Shortly after Ted Hughes’s death in 1998, a campaign was set up with the aim of creating a Ted Hughes Visitor Centre. Calderdale Council subsequently acquired the freehold of Hughes’s birthplace, 1 Aspinall Street (‘Ted’s House’) from the outgoing owner, with a view to converting the property into a writer’s retreat.

In April 2006 The Elmet Trust Limited was incorporated, with a view to promoting public awareness and understanding of Hughes’s life and works, and in January 2008 the Council transferred the lease on Ted’s House to the Trust, allowing the property to be used as a holiday let and/or writer’s retreat. The Trust continues to work closely with the Council.

The Elmet Trust is run by a small but enthusiastic group of volunteers who love Hughes’s work and are determined that his literary legacy will live on through exhibitions, festivals, and walks. The Ted Hughes Birthday Dinner and the Ted Hughes Festival are now regular features of Yorkshire’s programme of cultural events.

In 2015 The Elmet Trust became a charity, with the long-term ambition of creating a Ted Hughes Centre in Mytholmroyd.

The Elmet Trust’s Patron is Simon Armitage CBE, the current Poet Laureate. The Trust is also fortunate in that both the Trustees and the wider membership include people who knew Hughes as a friend or as a colleague, as well as experts on his work. The Directors are: Dr David Rudrum (Minute Secretary), Mark Hinchliffe (Chair), Nick Wilding (House Manager), Ruth Crossley (Secretary); Stephen Gould (Treasurer and Membership Secretary), Dr James Underwood (Community Engagement).

The Elmet Trust is a member of Lit Houses and of the Alliance of Literary Societies.