Denholme
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Coordinates: 53°48′07″N 1°53′38″W / 53.802°N 1.894°W
| Denholme | |
|
|
|
  Denholme shown within West Yorkshire |
|
| OS grid reference | |
|---|---|
| Metropolitan borough | City of Bradford |
| Metropolitan county | West Yorkshire |
| Region | Yorkshire and the Humber |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BRADFORD |
| Postcode district | BD13 |
| Dialling code | 01274 |
| Police | West Yorkshire |
| Fire | West Yorkshire |
| Ambulance | Yorkshire |
| European Parliament | Yorkshire and the Humber |
| UK Parliament | Shipley |
| List of places: UK • England • Yorkshire | |
 |
This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (February 2008) |
 |
This article may need to be wikified to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please help by adding relevant internal links, or by improving the article's layout. (February 2008) |
Denholme is a small town and civil parish in the Bradford Metropolitan Borough, West Yorkshire, England. It is about eight miles west of Bradford. Seven miles from Keighley and roughly the same distance from Halifax. Administratively, it is part of the Bingley Rural ward of the City of Bradford. It has two cricket teams (Denholme Cricket Club and Denholme Clough Cricket Club) who each have their own grounds. It also has a football team (Denholme United AFC) who play home games in the local park. There is a Gala (fair) every year held in Foster Park and organised by members of the town council. It is usually held on the first Thursday, Friday and Saturday of July. The local Scout Group usually have some part in its organisation and take part in a precession which starts at Ogden Lane and ends in the centre of the town, taking a turn past the Royal Pub and along Stradmore Road into Foster Park. Foster Park was given to the people of Denholme in 1912 by William Foster. The Main Road running through Denholme is the A629.
Denholme has an English fish and chip shop as well as a Chinese take away which serves excellent food. It also has a bakery which provides a fine selection of hot and cold freshly made sandwiches. Denholme also boasts two hairdressers as well as a beauty salon, two pubs - the Royal and the New Inn, a corner shop and a Co-Operative store. There is also a car dealership specialising in 4x4's. Additionally the town features a charity shop, a model shop, an electrical shop, a pharmacy and a post office which offers a range of Denholme related merchandise. Denholme Velvets mill has a factory shop, and the town has a farm shop. Opposite Whitakers wood supplies you will find a small outlet selling various sheds and garages and if that isn't enough for you there is the garden centre on Trough Lane opposite Manywell's junction.
The library is to be found in the mechanics institute and is open Monday 12 noon - 1 pm, 2 pm -4:30 pm and Friday 2 pm - 4:30 pm, 5 pm - 7 pm. Various social events happen at the mechanics institute; the library notice board carries up-to-date details.
There is also a conservative social club in Denholme. At weekends you will be entertained by a "turn" and can take part in "prize bingo".
Denholme has a youth cafe situated in Foster Park next to the skate area just across from the basket ball courts. Foster Park also has a bowling green and a war memorial. Alongside the park there are what are locally known as "the Pens" where locals keep various livestock. The allotments are to be found down by the reservoir.
Denholme has its own scout group ranging from beavers to explorers. The scout hut has recently been rebuilt and has been transformed from a run down wooden shack to a slightly more modern looking and more secure concrete pre-fab.
Denholme has a primary school which has a good reputation. The nearest high school is Parkside School, Cullingworth, between 2 and 3 miles away. The local authority run a bus service to get students to school, provided by Keighley and District.
Denholme has three churches: Methodist, Catholic and Denholme Shared Church (Incorporating Denholme Edge, United Reformed/Baptist and St. Paul's, Church of England)
There is also the water activities centre and sailing club at Doe Park Reservoir. On Wednesday nights during summer there is "pay and play" which basically means, turn up, pay up, take part. There is also fishing at Doe Park.
Denholme formerly had a golf driving range but in the past couple of years this has closed to make way for housing developments.
People from Denholme are known as "frog boilers".
Denholme also has a local band called the "four rooms"
It is said that it is two coats colder in Denholme. Central heating and double glazing is not a luxury up here it is essential. As is a car since everything is uphill!
There is an excellent senior citizens complex in the centre of the town, and last but not least, there is still a doctors surgery on Anne Street!
[edit] History
The name Denholme is probably of Viking origin, translating to "A flat amongst the hillside". This is a good description of the village's geographical setting, since it is located in a broad side valley extending southwards from that of the River Aire - the Aire Valley or Airedale. Denholme is also on the eastern flank of the Pennines, commonly known as the "backbone of England", about midway along their length.
The village sits astride the old Roman Road from Manchester (Mamucium) to Ilkey (Olicana) though there is no evidence of any settlement. The line of the road is visible on the ground to the south of the village, not far from St Paul's church, and it is clearly marked on some maps. There is an excellent map held in the Denholme Town Council Chambers.
However, the first evidence of habitation in the area dates from the 13th century. There is a grant of land, dated 1239, whereby Thomas de Thornton gave grazing land at Denholme to the monks of Byland Abbey. It is likely that the monks would have built a grange in the area and this may well have given the village its first occupants.
Denholme had a working railway station from 1 January 1884. It closed to passengers on 23 May 1955 and closed completely on 10 April 1961 when sometime after most of its buildings were demolished. The railway was built by the Great Northern Railway and linked Bradford, Keighley and Halifax via a triangular junction at Queensbury. The lines and station transferred to the LNER and, ultimately, to British Railways (North Eastern Region) at closure. At 850 ft above sea level, Denholme was the highest station on the entire GN system. The line was mostly rural and needed the construction of many earthworks, viaducts and tunnels. Its hilly nature earned it the nicknames of "the Alpine route" or "the switchback" from its drivers. Railway Source
The entire Victorian housing sites of Denholme were built by the Fosters who also built the old mills of Denholme. The houses were for the workers of the mills. It was common in Victorian England for wealthy businessmen to build entire towns to house the workers of their mills.
[edit] References
|
||||||||||||||
