to live?

Or somewhere else?

Do they still sit and watch the traffic lights for entertainment in Tod?

ahh… really, that bad?

Do they still sit and watch the traffic lights for entertainment in Tod?

‘Tis the work of the devil that elektrikery.

Tell me it ain’t so, Nick 🙁

It’s terribly, terribly grim up north.,..

I can vouch for at least one bar in Hebden bridge though.

dunno yet Stonor might be.

A bar you say? tick in + box for Hebden…although, all the girls up there…how to say…I don’t have the right bits do I?

Riding out the door is ace in both. Hebden busier,touristier and more expensive but with more bars,shops etc.Tod can seem a bit like a ghost town early in the week.Depends on what you’re after really.Tod has a Wetherspoons and two small supermarkets(maybe an Asda soon too).Hebden won’t allow such nonsense.Make of that what you will.

Is Tod still the smack capital of the UK?

Much the same from what I remember as a regular passing cyclist in the 80s. I actually lived in Chadderton a good few miles away, which is not as nice but nearer to civilisation if that matters for you. I’m not for one second suggesting you should live in Chadderton by the way. You could possibly consider Littleborough as an alternative though, which is quite nice.

Where are you going to work? That might help with suggestions

Is Tod still the smack horse meat capital of the UK?

😉

I’ll be Hither and Thither. The suggestion was Leeds/Sheffield with a sort of vague wave of the hand. But the chances of me living in either of those two…I’m not a city boy.

I need to be within striking distance of “the North”

Good rail, good road, close-ish to the Mway network and must have decent riding, I understand that there may be some nearby…

Right bits? I think you probably have too many bits..

20 minutes to M62 and M65 from either though I think the commute by car to Leeds is very busy.Never driven to Sheffield but doesn’t look like something I’d want to do as a regular commute but can be made into a challenging road bike ride though :-)Trains to MCR take 35 mins and Leeds 55 mins no problem,Sheffield not doable as a train commute I reckon.

Don’t think I’d want to be commuting to Leeds or Sheffield from there. You’d be looking at a good few hours per day lost.

People in Tod seem to have more fingers than is the norm but last names are easy to remember as there are only two surnames on the electoral roll. If you google “lesbian capital of the world” it will give the correct answer as Hebden Bridge

Heptonstall.

HB is a great place unless you suffer from SAD.

I live in Huddersfield and my work area is Kirklees/Calderdale (used to be Bradford).

It makes a BIG difference where you are working. Really it does. Leeds is quite well connected from most places in W Yorks and Hebden Bridge might be ok but going to Sheffield from Hebden would be a nightmare – no direct train, you’d have to go via Manchester or Leeds really, via Huddersfield is painfully slow. By car it wouldn’t be any better either.

Is Tod still the smack capital of the UK?

I think Hebden might give it a run for it’s money (was interesting watching the deals go down in the Hebden park whilst playing with my 6 year old). I think the old headline was HB being the suicide capital of the UK. It’s certainly not perfect (I did live there for a short while) but if you can afford a nice place it’s got more going on than Tod. If you need good motorway access (and good riding) I’d be looking in the nicer areas beyond Halifax and around Huddersfield (but not actually in either)

Daveyboywonder lives on the Hebden-side of Halifax. Quite nice Victorian.

Otherwise Outlane for the win. Its not ’20 mins’ from the motorway.

Hebden is more like 30mins+ easy from the M62.

Come and have a look at Brighouse, it’s on the way up (I hope). Much closer to Leeds/Sheffield but close enough to HB riding wise.
Don’t just drive through though because it’s not pretty to look at from the road. Have a walk around, check out the canal basin n stuff.

Ignore Hora! Outlane is next to the M62 so you’ll have the constant drone of traffic in your ears plus cars zoom thru on the A640 at silly speeds
Ripponden, Stainland, Barkisland, Norland, nice bits of Elland are much better and less than 10 mins from M62

I commuted to Rotherham from Hebden for about a year.
Nearly killed me.

30min to Windy Hill junction on Saddleworth.

It’s always dark in Tod, the valley sides are so steep the sun only gets to pavement level on midsummers.

You would have to pay me to live in Outlane. I live halfway between the M62 and hudds town centre and drive/cycle through Outlane a LOT. You’d never sit outside your house or have a window open because the M62 is metres, literally, away from the village.

I’d not be “commuting” in the traditional sense, so as long as I can get to Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester (and the rest of the North) that’s cool. I’m more interested in the quality of the town, amenities, access to riding

robdob, Marsh? I witnessed an armed robbery on the wineshop there, was in a car that somersaulted there and worked across the road from the pub where someone was shot dead….Eeeeeee memories of growing up near that area 😀

Within a breath around Outlane is Sowood, Stainland, Scapegoat hill. All great areas too.

If it was near Hebden – it’d be Heptonstall, love that village. It looks soo inbred yet so nice too.

I moved to Tod a few months back. It’s great. As others have said, it’s a bit quieter than Hebden. Less tourists, less bars, less restaurants etc. It does however have a very good market, is more accessible to the motorway, and houses are cheaper. The biking is amazing though. I must have done about 20 rides here since I moved and I’ve never done the same route twice, and I’m still discovering new trails.

Hora – I think it improved when you moved away….. 😉

Also consider Golcar, Slaithwaite & Marsden

One thing to bear in mind is that the valleys really are steep. In deepest winter the people in the valley don’t get much daylight but the guys up the hill get blasted by the weather. We live up high but it always means a long drag back home on a ride or run. It’s worth the pain for the views (frequently in winter I can’t see beyond my ankles)

Good luck with the search

The two towns are on different planets socially. I’d love to live in Hebden Bridge, I think it’s a very interesting and unusual place full of characters.

The entire Calderdale valley is an absolute Mecca for mountain biking, being criss-crossed with all kinds of pre-industrial and industrial trails and routes.

I’d happily move to Hebden Bridge.
Heptonstall would be even better – just about every path out of your front door would be a cracking descent 😉 (less fun pedalling home though)

Walsden is also an option.

I commuted to Rotherham from Hebden for about a year.
Nearly killed me.

30min to Windy Hill junction on Saddleworth.

Which route did you take to Rothers from Junction 22 ?

As Hora said, I live in South Halifax, around Savile Park/Skircoat Green. We love it here – 15 minute walk for me to the station and trains every 15 minutes into Leeds (~30/40 minutes tops). Lots of really nice sized victorian terraces with gardens and stuff, great schools and Halifax itself, despite being that place in the valley you whiz past on the M62 actually has an awful lot going for it. Yes, its got its bad bits (north Halifax – Illingworth/Ovenden etc you might want to veer away from) but where hasn’t? The centre has and is continuing to have a shed load of cash thrown at it and it shows. Its a nice place to have a wander around some shops and once the Piece Hall has been renovated it’ll be even better.

Good house prices and theres the little subject of riding on the doorstep. Which is a) as good as everything further up the valley around Hebden b) dead quiet because everyone drives straight past on the way to Hebden.

Funnily enough though, the only place we’d consider moving to around here would be Hebden but house costs for what we’d want (garage / off-road parking, cellar for the bikes, 3+ bedrooms and big gardens) would prohibit us unless we wanted to go silly on a mortgage. Otherwise, consider Mytholmroyd? Closer to Hebden, has a station (once hourly though to Leeds I think), few shops, the same riding, cheap housing and its a bit smaller and more personal than Tod. Nice little place.

Grim is an understatement. If you need Leeds etc over the east side then I’d be looking around Harrogate/York way. Much nicer

Which route did you take to Rothers from Junction 22 ?

Inspite of many different routes, they all seem to pan out about the same time, and whilst cross country can be fun, M62, M1 is as good as any other.

Actually, I more often went through Halifax, out to the J26 at M606.

I grew up in Mytholmroyd and it always was regarded as hebden poor relation but it has it’s own train station on the main leeds/Manchester line.
Have you seen the house prices in hebden?! When I was house hunting 20 odd years ago it was too pricey for me and now it’s gone barmy.
I’m now living in sowerby bridge, again with a train station and a new leisure centre, and good pubs and restaurants.

There was an news article on about the closure of Halifax A&E, suggesting that those in todmorden would have to go to huddersfield. I’d hate to think that was my journey in a time of need, never mind a commute.

From tod, I suspect your nearest motorway is either to Littleborough and on at milnrow (west bound), or to walsden, blackstone edge, ripponden, outlane..for east bound. Both a bit of a drag.

@Daveyboywonder

Have you got any routes i can nab off you for the halifax area? My mum and dad live at the bottom end of Saville Park too

Inspite of many different routes, they all seem to pan out about the same time, and whilst cross country can be fun, M62, M1 is as good as any other.

Actually, I more often went through Halifax, out to the J26 at M606.

Theres a nice route via the Saddleworth villages and then o`er moor to Holmfirth then Stocksbridge, no good if youre in a rush I suppose, ok for a bimbler like me 🙂