Keighley

Keighley
	View of the city
Coordinates	53 ° 52 ′ N , 1 ° 55 ′ W Coordinates: 53 ° 52 ′ N , 1 ° 55 ′ W
	Keighley
	Keighley
Residents	51,429 (as of 2001 Census )
administration
Post town	KEIGHLEY
ZIP code section	BD20, BD21, BD22
prefix	01535
Part of the country	England
region	Yorkshire and the Humber
Metropolitan county	West Yorkshire
Metropolitan Borough	City of Bradford
British Parliament	Keighley

Keighley (spoken: [ˈkiːθli] ) is a town in West Yorkshire County in northern England . It is located northwest of Bradford and has 51,429 inhabitants (as of 2001). Keighley has civil parish status, being the third largest in England. Keighley belongs to the Metropolitan Borough of the City of Bradford and is assigned to the "Brontë Country", the landscape in which the Brontë siblings lived .

geography

Keighley is at the confluence of the Aire and Worth rivers. In the north the suburb of Utley forms the border, in the south the settlement of Bracken Bank. In the west the city extends up the hill to Black Hill, in the east to the Long Lee and Thwaites Brow neighborhoods. Riddlesden in the northeast forms its own district, which was incorporated into Keighley. The suburbs to the south include Oakworth, Cross Roads, Haworth, Stanbury, Oxenhope, Cullingworth and Denholme, and to the north are Silsden and Steeton.

The River Aire runs north-east of Keighley in the Stockbridge area and then runs parallel to the Leeds-Liverpool Canal. The River Worth flows into the Aire at Stockbridge and then flows southwest, separating the eastern boroughs of Keighley from the town center and western boroughs. There are mainly old industrial wastelands along the Worth. During floods, most recently in 2000, the river overflows its banks and submerges parts of the city.

history

The city is traditionally home to the textile industry , especially the processing of wool and cotton. In 1800 about 6000 people lived here, due to the boom during industrialization the population rose to over 60,000 by 1850. Keighley received municipal borough status in 1882 , but the city was added to the City of Bradford borough as part of the 1974 local government reform, which caused some resentment among the Keighley population. In 2002 Keighley was regained civil parish status .

In the 1960s, the city saw heavy immigration of mostly Muslim migrants from Pakistan and Bangladesh who found work in the textile industry. There are currently around 8,000 Muslims in the city, with seven mosques at their disposal.

Attractions

One of the city's most famous structures is East Riddlesden Hall, a 17th-century country house on a bend in the Aire. The city library was founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1904. A few textile factories from the industrialization period have survived, some of which are gradually falling into disrepair due to lack of renovation. The city center is dominated by modern buildings such as Keighley College (now part of Leeds City College) and Churchill House, home of the city's Conservative Club. The most important shopping opportunity is the Airedale Shopping Center. In the beautiful neo-Gothic Cliffe Castle houses a museum.

Sports

Keighley is home to the Keighley Cougars rugby club.

education

Keighley has three secondary schools: the University Academy (formerly Greenhead High School) in Utley, the Oakbank School, the Holy Family Catholic School. In Cullingworth is the Parkside Comprehensive School in Cullingworth and in Crosshills the South Craven Schoo. There is also a branch of Leeds City College , formerly known as Park Lane College, near the train station , with the STAR Center , a popular science center designed to encourage young people to pursue science and technology careers.

traffic

Keighley is on the Leeds – Morecambe railway line and is served by the Airedale Line . The Keighley and Worth Valley Railway , now a museum railway, branches off here. The main road A629 between Chapeltown (South Yorkshire) and Skipton runs through the village, into which the A650 from Leeds joins in the north of the city . There are bus connections throughout the city and the Worth Valley, as well as Bradford , Bingley , Burnley , Halifax , Hebden Bridge , Ilkley , Leeds and Skipton. Long-distance buses from National Express operate to London .