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The Sands Seafront Apartments

Luxury apartments with spectacular sea views. Situated on Scarborough’s North Bay, and just a minute’s walk from beautiful beaches and shops
The Sands 5* Sea Front Apartments are situated on Scarborough's rugged coastline. Located just yards from the beach, you are in one of the mostunique and stunning locations in Yorkshire. The apartment... More info

Halifax Tourist Information

Halifax’s history has been shaped by the wool trade, and the town owes many of its finest buildings and features to the needs of the trade, and the wealth created by it. In the 15th century it was probably the most important city in the country for wool - and it continued to hold a crucial role in British industry right through to the middle of the last century.

Halifax nowadays has diversified, and the town’s name is synonymous with financial services and in particular the building society (and latterly bank) with the same name. Halifax has also gained something of a reputation for being the most complete Victorian town in the country, the centrepiece of which is its grade II-listed Town Hall, which was designed by Charles Barry - who also designed the Houses of Parliament.

When Halifax’s Town Hall was opened by HRH the Prince of Wales (the future Edward VIII) in 1863, over 70,000 people arrived by train (358 of them) and thousands more arrived on foot or via other transport.

Nowadays, Halifax’s most popular building is probably the Piece Hall. This is another fine building and dates back to 1779. It was a huge trading hall for the textile industry, where merchants would sell pieces of cloth. The building now houses an art gallery, a host of shops, and a Tourist Information Centre. Its courtyard is also the venue for a flea market on Thursdays and an open market on Fridays and Saturdays.

Halifax’s Parish Church has a long history. The first church was built in 1120, and the present church dates back to 1438 using some of the stones from the earlier church.

There are many things to do both within the town and in nearby towns and villages, and this part of the Pennines has some marvellous walking country.

Interesting facts:

i) A local legend has it that the name Halifax is a corruption of the words “holy face” and that John the Baptist’s head is buried there - indeed, the town’s coat of arms bears a picture of his face. However another, more likely, explanation of the origin of the name is that it comes from “hay”, “ley” (which together mean “hayfield”) and “flax”.

ii) The first organist of Halifax’s parish church of St John the Baptist was a chap called William Herschel. As well as being a musician (organ, oboe, violin, cello and harpsichord) and composer of many concertos and 24 symphonies, Herschel is better remembered as the discoverer of the planet Uranus in 1781.

iii) A scene from the 1996 film “Brassed Off” was filmed in the Piece Hall.

iv) Halifax boasts the tallest folly in the world, Wainhouse Tower, which is 285ft (84m) tall.