Our day in Halifax dawned fairly miserable. A significant storm, Babet, was careening through and dumped 50-100mm of rain over the area while we were there.
Determined tourists that we were, we set off to explore. Our first stop is the town of Halifax. We were there for book research, as one of mom’s heroines is from there. We started at the Piece Hall. Named for the swatches of fabric that would be on display for sale. Now it is a beautiful open square with some shops and restaurants that must be lovely on a clear day.
We strolled around the town a bit, looking at the Halifax Minster and the markets, before heading on for our next stop. We drove to Shibden Hall. It’s a manor house from the 16th century that was the home of Anne Lister. She lived a (fairly) open life as a lesbian in the 19th century that was very daring for the time.
After that we drove to the home of the Bronte sisters. It was just a little bit too damp to wander the desolate moors or the stunning little town, but we were able to tour the Parsonage they had lived (and died) in.
Our second day dawned much better, so we drove up into northern Yorkshire to visit Castle Howard. It was such a beautiful estate, badly damaged by fire but beautifully restored. It also had extensive gardens we were able to walk around.
Next we drove to Helmsley and had lunch in the quaint little town before walking up to the castle on the hill. Mostly ruins now- as an Earl in the Victorian era wanted a warmer home and also thought letting the castle fall to ruins would be a picturesque view.
We had a slow drive along narrow country roads to get back towards Halifax. And we stopped for dinner north of Leeds at the Bingsley Arms which holds the Guinness Book of Records award for the oldest Inn and pub in England. They say it dates to 952AD.
After our drive back to the hotel, we had a final drink in the little bar with its incredible gin selection. In the morning it would be back to Leeds for the train back to London.
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