Keighley
Keighley (/ˈkiːθli/ KEETH-lee[3][4]) is a market town and a civil parish[5] in the City of Bradford Borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is the second largest settlement in the borough, after Bradford.
For other uses, see Keighley (disambiguation).Keighley is 8 miles (13 kilometres) north-west of Bradford, 4 mi (6.5 km) north-west of Bingley, 11 mi (18 km) north of Halifax and 8 mi (13 km) south-east of Skipton. It is governed by Keighley Town Council and Bradford City Council. Keighley is located in West Yorkshire, close to the borders of North Yorkshire and Lancashire. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it lies between Airedale and Keighley Moors. At the 2011 census, Keighley had a population of 56,348.[6]
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History[edit]
Toponymy[edit]
The name Keighley, which has gone through many changes of spelling throughout its history, means "Cyhha's farm or clearing",[7] and was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086: "In Cichhelai, Ulchel, and Thole, and Ravensuar, and William had six carucates to be taxed."
Town charter[edit]
Henry de Keighley, a Lancashire knight, was granted a charter to hold a market in Keighley on 17 October 1305 by King Edward I.[8] The poll tax records of 1379 show that the population of Keighley, in the wapentake of Staincliffe in the West Riding of Yorkshire, was 109 people (47 couples and 15 single people).[9]
1700s and 1800s[edit]
From 1753, the Union stage coach departed on the Keighley and Kendal Turnpike from what was the Devonshire Arms coaching inn on the corner of Church Street and High Street. Rebuilt about 1789, this public house has a classical style pedimented doorcase with engaged Tuscan columns in the high fashion of that age. The original route towards Skipton was Spring Gardens Lane – Hollins Lane – Hollins Bank Lane.[10] Keighley was to become an intersection with other turnpikes, including the Two-Laws to Keighley branch of the Toller Lane – Blue Bell turnpike (1755) from Bradford to Colne, the Bradford to Keighley turnpike (1814), and the Keighley—Halifax turnpike.
The 1842 Leeds Directory description of Keighley reads, "Its parish had no dependent townships though it is about six miles [10 km] long and four miles [6 km] broad, and comprises 10,160 acres [4,110 ha] of land (including a peaty moor of about 2,000 acres or 800 ha) and a population which amounted, in the year 1801, to 5,745."
Christopher Ingham[edit]
Utley Cemetery contains the grave of Christopher Ingham, a veteran of the conflict against Napoleon. He was a member of the Duke of Wellington's elite 95th Rifle Regiment and fought in ten battles against the French in Spain, France and Belgium, including the Spanish Peninsula War and the Battle of Waterloo, for which he was awarded several medals, including the Peninsula Medal. He died in 1866. Some local historians believe Mr Ingham's heroism may have inspired the author Bernard Cornwell's saga about Major Richard Sharpe.[11] The TV series episode Sharpe's Justice, which focuses on the roots of the title character, is set in and around Keighley.
Hindenburg parcel[edit]
On 22 May 1936, the Zeppelin Hindenburg crossed Yorkshire in a diversion of her normal route between the United States and Germany.[12] As the airship passed over the town, a parcel was dropped and landed in the High Street, where two boys, Jack Gerrard and Alfred Butler, picked it up. The parcel contained a bunch of carnations, a small silver and jet crucifix, some postage stamps, a picture postcard and some Hindenburg notepaper.[13]
The note was written by John P Schulte, who called himself the first flying priest. The note requested that the carnations and crucifix be placed on the grave of his brother, Lieutenant Franz Schulte, who had died of Spanish flu, during the deadly influenza pandemic of 1918, as a Prisoner of War at Raikeswood Prisoner of War Camp, Skipton, originally built as a training camp for the Bradford Pals, in 1915. Schulte was, at that time, buried at Morton Cemetery, two miles (three kilometres) east of Keighley (though the letter stated that he was buried at Skipton, which was incorrect).[14]
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The carnations were placed on the grave and the two boys kept the postage stamps and the postcard. The crucifix was placed in St Anne's Church to avoid it being stolen.[15]
Governance[edit]
Constituency[edit]
Keighley is represented in the House of Commons by Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) Robbie Moore, who won the seat by defeating his predecessor John Grogan at the 2019 general election. Grogan had a majority of just 249 over the previous incumbent, Conservative Kris Hopkins.[16]
In 2015, Hopkins won the seat at the 2015 general election – securing a second term. Hopkins increased the Conservatives vote share in the area from 41.9%[17] in 2010 to 44.3%[18] in 2015. The Conservatives won the seat in 2010, taking over from Ann Cryer, who had been in office since 1997.
Keighley was contested by the British National Party (BNP) in the May 2005 general election, when the party's leader Nick Griffin stood for Parliament. He was defeated by Ann Cryer, one of a small number of Labour MPs with an increased majority. In March 2006, the town's mayoress, Rose Thompson, announced she had joined the BNP and was immediately dismissed by the mayor Tony Wright.[19]
Victorian era terraced buildings on Cavendish Street
A ground-level view of the Victorian commercial quarter
North Street
Keighley lies at the confluence of the rivers Worth and Aire in Airedale, in the South Pennines. It benefits from an electrified railway service with connections to Leeds, Bradford, Shipley, Bingley, Skipton, Carlisle and Morecambe.
The post town of Keighley's northern boundary is with Bradley and its southern limit is the edge of Oxenhope. To the west, the town advances up the hill to the suburb of Black Hill, and in the east it terminates at the residential neighbourhoods of Long Lee and Thwaites Brow. The outlying north-eastern suburb of Riddlesden is sometimes incorrectly referred to as a separate village but is part of the town.
Past Black Hill and via Braithwaite Edge Road lies Braithwaite village, which leads to Laycock, which was also mentioned in the Domesday Book. Laycock is a conservation area which overlooks the hamlet of Goose Eye.
The River Aire passes through north-eastern Keighley, dividing the neighbourhood of Stockbridge and running roughly parallel to the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. The Worth links up with the Aire in Stockbridge and runs south-westerly, dividing eastern Keighley from central and western districts of the town. The Worth is lined with abandoned, semi-derelict industrial sites and tracts of waste ground dating from the period when Keighley thrived as a major textile centre.
Parts of Keighley are prone to flooding, and the town was particularly badly hit by floods in 2000.[26][27] Since then, millions have been spent on strengthening flood defences.
Other outlying villages around the town are Oakworth, Cross Roads, Haworth, Stanbury and Oxenhope. The two main settlements to the north are Silsden and Steeton. Although these villages are often referred to as separate places, they are part of the wider Keighley area. These areas add a total of 22,669 people to the Keighley area, taking the population of the wider Keighley area up to 74,098 (2001 Census).
To the north-east is Rombalds Moor, which contains many signs of Stone Age and Bronze Age occupation, including cup and ring marks;[28] as it drops back down into Wharfedale and the town of Ilkley, approximately five miles away, it becomes the more famous Ilkley Moor.
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Sport[edit]
Keighley Cougars are a semi-professional rugby league team based at Royd Ings Avenue. The ground's historical name is Lawkholme Lane but has been known as Cougar Park since 1992.
Keighley RUFC rugby union team are based at Rose Cottage, Utley, and play in the amateur Yorkshire Second Division.
Keighley Central F.C., was a football club that won the Yorkshire Football League Division 3 title in 1964.[56]
On 6 July 2014, Stage 2 of the 2014 Tour de France from York to Sheffield, passed through the town. It was also the location of the stage's intermediate sprint after 42.6 miles (68.6 km). The 20 points for the Points jersey was claimed by Blel Kadri of AG2R La Mondiale.[57]
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Filmography[edit]
Film[edit]
Keighley was the setting for the film Blow Dry, starring Josh Hartnett, Alan Rickman and Bill Nighy. Blow Dry opens with the announcement that the small town of Keighley will host the year 2000 British Hair Championships. Keighley's mayor (Warren Clarke) is thrilled about the news, but when he announces it to the town's press, they all yawn disapprovingly. The film, although set in Keighley, was shot in several locations.[58]
Most of the 2004 film Yasmin was shot in Keighley. Written by Simon Beaufoy and mostly filmed in Lawkholme, it tells the story of a British Muslim woman who has her life disrupted by the impact of the September 11 attacks on America. Beaufoy said the film was originally set in Oldham, but "worked its way across the Pennines".[59]
The Keighley and Worth Valley Railway (KWVR), running steam trains from Keighley to Haworth and Oxenhope, has been used in several films, including The Railway Children, Yanks, the film of the Pink Floyd musical The Wall and an episode of the long-running situation comedy, The Last of the Summer Wine.[60] A Touch of Frost, starring David Jason, was also filmed at the railway line close to Ingrow West.[61]
The 1950s set British feature film Between Two Women (2000) was filmed extensively in and around Keighley and its mills, in particular around the railway and close to the main town railway station.[62] The same director's next film, The Jealous God, (2005) also featured Keighley railway station and nearby streets.[63]
The film God's Own Country about the young life of a sheep farmer was filmed in Laycock and also at Keighley bus station[64]
Television[edit]
The 2004 documentary Edge of the City, about the City of Bradford Social Services, and the people and problems they deal with, was partly filmed in Keighley, and concerned sexual abuse of underage white girls by some Asian men.[65]
A great part of the 2004 BBC television drama North and South was shot on Keighley, with Dalton Mills being one of the serial's main locations.[66]
The following people were born in Keighley, have lived there in the past or are currently resident in the town.