It was the smells that got me first. Aromas of Beef bulgogi. Three pan fried dumplings, £1.50. An excellent vegan cafe next door. This doesn’t sound like the small town I left almost 8 years ago. A town of Greggs selling flaky pasties, the remnants of which would stick to the front of your jumper all day. The Pride of Whitby, selling fish and chips to be rightfully proud of. But a good old chippy all the same. And pizzas from the long gone Inn-Cognito. Pizzas that I thought were the epitomy of Italian sophistication. Until I first visited Napoli, and the home of pizza. Needing a late night drink? Take your pick from Denny’s, or the Acapulco night club.
In the years since I left, I have read in some quarters that it is now described as the Shoreditch of the north. My humble home town of Halifax, West Yorkshire has come a long way. Or has it? Is this the rebirth of Halifax. A true renaissance?
The Piece Hall
If indeed it is, some will point to the money invested in the Piece Hall, a majestic 18th century masterpiece, as the turning point. First opened in 1779, to trade in pieces of cloth, hence the name, the Piece Hall had been neglected for some years, and thus, in the 1970’s it was considered for demolition. Thankfully, this never happened, and after a £19 million restoration, completed in 2017, the Piece Hall reopened. A sympathetic restoration, the building remains much as it looked back in 1779, but much more is happening behind those stone windows. Taking full advantage of this unique site, there is now a selection of bars, cosmopolitan restaurants, and a rather excellent book shop, The Book Corner, taking the place of the wool merchants. Being a lover of books, and an inveterate reader, I only wish every village and town had a bookstore of this quality. An excellently curated selection of books, with a large focus on local authors, and local history. As the star of local author, Ben Myers, continues to rise, his books take a prominent position, as do a number of books on Anne Lister, currently hitting the small screens in Sally Wainwright’s “Gentleman Jack”. A show that I unfortunately haven’t seen on TV at home in Sydney.
Unless you haven’t left the house in the last few years, you will know that the drink to be seen with is gin. No longer considered “mother’s ruin”, gin is now so fashionable, and dare I say trendy, that every town worth its salt now has at least one gin bar, offering a confusing number of gins. Halifax is no exception, and is on the bandwagon with Gin Lane. My experience whenever I try and order somebody a gin is that you are bamboozled with so much choice that you simply choose the same gin every time. Another example of the paradox of choice. And don’t dare order Gordons. Or if you do, make sure you whisper it, for fear of upsetting the gin connoisseurs. In fact, unless your gin of choice is described as artisanal, and comes with herbs (it seems rosemary is no longer just for your lamb henry), fruits, and flowers sticking out the top, don’t embarrass yourself.
The Borough Market
Another underused, and neglected masterpiece in Halifax is the Borough Market, in the centre of town. Over the years, butchers, haberdasheries, and cheap cafes have proliferated, with the town never really taking advantage of what is under their nose, in the way the Leeds makes tremendous use of the Corn Exchange, and the Victoria Quarter. Further afield, look at how well London makes use of their Borough Market, with top class restaurants and coffee shops taking pride of place. Halifax Borough Market is finally trying, and has improved since my last visit, with Top Door Espresso now offering quality coffee, and giving Monmouth Coffee of London’s Borough Market a run for its money. It has taken Halifax some years to catch up, and realise how terrible the caffeine offerings are from the bland high street chains, but the rise of quality independent coffee shops is slowly improving things. The fact that these live side by side with the “old” Halifax only adds to the quirkiness, in my opinion.
The redevelopment of the Piece Hall also brought with it a brand spanking new library. Often the centerpiece of a community, the value of libraries can not be overstated. A library is the bedrock of learning. A space that is open to all, and available to everybody, regardless of creed, race, or wealth. The more people that we can get through library doors can only be a good thing, in this age of social media, and fake news that proliferates in the trashy daily newspapers on offer. The old library had sat on Southgate, long before the bus station was relocated next door in 1989.
The changing face of Halifax
Wandering the town centre, in the drizzle, I also noticed that Woolshops got a new statue of the Duke of Wellington. Town centre stalwarts remain such as Pearsons fish and chip shop. Always serving up a reliable lunchtime special, with bread and butter, and a pot of tea. Simplicity at its finest. La Luna in the Westgate Arcade seems to be going from strength to strength, with the very hospitable brothers coming a long way from the original, small cafe on Commercial Street, Café Luna. Many of my lunchtimes from the Halifax head office, across the road, were spent sipping coffee and putting the world to rights in the cosy upstairs section of the café.
Las Vegas in Yorkshire?
The rebirth isn’t limited to Halifax town centre. Looking slightly further afield, a small village called West Vale, less than 4 miles from Halifax, has been rechristened West Vegas. Without the neon, and some would say the glamour, of Las Vegas, West Vale has seen the introduction of craft beer, wine bars and many restaurants offering fayre that would have been called distinctly “cosmopolitan” just a few short years earlier. Café Thai brings the flavours of Bangkok, with a traditional restaurant on the ground floor, and the rather excellent, if somewhat different, Thai Tapas upstairs. Cinnamon at the Mill, sister to the ever consistent Cinnamon Lounge at Ripponden, brings authentic Indian to the locals. And Catch, located underneath the curry house does excellent, traditional fish and chips, whilst also serving up seafood of a quality not often seen in these parts.
The future
What next for the future of Halifax? Further growth and development I hope, cementing the rebirth of the town. More gin bars, probably. A second hand book store would be good. And definitely, more places selling high quality espresso based coffee. Whatever opens, I hope to see increased numbers of visitors happy to spend, and support the local businesses doing much to breath life back into this glorious little northern town.
In the meantime, as I only have a short time left to explore my former home town, I am following my nose, and am off to try these exquisitely scented dumplings at the Korean stall in the Borough Market.
