Sustainable Tourism

…And Conscious Travel

We can all agree that travel brings huge benefit to our lives. Thankfully now there are ways to repay the favour and have a positive impact on the places you visit, through making more sustainable choices when you travel.

 

Sustainable travel is important, because we know that climate change is having damaging consequences for the places we love. We’ve seen it first hand in Calderdale, through wildfires on our moors and flooding in the valley. We’re taking action across the Borough to protect the place we call home, and we are grateful to conscious travellers who want to do the same.

Sustainable Stays

Explore

Daisy Bank Camp

Rural glamping in the Calder Valley, West Yorkshire. Deep in the moors above Hebden Bridge, alongside the sweet heather and thistle banks, sit six hand-made glamping cabins. Here, you can roam the landscape of Ted Hughes and the Brontës right from your front door – and fill your soul with the light, the clouds and the endless views. It’s wild, it’s beautiful and it’s waiting to welcome you.
Explore

Faun Lodge

Escape the challenges of the world and be enchanted with the simple yet magical eco-built “Faun Lodge”, with its turf roof, mosaic floor and wood burner. Hidden right in the heart of the semi-rural town of Hebden Bridge in a waterfront natural setting which will encourage you to dream your wildest dreams by day and by night.

Green Travel

Ways to make your travel greener in Calderdale:

Electric Car Charging Points

You can find electric car charging points across the whole of Calderdale. Find out more here.

Arrow (Down)
Transport

E-Biking around the Valley

Explore our hills, valleys, canals and lanes on two wheels with Juiced Up Bikes.
Transport

Slow Travel on a Narrowboat

Discover a new world with Shire Cruisers, steering your boat past ever-changing Pennine scenery.

Eco-friendly Experiences

Foraging in Hebden Bridge

Leave the busy day-to-day behind and join Live Wild in peaceful natural surroundings to connect with nature, the land, and your wild self. They run regular seasonal foraging courses between March and November. Get to know the local landscape, learn core ID skills, sample a range of wild tasters, and cook up finds over a campfire. They’ll share medicinal uses of plants and fungi, cordage making, folklore and stories, and ancestral practices including an ancient firelighting method.

Willow Weaving in Todmorden

Creative with Nature specializes in willow sculpture, willow basketry, sales, commissions, teaching courses in weaving and a number of other functional crafts. Their founder Joe is using her skills and determination to bring weaving and other traditional crafts back from the brink of extinction and back into peoples everyday lives. Not only that, but with the help of local volunteers Joe now grows over 4000 trees locally for her business!

Incredible Edible Tours

Incredible Edible Todmorden CIC is made up of a group of passionate volunteers whoh grows fruit, herbs and vegetables for everyone to share. Come and see how they do things in Todmorden by booking one of their Incredible Tours. They’ve hosted groups and individuals from all over the world and they all report that nibbling their way around Todmorden inspires them to go home and get growing!

Stargazing on the Moors

Based on the moors above Todmorden, the Astronomy Centre provides visitors with the chance to explore the night sky using a range of telescopes. The Observatory is open to the public every Saturday evening from 7.30pm until late throughout the year. During the Summer months of June, July and August, they are also open afternoons from 3pm till 6pm (except Sundays) for solar viewing and demonstration of the Camera Obscura.

Hardcastle Crags

A beauty spot of the South Pennines with more than 400 acres of unspoilt woodland. At the heart of the woodland you’ll find Gibson Mill, home to the Weaving Shed Cafe. Having no link to the national grid, the mill is unique in the UK and is the National Trust’s flagship sustainable building.

Read more here

Cromwell Bottom

Cromwell Bottom is one of the most important wildlife sites in Calderdale. The wetlands and meadows provide a variety of habitats for many insects, including butterflies, moths, dragonflies and damselflies. Wheelchair friendly, with many of the paths being suitable for wheelchair access.

Read more here

Bridestones Moor

Calderdale’s first community-owned nature reserve and an important heritage site, notable for its many weird-shaped stones standing on an escarpment overlooking the Calder Valley. The view of the landscape from this outcrop of rocks is truly magnificent in all directions, and the moor is a hotspot for rare animals and plants.

Read more here

Feel Good Food & Drink

Shibden Mill Inn

Fresh, seasonal dishes using the best locally sourced ingredients that Yorkshire has to offer combined with produce from their own kitchen garden. Throughout the seasons, you can dine in our bar area or the Mill Room and in the summer months, chill out in the patio garden.

Blue Teapot

The award-winning Blue Teapot opened in the summer of 2015 in the beautiful Pennine village of Mytholmroyd. They serve a delicious selection of vegetarian meals, artisan coffee, loose-leaf tea, good wine, local ales... and, of course, cake! They are committed to ethical values and use fairtrade and locally-sourced produce in many of their dishes.

Hebden Bridge Open Market

The Hebden Bridge Open Market, winner of Britain’s Best Small Open Market 2016, is a compact 40-stall market selling fresh produce, local food and artisan products in Lees Yard; surrounded by rambling countryside and nearby nature walks.

Little Valley Brewery

Little Valley Brewery sits high on the Pennine moorland of Cragg Vale, close to The Calderdale Way. They brew an inspired range of award-winning beers, naturally refreshing and full of good taste. All of their beers are brewed with 100% organic agricultural ingredients. They carefully select only the best, tastiest organic hops and malts, all brewed with soft Yorkshire water.

Woodys Pizza

Residents of Calderdale for 25 years and lifelong pizza addicts the Woody's Pizza team brings Woody's Pizza to Todmorden & Hebden Bridge! They use vegetables grown and bought directly from neighbouring farmers and market traders, cheese sourced from local markets, and dough made fresh in their shops in the heart of Todmorden & Hebden Bridge. They’re also proud to be a real living wage employer.

Shop Sustainable

Just Gaia

Helping you go plastic free, Just Gaia situated in The Piece Hall, bringing you the highest quality fresh food, zero waste products, and café drinks & snacks in their convenient, warm and friendly shop. You can even refill laundry liquids, shampoos, cleaning products and much more. Everything is single use plastic free and they aim to help you to reduce your day-to-day plastic use without compromising quality.

Curioddity Gift Shop

A one-of-a-kind gift shop in Elland working with local makers to offer unique and interesting products that you wouldn’t typically see on the high street. You’ll find local authors and children’s books, upcycled fashion, handmade jewellery and much more. Plus, their exciting array of workshops - like Woodturning, Macrame, Mosaics, and Ceramics, could help you to discover a new hobby, refine a skill, or simply enjoy a unique experience.

Porcus the Shop

Porcus is real food, made by real people with real provenance. They use only the highest welfare standards, slow growing their pigs, giving them free range on their pasture, and allowing them to do all the things pigs love to do in the beautiful outdoors of the Pennines. In return they get amazing tasting meat complemented with only the finest, freshest ingredients from which they produce fantastic, hand-made Artisan Sausages. Their shop in Todmorden is open Tuesday to Saturday, 10am – 4pm.

Tod Almighty Wholefoods

Tod Almighty is a vegan wholefoods shop in Todmorden providing everything you need for a healthy diet and ethical lifestyle. They offer organic fruit and vegetables and refills of all descriptions (including shampoos, washing up liquids, oats, beans) to help you cut down on your plastic waste.

Valley Organics Workers' Coop

Valley Organics Worker’s Co-op specialises in locally grown, ethical and organic fruit, vegetables and wholefoods. They have a great range of sustainable lifestyle products, zero waste refills, and lots of other produce, made right here in the Calder Valley. Not only that, their business is run in a value-driven way, through co-operative decision making and an equal pay scheme!

Sustainable Travel Blog

Walk the Calderdale Way

Embrace slow travel around Calderdale by setting out an epic 5-day hike exploring Calderdale’s hills, moors and valleys. The Calderdale Way is a 50 mile (80km) walk which encircles Halifax, Hebden Bridge, and Todmorden. It follows old packhorse routes, passing through pretty hillside villages and old mill towns, and provides exceptional panoramic views over the Pennines....

A Foodie Trip to Todmorden

With local food producers, food markets and independent eateries galore, the market town of Todmorden is a haven for foodies. Combine this with picturesque walks, artisan shops and impressive architecture, and you’ve got the makings of a perfect day out. Check out our itinerary below to get inspiration for your trip....

Walk the Calderdale Way

Embrace slow travel around Calderdale by setting out an epic 5-day hike exploring Calderdale’s hills, moors and valleys. The Calderdale Way is a 50 mile (80km) walk which encircles Halifax, Hebden Bridge, and Todmorden. It follows old packhorse routes, passing through pretty hillside villages and old mill towns, and provides exceptional panoramic views over the Pennines....

A Foodie Trip to Todmorden

With local food producers, food markets and independent eateries galore, the market town of Todmorden is a haven for foodies. Combine this with picturesque walks, artisan shops and impressive architecture, and you’ve got the makings of a perfect day out. Check out our itinerary below to get inspiration for your trip....

need more
information?

We can provide a whole host of inspirational advice and information on where to stay, where to eat and what to do whilst staying in ‘magnificently modest’ Calderdale.

Contact us