What’s going for it? Nobody knows why Hebden Bridge became “Hebden Bridge”, officially the quirkiest/kookiest/koolest/most LGBTQ-friendly/least chain-store-y etc small town in the universe. I have asked. I asked the people in the herb shop on the narrowboat, at the market, on the towpath, at the Trades Club. I asked Urban Boffins in the university faculty I teach in. Nobody knows. It looks like other northern, post-industrial former mill towns: canal, steep valley, Methodist chapels, chimneys... It feels, though, utterly different, a little rain-soaked paradise. You’d never have guessed it from Hebden Bridge’s starring role in Happy Valley’s grimfest; nor from local boy Ted Hughes’ poem Stubbing Wharfe: “the hopeless old stone trap”. Two decades after he wrote that in the 1950s, though, others saw what he couldn’t – artists, hippies and conservationists doing up its cheap, knackered buildings. Today the town feels festive even on a wet winter Tuesday: all co-ops, carrot cake and bunting – blunt Yorkshire wit, though, perfectly tempering the earnestness.
The case against… Such is the demand to live here, and such is the shortage of space, you’ll pay a premium to move in. Floods: though how well it bounced back from the last, in 2016. Cosmopolitan it may be, but it’s still a very small town. Occasionally tends towards over-kookiness.
Well connected? Trains: to Manchester Victoria (34-45 mins) via Rochdale (17-24 mins); every 15 mins to Leeds (48-54 mins) via Halifax (13-17 mins) and Bradford (26-31 mins). Driving: half an hour to Halifax, the M62 and the M65 at Burnley, 40 mins to Bradford, 50 to Leeds and over an hour to central Manchester.
Schools Primaries: all the town’s primary schools – Heptonstall, Riverside, Stubbings Infant, Central Street Infant and Hebden Royd Church of England are “good”, according to Ofsted. Secondaries: Calder High in nextdoor Mytholmroyd is “good”.
Hang out at… You won’t want for nice cafes, pubs, micro-brewers and tea rooms, Coffee Cali and the like. The Trades Club: good enough for Mark E Smith.
Where to buy The whole town is a delight of stone terraces and Victorian villas. A location higher up the hills, with even better views, is most prized. Love the peculiar upstairs-downstairs houses – one house on top of another – set into the steep slopes. Large detacheds and townhouses, £400,000-£600,000. Detacheds and smaller townhouses, £400,000. Semis, £200,000-£300,000. Terraces and cottages, £120,000-£275,000. Flats, £90,000-£170,000. Rentals: not much; a three-bedroom house, £525-£700pcm.
Bargain of the week Not cheap, but what an opportunity. A wonderful four-bedroom, grade II-listed stone 16th-century home: £465,000 with peterdavid.co.uk.
From the streets
Ian Strachan “Magic mountain biking, and great bike shop. Hardcastle Craggs NT woodland great for a walk to Gibson Mill for tea and cake.”
Nader Fekri “It’s warm, gay-friendly and artistic. I can’t imagine living anywhere else.”
Paul Clarke “Pet hate: the pointless debate between those born in the town and ‘offcumdens’ like me who have chosen to live in a town with nationally recognised music venue the Trades Club, our own cinema, and great schools. It’s the perfect place to bring up kids.”
• Live in Hebden Bridge? Join the debate below.
Do you live in Tenterden, Kent? Do you have a favourite haunt or a pet hate? If so, email lets.move@theguardian.com by Tuesday 27 February.
