This Place Once Had Everything. What Happened? 

I WFH full time, but previously I walked to work, bought a coffee on the way in - went out for a sandwich at lunch, and sometimes went shopping, got a bacon sandwich on Fridays, would sometimes go for sone drinks or a meal with work colleagues on a Friday, and would always get food shopping walking back from the office. Now I sit at home watching TV all day and get everything delivered and bought online. Almost no interaction with work colleagues as nobody really leaves home. Must be the same all over, and I don’t think it’s a good direction. No wonder town centres are dying.

It is said, William the conqueror also got stuck on the ring road and couldn’t find a parking spot for his Renault Megane.

Thank you for covering Huddersfield. I am 40 years old. I was born in Huddersfield and it has got gradually worse all my life. Lovely people, nice surrounding areas, but it has been very badly managed and has been in decline for decades, especially since the closing down of the textiles mills.

The problem with charity shops is the managers today look at items gifted as in cost nothing but then they go on eBay and look at similar items and price them accordingly. What they fail to realise is, if we want to pay eBay prices for an item we go on eBay. Charity shops are ruining it for themselves with this pricing policy and they are too thick to realise it. The days of buying a vase from a charity shop for £5 and finding out it's worth £50 or £500 is over I'm afraid and for this reason I no longer visit charity shops.

*TO BE FAIR* everything is mouldy in Huddersfield - that's just the climate; it's why they manufacture the worlds best wool cloth there, the damp in the sandstone brickwork of the mills keeps the wool at the perfect level of flexibility to be woven. They even put the bolts of cloth in old mill-damp rooms to relax and settle before they deliver it

This is pretty much what ALL town centers look like in the UK now. The "Internet" has f++ked everything.

Shopping Malls designed in the 60s to 2000 with modern architecture are dying fast, very cold with no emotion

Down here in Tasmania during the Covid lockdowns the Launceston council still had ticket inspectors wandering the near deserted streets giving tickets to those lucky few who could actually get into town to spend their money if they went a minute over their limit. Total madness. That’s councils for you.

I think you should investigate what is happening to all the Levelling Up funds. The cynic in me is it is just a Tory bailout for their developer mates. You've already been to Hanley, but there's boarded up "levelling up" brownfield sites that will never change. Funds are being cancelled. Another great video.

I was a teenager living in Huddersfiled in the late 80's. Such a fantastic place to live (I moved away in the early 90's). The town centre was bustling all the time. Great pubs and the amazing Pleasuredome nightclub or 'The Changing Lights'. The pubs on the outskirts of town were always good to visit, always something going on during the week. The Plazza was at the centre of the town where all the punks would hang out. I am glad you mentioned the architecture as the buildings are fantastic and a lot of people miss this. I never had a problem with parking when I lived there and when I have returned to visit. Great video, just very sad to watch

There is some nice architecture in Huddersfield. These town centres need to reinvent themselves. We no longer need so many retail units

I used to busk with an upright piano in Huddersfield 30odd years ago. It was a thriving bustle of people back then. Hard to believe I'm looking at the same town.

In the 80’s , 90’s Tesco & Asda killed the independent locals shops then in the 2000 & 2010 onwards Amazon & online shopping finally putting the last few nails in the coffin ⚰️ only a matter of time time now before the final cremation….

Breaks my heart this. I went to Huddersfield University from Sept 2001 to june 2006. It was absolutely buzzing, no closed or boarded up buildings. Huddersfield will always have a special place in my heart.

As a Yorkshire man there is no "H" in udersfield 😂

I was in High Wycombe the other day and the old shopping centre (The Chilterns) has been abandoned and all that's left is Primark and a vape shop etc. Some of the indie shops that left there and moved to The Eden Centre have either folded or going to fold in the next month due to high rents and shop lifting etc.

So sad to see the Towns and shops in such decline.

To be fair to Huddersfield, the Domesday book listed numerous places as being "waste" - it meant those holdings paid no tax as they had nothimg of value, which in Northern England was usually down to Norman soldiers having come along and massacred people and destroyed everything of value in order to break opposition to Norman rule. Look up "Harrying of the North". Yorkshire was particularly affected by this violence - 60% of its holdings were waste by the time of the Domesday book, and only an estimated 25% of its pre-Norman population of 200,000 was still alive.

John Betjeman, poet laureate, said Huddersfield Town's railway station facade was the most wonderful in the world.

"There is nothing positive anymore".....agreed.

The Piazza has been deliberately emptied over the past few years as the area is to be redeveloped as a "cultural quarter". We'll see how that works out 🤷‍♂️

With parking so distant, I think about people with mobility issues, parents with small children, people struggling in really bad weather, older people, etc., and what a difficulty it would be for all of them. It seems a recipe for failure to not have at least some parking close by to encourage people to shop in the city center.

Me and my hubby are watching from Canada, we moved from Hudds well Holmfirth in 2015. It was so sad to see the town that way. My favourite place was the Open Market. It was so nice to see it again. Thanks great video!

Hope you found your car .... I own a retail business that's 154 years old and it's so sad to see the high street closing down. It's not just online sales that are killing the high street but the supermarkets selling everything apart from just food. I get great enjoyment from watching your videos, across the board. On about chimneys, you did your video on house prices in Peckham just down the road in camberwell is an old hospital, now residential and I'm sure it still has its massive chimney.

I moved to Huddersfield 14 years ago and in that time a once thriving town centre has turned into a wasteland. Some of the shops gone are - BHS, M&S, Wilkos, Iceland, House of Fraser, and even Farm Foods. The pace of decline has been rapid. The council is even closing its own customer service centre, an essential service for the more vulnerable who don’t have internet access or struggle with doing everything online. Truly shocking 😳.

I was a student in Huddersfield in the early 90's. I loved the place. Lived above a shop in Lindley near the hospital. No luxury student accommodation back then ! I remember it being a busy centre with a great market. Cheap prices, nice down to earth people (on the whole), amazing stone buildings including terraced streets not just the fancy buildings. I remember Fartown being a ghetto back then. Probably worse now. Always got a work-out walking round as it's hilly everywhere... Shame it's in decline but same as a lot of places nowadays. Brought back some memories thanks

Born and still in Huddersfield, such a shame what it has become!! Always great videos!!!

The Piaza shops all been closed for a massive new building project. Enjoyed your video. The main New street has been upgraded , new roads,trees . Just want more shops so people will come, lots of Huddersfield people go to Halifax to shop. Super day out there, plus The Piece hall.🙂

I used to live in Huddersfield (1993-2004 then 2008/9), and I considered it my second home, in fact I used to live just by those short,fat chimneys and I was dying to share my local knowledge, but you worked out what they are for. There's car parking above the bus station, (or at least there used to be). Queensgate market used to be ace and the Piazza area was thriving, (I'll have to ask my mate, the self styled 'King of Huddersfield' what's going on with that). Good to see the open/flea market is still going. There are rough areas, but most places have some rough spots and you don't have to venture far from town to find some stunning areas. Nice video, thanks for going to Hudds,

Theres less charity shops than ever. I see it everywhere i go. Nothing is being donated. The people who were donating are now re-using stuff or re-selling.

The Piazza and Queensgate Market have been closed with a plan to be demolished - to become a ‘cultural heart’ of Hudds - an art gallery, museum and food hall. The big ‘indoor part’ you pointed out was formerly a British Home Stores back in the day. Great video! I went to Uni there so brought back some memories.

To be fair, as a charity shop manager - we were concerned about online clothing limiting donations but if anything they've gone up. People tend to buy more than they sell and with the cheap cost of buying online they're more willing to give them away. So, we see more coming into the shop. Never at a loss for clothing! We get less interesting items like bric-a-brac and electrical items than we used too though.

You have some kind of baby hedgehog on your Northface! Also: big up Auntie Turnip, my Mum watches on the tv so I’ll make sure she’s subbed

I did a job just prior to lockdown in Huddersfield and vowed never to return after. The first day I got a bit lost and was entrapped into bus lanes TWICE! Two fines in a matter of seconds! I remember saying to myself, in a fit of pique, this town deserves to die, why are the folk in charge of towns and cities seemingly always the last folk you’d ever want in charge?

Town centres need to contract in size to reflect the needs of the community. It doesn't make sense to try and keep places the same size as if it's the 1990s still. Incentivise shop owners to move closer together to avoid the dereliction and have a true town centre where all shops can make the most of the footfall. I think it's the only way forward imo.

The 66 year old guy, while he seems like a really genuine guy so im not having a go honestly, epitomises what the UK seems to do to many people. Not all obviously before people get triggered 🙄 I'm only 8 years younger than this guy but I live in SE Asia and I don't feel old at all, everything is just so vibrant here, the colours, the people, the street food, just the energy is totally different. That guy at 66 has just given up in his own words, he's treading water until they put him in the ground and I honestly feel a big part of that is just the whole atmosphere in suburban Britain. It's depressing.

Why don't we EXEMPT all parking charges, EXEMPT all local trade taxes for say around months and see what that does to local economy? Street Vendors are so so common in ASIA due to low tax rates

Went to Uni in Huddersfield 2014-2018 sad to see how much it’s gone downhill. Loved my time there

It’s crazy how Huddersfield has gone downhill so fast and yet a few short miles away, Brighouse is booming. It’s probably not something you’d be interested in visiting but the contrast is stark between these two towns.

Left us on a cliffhanger! Did the Wandering Turnip ever find his car..?

Thanks for following my suggestion from a few months ago. After watching your video it's actually worse than I thought. That huge 6,000 sq ft empty shop used to be Farmfoods, even they've disappeared 😢 If you'd headed a bit further south out of town you'd haven been in chimney heaven. I used to work at the place with the first chimney were you couldn't access it, it was a family run textiles mill called Bates and Co. Great video 👍

Wow, Vinyl Tap! I never knew they had moved to Huddersfield after they closed in Leeds. Great to know they are still going.

Thanks so much for a great video! Glad you are getting recognised whilst wandering. Magic! ❤

🐑I was born in Huddersfield and lived in Brighouse, Halifax & Hebden Bridge. (I now live in California 🌴) From what little I can see online Brighouse has managed to dodge “the death of the High Street” and has a waitlist for it’s downtown independent shop spaces… not as “bougie” as Hebden but enough to stay afloat. Halifax however appears to be in the same boat as ‘Uddersfield’… on the decline. 😢

Be thankful it’s changing into student accommodation. At least you have people moving into the town centre. My town had a uni and moved out, nightlife changed significantly. Thankfully we have a college still, else the town would be completely dead and unrecoverable. Funnily enough I nearly went to Huddersfield Uni but decided on elsewhere. Parking is a huge issue with these towns. All pedestrianised (in theory is great but when the high street is dying we need to encourage people popping in to town). Extortionate parking charges everywhere in town. People are deterred and instead go to “out of town” shopping, which is only a mile or so away, has free parking, the tenants pay smaller business rates, and the landowners bought the land dirt cheap. Councils are dumb and short sighted I’m afraid. Cherry blossom at the start was a nice touch though! And I’m digging the chode chimneys.

There isn't a thing in this country now that has not got mega problems. Railways, buses, roads completely knackered, post office, electricity/gas, water, town centres , scumbags bags everywhere. Believe me this was a pretty cool decent place once. This must be what they meant by Levelling Up or was it Northern Power House.

Thank you for visiting Huddersfield. I first moved here in 2005 as a student and went to the university here. I still live here to this day and my husband who is from New Zealand has moved here with me. We both decided to buy a house here because it was affordable and not that far from Leeds where we both work. We are sad to see the decline of the town centre and pretty much all of my favourite shops have closed. There’s only Sainsbury’s and Boots left that we ever really go to regularly. Walkers Jewlers is still open and they are fantastic with great service! The short, wide chimneys you found near to the town centre are the smoke holes for the railway tunnel that runs under the car park. That tunnel is the local stopping line that runs between Huddersfield and Sheffield. Even though the town centre is in decline, there are still places like Greenhead Park and Castle Hill which are nearby which are great to visit so it’s not all bad.

Good video. I was a student there in the late 80s / early 90s and find it interesting to see how much the town has changed. Very sad to see the many empty shops especially round the Piazza however there are some some encouraging signs of life. Well done Turnip!

Blame the Tories come on 🤣🤣🤣 You have been very kind and not showing the homeless sleeping on the Streets.

Cheers from Chicago!!

Have just discovered your channel and I’m so glad that I did. I love what you’re doing- highlighting how economics, etc have ravaged UK cities while providing historical facts and introducing us to some amazing architecture. And I love your love of chimneys 😀. Keep it up, you’re doing quite the service!

Another interesting video. Your so enthusiastic in what you do 😊

No No Parking and inadequate Public Transport, nobody works and nobody shops.

So sad to see everything closed down. Please visit Scunthorpe

I'm glad that you could find a massive chimney to touch. There is no more wholesome activity that a gentleman can engage in than going out and looking at other men's chimneys. Good on you lad.

Makes me really sad seeing Huddersfield like this. I grew up nearby and have fond memories from when I was a teen to early 20s. The late 90's to mid 2000's I remember the town was such a pleasure to visit and the nightlife was epic. Now there's so much crime and all the shops shut. Really is tragic. Awesome content mate. Love your videos.

Mostly all northern towns and city centres are declining some badly.

Shop owners CAN get their vehicles to their shops - before 10am and after 4pm.

I lived and went to uni in Huddersfield from 2017-2020 and always liked how bustling the town centre always seemed to be with a great selection of independent shops and cafes. It was a big step up from my hometown which had empty arcades and a ton of bookies. It’s honestly heartbreaking to watch this, so much deterioration in such little time.

I can just imagine in the early 00s this place would’ve been bustling! Kids running around in colourful coats playing and eating sweets, adults properly dressed, no mobile phones in sight! People buying things and not sitting at home waiting for their Amazon deliveries 😢

Hard times create strong men; strong men bring good times; good times create weak men; weak men bring hard times

Fab video as always 😊 Damn you lad 😂 having watched you over the past year or so you've got me addicted to and researching chimneys

When I worked in Thornton, Bradford (Pattison’s Loft Insulation) I used to work with a lad who played for Huddersfield (Town?) Football club. Jim Dempsey. The thing that’s aged me is he must be close to 60 now!!

@22:05 The small "Chimmey's" are Tunnel Ventilation Shafts for the railway.

England's dreamin' has turned into a nightmare, there are people a lot worse of in the world. But its pretty bleak and unproductive. I don't drive public transport is screwed also, libraries that are left are struggling. Town centres for the most part are doing a deep dive. The thing that has really struck me is rapidity of the changes right now. I don't dwell on nostalgia and the good olde days but people & places are being left behind and but some people are thriving and have accumulated assets & wealth. I would buy vintage as a student in the 90s. At just one Oxfam charity shop in my town , for a few pennies. Now there are ten. 🤷Always look forward to your wanderings & wonderings.

You should come to blyth Northumberland, the council have ruined our shopping area, closed down our market place to build a cinema nobody wants...last 2 closed because nobody uses them and there is another a couple of miles away in cramlington, closed our small shopping centre to build some kind of education center again nobody wants as they built a supposedly purpose built building for that near the beach, shops closing left right and center due ridiculous rents and now falling foot traffic due to the councils 'improvements' not to mention shoddy upkeep of the buildings, death of the high Street indeed! Purposely I believe 😢

Love these vids David!

You're a natural at this, with informative and engaging content presented in a way that is really enjoyable to watch. Nice One.

👍👏 Very interesting to learn about Huddersfield's history and see the town with the scary reputation.. "The Shambles" made me think of York.. I always loved that lane full of quirky buildings and shops.. Wonder how it's doing now.. 🤔 You had me there for a sec about the sponsor.. 😂🍏 I was about to congratulate you! Goes without saying, I would choose _"Turnip Productions"_ over mainstream TV any time! This channel's going places.. especially when you find a chimney you can touch!! 🤗

Personally I think we're in a transition period where we just don't know what the next phase is. Everything is closing down and the old ways are dying out but we're not too sure what we need or want to replace it. Strange times.

great video you have some awesome content i feel in the next few years it will basically be retail parks and major shopping centres. high streets are only getting emptier by the week.

Always so enjoyable to watch and learn

What a grim and depressing place

I used to import a lot of geotechnical/drilling equipment from Huddersfield into Europe from a company called EDECO. When the company suddenly went bankrupt.....

WT - best opening you have ever done . You just keep getting better . Hession

Really interesting video, well done. I found those ventilation chimneys at the end the most interesting

I only been once to Huddersfield, never again. (this was like 20 years ago)

Always an enjoyable show, thanks Wandering Turnip.

Is it possible you could wander around to Wakefield?

The UK looks so extremely miserable

I spent a winter there and it was pretty grim. (Mostly) friendly folk but when I applied for Housing Benefit from the Council they told me the property we lived in wasn't fit for human habitation and "repatriated" us to Norfolk! There were much worse houses/estates around there too...

Fascinating video. Thank you!

I think I commented a few months ago on one of your videos to request this, not sure if this was influenced by my request or not but glad you’ve shed light on this dump I grew up in 😅 i worked in a cafe in the town about 6 years ago and I had to park 20 minute walk away everyday and that was still £4/day!

Parking was never a problem when the majority of people used buses. Car Parks for supermarkets are often bigger than the actual supermarket. Multiply that by the number of supermarkets and you end up with a barren environment resembling a desert of just tarmac and cars. USE BUSES.

Really fond memories of Huddersfield in the mid 90s / early 2000s, going to huddersfield new College, working as a pot wash at Bradley’s restaurant. Going to Hards times at bell air nightclub. There were lots of great independent clothes shops and record stores. I spent lots of time wait for the 363 or x6 bus to get back home in brickhouse. At that bus station, really great times. Big up the Town

Huddersfield, born and bred. Grew up in Dalton in the 70s, now residing in NY. Sad to see how the town center had declined.

more life in cleckhuddasfax than in bradford

Cool that your Nan watches your videos, my parents alone wouldn't know how to find one of mine unless I set them up on a browser with the page loaded.

There's several decent restaurants on the road around the Tesco's you passed. I'm pretty sure The Chilli Lounge is actually open in the evenings. There's a big new sports centre across the road from the bus station. They're building a new cinema and bowling alley In the Kingsgate Centre. They're also redeveloping the Queensgate Market which I'm guessing is why all the shops are closed on the Piazza

Thank you for the video.

IMO the main reason places like Huddersfield have gone down the toilet is greed, corruption, and ideologically driven local councils. Therefore, most of the blame goes to the people themselves for repeatedly electing them on the promise of a few freebies that rarely materialize. Pedestinaising these kinds of towns is the last thing councils should have done. There is no excuse for buildings to remain empty if the council rates were reasonable and the town planners had done their jobs properly. If it remains empty for more than 12 months it should be compulsorily purchased for almost sod all and put to good use at radically reduced rents and rates. If you go behind the facade you will soon find that the developers built these buildings using large local council subsidies. They never were viable propositions at the rents that they were expected to bring in. Even the first tenants received local council incentives which eventually dried up. For an area to succeed the first thing it needs is MONEY. The main source around this area is the university which is quite tragic but better than nothing at all and at least a start. What Huddesfiel really needs is profitable industries in or close to the town. Even well-organized prostitution is better than nothing. Some money and a reason to go to Huddersfield, even cheap and well-organized prostitution and plenty of vibrant nightlife is better than nothing. Industrial policies from successive national; governments have led to the demise of towns such as Huddersfield. Why make it here when the Chinese will make it far cheaper, is their thinking? Why put up with the complaints and entitled aspirations of a cohesive working-class population when they can gradually replace them with 3rd Worlders who don't seem to mind living this way. Indeed however awful it is, see life in Huddersfield as a great improvement as long as the NHS Hospital stays open and the other benefits come in? Why indeed? This all costs the local council's fortunes and the money has to come from somewhere. Which is more fines, fewer services, higher parking rates, council taxes, and rents. This leads to further closures of whatever remains and an ever-faster march backward into dystopia unless a miracle occurs. Nothing will improve in Huddersfield because the people who are systematically running it down into the abyss, namely the local council are quite happy to continue to do so. The only answer the council likes is more central government handouts which come when the local population rises. As indigenous people fail to reproduce in sufficient numbers, their only answer to their only problem which is more money, is easy to understand. Lucky for me I live in Central London, where there is still loads of money around, and I mean loads of the stuff even in the poorer areas. The West End of London was so jammed with shoppers for weeks before Christmas I could not even ride my motorcycle around the roads as they were all full of people spending money like WWIII was about to start. Why should the people down here give a crap bout people up there, least of all any Labour politicians who spend most of their time living it high on the hoof in the most expensive restaurants and clip joints in the world after a night at the Royal Opera House at £290 a ticket? The last time I came across a Labour politician at my club he had just polished off his 2nd bottle of Mouton Rothschild 87, or was it his 3rd? Difficult to tell as this guy can handle his alcohol, that is for sure.

I feel like landowners just charge such stupid high rents for space. I run a martial arts club that is not for profit, so we don't make any money, other than JUST enough to pay the rent and bills, and that's with full mats, we're now under threat of being evicted due to the owner putting the building up for sale, we've tried looking for another venue and the £ per Square metre is just ludicrous. Landlords have priced the highstreet out of business as well as other social activity businesses.

The store with the double glass front in the pack horse , I used to be a manager in that store unit around 5-6 years ago and it was a very difficult time back then for footfall

Always different class mate! 10/10 every week keep it up 👌👍

The good people of this town have never cared much for the rich and greedy. The Luddites were based in Huddersfield. 17 locals were hanged and another 2 were shot by the militia

Thank you Mr Turnip. 10 years ago I had to drive from Bury to Huddersfield 4 days a week to get No.2 son to university (all the foreign students had got all the accommodation) and the place was thriving. Ten years of WEF governance from Tory WEFMinster and Liebour WEF councils have destroyed the place. Government Nett Zero fuel tax and business rates, councils wasting money on Woke/Green stupidity, parking charges, insane road systems and housing boat people before locals. Insane inflation from printing currency to lock people in their homes they can't afford to heat now. People need to wake up and realise that those in power are having one massive cash grabbing party and we are not invited other than for picking up their tab! And this is just the start!

Some lovely old architecture in Huddersfield, along with some “shambles” indeed. Great chimney find!

The chimney is probably the most profitable piece of property due to the mobile masts. Sad to see, but probably: -Too near Leeds so people would rather shop there -Charge for parking -Business rates strangling retailers.

You're a national treasure mate!

Just moved back to Leeds from Hudds, what a shithole.