h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Well, Despite the fact that the WORLDS VERY FIRST CYBER CAFE opened in Huddersfield it appears that
the good denizens of Huddersfield, do not wish to enlighten me on the joys of the aforemention town, via the joyous medium of
e-coli.

Try the 'Golcar Lily' Slades Rd Golcar. Bets beer and food around

or alternatively try the 'Rat 'n Ratchet' and opposite 'Kebab corner' for a top late night snack-ette!!!!! - can't remember any other places but have a guy's email address who went there to University and knows the score!

In reply to the request for info on pubs in Huddersfield, the Fabricant and firkin which is across the road from the uni behind the road containing hundreds of pubs (I am sure that there are at least three pubs per student in Huddersfield) is worth a visit. The Rat and Rachett is also great if you want a good night filled with slightly inebreated hickers and such like on a thursday. I also have under good authority that the sair inn (dont shoot the messinger, I dont know the correct spelling!!) is great for a good pint of ale and pickled eggs if this if what tickles your fancy (fnar fnar)

Good pubs, and restaurants in Huddersfield?
Let's start with decent restaurants, if you are on Manchester Road near to Milnsbridge there is a wonderful Chinese Restaurant called 'The China Rose' it's quite pricey, but the food is plentiful and very tasty.
For Thai food, try the 'Thai Charleda', wonderful food, excellent hosts, and they are open until about 5am during the weekend, so people can go clubbling first, and have a gorgeous meal after. It's situated on John William Street, next to the Ring Road, opposite a baby clothes/toys shop.
Nice pubs, I'm kinda stumped when it comes to the town centre, as the only really good pub, "The Ship" has been demolished for probably a year now.
Out of town, The Sair Inn is good, as is the Rat & Ratchet.
There are others of course, but they are quite a distance out of town, including "Nont Sara's" which is quiet old-peoples pub outside of Golcar, but they are nice people, and the food is excellent.
That's it for now.
Ahdkaw

I have heard this said about Huddersfield having the world's first Cyber Cafe but I think it is somewhat unlikely, and the one at the Media Centre, if that is the one referred to, has only been open a few years and I had heard about cyber cafes some time before that one opened. I think it may be Yorkshire's first cyber cafe, and because Yorkshire is the only important place in the universe then maybe it could be considered the only "first cyber cafe" that really matters.

I concur with the comments about the Rat & Ratchet, apart from someone who said that it is outside the town centre - well only if the town centre is defined by the ring road. It is on Chapel Hill, about 50 yards from the ring road and comfortably close to the requisite Asian takeaway and kebab house which complete a drunken night out. It is a popular real ale pub, not to be confused with the Rat & Parrot opposite the university which is a loud place with bouncers.

If you're a student, why not venture out to Meltham on a Thursday night which is student night at the Wagon & Horses.

The Sair Inn at Linthwaite certainly has a good reputation, and has a long established microbrewery which has been known to produce some quality ales.

For superb lunchtime food try the wholefood cafe/restaurant in the Victorian surroundings of the Byram Arcade.

I say that the Rat & Ratchet is outside of town because it is outside of the ring-road, which is the very thing that defines the difference between the town-centre and outside of the town-centre.
I didn't say 'outside of the town-centre' in my original posting, which I probably should have, I admit it was a grammatical error on my part.

Surely the town-centre existed before the modern ring-road was built? I am not sure how the town centre would be defined technically, but on old maps the area above the River Colne was part of the town centre which was owned by the Ramsden Estate before Huddersfield became "the town which bought itself", after the corporation purchased the town centre from the Ramsdens. Based on those maps, Colne Road would be outside of the centre but the Rat & Ratchet would be inside the town centre. I would consider the Rat & Ratcher to be a town-centre pub but T'Old Steam Pig at the bottom of Newsome Road is just t'other side o't'river, so I wouldn't consider that to be town centre. The yards around the side of the Rat are very much in character with those which survive on the other side of the ring-road, whereas the old yards around Colne Road are completely different. On a related note, the Commercial Hotel in the main pedestrian area is looking great now that it has been done up, and shows off the older style of town centre architecture very well.

Surely the town-centre existed before the modern ring-road was built? I am not sure how the town centre would be defined technically, but on old maps the area above the River Colne was part of the town centre which was owned by the Ramsden Estate before Huddersfield became "the town which bought itself", after the corporation purchased the town centre from the Ramsdens. Based on those maps, Colne Road would be outside of the centre but the Rat & Ratchet would be inside the town centre. I would consider the Rat & Ratcher to be a town-centre pub but T'Old Steam Pig at the bottom of Newsome Road is just t'other side o't'river, so I wouldn't consider that to be town centre. The yards around the side of the Rat are very much in character with those which survive on the other side of the ring-road, whereas the old yards around Colne Road are completely different. On a related note, the Commercial Hotel in the main pedestrian area is looking great now that it has been done up, and shows off the older style of town centre architecture very well.

I understand entirely what you are saying, but I cannot agree with you on the boundaries of the town-centre (I'm not saying you are wrong). To me the town-centre is within the Ring-Road (nmodern development or not), the reason for this is that I was born in Huddersfield in 1971, and I cannot personally remember there not being a ring-road, so through my experience of the town-centre I have labelled (for all my life) what is inside as the centre, and outside is the town. Don't forget you can be living in Shepley or somewhere, and still be in Huddersfield Town, but thats a matter of postal codes, council areas, etc.
Also there are so many derelict buildings in the town-centre that need large cash injections, shoudln't the council do something about the 'ill-fated' north side of the 'town-centre'?
Your decision to place the Rat & Ratchet in the town-centre is historical, as mine is a personal decision based on the ring-road.
Let's agree to disagree.

We can agree to disagree about the Rat & Ratchet. If you see the old photos of Chapel Hill before the ring-road was built the trams just went straight down New Street and in to Chapel Hill - it was part of the main shopping drag until the ring-road chopped it off. Perhaps one day the Rat did a Terry Gilliam sketch and slipped anchor and slid down Chapel Hill to escape from the new town centre buildings

I presume by the buildings to the north you mean the ones between the George Hotel and Tesco. I think they are in a disgusting state and if they are still owned by Kirklees then they should serve an enforcement order on themselves requiring them to be sorted out - they would do that to a private landlord... For those reading this who don't know the area, the railway station (one of the finest in England, said to resemble a stately home with trains in it), George Hotel, etc are all in beautiful condition having had vast sums of money spent on them, and some of the historic council owned buildings which complete the George Square were similarly restored, but the next row of historic buildings which weren't part of this award winning scheme are in a shocking state. It is such a shame as the rest of the buildings look really nice, they have even put netting under the railway bridge so that you don't have to walk under a pigeon roost to go in to town from that side. I feel another letter to the Examiner coming on...

I am indeed refering to the buildings between the George Hotel and Tesco. I know not as to whether they are owned by Kirklees, but judging by the councils' attitude of keeping the properties with the Ring-Road, I would assume that they do.
The only problem I can see, as to stopping the development of much-dilapidated 'north-side', is that giant new development going on at the south-east is sapping all the development funds.
This *All New Shopping Experience* will NOT work, I've already heard that Debenhams, House of Fraser, and Marks & Spencers have declined the chance of either free or low-cost retail-space! Shopping centres of this size require big-businesses in them in order to sustain continued sales.
And if this shopping centre is to be the place to go shopping in Huddersfield, what will happen to all the small-businesses? Can they afford to rent some space in the shopping centre at typically exorbitant rates?
I don't think that this shopping centre is being warmly welcomed by the local populace, and I believe that the council has been and is continuing to ignore our views and opinions.
I can see that after this shopping centre has been built and opened, if the council isn't careful, the other parts of the town centre may fall into disrepair.
A grim-looking future I know, but Kirklees Council has been corrupt for a long time now, and I can't see the local populace ever getting it together to get rid of them (which is a shame).
Oh well...

I agree to a certain extent about Kingsgate, and I suspect that the shops in the area around the former CoOp will start to empty when the leases come up if there isn't the passing trade any more. The town centre is being shifted down hill. The buses will go direct to Kingsgate so people wont even be walking up to the bus station, and the cars will be parking in the Kingsgate car park instead of Springwood and the bus station car park. I really cannot see the demand for units in Kingsgate considering how long it has taken to fill up the new Victorian arcade above Boots. The main streets in Huddersfield are looking quite nice now so it is a shame that they are building a new edge of centre development rather than replacing the poorer 1960s buildings in the main street. I think it is a shame that they are sweeping away historic buildings rather than renovating them as they have done so well in Imperial and Byram arcades.

I think the move towards a street market three days a week (Examiner 22/12/1999) should be applauded though as this will help bring the town to life, as it did during the International Markets Festival.