Looking to move somewhere in the Huddersfield area. Need somewhere with easy access to a train station (I’ll be commuting to Leeds, partner to Manchester, both by rail). Good riding nearby a bonus obviously. Considering Marsden and Huddersfield, Marsden generally being preferred but potentially less choice and less regular trains mean commuting may be more of a strain. Huddersfield seems to get “mixed” reviews, there seem to be a fair few on here from around that area – any areas to avoid or aim for? Cheers

I’m from near there originally (Mirfield) and lived in Huddersfield for a while. I wouldn’t live in the town itself or most of the areas directly surrounding it. I did and it was pretty dodgy at times. Marsden is nice though. Salendine Nook and Birchencliffe were decent areas. No idea if that’s changed as I haven’t been back for quite a while.

Mirfield is good for commuting in to Leeds. I lived there for the first twenty years of my life and it was a good place to grow up. Again, not been back for a while though.

Holmfirth here. Commuting can be tough (road or rail) but I haven’t done it for years. No idea what the current rail situation is from the smaller stations. Holme and Colne Valleys are decent places to live and the closer you get to Huddersfield the edgier they get. Riding from the door is great and Marsden itself is more cosmo than its ever been with food and drink.

Yeah, don’t live in Huddersfield.

Marsden or Slaithwaite for the Transpenine rail to get to Manchester or Leeds, although the stops aren’t as frequent as from Huddersfield Station.

Both have good riding from the door as well, no need to drive anywhere.

If you can commute into Hudds to get a train that’ll open more possibilities, depends on budget etc as well.

Slaithwaite

Last time I was there it was doing a good impression of the dog shit capital of the UK

Marsden based here. The trains don’t seem too bad now, plenty of people in the village commute to Leeds or Manchester. I’m afraid I can’t offer more details than that as I work from home, but as a place to live it’s great. Lovely community with plenty going on, and riding from the doorstep.

Have you considered Calderdale? It also connects to Manchester and Leeds via.train but on a different line.

Slaithwaite and parts of Glocar are nice. How far do you want to walk to a train station?

Marsden, Sla’wit, Golcar, Bolster Moor are all decent enough areas. Some good biking from your door. Train service is getting better but as said you will have more choice if you can get into town. Moved here 20 years ago from West Midlands and I have to say it’s my favourite place in the world! Biking, climbing, dales, peaks, lakes, north wales all in easy reach…

Lindley, Birchencliffe, Salendine Nook and Outlane/Sowood are all OK…Barkisland is tipping over into Calderdale but is nice and gives you the option of Huddersfield for trains or dropping down to Sowerby Bridge/Halifax. Are you wanting to be a walk/cycle distance to the station or a drive and if a drive, will it be two cars so two stations are do-able, or one car and you need on station for both of you (hope that makes sense)

Note that train travel west of Marsden through to Manchester is expensive due to going through the tunnel.
You can live on the Manchester side but it’s equally expensive to get through to Marsden.

As said above, I think calderdale will give you more options.

Thanks all for replies, useful stuff. We did consider Calderdale side (Sowerby Bridge or similar) but on first inspection it seemed significantly slower for trains, especially Manchester way (partner needs to get to Piccadilly area rather than Victoria).

You can walk from Victoria to Piccadilly in 10-15mins

Thinking of moving that way shortly – my partner is from Marsden originally and family still there. We both work in Manchester.

Partner suggests you can drive to Greenfield thereby avoiding tunnel and cheaper on the train too.

We are hoping to be there by the New Year so will also be looking for some riding (I did post a separate post the other day!).

My mate used to live in Golcar and grew up there. Nice place is that.

Plenty of lovely villages on the train line between Huddersfax and Manchester too.

I live in Huddersfield. There’s some nice places right next to some really bad ones. House prices reflect this.

Consider brighouse and other surrounding areas Imo. Lots of villages on the train line either way. Depends on how much your willing to travel

It’s pretty simple in this part of W Yorks.

If you live in the valley, it could be nice or a bit rough but you don’t see sunlight in winter… Just the dark satanic empty mills

If you live up the hill then you get all the weather all of the time, right in your face. The plants grow at 45deg due to the westerly. Every walk or ride invoices a chuffing hill.

There’s some great pubs and breweries and most people are okay. It’s great here!

Partner suggests you can drive to Greenfield thereby avoiding tunnel and cheaper on the train too.

Yeah quite a few people in Holme Vslley drive over the tops to greenfield, Mossley, stalybridge and hop on the train there, but then it’s about the same distance as driving to Huddersfield and it saves a load of money. Tough in the winter though.

If you’ve got two cars have you thought about Ripponden? One could drive over the hill to Littleborough station and the other to Sowerby Bridge station.

Some great riding there too

Stop with the cars! If you’re coming here… (Calderdale at least) please can you plan to travel to stations on foot or by bike?

In normal times our town centre is cluttered with cars people leave during the day and drive away at night. It’s no good for shops or in fact anyone who stays in the town during the day. We don’t have enough flat land to build big car parks either – no easy solution in an area with steep sided hills. So if you can buy somewhere you can walk/cycle to the station you are doing everyone a favour x

@Clover – where are you based?

Local public transport is not good. Poor frequency of buses and not much connectivity to train stations. People drive to train stations as they tend to have lots of parking and the buses are rubbish. My nearest station is Sowerby Bridge (massive car park) but it’s 2 bus rides to get there. I can get to Halifax or Hudds much easier despite being further away from my house

Todmorden. Same problem in Hebden Bridge. Local roads rammed with parked commuter cars (precovid).

Buses can be rubbish (because privatised – even the current government is beginnings to see this is a problem) but much of valley housing is a walk or short ride from a station.

I wouldn’t buy a house without decent non-car connections (because you never know when you might not be able to drive – or to afford one).