t the start of this year, it wouldn’t have been unusual for the people of Halifax to bump into a Hollywood star on their way to work or while picking up a takeaway. “You just kind of go, ‘Wow, Samuel L Jackson is filming here!’” says Mark Richardson, who runs the
“That’s Paul Weller’s piano in the corner,” says Richardson, talking to me in his shop. “He gave me that when he played here in July. Day to day, you see people walking about –calls in when he’s in Halifax. He wore a pair of our Loafers socks on stage and talked about us. It’s not like water off a duck’s back, but I do kind of expect to see these things now. This place is so amazing – it deserves the attention. I’ve got enormous pride in it.
The former mill town does seem to be establishing itself as the Hollywood of the north. Or “Haliwood”, as some are calling it. In fact, the whole Calderdale district – including Brighouse, Elland, Sowerby Bridge, Hebden Bridge and Ripponden – is having its screen moment. Along with Secret Invasion, the exciting spate of productions that have been filmed here recently includes Shane Meadows’ highly anticipated first period drama, Gallows Pole, based on Benjamin Myers’ prize-winning novel.