Calderdale in
Yorkshire has been well known as the centre of wool manufacture and spinning mills,
since the 15th century with high numbers of water-powered mills meandering along
the valleys of the Calder River. In the 19th century the area took a central
role in the Industrial Revolution with steam powered mills expanding rapidly
into its easily accessible villages. So it comes as no surprise that the
entrepreneurial textile towns in West Yorkshire have been able to reinvent themselves
in recent years as a pretty gritty backdrop for some of TV’s most attention
grabbing fictional shows.
Much of this
new found fame is thanks to Yorkshire-born writer Sally Wainwright whose
affiliation with Halifax and the Calderdale towns she grew up amongst has seen
their meteoric rise in popularity. Wainwright epitomises the creative,
straight-talking, fun and inventive nature of Yorkshire folk, which comes
through in spades in her work.
Last
Tango in Halifax and Happy
Valley are two shows by Sally Wainwright that have been realised by
Manchester-based Red Production Company.
It has been well documented that much of series one of romantic comedy
drama Last Tango in Halifax was actually
filmed in Lancashire and that Wainwright requested more scenes of series two to
be filmed in Halifax town, to improve its authenticity.
As well as
filming in Halifax’s precinct areas and local cafes, the production team chose
Jacobean manor Holdsworth House, three miles from Halifax town centre, as the
setting for several Last Tango escapades, including the finale scene when lead
characters Alan and Celia tied the
knot.
Wainwright’s
powerful storytelling went on to astound viewers in Happy
Valley.
Set in Hebden Bridge in Calderdale, the increasingly dramatic twists and turns
of the spine-tingling plot were nail biting and the script undoubtedly helped
bag another BAFTA and the 2015 Specsavers Crime
Thriller Awards and a British Screenwriter’s Award.
With some of
Wainwright’s feats - including Scott and Bailey and Coronation Street - surely confirming
her as one of Britain’s best screenwriters, her work, along with the efforts of
regional agency Screen
Yorkshire and
Creative England, has placed Calderdale as one of the most popular places for
film companies to use in the North. Kindle Entertainment recently chose Halifax as the production
base for creating Henry ‘The Fonz’ Winkler’s children’s TV show Hank Zipzer. Interestingly, production
firms cite the availability of excellent local crew, good motorway and airport networks
and quality hotel accessibility as several reasons for them choosing Calderdale.
Creating
series two of Happy Valley has brought Sally Wainwright back to Calderdale recently
and you can see her in ‘Conversation with British
actors George Costigan and Judy Holt’ at the Square Chapel in Halifax on Wednesday 30th September 2015. The
event is sold out but you can win two tickets and overnight stay with breakfast
and pre-theatre dinner for two courtesy of four star hotel Holdsworth House
Hotel & Restaurant in Halifax (shortlisted for Large Hotel of the Year at
the Welcome to Yorkshire awards). Plus you’ll get a box set of Last Tango in
Halifax courtesy of Square Chapel.
For full terms and conditions
see www.HoldsworthHouse.co.uk
