The Piece Hall Trust and Grand Central Rail team up to bring visitors from London to Halifax

It’s full steam ahead for a new travel partnership between The Piece Hall Trust and Grand Central Rail, which was announced today [Wednesday 25 October] with a packed day of activities, designed to turn travellers’ heads when passing through Kings Cross Station in London.

Members of The Piece Hall Trust team headed south to stop commuters in their tracks with a taster of events that often take place at Halifax’s number one heritage attraction, such as children's craft activities, a performance from Halifax-born poet Jemima Foxtrot and a demonstration from local artist Jake Attree.

The activity marked the launch of Grand Central as Piece Hall’s official travel partner, in which it will work with the heritage attraction to attract visitors to the last remaining cloth hall in the UK and an architectural marvel, where they can enjoy a packed events programme and visit dozens of independent shops.

Nicky Chance-Thompson, Chief Executive for The Piece Hall Trust, the charity which has been established to run the iconic cloth hall for public benefit, commented: “This is a really exciting new partnership with Grand Central, a company as dedicated as we are to sharing far and wide the brilliance of not just The Piece Hall but the whole of Halifax and Calderdale. Since we re-opened in August we have welcomed over half a million people through our gates, many of whom have come from outside the region to see our truly unique building.  So it is exciting to be working with Grand Central to reach those that may not realise quite how easy it is to visit us here. We know that it’s a destination worth jumping on a train for.”

As part of the event, commuters were also encouraged to enter a competition to win a weekend in Halifax this Christmas and to get into the spirit of the iconic heritage location with the help of props and a selfie station, donning Georgian hats and bonnets before posing in a bespoke frame.

Richard McClean, Managing Director at Grand Central Rail, added: “We are delighted to support Piece Hall. As a company we are closely bound to the communities that we serve and are always looking for ways in which we can support them. As the only cloth hall of its kind in the UK, Piece Hall has something unique to offer visitors and we hope that people will make the most of our services and visit Piece Hall and all that is characteristic of the region.” 

Grand Central will also sponsor the Elves Workshops as part of Piece Hall’s Christmas programme from 25 November – 23 December, supporting the creative activities so integral to The Piece Hall experience for young visitors.

ENDS

For further information or images please contact Anys Williams at Anita Morris Associates on 01943 603311 / Anys@Anitamorrisassociates.co.uk / @AnysAMA

Notes for editors:

The Piece Hall,
Blackledge,
Halifax,
HX1 1RE

01422 525222
info@thepiecehall.co.uk
www.thepiecehall.co.uk
@thepiecehall
facebook.com/thepiecehallhalifax

Grade I Listed, The Piece Hall, Halifax is a rare and precious thing as it is absolutely unique. It is the sole survivor of the great eighteenth century northern cloth halls, a class of buildings which embodied the vital and dominant importance of the trade in hand woven textiles to the pre-industrial economy of the West Riding of Yorkshire, from the Middle Ages through to the early nineteenth century.

Dating from 1779, when it was built as a Cloth Hall for the trading of ‘pieces’ of cloth (a 30 yard length of woven woollen fabric produced on a handloom), The Piece Hall was the most ambitious and prestigious of its type and now stands in splendid isolation as the only remaining example. It is one of Britain’s most outstanding Georgian buildings.

Re-opened on 1 August 2017, The Piece Hall is a contemporary leisure, retail, cultural and heritage destination and the beating heart of a world-class cultural quarter. The 66,000 sq ft open air piazza is enclosed by a retail and leisure mix of independent new start-ups, expanding local businesses and returning tenants.

The Piece Hall Trust is a charitable organisation created to manage and sustain the future of The Piece Hall following a multi-million pound transformation.

Grand Central Rail

Grand Central Railway Company Limited operates West Riding services between Bradford Interchange, Low Moor, Halifax, Brighouse, Mirfield, Wakefield Kirkgate, Pontefract Monkhill, Doncaster and London Kings Cross.

Grand Central Railway Company Limited also operates North East services between Sunderland, Hartlepool, Eaglescliffe, Northallerton, Thirsk, York and London Kings Cross.

Grand Central has been ranked as Britain’s best value long distance train operator for the fifth year in a row in the Spring 17 National Rail Passenger Survey. Grand Central was also revealed as Britain’s highest-rated long distance operator in the 2017 Which? Magazine Train Satisfaction Survey with 72% passenger satisfaction score.

For further information on Grand Central, and to buy tickets with no booking fee, visit www.grandcentralrail.com.

The transformation of The Piece Hall was made possible by funding from Calderdale Council, a generous £7 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund – thanks to National Lottery players – and kind support from the Garfield Weston Foundation and the Wolfson Foundation.