearing what William the Conqueror said...so sad, yet fabulously portrayed on camera. @WanderingTurnip great job.
I was down town last Friday, looking around that street market as well. You look like you almost got to Greenhead park, but just missed it. Worth coming back to walk around there, it's one of Huddersfield's best features, just far enough out of town to be missed unless you know it's there. Really lovely in a sunny summer. In town it's worth looking around the Byram arcade, just finishing off being renovated, an interesting multi level Victorian atrium building. Wish there was more of the old Huddersfield still around, it would suit the modern era really well. Unfortunately it seems that much of it got demolished in the 'concrete is good' era, and those redevelopments are having to be done again now. Let's hope that the current redevelopments of the 60s/70s redevelopments fare rather better.
It was an awesome place place in the 90s brimming with culture, a busy town centre and lovely people. There was a little bit of last of the summer wine still about it- a local Yorkshire feel. It makes me sad to see the town centre looking drab and hopeless. Architecturally, it’s full of beautiful old buildings.
To be fair to Tesco, that store has been a supermarket for over fifty years. I’m 47 and grew up in Huddersfield, it was a supermarket called Hillards when I was a child!
Great video. Lived in Huddersfield all my life and it’s such a shame to see the town centre like it is now. I feel that businesses get no support from the council/government and rents and rates end up pricing out small businesses.
I have a feeling that the town will recover like a Phoenix. It still has a University (more than many post-industrial Northern towns have), it still has a wonderful train station (just don't look at the bus station.. Argh my eyes), and it still has many young people. This is the most important thing. Without youth, no place can grow anew. Children and young adults are the future. They may not have a lot of wealth, but neither did the locals 100 yrs ago.
When I worked in Thornton, Bradford (Pattison’s Loft Insulation) I used to work with a lad who played for Huddersfield (Town?) Football club. Jim Dempsey. The thing that’s aged me is he must be close to 60 now!!
You're doing a great service. Reminding us of our heritage which is slowly being eroded. I've learned a lot from your videos. On a binge now:-) Thank you.
So, The Piazza is closed as it is being g redeveloped. All the shops were moved to other units in the town. It will be a food Hall, live music venue and some outdoor space. This is phase one of the town’s £250m redevelopment plan. Come back in 2025 to see phase one complete and in 2030 for full completion.
You should come to blyth Northumberland, the council have ruined our shopping area, closed down our market place to build a cinema nobody wants...last 2 closed because nobody uses them and there is another a couple of miles away in cramlington, closed our small shopping centre to build some kind of education center again nobody wants as they built a supposedly purpose built building for that near the beach, shops closing left right and center due ridiculous rents and now falling foot traffic due to the councils 'improvements' not to mention shoddy upkeep of the buildings, death of the high Street indeed! Purposely I believe 😢
The best thing about the bus station is the bus out to Hebden Bridge, then the train over Copy Pit to Accrington. Those "fat little chimneys" are ventilation shafts for the railway tunnel, they let the smoke escape in the days of steam. 17:42 was the railway station, arguably the most famous landmark in Huddersfield, with its statue of Harold Wilson outside. It also has a cat-flap for the station cat(s).
I commuted from Hebden to Huddersfield to work right in the town centre. 6 months after i started working there, lockdown happened a i worked from home for 2 years until i left that job. When i worked there there was a multistorey car park right near Wilko - it closed. The Piazza was a lovely, busy place to buy lunch and sit outside to eat it. I cant believe the changes you showed. Such a shame. Huddersfield does have a lot a gang/grooming/drug problems but it is nevertheless a town i have great memories of. Some fantastic 1970's architecture, if you're into that kind of thing. I am. Id often have the theme music from Mary, Mungo and Midge in my head as a bimbled around the place in my lunch break. 😁
I spent a winter there and it was pretty grim. (Mostly) friendly folk but when I applied for Housing Benefit from the Council they told me the property we lived in wasn't fit for human habitation and "repatriated" us to Norfolk! There were much worse houses/estates around there too...
The store with the double glass front in the pack horse , I used to be a manager in that store unit around 5-6 years ago and it was a very difficult time back then for footfall
I feel like landowners just charge such stupid high rents for space. I run a martial arts club that is not for profit, so we don't make any money, other than JUST enough to pay the rent and bills, and that's with full mats, we're now under threat of being evicted due to the owner putting the building up for sale, we've tried looking for another venue and the £ per Square metre is just ludicrous. Landlords have priced the highstreet out of business as well as other social activity businesses.
What I don't understand is if the rents are so high, and they price out businesses.... How do the landlords then make any money? Its so stupid isn't it. Their greed is now overriding simple common sense. Which is if the rents are too high, then the shops stay empty. Everyone loses, even the greedy landlords. I just don't understand the mindset of English landlords. They are destroying their own business model with their greed.
@@salkoharper2908 a lot of the time they own older established property, which if they don't get tenants will slowly decay and rot, then when the building is deemed unfit/ruined by the council they get the permission to knock it all down and build brand new awful buildings that they then can rent out to huge corporations that CAN afford the high costs. There's no room for family/small businesses now, there's no head room to make any profit.
I studied at the uni for 4 years, the uni seemed to be the only thing keeping the centre going. There was never anything meaningful to do in the town for young people. So can see how people get into gangs etc. I remember talking to one lad who was telling me how it was a haven for criminals because there were a lot of nationalities / cultures / connections at the uni. People would commit crimes in the centre and vanish out into the maze of surrounding countryside and back roads / villages.
Thank you Mr Turnip. 10 years ago I had to drive from Bury to Huddersfield 4 days a week to get No.2 son to university (all the foreign students had got all the accommodation) and the place was thriving. Ten years of WEF governance from Tory WEFMinster and Liebour WEF councils have destroyed the place. Government Nett Zero fuel tax and business rates, councils wasting money on Woke/Green stupidity, parking charges, insane road systems and housing boat people before locals. Insane inflation from printing currency to lock people in their homes they can't afford to heat now. People need to wake up and realise that those in power are having one massive cash grabbing party and we are not invited other than for picking up their tab! And this is just the start!
Good video. I was a student there in the late 80s / early 90s and find it interesting to see how much the town has changed. Very sad to see the many empty shops especially round the Piazza however there are some some encouraging signs of life. Well done Turnip!
👍👏 Very interesting to learn about Huddersfield's history and see the town with the scary reputation.. "The Shambles" made me think of York.. I always loved that lane full of quirky buildings and shops.. Wonder how it's doing now.. 🤔 You had me there for a sec about the sponsor.. 😂🍏 I was about to congratulate you! Goes without saying, I would choose _"Turnip Productions"_ over mainstream TV any time! This channel's going places.. especially when you find a chimney you can touch!! 🤗
There's several decent restaurants on the road around the Tesco's you passed. I'm pretty sure The Chilli Lounge is actually open in the evenings. There's a big new sports centre across the road from the bus station. They're building a new cinema and bowling alley In the Kingsgate Centre. They're also redeveloping the Queensgate Market which I'm guessing is why all the shops are closed on the Piazza
I WFH full time, but previously I walked to work, bought a coffee on the way in - went out for a sandwich at lunch, and sometimes went shopping, got a bacon sandwich on Fridays, would sometimes go for sone drinks or a meal with work colleagues on a Friday, and would always get food shopping walking back from the office. Now I sit at home watching TV all day and get everything delivered and bought online. Almost no interaction with work colleagues as nobody really leaves home. Must be the same all over, and I don’t think it’s a good direction. No wonder town centres are dying.
but is that not your choice? Is the office not there to be used like before?
@@Dekedencethey’ve downsized the office so my team is now full time WFH, so no choice! But most of the others love it & just never leave the house
consuming era is finishing, we live in artificial superficial world, time for people to evolve, and instead of consuming, listening government and system like robots, start to create. You don't need to consume to meet and talk to people. Imagination is there for a reason.
I live in Bulgaria now - the high streets are booming. NO Amazon, No uber, the cities have invested very heavily in making the high streets profitable places to do business.
it does not happen by magic, it happens by planning and money. My city is Burgas in Bulgaria you can look it up and there are walking tours on RUclips - the streets are always full of people.
why did you choose Bulgaria,i know its beautiful?@@piccalillipit9211
It is said, William the conqueror also got stuck on the ring road and couldn’t find a parking spot for his Renault Megane.
😂😂😂
Pre-Norman conquest only rich taxed. Post Norman conquest everything taxed.
I hate driving through Huddersfield. I worked at Elland for a bit and had to drive from just North of Sheffield. It was quicker to skirt around through Grange Moor than follow the main A629 that passes my house.
@@SierraNovemberKilo I think most of the tories have Norman ancestry.
@@wanderingturnipIt would be impossible to see the entire england and visit every town and the only way is your vidoes for millions of people so thank you very very much....
Kirklees Council is what happened to poor old huddersfield. 😢
Bradford's the same. Halifax not though
@@stuarthunter7559 i've lived in all 3 and live in Halifax atm. Trust me, it's a shithole as well.
Good old kirklees council, making sure every town turns into a shit hole! Dewsbury for one. Don't recognise the place anymore.
Interesting, who is the head of Kirklees council? 🤔
@@khydal😂😂😅
Thank you for covering Huddersfield. I am 40 years old. I was born in Huddersfield and it has got gradually worse all my life. Lovely people, nice surrounding areas, but it has been very badly managed and has been in decline for decades, especially since the closing down of the textiles mills.
its not just huddersfield, i'm 45 and have only ever know this country to be on the decline.
It’s heartbreaking so sad so many shops empty.
I'm 45, from Huddersfield too, not been to my home town for some time, I'm absolutely horrified at the state of it. It was never like that in my childhood. My mum always goes to Halifax instead of into town.
This wasn't the Huddersfield I knew in the 60s & 70s where I met my future wife. Back then it was a vibrant place. I'm glad she never saw it like this!
You have seen a lot off changes then like most towns.
The problem with charity shops is the managers today look at items gifted as in cost nothing but then they go on eBay and look at similar items and price them accordingly. What they fail to realise is, if we want to pay eBay prices for an item we go on eBay. Charity shops are ruining it for themselves with this pricing policy and they are too thick to realise it. The days of buying a vase from a charity shop for £5 and finding out it's worth £50 or £500 is over I'm afraid and for this reason I no longer visit charity shops.
That and the CEOs of some of these charities earn six figure numbers whilst the volunteers running the shop are, well, volunteering
Good point
I am an adviser for a local charity shop for antiques and collectables, I pretty much tell them the same thing. An eBay seller has potentially millions of customers every day, the charity shop maybe a few hundred each day (if they're lucky), so I always give them a dealers retail price and what I think they should offer it for, more often than not, they choose the higher price and it's often still there three months later and they end up sending to head office as unsold stock, barmy way to run a charity shop in my opinion.
So you want to rip off a charity by paying only £5 for something you know is worth £500?
@@niallrussell7184this won't happen these days because everything is picked over by dealers before it gets priced up.
The villages outside of Huddersfield (Lindley, Slaithwaite, Marsden, Honley & Holmfirth) are thriving. There is actually no reason for us to mooch in to the town centre sadly. Overpriced parking and a lack of quality shops because the council charge so much rent has killed the centre. Lower the rent, bring in the decent shops, create footfall again. It’s not rocket science
Many fond memories of visiting my nan when she lived in Marsden and my aunties in Slaithwaite. Used to gather up the cousins and just play in the river and the little bit of grass by it. A few trips into the moors as we got older. The library had events for kids at occasions, nan had us go to the co-op if she needed anything. Chippy on the Fridays. I remember the second hand shop (not sure if it's still there?) Got a lovely dress in there. It was the first bit of clothing I got in adult sizes rather than kids sizes, I must have been about twelve? Ah, the days.
Edit: even fonder memories of Newsome and Ashenhurst. Not half as good as Marsden and Slaithwaite but I spent a lot of time there. It snowed a few times when I was there and me and my older cousins would leave the house at gone midnight, in our pyjamas and go round Newsome High School, or even up Castle Hill (only once). Standing on the wall at the back of my aunties on Halloween, none of us with tops on, arguing about the football (half of us were Liverpool supporters, and the other half Man Utd)
Surely the reasons for town centre shops closing are (1) business collapses as a result of covid era; (2) people using Amazon for their shopping needs: (3) working people being allowed to work from home, which clearly cuts numbers travelling to workplaces in or around town centres. Government should've forced people back to their places of work - by whatever means necessary
Yeah, you have created your own 15 minute cities! And everyone said they were conspiracy theory! Excellent!
A sad indictment of a once booming town! There's a comment that lays the blame with the council, are they wrong!
Take a look at what was supposedly the listed building/internal infrastructure of the railway station that used to have a supposedly protected victorian counter; ask the council what happened to the listed building that was at castle hill, a large sandstone building that was just outside the town centre that burnt beyond repair! The amount of historical buildings that have been torn down! Then you go across to Halifax and Harrogate which have managed to maintain and work with their old infrastructure!
The piazza - wasn't that area sold off to the university! Weren't the vendors that were located in the market hall given their walking papers?!!
The man that said people don't care, not people, the council! Covid, WFH, online shopping killed off what once a booming town!
I was a teenager living in Huddersfiled in the late 80's. Such a fantastic place to live (I moved away in the early 90's). The town centre was bustling all the time. Great pubs and the amazing Pleasuredome nightclub or 'The Changing Lights'. The pubs on the outskirts of town were always good to visit, always something going on during the week. The Plazza was at the centre of the town where all the punks would hang out. I am glad you mentioned the architecture as the buildings are fantastic and a lot of people miss this. I never had a problem with parking when I lived there and when I have returned to visit. Great video, just very sad to watch
Me too. I worked on Fitzwilliam Street while I was attending Greenhead College and what was once the technical college. This would have been 1985 through 1987, then still worked there up until 1990. It was absolutely fantastic back then. Such good times and a great place to go out. It really had a sense of community back then. It is pretty heartbreaking to see it now. The only reason I might go is to visit The Merry England on Cross Church Street :-) Do you remember Piggy's and the Videotech and the White Swan? My goodness. Fun times.
I am now a teenager in Huddersfield and it’s just not a good place to live I wish i could’ve seen what you saw with Huddersfield but I can’t moving to Bridlington in a few days just to get out of Huddersfield
It was great in the 80s/90s!
This is pretty much what ALL town centers look like in the UK now.
The "Internet" has f++ked everything.
@@studiosysEveryone is meant to stay at home in their prisons. Delivery only, no contact with others. If you dont do it we will reintroduce lockdowns.
The rot set in before the internet with the move to out of town shopping and huge supermarkets that sell everything.
@@tonyedgecombe6631 The "Internet" was the final nail in the coffin for the town center...
More accurately there is no plan or money to repurpose our traditional town centres.
Absolutely right all town centres are experiencing the same decline
Shopping Malls designed in the 60s to 2000 with modern architecture are dying fast, very cold with no emotion
does it matter ? im only buying shoes.
Agreed! The 60s was the worst time for architecture! The buildings were genuinely evil looking, either that or just plain dire.
It isn’t any wonder why the only high streets that remain successful are those that are historic and visually pleasing.
@@puppets.and.muppetsit matters a great deal. Why do places like York, Rome etc have so many tourists? Because they’re beautiful
@@TRACYxBEAKERThere is also some charm in ugliness, Huddersfield could easily have more tourists. Certainly should expose more its past industrial architecture, huge textile mills and so on.
Unsurprisingly, this form of architecture was known as “brutalism”
To be fair to Huddersfield, the Domesday book listed numerous places as being "waste" - it meant those holdings paid no tax as they had nothimg of value, which in Northern England was usually down to Norman soldiers having come along and massacred people and destroyed everything of value in order to break opposition to Norman rule. Look up "Harrying of the North". Yorkshire was particularly affected by this violence - 60% of its holdings were waste by the time of the Domesday book, and only an estimated 25% of its pre-Norman population of 200,000 was still alive.
Fascinating thank you 👍👍
Yes, spot on. Many times WIlliam had to traipse up North to put down a revolt, and pretty much as soon as his back was turned it would kick off again, so no wonder he eventually lost his rag. 😂 As a northerner myself who now lives in 'wessex', I educate them about the 'Harrying of the North' every opportunity I get, whilst pointing out that them lot threw in the towel after just one battle. 😁
And most of Yorkshire hasn't changed to this day.
I laughed when he said that 😂 poor Huddersfield
Huddersfield did not really exist until after the industrial revolution.
The market town in area was Almondbury and the valley bottom where Huddersfield now is was too marshy or used for crops. The town only developed as the canals and railways arrived an Almondbury declined because of the steep bank to get up to the market and the new Cloth Hall opened in Huddersfield
In the 80’s , 90’s Tesco & Asda killed the independent locals shops then in the 2000 & 2010 onwards Amazon & online shopping finally putting the last few nails in the coffin ⚰️ only a matter of time time now before the final cremation….
Yes a lot of areas are monopolised by certain supermarkets, around here in West London we are surrounded by giant Tescos in all directions meanwhile two major High Streets are empty shells of their former selves.
They destroyed the milk man too, I remember when the only source of milk was from the milkman, now it's 4 pint jugs as standard, bizarre
@@exploringsuffolkProper milk in a proper glass bottle with a bit of cream on top. I’d much rather that than the processed stuff today delivered in a petroleum based plastic tub.
@@jobbingactor we still have a milkman, there's footage of a glass milk bottle being shaken on my channel, to mix the cream and milk, is much better and fresher too, got yoghurt and bread this morning too off them, old ways are better sometimes
Huge business rates forced interesting little shops to close.
*TO BE FAIR* everything is mouldy in Huddersfield - that's just the climate; it's why they manufacture the worlds best wool cloth there, the damp in the sandstone brickwork of the mills keeps the wool at the perfect level of flexibility to be woven.
They even put the bolts of cloth in old mill-damp rooms to relax and settle before they deliver it
Same over the hill in Oldham & Rochdale for cotton spinning. Perfect damp climate.
@@richard3004 - Even damper I believe - that's why you guys have cotton on that side of the Pennines cos the cotton thread does not snap, and we had / have [small amount] wool. I remember the sound of the old shuttle looms in the sheds when I was a kid in the 1970's. all gone now, and the very few that remain make some of the most expensive cloth in the world.
And it is so different - I work with a lot of vintage cloth. Im wearing a pair of trousers made out of 100 year old worsted, you simply cant not buy cloth like this today.
The decline of our textile industry is a damn shame
I served my apprenticeship for a ladies wear company who made their own cloth for some of the most beautiful high quality ladies wear which sold all over the world
Sad it's all gone we used to get lunch cooked on site by a lady named Veronica
This was in the 80's and we used to go to a packed market to buy cloth and make something to wear on Saturday night
Happy times
*second best.
Halifax 🏆🥇
I think you should investigate what is happening to all the Levelling Up funds. The cynic in me is it is just a Tory bailout for their developer mates. You've already been to Hanley, but there's boarded up "levelling up" brownfield sites that will never change. Funds are being cancelled.
Another great video.
Well, Birmingham is a shithole a I just watched a couple of videos on that this weekend - and that rests with the now bankrupt Labour council. I don’t vote for either as they are two cheeks of the same arse. They are both deplorable, so time for a new party where candidates should be 40+ years old and have worked outside of politics - real people.
It's not 'cynism'; it's wisdom of experience from noticing paterns of behaviour and real world events, and then being repeatedly gaslighted to attempt to doubt yourself.
Two very different things.
Most of the levelling up fund has never been spent.
labour MP for decades (Barry Shearman)openly hates the town and the area. Having said as much many times. "Town" will get no help from it's MP until he's ousted once and for all.
It not the Government cancelling the schemes. It's the local councils taking the money and not doing anything.
Down here in Tasmania during the Covid lockdowns the Launceston council still had ticket inspectors wandering the near deserted streets giving tickets to those lucky few who could actually get into town to spend their money if they went a minute over their limit. Total madness. That’s councils for you.
Same here in Geelong Victoria.. funny thing is, councils ( local government) r all illegal.. they can't fine charge u or anything.. they have no head of power, Australians voted no to a referendum about local councils being formed. But corporate Australia, went ahead and instilled them anyway. Without the knowledge of Australian 's.. do some research on this matter, u will get your answers..
Looks like another place where the Council has destroyed the place, creating rubbish road networks, stupid parking charges and charging way too much rental for shops.
It was the same here in Hobart lol
I moved to Huddersfield 14 years ago and in that time a once thriving town centre has turned into a wasteland. Some of the shops gone are - BHS, M&S, Wilkos, Iceland, House of Fraser, and even Farm Foods. The pace of decline has been rapid. The council is even closing its own customer service centre, an essential service for the more vulnerable who don’t have internet access or struggle with doing everything online. Truly shocking 😳.
14 years of torys, what a coincidence
@@jamielow3162 Huddersfield is Labour ran and has been since 1999. It's their policies that have ruined it. They're responsible for Town management, including housing, education, local planning, social services, and infrastructure. The Tories had little to do with the demise of Huddersfield.
@@RaveSceneTribute www.opendemocracy.net/en/council-cuts-austerity-tories-bankrupt-youth-services-sure-start-school-nurses/
I used to busk with an upright piano in Huddersfield 30odd years ago. It was a thriving bustle of people back then. Hard to believe I'm looking at the same town.
Me and my hubby are watching from Canada, we moved from Hudds well Holmfirth in 2015. It was so sad to see the town that way. My favourite place was the Open Market. It was so nice to see it again. Thanks great video!
I'm from Holmfirth as well! Great seeing videos on Hudds
Canada is the same way, another authoritarian shithole
Noticed you were from Holmfirth too, hello there! My partner is from near Ontario, (small world.) It's probably 15 years since I visited the streets of Huddersfield, just 6 miles north. It all looks a bit sad and un loved now. Holmfirth still has its tourists so things look brighter, (but more expensive.)
Holmfirth is still amazing, don’t worry. It has the picturedrome still going strong, really good coffee shops, bars, restaurants, an amazing ice cream place. Magic Rock opened a second location there. Every time I drive through it I wish I lived there!
@@TimHollingworth hi Tim!
John Betjeman, poet laureate, said Huddersfield Town's railway station facade was the most wonderful in the world.
And the world's loveliest railway station cat, Felix. Sadly, now RIP 😢
1st time I ever went to Huddersfield was on the train from Sheffield to visit my new GF from Hudds. I remember walking out of the station and thinking how beautiful the square and the statue was. I've been all over the world and I do truly think it is one of the most wonderful train stations I've seen anywhere.
Benjamin had no taste whatsoever
I just got a new cat,!--her name is "frankie"-she was a "stray"-but is doing well now !!@@michellefathers1619
@@michellefathers1619AHH MATE FELIX IS DEAD 😂
So sad to see the Towns and shops in such decline.
Who fancies walking in the pis*ing rain a mile to their car ( £5 parking charge) laden with their meat, fruit and veggies?? Better to order online in one's pyjamas.
There is some nice architecture in Huddersfield. These town centres need to reinvent themselves. We no longer need so many retail units
It is reinventing itself. The reason the piazza is closed is as part of a big development project. There are plans for a new cinema, music venue, museum, open spaces. If Kirklees Council manage to pull it off it should be a big improvement.
I was a student in Huddersfield in the early 90's. I loved the place. Lived above a shop in Lindley near the hospital. No luxury student accommodation back then ! I remember it being a busy centre with a great market. Cheap prices, nice down to earth people (on the whole), amazing stone buildings including terraced streets not just the fancy buildings. I remember Fartown being a ghetto back then. Probably worse now. Always got a work-out walking round as it's hilly everywhere... Shame it's in decline but same as a lot of places nowadays. Brought back some memories thanks
I lived in Huddersfield from 84-86, yes as a student. I had a great time, not just there but the whole surrounding area. Yes, it was rough and ready, and absolutely freezing during winter, and you could easily get a battering if you didn't watch yourself! Yet I even thought about moving back there some 10 years ago, but I have to say now, that I'm glad I didn't. Sad to say.
But yes, over all, very fond memories indeed.
The Piazza and Queensgate Market have been closed with a plan to be demolished - to become a ‘cultural heart’ of Hudds - an art gallery, museum and food hall. The big ‘indoor part’ you pointed out was formerly a British Home Stores back in the day. Great video! I went to Uni there so brought back some memories.
I was in High Wycombe the other day and the old shopping centre (The Chilterns) has been abandoned and all that's left is Primark and a vape shop etc. Some of the indie shops that left there and moved to The Eden Centre have either folded or going to fold in the next month due to high rents and shop lifting etc.
I went last summer and the only shop open in there was the closing down sale of Wilko's.
The Piaza shops all been closed for a massive new building project. Enjoyed your video. The main New street has been upgraded , new roads,trees . Just want more shops so people will come, lots of Huddersfield people go to Halifax to shop. Super day out there, plus The Piece hall.🙂
I used to live in Huddersfield (1993-2004 then 2008/9), and I considered it my second home, in fact I used to live just by those short,fat chimneys and I was dying to share my local knowledge, but you worked out what they are for. There's car parking above the bus station, (or at least there used to be). Queensgate market used to be ace and the Piazza area was thriving, (I'll have to ask my mate, the self styled 'King of Huddersfield' what's going on with that). Good to see the open/flea market is still going. There are rough areas, but most places have some rough spots and you don't have to venture far from town to find some stunning areas. Nice video, thanks for going to Hudds,
Reading some of the comments on here, there's some real 'glass half empty' type characters. I'm from a nice part of Sheffield but visited Huddersfield several times in the last few years, it doesn't seem bad to me, I've seen far worse places on my travels.
The Piazza has been scheduled for redevelopment for a long time. Plan is to demolish the whole thing and redevelop the area. The problem is, whenever plans like this get approved, they take decades to action. Same thing happened with the building of Kingsgate and redevelopment of the bottom of the town centre. They said they were going to do it, didn't, let businesses move in, bankrupted the businesses, did that for years, then took about 15 years to actually redevelop the area instead of doing it straight away.
It's a shame more wasn't said about why Huddersfield has those regal buildings. At one point there were more Rolls Royce cars in Huddersfield than in London. Those fancy houses turnip drove past were the homes of the mill owners. It's this sense of past wealth in the town that adds to a sense of something lost. Of course that wealth wasn't shared equally, which is largely what led to the downfall of the textile mills in the first place but, there's a tremendous amount of humanity wasted in Huddersfield and it's tragic. This is true of much of the North that has an economy more like Eastern Europe than Western Europe- owing to the worst regional wealth inequality in Europe.
The university doesn't really help people of the town. Same way it doesn't really help the people of Leeds. Not like industry does. Students have a vampiric effect the same way finance capital does. That's not me blaming students, it's the way resources are redirected.
@@willjohnson2722 Cheers. In my travels, over the years, I've lived in towns that have been marked for 'redevelopment' and it, sadly, never seems to turn out well, (major point in question: Hanley/Stoke). I have a, very real, fondness for Huddersfield, so I hope it sees better days again. I remember Venn street and that area before the Kingsgate mall of horror and I remember how run down it was; I also used to live on Gledholt bank, (as well as Marsh, Birkby, Fartown etc), as did many friends, so I've seen many of the big, former mill houses and you could tell that there was a lot of money in the town. I hope for a good future, I know it's possible as my home town, Sunderland, was heading that way in the 90's but seems to have reversed the decline, (not 100% though), and feels positive, (though I bet many here will disagree?)
Hope you found your car ....
I own a retail business that's 154 years old and it's so sad to see the high street closing down. It's not just online sales that are killing the high street but the supermarkets selling everything apart from just food. I get great enjoyment from watching your videos, across the board. On about chimneys, you did your video on house prices in Peckham just down the road in camberwell is an old hospital, now residential and I'm sure it still has its massive chimney.
Know that hospital, went inside after it closed, it was a very small hospital yet had pretty much everything a larger hospital has, saw it rotting away, I lived across the road from it. Surprise surprise it was sold off and is now a residence for the middle and upper classes.
Blame locals for using supermarkets in the first place. If one cannot be bothered to support local shops don't moan when they are gone.
@@stevenhull5025 totally agree, about 13 years ago I tried to start a support your local shops account on twitter, had a few people support it but just made no difference, I support local shops as much as poss.
As a Yorkshire man there is no "H" in udersfield 😂
horny cows like thier uddersfield
He is from Yorkshire. Just up the road in the Calder Valley.
10 Yorkshire points to Darren.
Yes, it's the town where cows particularly enjoy being milked. 😁
There are however three d's
This could be anywhere in the UK, dereliction and closures have been a nationwide rollout.
Yep, I agree. I've been living in this country since 2012 (by the way here in the West Yorkshire) and it's frankly doomed, the more I see the more I believe nothing can change the situation.
Theres less charity shops than ever. I see it everywhere i go. Nothing is being donated. The people who were donating are now re-using stuff or re-selling.
There's also bigger thrift or specialist ones (Music, Books, Clothes) appearing that are sucking up all the donations and a lot of Charites now put anything worth anything of real value on eBay so don't need the high street to sell on.
Sadly most charity shops charge an arm and a leg now. British heart foundation is a right rip off.. Charging double primark prices for a primark second hand vest is just greedy. I've also worked in many and management get a damn good wage.
Blimey, think that must be a regional variation, here in Sheffield, there's more than ever, in fact I think just in the Hillsborough area of the city we're in double figures, pretty high prices too usually but not always.
plus the boat lot might get the stuff keep it for us brits @@wtfhtbabyjane
Frequent visitor of charity shops, and invariably these days it is just a visit rather than give them any custom, as over the last 2 or 3 years the quality of stuff has noticeably dropped while their stock of new items (socks/underwear/greeting cards etc) has only risen. Used to often find decent items but as others have commented the prices now have just gone silly.
I used to work just on the edge of the centre about 19 years ago, it looks just as it did back then to be honest! The piazza is scheduled for demoltion there is a new development which is why everything is closed - you will be pleased to hear the plan incorporates a new 350 space car park!!
They will charge too much for parking as usual.
They have no idea about how to make a town centre thrive.
Born and still in Huddersfield, such a shame what it has become!! Always great videos!!!
@anthonybarrett73
were you a rugby player for leed rlfc had a pal called craig who worked for principle systems circa 1990?
The Piazza has been deliberately emptied over the past few years as the area is to be redeveloped as a "cultural quarter". We'll see how that works out 🤷♂️
A mosque?
No there are some major redevlopment plans
I’ve lived here all my life. I’ll admit things are not great in the centre right now as with other towns and cities. But I haven’t heard it has a reputation for fun/knife crime. I have never felt unsafe in town or in the village. Lots of the surrounding areas and villages are lovely and are thriving, Honlet, Slaithwaite, Holmfirth. The Council here have recognised that the dynamics of the centre are changing. It’s no kinder a place to spend a day looking round the shops. They plan to conde ce the shopping area and redevelopment the rat into more social spaces, entertainment, leisure and outdoor spaces will be the focus going forward. It will take time to complete but will be a lovely space when completed.
Breaks my heart this.
I went to Huddersfield University from Sept 2001 to june 2006. It was absolutely buzzing, no closed or boarded up buildings. Huddersfield will always have a special place in my heart.
It looks ok compared to a lot of the other towns on here.
The big problem we have in Huddersfield right now is that its completely filled with students but nothing for them to do, so they come here, take up housing but spend all their money in in Leeds, Bradford and Manchester. Its a sad sight. We had a massive project that would have seen us have a new cinema, ice skating, skiing and all matter of activities but its been delayed and pushed back and changed over the last 15 years.
I did a job just prior to lockdown in Huddersfield and vowed never to return after. The first day I got a bit lost and was entrapped into bus lanes TWICE! Two fines in a matter of seconds! I remember saying to myself, in a fit of pique, this town deserves to die, why are the folk in charge of towns and cities seemingly always the last folk you’d ever want in charge?
With parking so distant, I think about people with mobility issues, parents with small children, people struggling in really bad weather, older people, etc., and what a difficulty it would be for all of them. It seems a recipe for failure to not have at least some parking close by to encourage people to shop in the city center.
there are carparks above the bus station and next to the shopping centre but i guss if you dont know they are hidden and hard to find. The section he showed with the full street of empty buildings is goig to be turned into a 350 space one hopefully that should help too!
I’m not sure if he has a rule that the parking has to be free in this videos? He could’ve just parked at Kingsgate and taken a lift up to the shopping level. Or park in the giant car park that he walked through, which is just over the road from the bus station.
Huddersfield, born and bred. Grew up in Dalton in the 70s, now residing in NY.
Sad to see how the town center had declined.
I grew up in dalton too 😆
You may have moved to the USA but it will always be CENTRE 😉
It’s crazy how Huddersfield has gone downhill so fast and yet a few short miles away, Brighouse is booming. It’s probably not something you’d be interested in visiting but the contrast is stark between these two towns.
HI, I am just curious to know what does Brighouse do differently by comparison to Huddersfield? Thank you.
@@larakathryn2955 I can’t really say. It’s a very friendly town with a thriving pub scene. There’s been about 6 small bars opened in the last 5 years and all are doing well. There are hardly any closed shops although there are several closed banks. I think shop rents are probably lower. There’s about to be a new Aldi built soon also.
@@larakathryn2955 Just walk around the outskirts, the answer is obvious unfortunately.
10:58 wow is that the Piatza center omg all them shops were open when I used to work there 2008 onwards. It was a bustling place what's happened
Why don't we EXEMPT all parking charges, EXEMPT all local trade taxes for say around months and see what that does to local economy? Street Vendors are so so common in ASIA due to low tax rates
You sound far too sensible. I totally agree.
Most of the parking is owned by private companies, small and large (NCP etc). How are they going to pay their shareholder dividends?
Sadly business rates are set by the government in the UK and any discounts for new businesses have to come out of the local council budget but I do agree with the car parking charges. My town of Rotherham has suffered massively because of the nearby Meadowhall shopping centre and Parkgate retail park with free parking. And a huge Tesco right in the town centre. However there are some good independent shops on the old High Street and a new cinema & leisure area is opening later this year.
Many street vendors in Asia are unlicensed. They pay off the police ie: corruption
Town centres need to contract in size to reflect the needs of the community. It doesn't make sense to try and keep places the same size as if it's the 1990s still. Incentivise shop owners to move closer together to avoid the dereliction and have a true town centre where all shops can make the most of the footfall. I think it's the only way forward imo.
Agreed. The days when everybody piled into town on a Saturday morning are gone forever. We need to recoginse that our town centres need to change from less retail to more entertainment/housing. Stop worrying about empty units that will never be filled and move on and re-purpose the buildings or simply demolish and build others. Our town centres have always been changing, and they always will.
I came to the comments to make the same point. People don't want to inhabit or visit dying cities and "levelling up" isn't going to stop this. My belief is that the only way these places can be saved, is to transform them back into smaller towns. Convert some of the retail and industrial units to affordable and desirable housing and replace the horrible 60's buildings with green spaces.
Found this so is a copy n paste!
I live in Bulgaria now - the high streets are booming. NO Amazon, No uber, the cities have invested very heavily in making the high streets profitable places to do business.
it does not happen by magic, it happens by planning and money. My city is Burgas in Bulgaria you can look it up and there are walking tours on RUclips - the streets are always full of people.
I went to uni in Huddersfield from 2013 to 2019 and none of these shops were to let. There was so much more activity and anything that was to let got snatched up in a few months. Covid and the movement away from the high street hit the Huddersfield incredibly hard.
Went to Uni in Huddersfield 2014-2018 sad to see how much it’s gone downhill. Loved my time there
Good video mate, I’m from hudds myself and this portrays the issues really well. It’s a lovely town outside the centre and the immediate villages to the centre. The outskirt villages are lovely and I love my hometown. Thanks for seeing some positives in it!
🐑I was born in Huddersfield and lived in Brighouse, Halifax & Hebden Bridge. (I now live in California 🌴) From what little I can see online Brighouse has managed to dodge “the death of the High Street” and has a waitlist for it’s downtown independent shop spaces… not as “bougie” as Hebden but enough to stay afloat. Halifax however appears to be in the same boat as ‘Uddersfield’… on the decline. 😢
I live in Huddersfield, moved here 15 years ago from East Yorkshire for a job at Syngenta. Would really like to visit with the possibility of moving to California, would be great to connect with you somehow to discuss this, your experience and insight would be fascinating as I’m a little obsessed with this idea and have been for.. well basically since Laguna Beach and the Hills lol.
@@cw3728 I would suggest it’s a bad idea. I am planning to move to Central America after 30 yrs in California. If you type “California Decline” in a RUclips search and go down that rabbit hole you will start to get the picture. After 25 years in the heart of the action (Los Angeles) I moved to a smaller town to escape all the traffic and crime and homelessness that was becoming impossible to ignore. However the whole state is so expensive, over regulated and poorly run that it cannot recover. It is now a lawless hellscape with the most illegal immigrants of any state and the highest taxes, the worst roads and the worst schools. The economy is being hollowed out and total collapse is inevitable. I have a nice lifestyle right now but I can have a better one in a calmer location that doesn’t have all these issues, expenses and restrictions.
Sorry to put a downer on your aspirations but if you look at channels like Nomad Capitalist… there are so may better places now. California’s time is over.
Prolific drug use in Hebden is making it like Skid Row.
When you moving to a red state?
@@cw3728 I have replied twice to this message and each time RUclips has deleted my response as I am very critical of California and and am preparing to move out of state after 30 years. California is really hollowed out economically… even though it’s a huge economy it is totally mismanaged. I would not recommend anybody move here.
@@MissWeezeyUSA Wow, seems to be all democrat states that are fuc#ed.
Wow, Vinyl Tap! I never knew they had moved to Huddersfield after they closed in Leeds. Great to know they are still going.
They circuit all the big record fairs all over the country. Always doing great trade as well.
Definitely a good thing. I also noticed the one near the street market. There's a couple in my town of Rotherham opened one with a cafe that usually seems busy when I pass. I just need to get myself a record player again... Weirdly I bought a limited edition Nirvana/Jesus Lizard split single from a record shop in Huddersfield just down from where Vinyl Tap is back in 1994 which I still have.
@@DavidRobinson1978 Thanks for the information, much appreciated.
@@antonycharnock2993 Don't suppose you know Jack Ozyer-Key from Maltby? He loves his vinyl! A good friend of mine; we were in a band together.
@@antonycharnock2993 I vaguely remember the Nirvana/ Jesus Lizard split. It's probably the only Nirvana single I didn't buy in my youth.
Makes me really sad seeing Huddersfield like this. I grew up nearby and have fond memories from when I was a teen to early 20s. The late 90's to mid 2000's I remember the town was such a pleasure to visit and the nightlife was epic. Now there's so much crime and all the shops shut. Really is tragic. Awesome content mate. Love your videos.
I worked at the university for years. Because only a few years ago it was just a technical college, with no prestige like other historical universities, they decided to go down the route of attracting foreign students who hadn't managed to get into Oxford or Cambridge, etc. There are whole villages of Chinese students, for example. And all these students bring in a massive amount of money from their fees, so the university is able to build and build, literally just taking over Huddersfield, with their horrible modern buildings. Local and British students have no hope of getting accommodation here because the foreigners always get priority, as they pay higher fees and so are well looked after.
Be thankful it’s changing into student accommodation. At least you have people moving into the town centre. My town had a uni and moved out, nightlife changed significantly. Thankfully we have a college still, else the town would be completely dead and unrecoverable.
Funnily enough I nearly went to Huddersfield Uni but decided on elsewhere.
Parking is a huge issue with these towns. All pedestrianised (in theory is great but when the high street is dying we need to encourage people popping in to town). Extortionate parking charges everywhere in town.
People are deterred and instead go to “out of town” shopping, which is only a mile or so away, has free parking, the tenants pay smaller business rates, and the landowners bought the land dirt cheap. Councils are dumb and short sighted I’m afraid.
Cherry blossom at the start was a nice touch though! And I’m digging the chode chimneys.
That's a new word to me - CHODE.
Had to look it up. Nearly choked on my sandwich.
They're getting filled with illegal immigrants now.
Students accommodation means it's all young venues and shops nothing for older folk. Students are transient they moving on so it's not fair to make it all about Students.
@@misscoutts6193 I appreciate what you say, but some students do stay and continue to contribute to the local economy. Indeed I know someone from my town who now lives in Huddersfield after attending uni there.
majority of student housing is just used for cheap housing for yuppy's to get away from their parents and have parties, drunk idiots doing useless uni courses which will never actually get them a job and majority wont even finish their courses. either that or its south east Asian exchange students, the entirety of the bottom of town is now a japanese/chinese/korean area whilst the top side is a completely pakistani/afghani/syrian area full of heroin dealers, gangs and murderers
The 66 year old guy, while he seems like a really genuine guy so im not having a go honestly, epitomises what the UK seems to do to many people. Not all obviously before people get triggered 🙄
I'm only 8 years younger than this guy but I live in SE Asia and I don't feel old at all, everything is just so vibrant here, the colours, the people, the street food, just the energy is totally different.
That guy at 66 has just given up in his own words, he's treading water until they put him in the ground and I honestly feel a big part of that is just the whole atmosphere in suburban Britain. It's depressing.
You are absoloutly right! Its horrible getting old in the UK. Koh Samui for me, even better healthcare !
@@chrischristofis8501 Yeah I'm in Hong Kong, originally from Scotland but been here 30 years and love it. Healthcare here is free for hospital care/ major stuff like the NHS effectively. For GP it depends where you go but I pay about 30 quid a time and get seen straight away that day no issues.
However as much as I love HK it is an expensive city for certain things, housing especially. So I'm retiring to Malaysia shortly, although I love Thailand too and still plan to visit samui etc a lot
Just I found the visa situation in Malaysia easier, English is an official language and everyone speaks it well I've found and luxury condos are actually even cheaper than Thailand if anything.
That said I think Thailand is more exciting than Malaysia. But both are good with pluses and minuses. I'm not wedded to Penang so may try Samui too to live you never know. I first visited Samui in 89! Was quite different then😄
The problem is that there's no point to trying here anymore. Everything is getting worse but there's a parallel clown world of people in charge telling you things are improving.
You're right.
The working class, traditional good blue collar people have been left behind.
The old industries have gone, the Internet has killed the rest and the politicians local and national don't give a shit.
Our labour and tory politicians can't see outside London.
They live in a different world.
When they've had enough, they fuck off to Cornwall with their PC middle class friends.
Life is so good for the university liberal middle class.
And i forgot, they love immigration and dump it in the old worn out working class areas.
Don't vote labour or tory, they're treacherous scum.
VOTE REFORM.
Doesn't have to be that way. I'm from suburban Manchester (Prestwich),10 years older than him and look it, but never feel old or down. Can outsprint most 30 year olds, do 30 miles on a bike and just bought an ebike to go further. I go on long (free) buses trips to cafes a couple of times per week, to watch the world go by and interact. Can laugh anything off; 70 odd years of supporting City gives you that ability.
I lived and went to uni in Huddersfield from 2017-2020 and always liked how bustling the town centre always seemed to be with a great selection of independent shops and cafes. It was a big step up from my hometown which had empty arcades and a ton of bookies. It’s honestly heartbreaking to watch this, so much deterioration in such little time.
I visited Huddersfield to go shopping yesterday. The town was busy and there were plenty of signs of renewal. The Byram arcade in particular is looking great with a new upmarket tea retailer and cool coffee shop on the ground floor. We also saw a thriving art supplies shop and modern furniture store in the same building. I ordered and collected a book from Waterstones which was so busy I had to queue. While there are plenty of empty shops the town centre is far from dead. As previous posters have said, the towns in the outskirts like Marsden and Slaithwaite are buzzing. I live in Halifax which also has it's problems but is now turning the corner mostly thanks to the piece hall. With Manchester booming just down the road, the vibe I get from these West Yorkshire towns is one of change and opportunity.
It’s fascinating for me a Huddersfield lad to follow your journey through town. It’s a bit like the Mac Donald’s ad they shot there in 2010 ish the guy went the completely wrong way but if you don’t know the place it makes sense 😅 like how you came out of the arcade and missed all them food tents.
A lot of the villages on the peaks side (Colne valley and home valley) are becoming gentrified with beautify pubs and restaurants, greengrocers,butchers and independent shops. So less of us are heading to town.
If you get chance head up to Slawit or Marsden for endless rolling green hills, mills, chimneys and good ale all along the canal. It may change your mind yet.
Really enjoyed the video by the way 👍
The main reason why shops are shutting is because the local people are constantly being attacked when we go there, an 18 month old (blonde I believe) had acid thrown in her face by a couple of non locals on a moped, locals getting beaten up in town, young women night clubbing have been acid attacked, now we locals are made to feel uncomfortable when we go to Greenhead Park which is a tiny walk from the top of town. It isn't because of the students at all, we've always had students Huddersfield University has been there for decades the problem is the thing nobody dare say incase we loose our jobs or these days with Kier Stalin end up in prison, politicians are either sticking their heads in the sand or don't know what to do or they're deliberately trying to destroy the country and the economy.
This home town of mine was once a vibrant beauty with flamboyant punks with shocking pink mohawks, before them were Teddy Boys, music was made, famous actors of the 50s would visit, we've had Michael Jackson, Tina Turner and other famous people living here inc Leana Heady, Pat Stewart, Roger Moore. When I was a child my hometown was magnificent. I stopped going in when they pulled up the Yorkshire cobbles and replaced them with cheep Chinese stone, but the council members are no longer Yorkshire people and they hate us. The main street in Huddersfield was like a cathedral with the sound of thousands of starlings settling down for the night. Now it's dead, a multicultural death.
Scrolled through all the pansey comments to find the truth.
Am 37 and grew up in Huddersfield. It's been such a constant decline and it's a real shame as it has some lovely and quite unique buildings and parades, and a lot of character. Largely down to Tory austerity but to be honest it was being forgotten about before then too. Even previous 90s developments, like the stadium, are falling to bits. I still love the place though, great people and some great independent shops and venues hanging on; I recommend the Byram Arcade which is a bit of a hidden gem
Thanks for following my suggestion from a few months ago. After watching your video it's actually worse than I thought.
That huge 6,000 sq ft empty shop used to be Farmfoods, even they've disappeared 😢
If you'd headed a bit further south out of town you'd haven been in chimney heaven. I used to work at the place with the first chimney were you couldn't access it, it was a family run textiles mill called Bates and Co.
Great video 👍
Farmfoods relocated. They're not too far from the stadium now.
@22:05 The small "Chimmey's" are Tunnel Ventilation Shafts for the railway.
Haha..then you found out!
Used to shop in Huddersfield back in the day. The mills were all closing but everything worked and it seemed a prosperous, properly-functioning town. Used to use the railway station to go everywhere! The architecture's still fantastic but the ring-road is one of the worst and the trade has just left. Horrified to see how bad it's got. Still got friends round there but they haven't said how bad it's got. Nice to hear you so keen on chimneys!
Its good to see someone bringing attention to the decline of Huddersfield, my home town rotting away at the core. Only lucky thing is this was filmed during the annual Food and Drinks festival. Without that there is nothing around.
You're a natural at this, with informative and engaging content presented in a way that is really enjoyable to watch. Nice One.
There isn't a thing in this country now that has not got mega problems. Railways, buses, roads completely knackered, post office, electricity/gas, water, town centres , scumbags bags everywhere. Believe me this was a pretty cool decent place once. This must be what they meant by Levelling Up or was it Northern Power House.
Levelling down lol
When a country spends literally billions on a defunct National Health Service, billions more on social security payments, billions on social services, billions on an out of date education system and billions squandered on government contracts, then do not be surprised when the infrastructure of the country starts to crumble around one's ears.
Huddersfield used to be lovely in the 80s and 90s. So many shops and small businesses. Halifax was the poor relative with closed shops and nothing much to offer. Take a look at Halifax now! They have got it right with the huge redevelopment of The Piece Hall now staging concerts and surrounded by small businesses. Huddersfield has a special place in my heart and I sincerely hope it is turned around before it is too late.
IMO the main reason places like Huddersfield have gone down the toilet is greed, corruption, and ideologically driven local councils. Therefore, most of the blame goes to the people themselves for repeatedly electing them on the promise of a few freebies that rarely materialize. Pedestinaising these kinds of towns is the last thing councils should have done. There is no excuse for buildings to remain empty if the council rates were reasonable and the town planners had done their jobs properly. If it remains empty for more than 12 months it should be compulsorily purchased for almost sod all and put to good use at radically reduced rents and rates. If you go behind the facade you will soon find that the developers built these buildings using large local council subsidies.
They never were viable propositions at the rents that they were expected to bring in. Even the first tenants received local council incentives which eventually dried up.
For an area to succeed the first thing it needs is MONEY. The main source around this area is the university which is quite tragic but better than nothing at all and at least a start. What Huddesfiel really needs is profitable industries in or close to the town. Even well-organized prostitution is better than nothing. Some money and a reason to go to Huddersfield, even cheap and well-organized prostitution and plenty of vibrant nightlife is better than nothing.
Industrial policies from successive national; governments have led to the demise of towns such as Huddersfield. Why make it here when the Chinese will make it far cheaper, is their thinking? Why put up with the complaints and entitled aspirations of a cohesive working-class population when they can gradually replace them with 3rd Worlders who don't seem to mind living this way. Indeed however awful it is, see life in Huddersfield as a great improvement as long as the NHS Hospital stays open and the other benefits come in? Why indeed?
This all costs the local council's fortunes and the money has to come from somewhere. Which is more fines, fewer services, higher parking rates, council taxes, and rents. This leads to further closures of whatever remains and an ever-faster march backward into dystopia unless a miracle occurs. Nothing will improve in Huddersfield because the people who are systematically running it down into the abyss, namely the local council are quite happy to continue to do so. The only answer the council likes is more central government handouts which come when the local population rises. As indigenous people fail to reproduce in sufficient numbers, their only answer to their only problem which is more money, is easy to understand.
Lucky for me I live in Central London, where there is still loads of money around, and I mean loads of the stuff even in the poorer areas. The West End of London was so jammed with shoppers for weeks before Christmas I could not even ride my motorcycle around the roads as they were all full of people spending money like WWIII was about to start. Why should the people down here give a crap bout people up there, least of all any Labour politicians who spend most of their time living it high on the hoof in the most expensive restaurants and clip joints in the world after a night at the Royal Opera House at £290 a ticket? The last time I came across a Labour politician at my club he had just polished off his 2nd bottle of Mouton Rothschild 87, or was it his 3rd? Difficult to tell as this guy can handle his alcohol, that is for sure.
Well said,maybe you and Farage should get together.
can't blame the people because they get a choice of voting between 2 old fogeys nobody has ever met or actually seen in there communities so nobody even gives a fuck about voting as it doesn't make a bit of difference, 2 sides of the same greed driven coin, they don't have money for youth clubs, the actual city or anything else but they can afford to spend billions on student housing, homing immigrants in tax payer funded business and forcing private businesses to house them at threat of legal action or losing their business and building a tram line to leeds which will cost billions, destroying any green land they can find to build housing nobody can afford in areas that don't have the amenities to support them.
meanwhile half their own population lives in poverty and the second main bus stop in town centre is full of smack and crack addicts and alcoholics and people have to take their kids there and witness this, not to mention people chopping each other up in broad daylight with machetes
There was never any choice
very true "greed, corruption, and ideologically driven local councils"
Shop owners CAN get their vehicles to their shops - before 10am and after 4pm.
Past concrete bollards?
Yes, t's self evident that shops can get their stock delivered as the shops that are open are full of stock.
@@tonyedgecombe6631 Then why did he imply otherwise?
@@ianbower7756 Better ask him that rather than me. Unless you think he is the messiah and shouldn't be questioned.
@@tonyedgecombe6631
What a strange assumption.
Huddersfield is my home town but I don’t live there now, however my parents do. I’m almost 50 and it’s changed so much for the worse. It used to be a great town when I was a kid but the supermarkets and Amazon and online shopping has killed it. Plus Kirklees council are utterly hopeless, they wasted tens, maybe hundreds of thousands of pounds on those god awful white statues you walked past. Clueless!!!
I’d never move back.
One of the saddest introductions ever. Seeing the housing and hearing what William the Conqueror said...so sad, yet fabulously portrayed on camera. @WanderingTurnip great job.
Mostly all northern towns and city centres are declining some badly.
Not just up north
I was down town last Friday, looking around that street market as well. You look like you almost got to Greenhead park, but just missed it. Worth coming back to walk around there, it's one of Huddersfield's best features, just far enough out of town to be missed unless you know it's there. Really lovely in a sunny summer. In town it's worth looking around the Byram arcade, just finishing off being renovated, an interesting multi level Victorian atrium building. Wish there was more of the old Huddersfield still around, it would suit the modern era really well. Unfortunately it seems that much of it got demolished in the 'concrete is good' era, and those redevelopments are having to be done again now. Let's hope that the current redevelopments of the 60s/70s redevelopments fare rather better.
It was an awesome place place in the 90s brimming with culture, a busy town centre and lovely people. There was a little bit of last of the summer wine still about it- a local Yorkshire feel. It makes me sad to see the town centre looking drab and hopeless. Architecturally, it’s full of beautiful old buildings.
To be fair to Tesco, that store has been a supermarket for over fifty years. I’m 47 and grew up in Huddersfield, it was a supermarket called Hillards when I was a child!
You have some kind of baby hedgehog on your Northface!
Also: big up Auntie Turnip, my Mum watches on the tv so I’ll make sure she’s subbed
Haha that got me 😂😂
Thank you for this, I grew up in Huddersfield and now it's like a ghost town where once it was thriving❤
Hard times create strong men; strong men bring good times; good times create weak men; weak men bring hard times
Great video. Lived in Huddersfield all my life and it’s such a shame to see the town centre like it is now. I feel that businesses get no support from the council/government and rents and rates end up pricing out small businesses.
Left us on a cliffhanger! Did the Wandering Turnip ever find his car..?
"There is nothing positive anymore".....agreed.
I have a feeling that the town will recover like a Phoenix. It still has a University (more than many post-industrial Northern towns have), it still has a wonderful train station (just don't look at the bus station.. Argh my eyes), and it still has many young people. This is the most important thing. Without youth, no place can grow anew. Children and young adults are the future. They may not have a lot of wealth, but neither did the locals 100 yrs ago.
When I worked in Thornton, Bradford (Pattison’s Loft Insulation) I used to work with a lad who played for Huddersfield (Town?) Football club. Jim Dempsey. The thing that’s aged me is he must be close to 60 now!!
Free rent and no business rates for 2-3years, free parking. Instant revival
You're doing a great service. Reminding us of our heritage which is slowly being eroded. I've learned a lot from your videos. On a binge now:-) Thank you.
So sad to see everything closed down. Please visit Scunthorpe
So, The Piazza is closed as it is being g redeveloped. All the shops were moved to other units in the town. It will be a food Hall, live music venue and some outdoor space. This is phase one of the town’s £250m redevelopment plan.
Come back in 2025 to see phase one complete and in 2030 for full completion.
Exactly, it's a frustrating watch when you actually know the town
Is it possible you could wander around to Wakefield?
tbf, all those closed shops around the library are closed because they're getting knocked down to create a larger green space.
Wife got a ticket for in parking Huddersfield. One inch over in an empty car park . £60. She's never going again. Stuff Huddersfield. It's DEAD
You should come to blyth Northumberland, the council have ruined our shopping area, closed down our market place to build a cinema nobody wants...last 2 closed because nobody uses them and there is another a couple of miles away in cramlington, closed our small shopping centre to build some kind of education center again nobody wants as they built a supposedly purpose built building for that near the beach, shops closing left right and center due ridiculous rents and now falling foot traffic due to the councils 'improvements' not to mention shoddy upkeep of the buildings, death of the high Street indeed! Purposely I believe 😢
The best thing about the bus station is the bus out to Hebden Bridge, then the train over Copy Pit to Accrington.
Those "fat little chimneys" are ventilation shafts for the railway tunnel, they let the smoke escape in the days of steam. 17:42 was the railway station, arguably the most famous landmark in Huddersfield, with its statue of Harold Wilson outside. It also has a cat-flap for the station cat(s).
Odersfelt - Did not know that. Learn something new every day I guess!
I commuted from Hebden to Huddersfield to work right in the town centre. 6 months after i started working there, lockdown happened a i worked from home for 2 years until i left that job. When i worked there there was a multistorey car park right near Wilko - it closed. The Piazza was a lovely, busy place to buy lunch and sit outside to eat it. I cant believe the changes you showed. Such a shame. Huddersfield does have a lot a gang/grooming/drug problems but it is nevertheless a town i have great memories of. Some fantastic 1970's architecture, if you're into that kind of thing. I am. Id often have the theme music from Mary, Mungo and Midge in my head as a bimbled around the place in my lunch break. 😁
No
No Parking and inadequate Public Transport, nobody works and nobody shops.
They retail shop from home. Order takeaways from home.
I spent a winter there and it was pretty grim. (Mostly) friendly folk but when I applied for Housing Benefit from the Council they told me the property we lived in wasn't fit for human habitation and "repatriated" us to Norfolk! There were much worse houses/estates around there too...
Really interesting video, well done. I found those ventilation chimneys at the end the most interesting
I know same, such an interesting end to the video
They help reduce the back pressure in the tunnel when the train is going through 😊
The store with the double glass front in the pack horse , I used to be a manager in that store unit around 5-6 years ago and it was a very difficult time back then for footfall
I feel like landowners just charge such stupid high rents for space. I run a martial arts club that is not for profit, so we don't make any money, other than JUST enough to pay the rent and bills, and that's with full mats, we're now under threat of being evicted due to the owner putting the building up for sale, we've tried looking for another venue and the £ per Square metre is just ludicrous. Landlords have priced the highstreet out of business as well as other social activity businesses.
What I don't understand is if the rents are so high, and they price out businesses.... How do the landlords then make any money? Its so stupid isn't it. Their greed is now overriding simple common sense. Which is if the rents are too high, then the shops stay empty. Everyone loses, even the greedy landlords. I just don't understand the mindset of English landlords. They are destroying their own business model with their greed.
@@salkoharper2908 a lot of the time they own older established property, which if they don't get tenants will slowly decay and rot, then when the building is deemed unfit/ruined by the council they get the permission to knock it all down and build brand new awful buildings that they then can rent out to huge corporations that CAN afford the high costs. There's no room for family/small businesses now, there's no head room to make any profit.
I studied at the uni for 4 years, the uni seemed to be the only thing keeping the centre going. There was never anything meaningful to do in the town for young people. So can see how people get into gangs etc. I remember talking to one lad who was telling me how it was a haven for criminals because there were a lot of nationalities / cultures / connections at the uni. People would commit crimes in the centre and vanish out into the maze of surrounding countryside and back roads / villages.
Thank you Mr Turnip. 10 years ago I had to drive from Bury to Huddersfield 4 days a week to get No.2 son to university (all the foreign students had got all the accommodation) and the place was thriving. Ten years of WEF governance from Tory WEFMinster and Liebour WEF councils have destroyed the place. Government Nett Zero fuel tax and business rates, councils wasting money on Woke/Green stupidity, parking charges, insane road systems and housing boat people before locals. Insane inflation from printing currency to lock people in their homes they can't afford to heat now. People need to wake up and realise that those in power are having one massive cash grabbing party and we are not invited other than for picking up their tab! And this is just the start!
Good video. I was a student there in the late 80s / early 90s and find it interesting to see how much the town has changed. Very sad to see the many empty shops especially round the Piazza however there are some some encouraging signs of life. Well done Turnip!
👍👏 Very interesting to learn about Huddersfield's history and see the town with the scary reputation..
"The Shambles" made me think of York.. I always loved that lane full of quirky buildings and shops.. Wonder how it's doing now.. 🤔
You had me there for a sec about the sponsor.. 😂🍏 I was about to congratulate you!
Goes without saying, I would choose _"Turnip Productions"_ over mainstream TV any time! This channel's going places.. especially when you find a chimney you can touch!! 🤗
There's several decent restaurants on the road around the Tesco's you passed. I'm pretty sure The Chilli Lounge is actually open in the evenings. There's a big new sports centre across the road from the bus station. They're building a new cinema and bowling alley In the Kingsgate Centre. They're also redeveloping the Queensgate Market which I'm guessing is why all the shops are closed on the Piazza
Shame most people cannot even afford cinemas at £7 per head, bowling at £20 and a restaurant meal at £40.