Did You Know?

Halifax 19th century wealth came from the cotton, wool and carpet industries and like most other Yorkshire towns, it had a large number of weaving mills many of which have been lost or converted to alternate use.

The Halifax Piece Hall is a magnificent 18th century building in the heart of Halifax. Its original purpose was to enable woollen handloom weavers to sell their ‘pieces’ to merchants who travelled far and wide for the high quality cloth. It first opened for business on January 1, 1779, with over 300 separate rooms arranged around a central courtyard.

The Wainhouse Tower is a folly in the parish of King’s Cross, on the South West side of Halifax. At 275 feet it is the tallest structure in Calderdale and the tallest folly in the world. It was originally built as a chimney for a local dye works by John Edward Wainhouse in the late 19th century but was never used in that capacity.

Halifax was a busy industrial town, dealing in and producing wool, carpets, machine tools and beer.

Shirley Crabtree, better known as Big Daddy,was a professional wrestler famous for his record breaking 64 inch chest. He was born in Halifax and was a former rugby league player, worked as a coal miner and a lifeguard before becoming a professional wrestler in 1952.

On Tuesday June 17 1913 a quiet Siddal street was suddenly thrown into confusion and panic. Passers by scattered in all directions, ducking into available doorways and diving behind stalls. For running up Jubilee Street was a Canadian Grizzly Bear. The massive creature had escaped from Halifax Zoo which has since closed.

In November 1938, in an incident of mass hysteria, many residents believed a serial killer, the Halifax Slasher, was on the loose. Scotland Yard concluded there were no attacks after several locals admitted they had inflicted wounds on themselves.

When the French carried out their first execution by guillotine in 1792, they may not have known they were 505 years late to claim being first to use such a contraption? The Halifax Gibbet was a forerunner of the guillotine and is said to have dispatched a certain John of Dalton in 1286. By 1541 those caught committing a crime would most certainly have to face the gibbet.

Dean Clough in Halifax is a large mill complex originally built in the 1840s to 1860s for Crossley’s Carpets. At the time it was the world’s largest carpet factory at half a mile long with 1,250,000 square feet of floor space.

Halifax is home to the professional rugby league academy, Halifax Elite Rugby Academy, which has a partnership with Huddersfield and Castleford. Halifax RLFC is one of the most historic rugby league clubs in the game, formed over a century ago, in 1873.

In 1834, the Palace of Westminster in London was destroyed by a great fire, so a public competition was held to find a new design for the ‘home of Parliament’. Out of 90 architects, Charles Barry was chosen as the overall winner, and over next number years he worked to create the Houses of Parliament. In 1848 a corporation met in the old assembly room in Halifax to plan the new town hall.