Huddersfield station is the finest working railway station in England by most reckonings. Designed by James Pigott Pritchett and completed in 1850, it presents an immense classical portico to St George's Square — a row of giant Corinthian columns in local sandstone, flanked by symmetrical wings. Nikolaus Pevsner, not given to superlatives, called it "the most splendid station façade in England." It still functions as a busy station on the TransPennine and Northern routes, which means you can arrive here as an ordinary passenger and find yourself standing in front of something genuinely extraordinary.
St George's Square in front of the station is the civic heart of the town, ringed by Victorian and Edwardian buildings that reflect the prosperity the textile trade created. The George Hotel, directly opposite the station, has a particular claim on rugby league history: the Northern Union was formed here in 1895, the meeting at which rugby league split from rugby union. A blue plaque marks the spot.
The station interior is worth a look too — the overall scale and proportions are intact, even if some of the Victorian fittings have been lost. But the real reason to linger is the façade: step back across the square and look at it properly. It was built to proclaim that Huddersfield had arrived, and it still does.