Discussion
Has anyone seen this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBsURhlQbEo
Its a documentary based in Hebden Bridge, a quaint touristy town set in the valleys of Yorkshire. But behind the thin veneer of bohemian beauty, it is mired by drugs, depression and suicides. The town has a very insular feeling, trapped deep down in the valleys between steep hills that go off in every direction, seemingly miles from anywhere.
I grew up in Halifax, just up the road from HB, and we always knew it as a bit of a cool, but odd place. People would openly smoke pot in the street and you could buy hand baskets knitted by lesbian farmers from Cambodia. But everyone knew about the underlying issues, the fact that it seemed so cut off from the outside world, so hard to escape with those brown hills bearing down on you and closing out the sky.
There was a jokey saying that referred to the place as 'A drugs town with a tourist problem'.
Has anyone been there before? It grew very popular with hippies when all the old mill workers left 50 years or so ago and is now apparently the lesbian capital of the UK, so all in all its quite an interesting place set in beautiful countryside.
And to be honest, I don't know why I made this thread, but I was thinking about the place today (after reading a review about the above documentary in the paper) and its quite an interesting place so I thought that hearing some opinions would be good. Other than that, there isn't really a point to this post, so enjoy the rest of your evening folks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBsURhlQbEo
Its a documentary based in Hebden Bridge, a quaint touristy town set in the valleys of Yorkshire. But behind the thin veneer of bohemian beauty, it is mired by drugs, depression and suicides. The town has a very insular feeling, trapped deep down in the valleys between steep hills that go off in every direction, seemingly miles from anywhere.
I grew up in Halifax, just up the road from HB, and we always knew it as a bit of a cool, but odd place. People would openly smoke pot in the street and you could buy hand baskets knitted by lesbian farmers from Cambodia. But everyone knew about the underlying issues, the fact that it seemed so cut off from the outside world, so hard to escape with those brown hills bearing down on you and closing out the sky.
There was a jokey saying that referred to the place as 'A drugs town with a tourist problem'.
Has anyone been there before? It grew very popular with hippies when all the old mill workers left 50 years or so ago and is now apparently the lesbian capital of the UK, so all in all its quite an interesting place set in beautiful countryside.
And to be honest, I don't know why I made this thread, but I was thinking about the place today (after reading a review about the above documentary in the paper) and its quite an interesting place so I thought that hearing some opinions would be good. Other than that, there isn't really a point to this post, so enjoy the rest of your evening folks.
Edited by Shay HTFC on Saturday 19th June 23:03
Have a few (I'll call them) "friends" in Hebden Bridge and Todmorden. Lesbian Central as I call it. Deva Link said:
I drive through Hebden Bridge quite often and I've always thought it seemed a bit weird. And I can't think why tourists would be interested - many of those towns are the most dreary of places unless you hit a rare nice day.
I think its one of those places that is touristy when it is new and 'exotic' to you. For Londoners it typifies their idea of quaint Yorkshire mill town nestled in a valley, which all seems a million miles away from their pokey 1 bed flat in Islington.Live about 10 miles from Hebden bridge in Rawtenstall.
Been up there a few times - quite a nice place to spend an afternoon. Not had a night out there but from what I've heard it's supposed to be half decent.
Wasn't aware of it being popular with lesbians (might have a drive up there tomorrow & have a look!) but there's definitely a fair number of oddballs up there. Proper oddballs...
Drove through there a few months back & there was a bloke tottering up the street in a dress & heels. He had a shaved head though, loads of tattoo's & no make-up, which was strange. This was around 1pm on a Sunday afternoon.
Been up there a few times - quite a nice place to spend an afternoon. Not had a night out there but from what I've heard it's supposed to be half decent.
Wasn't aware of it being popular with lesbians (might have a drive up there tomorrow & have a look!) but there's definitely a fair number of oddballs up there. Proper oddballs...
Drove through there a few months back & there was a bloke tottering up the street in a dress & heels. He had a shaved head though, loads of tattoo's & no make-up, which was strange. This was around 1pm on a Sunday afternoon.
We dont like them in hebden.
Kin yoghurt knitters and cheese dancers.
And Cornholme is the lesbian capital round here.
We don't have lesbians in Tod. We'd burn them
(Well apart from my next door neighbour, and that chubby woman up the road, and the grey haired woman with the sensible shoes).
They have no sense of humour in hebden either, it would damage the environment, think of the children/yogurt/african babies/goats.
Kin yoghurt knitters and cheese dancers.
And Cornholme is the lesbian capital round here.
We don't have lesbians in Tod. We'd burn them
(Well apart from my next door neighbour, and that chubby woman up the road, and the grey haired woman with the sensible shoes).
They have no sense of humour in hebden either, it would damage the environment, think of the children/yogurt/african babies/goats.
cazzer said:
Sorry but how can it be isolated...its 8 miles from halifax, 8 miles from burnley, 10 miles from rochdale.
Not exactly the outer hebrides.
Theyre just a bunch of moanin hippies....b
ks to em.
It's one of those places that feels like it's a million miles away from anywhere else.Not exactly the outer hebrides.
Theyre just a bunch of moanin hippies....b
ks to em. Been quite a few times, did a university project that was based in the town, and nearly bought a beautiful Morris J4 camper from some vaguely hippyish people there. There is something odd about the place that you can't quite out your finger on, it does all feel a bit 'Red Riding', if you've ever seen the channel 4 dramatisation, there's even the unsolved murder of Lindsay Rimer to back up this feeling. Guess it's something to do with the town feeling so enclosed by the hills on all sides. Seems like there's a group of pissheads/crackheads like that featured in the film in any small town and many suburbs everywhere in this country though to be honest, just not all of them had a friend who grew up to be a filmmaker. That said I'd like to see this, anyone know wehere it can be seen?
I imagine the arrival of a load of minted lesbians from down south, and company directors commuting to Manchester and Leeds can't help with house prices/ forcing locals out etc. Haven't many of the old folk died of Asbestosis as well? I don't think it's really that different to many small northern towns to be honest, it's just most lack even a veneer of respectability.
I imagine the arrival of a load of minted lesbians from down south, and company directors commuting to Manchester and Leeds can't help with house prices/ forcing locals out etc. Haven't many of the old folk died of Asbestosis as well? I don't think it's really that different to many small northern towns to be honest, it's just most lack even a veneer of respectability.
Shay HTFC said:
I think its one of those places that is touristy when it is new and 'exotic' to you. For Londoners it typifies their idea of quaint Yorkshire mill town nestled in a valley, which all seems a million miles away from their pokey 1 bed flat in Islington.
bks is all I can say to that. Gassing Station | The Lounge | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff