Nestled between the steep Pennines, the market town of Todmorden is a bit of a surprise. You can tell right away that there is a bit of a creative buzz here and there’s a great mix of new places popping up alongside the more established places.
Exploring the town there were a few unexpected things to be found as well as the gorgeous countryside that looms all around the valley.
One sunny Sunday afternoon last month, I took a road trip along with fellow Yorkshire bloggers Fran and Anna to meet up with another lovely blogger Adelle, who calls Todmorden home. Here were some of the highlights:
Site Pizzeria have only been around since late last year after an arduous refurbishment by the owners. The length and difficulty of the refurb is responsible for the name and somehow-classy building site theme of the menu (think ‘foundations’ for appetisers and ‘snag list’ for extra toppings).
The restaurant is hits just the right notes of industrial and cosy in its interior. The wood-fired oven makes for authentic thin crust pizzas and I opted for the vegan mozzarella cheese with roasted red pepper, artichoke and pine nuts, followed by the sticky toffee pudding. Both were absolutely amazing and everyone else seemed equally impressed which is always a good sign.
Fundevogel is completely new to Todmorden, so new in fact that they hadn’t actually opened yet when we visited but invited us to pop in for coffee anyway. Tucked away in what was an old garage next to the canal, the space is now part veggie café, part art space and part events venue with workshops, exhibitions and music nights on the upcoming agenda.
The Canal runs through the town, edged up by the impressive “great wall” of Tod. It also has some tell-tale signs of Todmorden’s creative side and indeed there are art installations all over town in some very unexpected places; this take on the Hollywood sign can be found at the back of the Morrison’s car park, having mysteriously appeared one day!
