2 days ago
5
September 12, 2025 — 5:00am
Have you heard about the Britannic Explorer, a new luxury sleeper train that offers swish journeys around Britain with fares from about $13,000 a person?
Well, I’m not riding that. I’m on a less-vaunted commuter railway for a relative pittance. But let me assure you: the Calder Valley line, which trundles through West Yorkshire, in the north of England, affords a wealth of delights.
The window scenery is nice enough – pastoral greenery, old stone mill towns, rugged moors, tree-fringed rivers and canals – but what I really like is that there’s a stop every five or 10 minutes, where you can hop off and explore the places and landscapes that inspired creative locals such as artist David Hockney, television writer Sally Wainwright and the Bronte sisters.
Wainwright filmed her hit TV dramas – Happy Valley, Last Tango in Halifax and Gentleman Jack – in this compelling region, and her forthcoming show, Riot Women, about a female punk band, is set in Hebden Bridge, my favourite stop on a train line bookended by the cities of Manchester and Leeds.
After a post-industrial slump, this former textile town spun itself an artsy new reputation, fuelled by its groovy festivals, intimate cultural venues and LGBTQIA+ scene. Rainbow flags, nature-themed murals, converted mills and plant-topped houseboats catch the eye here, while trendy cafes, ethically-minded stores and cosmopolitan eateries trade beside old-school bakeries and coaching inns serving real ales and roasts with Yorkshire puddings.
Market days (Thursday to Sunday) are liveliest, when vendors sell local produce and global street food, recycled fashions and quirky keepsakes carved with Yorkshire catchphrases (“ow-do”, “eh up”).
From Hebden, you could ride the Bronte Bus 21 kilometres north to Haworth, where the sisters lived, walked and wrote, or spend the day hiking there across the windswept moors (the weather can change fast, so pack layers and waterproofs).
Much closer to Hebden, Hardcastle Crags is a National Trust-protected beauty spot with woodland trails, rocky outcrops and melodious birdsong, while perched above town, Heptonstall is a medieval weavers’ village where you’ll find the grave of American poet Sylvia Plath (1932-1963). She was married to Ted Hughes, former British Poet Laureate, who grew up in Mytholmroyd, a village one train stop east – or a half-hour canalside walk – from Hebden. There you can retrace Hughes’ old stomping grounds and stay at his former end-of-terrace abode (it’s listed online as Ted’s House).
Halifax is another Calder Valley (or Calderdale) line highlight. Its star is the Piece Hall, the oldest remaining Georgian cloth hall in the world. Watering holes, restaurants and boutiques now colonise the hall’s restored colonnades by a courtyard that stages open-air summer concerts and events.
Performers who’ve rocked the space, which resembles an Italian piazza, include Tom Jones, Nile Rodgers & Chic, Grace Jones and Deftones. The courtyard has a statue of Anne Lister (1791-1840), the protagonist in Gentleman Jack. In Lister Park, on Halifax’s leafy fringes, you can visit Shibden Hall, her half-timbered Tudor mansion.
There are heaps of events this year in neighbouring Bradford, the 2025 UK City of Culture. Also the first ever UNESCO City of Film, and many-time Curry Capital of England, Bradford recently hosted and has glossy new entertainment venues and food halls.
At Darley Street Market, there’s a mosaic portrait of revered Bradfordian David Hockney, whose works grace galleries in and around the city. Pedestrianisation schemes have made Bradford more walkable and there’s impressive Victorian architecture, including one of England’s grandest city halls and a gorgeous bookstore: a branch of Waterstones in a Venetian gothic-style wool exchange.
You could spend a week or more savouring the Calder Valley line’s treasures. I’ll suggest two other underrated stops: Todmorden, a quaint market town with invigorating moorland trails, and Sowerby Bridge, which has canal and riverside paths and the inviting Hog’s Head brew house. Among its enticing craft beers is the Hoppy Valley pale ale, which goes down a treat – especially after a hike.
THE DETAILS
FLY
Emirates fly to Manchester from Sydney and Melbourne via Dubai. There are usually two Calder Valley departures per hour from Manchester Victoria. See emirates.com and northernrailway.co.uk
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