Won’t somebody not think of the children?
The road to Heckmondwike was paved with good intentions. Once, it was a railway serving the textile mills. Then it became a disused railway line known only to enthusiasts of hiking and heroin. Now it’s a family-friendly greenway dotted with scrap-metal sculptures of sheep.
The West Yorkshire town is typical in how light entertainment filled the void left by heavy industry. Children as young as five were once put to work in these mills. Now they have the run of the place. Heckmondwike’s big days out are the Christmas lights switch-on and Hecky Fest, a music festival where the bouncy castle gets higher billing than the acts. There’s a miniature zoo to the south and a pitch site for travelling fairs to the north. All the pubs in between do chips and beans in small portions. Although only about a tenth of the local population is of a bouncy-castle-compatible age, it’s the one minority that catches no heat on Facebook community groups.
This is good. Having kids around a place is civilising. Only a curmudgeon or a teenager would want the town organised any other way.
