The history of Halifax is the history of “women who do” in many ways, and a brief rummage through one of our pamphlet boxes brought a...

As it is 80 years since VE day, we have been looking around for an interesting local  story to write about on the blog. Therefore, we...

Halifax Courier (15/03/1922) I came across this newspaper headline in the Halifax Courier (15/03/1922) and was intrigued enough to do...

This beautiful exercise book is a small donation that turned out to have a big history, both of its author and of the two sisters whose school it came from. It isn't often we get handed something that is truly unique but this is one of those circumstances. The sad tale of Elizabeth Ann

Arsenical beer poisoning was a nationwide scandal in 1900. It was such a scandal that a year later Halifax brewers were proudly...

Known locally as the “Lock-up,” Illingworth Gaol is situated on Wrigley Hill Road, Illingworth.  Built in 1697, it is a grade II* listed...

In 1875 the Rembrandt Club was formed in Halifax as a way of bringing artists together to celebrate their own works and appreciate fine...

Whilst cataloguing a donation, kept in our Bookplate Pamphlet Box (P097) we came across a lovely bookplate from the personal library of...

Have you ever wondered what the living conditions were like for your Halifax ancestors in the 19th and 20th Centuries? Well, we can...

We’re getting ready to record a podcast episode about the railways in Halifax, to go out later this year, and it seemed like a good time...

The 16th January 2024 marks 100 years since Halifax elected its first woman Councillor – Miriam Lightowler. She was quite a character,...

Welcome to a podcast by Calderdale Libraries! In 1858, Charles Dickens came to Halifax to read his popular novella, ‘A Christmas Carol’....

This Black History Month we have been looking into some of the black abolitionists that visited Calderdale in the mid 19th Century. They...

In Local Studies we have a big box of photographs which have been donated to us over the years that arrived with little to no context....

Well, we’re nearly at the end of Local and Community History Month, and a post we’ve been considering for a while which seemed...

Almanacks of all descriptions can be windows into the mindset and cultural norms of the past – whether through advertisements, short...

If you have heard of J R smith it is probably because you have come across some of his illustrations of Old Halifax. They were produced...

The gibbet in Halifax continued to survive for centuries after others had disappeared elsewhere Why? The most commonly held theory is that it was a powerful deterrent due to the large amounts of cloth being produced in the area; the textile trade being especially vulnerable to thieves due to it being an easily transportable commodity

Sometimes, you see something and you think – huh? And then – why??? That was my reaction on seeing the cover of the book produced for the...

Calderdale has been no stranger to grand historical events – some exciting, some positive, and some devastating. To celebrate the end of...