OUT AND ABOUT
Located equidistant between Leeds and Manchester, Holdsworth House is well-placed for visiting Yorkshire's cities and major tourist attractions. Brontë Country and Calderdale's rugged landscapes are easily accessible on foot, bike or by car.
Local Attractions
In Yorkshire and around Halifax you can discover wonderful heritage, incredible landscapes, UNESCO World Heritage Sites, world-renowned arts, film and TV locations and places of historical Brontë significance.
Gentleman Jack Film Locations
The BBC/HBO production Gentleman Jack, written and directed by Sally Wainwright, is about prolific diarist Anne Lister, who lived at nearby Shibden Hall in Halifax.
Anne Lister was born in 1791 and was a landowner, traveller, industrialist and student. Lister is posthumously known for her diaries, which ran to more than five million words and detailed every moment of her life, much of it written in a secret code. Her diaries were hidden behind wood panelling at Shibden Hall after her death, as Lister's family were suspicious they revealed intimate details of Lister's secret gay love life. In her time, she was rather cruelly nicknamed 'Gentleman Jack' for what many considered her masculine appearance and choice of black attire.
Discover more on Anne Lister 'Gentleman Jack'
Shibden Hall, Lister's ancestral home, is around three miles from Holdsworth House. It is set in around 90 acres of stunning parkland that forms Shibden Park, which was landscaped under the direction of Anne Lister. Visitors can enjoy the cafe, miniature railway, boating lake, pitch and putt course as well as trails, play area, orienteering course and woodland.
Brontë Yorkshire
Famous throughout the world as the home of the Brontë Sisters, the beautiful town of Haworth is a quaint, hilly town around 20 minutes drive from Holdsworth House. Step back in time to cobbled streets, boutique shops, tea rooms, apothecaries and a Railway Children-style train station.
BRONTË PARSONAGE MUSEUM, HAWORTH
Pay a visit to the magnificent Brontë Parsonage Museum where the three sisters, Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë, lived and wrote their novels including Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. See the writing desks, needlework boxes, garments, diaries, paintings and drawings. The Brontë Parsonage Museum has a host of literary-related events that are always excellent to attend during your stay at Holdsworth House.
For walkers, The Brontë Way is a 43-mile walking route starting at Oakwell Hall near Birstall and finishing at Gawthorpe Hall near Burnley in Lancashire. The Bronte Way takes in some of the places from their real lives and fictional stories and was listed in the Top 50 Trips of a Lifetime by National Geographic Traveler.
Make Holdsworth House your base for exploring Brontë Country. Alternatively book our Brontë Break and you'll get free entry to the Parsonage Museum for two adults.
Harewood House
Fans of the Julian Fellows' film Downton Abbey can visit Harewood House in Yorkshire, which is featured in the film.
Less than hour's drive from Holdsworth House, Harewood is just north of Leeds. It was also used as a film location for ITV's Victoria.
SPORTING Activities
The rugged landscapes of West Yorkshire and Calderdale make it a hotspot for outdoor enthusiasts. Choose from rock climbing or the thousands of miles of excellent footpaths or bike trails to see God's Own Country at its best.
GOLF
Holdsworth House is partnered with the region’s premier golf course West End Golf Club, less than 4 miles away (postcode HX2 0NT). At the top, West End is 1000 feet above sea level and offers magnificent, long distance views and yet there are no really steep gradients and the layout offers easy walking. The course measures 5,971 yards, par 69 for men and 5,302 yards, par 71 for ladies and is a fair and enjoyable test for any level of golfer 52 weeks of the year.
ROAD CYCLING OR MOUNTAIN BIKING
Since the 2014 Tour de France Grand Depart in Yorkshire, cycling has increased hugely in popularity across the county as more and more keen cyclists try out the now famous (and tough going) Grand Depart route. Yorkshire has also been confirmed as the host for the eight day long 2019 UCI World Road Cycling World Championships. Here are some great road and mountain bike routes in the Halifax region.
WALKING
For some brilliant routes, listed by ease and interest, visit South Pennines website. Or follow The Calderdale Way - a 50 mile circular footpath route around the boundary of Calderdale, which runs right past Holdsworth House. Some people attempt the entire walk over a series of days as it offers such a variety of views and landscapes, but the best way is to walk the Way is in sections, all marked by a CW ‘tree’ motif. Download the below Calderdale Way map.
CLIMBING
Less than 20-minutes drive from Holdsworth House is the town of Brighouse. It's home to the brilliant 1940s Weekend each June and Christmas Market in late November, but also Rokt Climbing Gym. Rokt is an award-winning tourist attraction, offering indoor climbing at its best and the highest outdoor climbing wall in the UK, the Roktface!
