The empty and dormant buildings of Kirklees College were originally founded in 1967 when Ramsden Technical College paid £105,000 for both the buildings and the grounds of what was then known as Huddersfield infirmary. In September 1968 the first students began lectures and the first new building on the site opened in 1969, with the main block having been completed by 1971 - the year it became Huddersfield Technical College. Over the next 37 years the college continued to serve the local community, at its height having over 8000 students until in 2008 its owners agreed to merge with Dewsbury College to form Kirklees. The growth was almost instant and after just five years it had already outgrown the site by such considerable means that the entire college relocated in 2013, leaving the tired old structures to stand derelict without any further use. In the five years before its relocation, Kirklees specialised in the education of students between the ages of 16-20, most noteably in the areas of chemistry, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics with special courses for the training of apprentice beauticians. The campus incorporated 10 buildings over a 6 Acre site stretching from the old hospital complex which remained mostly closed, to a large library and modern blocks of classrooms with endless hallways. Since its closure there have only been a few instances of the site having been used; some of the buildings were turned into sets for the filming of the BBC and ITV dramas ‘Black Work’ and ‘Remember Me’ where some areas were converted into mock care homes, and the library became a police station for the fictional ‘Greater Yorkshire Police’. There has been a fair amount of speculation about the future of the site, owned by Wiggett Construction Group, who have now confirmed they want to demolish the 1970s college buildings to make way for a Lidl supermarket. However in a town with such sparse historical monuments, the council has been keen to protect the historical value of the infirmary buildings. Therefore the plans have seen further delays and the buildings have been allowed to fall further into disarray, echoing the once crowded classrooms for a little while longer.
