Slaithwaite Slog

Slaithwaite, locally Slawit (Old Norse: Timber-fell clearing), is a village within the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it lies in the Colne Valley, lying across the River Colne and the Huddersfield Narrow Canal, approximately 5 miles southwest of Huddersfield.Slaithwaite Hall, thought to date from the mid-15th century, is located on a nearby hillside. It is one of a number of cruck framed buildings clustered in this area of West Yorkshire. After many years divided into cottages, the building has been extensively restored and is now a single dwelling.Legend has it that local smugglers caught by the excise men tried to explain their nocturnal activities as 'raking the moon from the canal' and definitely not as 'fishing out smuggled brandy'. A "Moonraker" is now the official nickname for a native of the village.In February, on alternate years, Slaithwaite celebrates an 18th-century legend of Moonraking with the Slaithwaite Moonraking Festival, with a week of lantern making and a programme of storytelling. The week-long celebration, which always takes place during the school half term week, ends with a parade of lanterns around the village, and a festival finale by the canal in the centre of the village.