Brighouse: Market, Art and Trails

Brighouse offers a range of options for your stay: a traditional market, art, walking trails, nature watching and climbing. If you’re looking for a hotel in Brighouse, you can plan your trip around the things that matter to you. Each of the attractions mentioned has its own focus—from a visit to the market to longer walks.

Market and Art in Brighouse

Brighouse Open Market has been a fixture of the town since it opened in 1902. A new market building was constructed on the canal side in 2025. The market offers fresh local produce, hot food and drinks, as well as arts and crafts and gifts. The selection ranges from food and refreshments to handcrafted products. If you enjoy combining market visits with art and culture when you travel, the Open Market is a distinct focus for your plans.

Smith Art Gallery also has a local history: Alderman William Smith built it and donated it, along with his art collection, to the people of Brighouse in 1907. An exhibition of oil paintings on the theme of “People and Places” is displayed in the front gallery, including works by Atkinson Grimshaw, Marcus Stone and Thomas Sydney Cooper. Exhibitions in the rear gallery change, ranging from local artists to touring exhibitions and including photography, mixed media and sculpture. As exhibition themes may change, it’s a good idea to check the current programme before your visit.

Walking: Circular Route and Sections

The Calderdale Way is a 50-mile circular walking route through the hills, moors and valleys of Calderdale. Its official starting point is at the Calder & Hebble Navigation in Brighouse. The Calderdale Way and its connecting paths are waymarked. Its length and circular route provide a clear framework if you’d like to include a longer walk in your stay.

The Clifton Beck Walk has a different focus: it includes sections of the Brighouse Boundary Walk and the Calderdale Way. While the Clifton Beck Walk includes sections of two routes, the Calderdale Way is a 50-mile circular walking route. The Calder & Hebble Navigation also offers opportunities for walking and fishing. As well as designated walking routes, waterside activities are another option to consider when planning your trip.

Nature and Trails

Cromwell Bottom Local Nature Reserve has almost two miles of wheelchair-accessible paths, including the canal towpath. Its wetlands and meadows provide habitats for butterflies, moths, dragonflies and damselflies. A feeding station attracts bullfinches, dunnocks, woodpeckers, robins and siskins. Insects find habitats in the wetlands and meadows, while the feeding station attracts birds.

Wellholme Park has natural woodland areas and a path alongside Clifton Beck. The park is known for its spectacular flower beds; it also holds Green Flag status and Queen Elizabeth II Field status. The playground includes a climbing net, climbing frame, swings and a roundabout. The playground adds a climbing net, climbing frame, swings and a roundabout to the path alongside Clifton Beck and the flower beds.

Another Activity: Climbing

ROKT Climbing Gym offers an activity distinct from the walking trails: it has a 21.5-metre-high indoor lead-climbing wall and four 16-metre-high roped climbing structures in silos. The indoor lead-climbing wall is taller, at 21.5 metres, than the four roped climbing structures in silos, each of which is 16 metres high. If you’re weighing up walking, nature watching and climbing as you plan your trip, these give you several clearly defined options for your stay in Brighouse.

Discover more destinations: Featherstone, Mirfield, Normanton, Baildon, Ripponden, Lofthouse, Holmbridge, Upton.

For the main travel overview: West Yorkshire.