Surrounded by moorland, Marsden in West Yorkshire is often overshadowed by better-known villages, such as Haworth and Saltaire. Yet it has a similarly Gothic appeal, helped by its 19th-century mills and St Bartholomew’s Church, which has a history dating to the 15th century. There is also an active pagan community that runs events such as an Imbolc Fire Festival, which marks the halfway point between the winter solstice and spring equinox and is held in even years.
Marsden’s boom began in the Victorian area when its (now disused) mills became the heart of the area’s cloth industry. By 1936, Bank Bottom Mill covered 14 acres and had 680 looms, employing 1,900 people; it closed in 2003.
Canals, used to transport the produce of the mills, are another feature of the landscape. Marsden is home to the eastern entrance of the Standedge Tunnels, the longest, highest and deepest canal tunnel in England, stretching for 5,000m, 194m underground below the Pennines. For more, see nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/yorkshire/marsden-moor.
How to get there and around
Marsden’s railway station is on the Huddersfield Line and is served by TransPennine Express. Direct trains from Huddersfield take around 10 minutes. There are also direct services from Manchester Piccadilly, which take just over half-an-hour. The village is walkable.
Drop your bags
A Place in the Pennines is a set of recently opened self-catering cabins a 10-minute walk from the railway station and Marsden Moor. Dogs are welcome and each cabin has a terrace with views of the countryside. The accommodation is run by a couple who live in the village. Inside, muted colours, wood surfaces and fireplaces mimic the look of a French chalet. Cabins sleep two or four, from £100 a night, aplaceinthepennines.com
The Olive Branch Inn, a pub with rooms, is around five minutes from Marsden by bus (take the 184 or 185) or a four-minute drive from the village. Doubles start from £140 a night, including breakfast, or a package of dinner, bed and breakfast for two starts from £220, olivebranch.uk.com.
Browse the shops
Marsden has a compact centre with a clutch of independent businesses. Among them is the florist Lily Blossom on Peel Street (seven minutes’ walk from the station), which sells greetings cards designed by local artists, stationery and Christmas decorations, as well as flowers and plants, lilyblossomflorist.co.uk.
On the other side of the road is The Cuckoo’s Nest, a community-run charity. Through the forest-green frontage of its two adjacent shops are two collections – one of clothing, accessories and toys, another of books. The bookshop portion has sections dedicated to fiction, history and children’s literature and you can pick up five books for less than £10. The money raised from sales goes back to local projects, cuckoosnestmarsden.org.uk.
Cosy cafés
Walkers seeking sustenance after a bracing morning on the moors have ample choice. At Katie’s Homemade Kitchen there are vegan, vegetarian and carnivorous fry-ups from £7.50. “Sarah’s Favourite Breakfast” is a creative alternative with a mix of root vegetables, olives and poached eggs (£9) or, for something light, try a breakfast sandwich (from £4). Open from 10am–4pm Sunday to Tuesday, Fri–Sat, 10am–3pm Thurs, closed Weds, instagram.com/katieshomemadekitchen.
The Little Lock serves coffee from Marsden-based roaster Dark Woods, which is also a barista training school and a café on the edge of the village. The hazelnut brownie and cappuccino are a perfect pairing. Open every day except Tuesdays, opening times vary, facebook.com/thelittlelock.
Rainy day refuges
Marsden Mechanics opened in 1860 as a social and learning space for local workers. Today, it is a thriving community hub that hosts gigs, comedy and plays. A year-round venue, it comes into its own during October’s Marsden Jazz Festival. Among forthcoming events is a production of Jack & the Beanstalk, 3–6 January, marsdenmechanics.co.uk
Sass offers yoga and Pilates classes above its in-house café. Visitors can also book into sound bath, group hypnosis or biodynamic breathwork sessions, sasswellbeingandcoffee.co.uk.
A drink by the fire
The Riverhead Brewery Tap has been brewing its own beers on site since 1995, with ales named after local reservoirs. Sup on Butterley Bitter or enjoy a pint of Redbrook Premium, riverheadmarsden.co.uk.
The Railway Inn, which was taken over by comedian Kate Ward in early 2023, has music nights and a good selection of cask ales. Its proximity to the station makes it popular with day trippers, admiraltaverns.co.uk.
Dinner time
The Olive Branch serves pub classics, from shin beef and chestnut mushrooom pie (£23) to Whitby scampi with chips (£15), as well as dishes such as roast lamb rack and herb braised breast – the meat from nearby Slaithwaite is served with dauphinoise potatoes and red cabbage (£32). There are also meat-free options, including vegetarian bourguignon (£19), olivebranch.uk.com.
The Peel St Social is an all-day hangout, which stays open until 10pm on Thursdays and 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays. It hosts regular supper clubs, with four courses and a cocktail for £39.95. Vegans and vegetarians are well served here. Expect fresh paratha, paneer tikka and chai panna cotta, instagram.com/peelstsocial.
Winter walks
A stroll from Marsden train station to Tunnel End along the Huddersfield Narrow Canal takes around 20 minutes, passing through broadleaf woodland before opening out to views up to the moors. Head up the road to access a gravel path along the River Colne, keeping an eye out for kingfishers and dippers. You can finish at Easter Gate Bridge, or head up to the moors, following an ancient cross Pennines route.
Pule Hill can be reached from Mount Road to the west of the village. The walk is challenging in parts but, on clear days, offers views across the moors. Pule Hill is the start of the Stanza Stones Trail. It runs to Ilkley and features seven poems written by Poet Laureate and Marsden native Simon Armitage, each carved into stone.
Three things you might not know about Marsden…1) A cuckoo festival is held each year during which residents parade through the village wearing ribbons and carrying puppets. There is also maypole and Morris dancing, a craft fair and a duck race.
2) Woods Mount, on the edge of the village, was used as the moorland location for The League of Gentlemen’s “Local Shop”.
3) Simon Armitage’s 2020 collection Magnetic Field: The Marsden Poems contains 50 poems about the village, charting his time growing up there and his years living close by.