Garforth: Difference between revisions

Garforth
Garforth
	Main Street, looking North
Population	Expression error: "c.15,000" must be numeric
OS grid reference	SE403330
Metropolitan borough	City of Leeds;
Metropolitan county	West Yorkshire;
Region	Yorkshire and the Humber;
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	LEEDS
Postcode district	LS25
Dialling code	0113
Police	West Yorkshire
Fire	West Yorkshire
Ambulance	Yorkshire
UK Parliament	Elmet;
	List of places UK England Yorkshire

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Revision as of 12:15, 5 April 2009

Garforth is a town within the City of Leeds metropolitan borough, in West Yorkshire, England. The 2001 Census lists 23,892 residents in the Garforth and Swillington ward - 80.57% of which are homeowners, 20% more than the average for Leeds. Garforth itself has around 15,000 of those people, and is the largest centre of population in the parliamentary constituency of Elmet. However, Elmet will cease to exist at the next General Election, and will be incorporated into the new constituency of Elmet and Rothwell.

It owes its size to expansion in the 17th and 18th centuries during which the local land-owning Gascoigne family ran several coalmines in the area. The surrounding settlements of Micklefield, Kippax, Swillington, Methley and Allerton Bywater are all villages that prospered and grew as a result of the coal industry. Nowadays manufacturing and motor-vehicle repair account for more than a third of the workforce in the area.

More recent expansion can also be traced to a combination of overall economic success in Leeds, and the fact that Garforth is well served by transport links. The A1 and M1 are minutes away, and both have recently been linked by an extension of the M1 which passes to the West and North of the town, with two nearby access points at Junctions 46 and 47. The M1 extension has led to rapid development of commercial, light industrial and residential sites clustered around Junctions 46 and 47. There are two railway stations, Garforth and East Garforth, both on the mainline route between Leeds, York, and North Eastern England to Scotland, and between Leeds, Selby and Hull and the Yorkshire coastal resorts. Effectively, people can commute to, or visit, a wide variety of destinations quite easily, and still live in a self-contained township surrounded by open countryside, woodlands and rural villages.

Some famous residents and ex-residents of Garforth include, Rachel Cairns, Chris Silverwood, Dave Seaman and Andrew White, of the Kaiser Chiefs. The town was also the birthplace, of Second World War hero, Sir Augustus Walker of the Royal Air Force.

Transport

Garforth is situated on the A63, which links it with the M1 and the A1(M), the M62 also lies close by to the South of the town. Garforth has two railway stations, Garforth railway station lies to the North of the town centre, whist East Garforth railway station which opened in the 1980s lies to the East of the town. Here the town is linked to Leeds, York, Selby, Kingston Upon Hull, Manchester, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Liverpool and Blackpool via the rail links. The town rail link to Kippax and Castleford was closed under the Beeching Axe of the 1960s. Garforth's bus services are provided by First Leeds and Arriva.

Schools in Garforth

Home to one secondary school and five primary schools.

Garforth Community College, a secondary school and sixth form for pupils aged 11-18 is located on Lidgett Lane in Garforth. The school itself has over 2000 students and staff. It is also one of the pioneering schools behind finger-print placed lunch payment system. Furthermore, Garforth Community College runs the Garforth Art Festival, which is a display of musical talent.

Over the street from Garforth Community College is the newly refurbished Strawberry Fields Primary school, formerly known as West Garforth Primary School. As well as Strawberry Fields, Garforth is home to Ninelands Lane Primary School, Green Lane Primary School,East Garforth Primary School and St Benedict's Primary School, which is a Catholic school.

Sport

Local football teams are Garforth Town, Garforth A.F.C., Garforth W.M.C. A.F.C and Garforth Rangers A.F.C.

There is a rugby team Garforth RUFC,^[1] and two cricket clubs.^[2]

Garforth Golf Club has a course designed by Alister MacKenzie.^[3]

Economy

Originally a coal mining area, the collieries of much of East Leeds and surrounding areas closed in the 1960s, although further South mining was still strong in the 1990s and is still prevelent to some degree today. Garforth has increasingly become a commuter town of Leeds. There is a light industrial estate to the North of the town which provides some employment, while the neighbouring Thorpe Business Park in Colton also provides employment. Garforth's rail connections and access to the M1, A1(M) and M62, has lead to it becoming a desirable area for commuters to live.

Ammenities

Garforth's offers less ammenities then other towns in the City of Leeds, such as Otley and Wetherby. The town centre now resembles a local centre rather then a town centre. Garforth has a Tesco supermarket, several pubs in the town centre, a Co-operative and several other shops such as newsagents, charity shops, travel agents and banks. There is also a large ex-catalogue shop. Garforth also has civic ammenities such as a library and a One Stop Centre run by Leeds City Council.

Location Grid

References

External links

"The Ancient Parish of Garforth". GENUKI. Historical and genealogical resource

[GRUFC-1] Garforth RUFC

[churchcricket-2] Garforth Parish Church Cricket Club

[golf-3] Garforth Golf Club

[1]

[2]

[3]

@@ Line 25: / Line 25: @@
 Some famous residents and ex-residents of Garforth include, [[Rachel Cairns]], [[Chris Silverwood]], [[Dave Seaman (DJ)|Dave Seaman]] and [[Andrew White (musician)|Andrew White]], of the [[Kaiser Chiefs]]. The town was also the birthplace, of Second World War hero, Sir Augustus Walker of the [[Royal Air Force]].
+==Transport==
+Garforth is situated on the [[A63 road|A63]], which links it with the [[M1 Motorway|M1]] and the [[A1(M)]], the [[M62 Motorway|M62]] also lies close by to the South of the town.  Garforth has two railway stations, [[Garforth railway station]] lies to the North of the town centre, whist [[East Garforth railway station]] which opened in the [[1980s]] lies to the East of the town.  Here the town is linked to [[Leeds]], [[York]], [[Selby]], [[Kingston Upon Hull]], [[Manchester]], [[Newcastle Upon Tyne]], [[Liverpool]] and [[Blackpool]] via the rail links.  The town rail link to [[Kippax]] and [[Castleford]] was closed under the [[Beeching Axe]] of the 1960s.  Garforth's bus services are provided by [[First Leeds]] and [[Arriva]].
 ==Schools in Garforth==

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