History Of The Trades Club

The Trades Club Social Club (to give it the official name) occupies the first floor of the Trades Club building, which was built in 1923 as a joint enterprise by half a dozen local trades unions.
This was back in the days when Hebden was a thriving centre for the cotton industry.
The unions levied a one penny contribution from each member per week, and when finally built, the building was equipped with a fully sprung dance floor for the purposes of ballroom dancing. It's still there, though probably used for more energetic dancing than its designers originally envisaged. Someone observed recently that it is probably the best dance floor in West Yorkshire.
As the cotton industry declined and the factories closed down, the building fell into disuse. It was taken over by the combined Hebden Bridge and Luddendenfoot district Labour parties, who appointed a Building Management Committee to run it. It is from the BMC that the social club leases its space. We are not constitutionally connected with the Labour Party.

The club is now a venue for live music, reflecting musical cultures form around the world. We also host fund raising events for worthy local and international campaigns: over the last 12 months we have helped raise several thousand pounds for the Asian & African Tsunami relief, Sudan, the Grenada Hurricane disaster, Amnesty International and many others.

We host community groups such as a Sufi and Salsa dance classes and the Hebden Bridge Chess Club.
In August 2005 we held a Diversity weekend in conjunction with the Hebden Bridge Picture House in which the Picture House showed films which reflected some aspect of world cultures and were followed by relevant music and dance performances at the Trades Club.

We also have audiences for televised football matches, which are viewed in the same room as the musical performances – the screen is behind the stage.