Castleford is a town within the

City of Wakefield Wakefield, also known as the City of Wakefield, is a Local government in England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status and a metropolitan district in West Yorkshire, England. Wakefield, the largest settl ...

district,

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate.

Historically History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...

in the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

, to the north of the town centre the River Calder joins the

River Aire The River Aire is a major river in Yorkshire, England, in length. Part of the river below Leeds is canalised, and is known as the Aire and Calder Navigation. The ''Handbook for Leeds and Airedale'' (1890) notes that the distance from Malha ...

and the

Aire and Calder Navigation The Aire and Calder Navigation is the River engineering#Canalization of rivers, canalised section of the River Aire, Rivers Aire and River Calder, West Yorkshire, Calder in West Yorkshire, England. The first improvements to the rivers above Kn ...

. It is located north east of

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 109,766 in the 2021 census, up from 99,251 in the 2011 census. The city is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolit ...

, north of

Pontefract Pontefract is a historic market town in the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district in West Yorkshire, England. It lies to the east of Wakefield and south of Castleford. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is one of the ...

and south east of

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

. Castleford is the largest town in the Wakefield district after Wakefield itself. The town is the site of a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

settlement. Within the historical

Municipal Borough of Castleford The Municipal Borough of Castleford was a local government district in the West Riding of Yorkshire from 1955 to 1974 around the town of Castleford, covering Airedale, Castleford, Airedale, New Fryston, Altofts and Whitwood, Whitwood, Cutsyke, G ...

are the suburbs of

Airedale Airedale is a valley, or Dale (landform), dale, in North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire, England. It is named after the River Aire, which flows through it. The upper valley, from Malham Cove to Airton, is known as Malhamdale, named after the vill ...

, Cutsyke,

Ferry Fryston Ferry Fryston is a suburb of the town of Castleford, in the City of Wakefield district, of West Yorkshire, England. The appropriate ward is called Airedale and Ferry Fryston. Ferry Fryston was an ancient parish in the wapentake of Osgoldcross ...

, Fryston Village,

Glasshoughton Glasshoughton is a neighbourhood of Castleford in the City of Wakefield, Wakefield district of West Yorkshire, England. The area is next to Junction 32 of the M62 motorway and the Glasshoughton railway station, and borders Pontefract. Glassho ...

, Half Acres, Hightown, Lock Lane, Townville, Wheldale and Whitwood. Castleford is home to the

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

team

Castleford Tigers The Castleford Tigers are a professional rugby league club in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England. They play their home games at Wheldon Road (currently known as the Mend-A-Hose Jungle for sponsorship reasons) and compete in the Super League, t ...

History

Castleford's history dates back to

Roman times In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman civilisation from the founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingd ...

, archaeological evidence points to modern day Castleford being built upon a

Roman army The Roman army () served ancient Rome and the Roman people, enduring through the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC), the Roman Republic (509–27 BC), and the Roman Empire (27 BC–AD 1453), including the Western Roman Empire (collapsed Fall of the W ...

settlement which was called

Lagentium Lagentium or Legiolum was the Roman name for the fort and surrounding civilian settlement which was built around the year 74 by the Roman Empire. The English town of Castleford, West Yorkshire, is now built on what was the fort. Etymology The ...

(thought to mean 'The Place of the Swordsmen'). Roman funeral urns have been found in modern-day Castleford, giving further evidence to this theory. A Roman milestone was unearthed in Beancroft Road, now believed to be in Leeds City Museum. Queen's Park in Castleford provides evidence of Roundhouses used by the

Anglo Saxons The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

. This was a strategic area due to the views of the entire settlement. The history of the area includes

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...

's encampment in nearby Knottingley and Ferrybridge (originally thought to be in Castleford itself) whilst his forces laid siege to Pontefract Castle. In the 19th century, Castleford became a

boomtown A boomtown is a community that undergoes sudden and rapid population and economic growth, or that is started from scratch. The growth is normally attributed to the nearby discovery of a precious resource such as gold, silver, or oil, although t ...

with the population growing from 1,000 to 14,000 as collieries opened around the town; however, these collieries closed in the 20th century.

Ferrybridge Power Station The Ferrybridge power stations were three coal-fired power stations on the River Aire near Ferrybridge in West Yorkshire, England, in operation from 1927 to 2016 on a site next to the junction of the M62 and A1(M) motorways. The first statio ...

and

Kellingley Colliery Kellingley Colliery, known affectionately as ''the 'Big K, was a deep coal mine in North Yorkshire, England, east of Ferrybridge power station. It was owned and operated by UK Coal. The colliery closed on 18 December 2015, marking the end ...

have also closed (in 2015 and 2016 respectively) and used to employ Castleford residents. The newer warehouses and distribution centres in

have brought in many new jobs to the area. In 2008 ''

Grand Designs ''Grand Designs'' is a British television series that has broadcast on Channel 4 since 29 April 1999 and is presented by Kevin McCloud. Format Episodes generally follow a regular format, with small variations depending on the progress of t ...

'' presenter

Kevin McCloud Kevin McCloud, (born 8 May 1959) is a British designer, writer, and a television presenter. He has presented the Channel 4 series ''Grand Designs'' since its debut in April 1999. Early life Born in Bedfordshire, McCloud and his two brothers, ...

and

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

led a community regeneration scheme to redevelop Castleford. In February 2017 Castleford Swimming Pool closed. A new modern leisure facility including a swimming pool is proposed for nearby Pontefract Park. Built in 1890 the underpass/bridge made by Deborah Saunt called the Tickle Cock Bridge was established and was refurbished in 2003 and was closed around Christmas 2005, but was completed in 2008. Also known by its original name The Tittle Cot bridge but was later changed To Tickle Cock and still has a controversial stance.

Economy

Burberry Burberry Group plc is a British luxury fashion house established in 1856 by Thomas Burberry and headquartered in London, England. It designs and distributes ready to wear, including trench coats, leather accessories, and footwear. It is l ...

, the retailer and designer label, has a factory in the town, plans were proposed to close this once a new facility was built in Leeds. However these plans were put on hold in 2016 and the factory is due to remain in the town for the foreseeable future. A large

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. ( ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 20 ...

factory, which produced Toffee Crisp and After Eights for 40 years, closed in 2012 and demolition starting in 2014 to make way for housing. Castleford has previously been home to Dunsford and Wesley Textiles, which at peak business times had three factories in Castleford which have all since ceased production. TEVA also have their UK headquarters here. Castleford had potteries from the early 18th century until 1961, notably the Castleford Pottery (1790–1820) of David Dunderdale, which gave its name to "Castleford-type" stonewares.

Governance

Castleford was established as an

urban district An urban district is a division generally managed by a local government. It may also refer to a city district, district, urban area or quarter Specific urban districts in some countries include: * Urban districts of Denmark * Districts of Germa ...

, in the administrative county of the

in 1894 under the

Local Government Act 1894 The Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The act followed the reforms carried out at county leve ...

, with an urban district council. Whitwood and

were added to the district in the 1930s. The urban district was incorporated as a

municipal borough A municipal borough was a type of local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of ...

in 1955.

Castleford Civic Centre Castleford Civic Centre is a municipal building in Ferrybridge Road in Castleford, a town in West Yorkshire in England. The building, which was previously the offices and meeting place of the Municipal Borough of Castleford, is now used as a loc ...

was completed in 1970. Following the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

, the

was abolished on 1 April 1974; it then became an

unparished area In England, an unparished area is an area that is not covered by a civil parish (the lowest level of local government, not to be confused with an ecclesiastical parish). Most urbanised districts of England are either entirely or partly unparis ...

of the

, a

metropolitan borough A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district) is a type of districts of England, local government district in England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan distr ...

. Castleford is now controlled by

Wakefield Council Wakefield Council, also known as the City of Wakefield Metropolitan District Council, is the local authority of the City of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England. Wakefield has had a council since 1848, which has been reformed on several occasions ...

. Three electoral wards cover the town: Airedale and Ferry Fryston; Altofts and Whitwood; and Castleford Central and Glasshoughton.

Amenities and entertainment

The town contains the ''Junction 32'' multi-store outlet shopping village and the '' Xscape'' leisure complex, both in the Glasshoughton suburb at the south of the town. Within Xscape is the large ''Snozone'', which used to have Britain's largest indoor real snow slope; this was later edged out by ''Chillfactore'' in Manchester. It is also home to

Frankie & Benny's Frankie & Benny's (also known informally as Frankie's) is a chain of Italian-American-themed restaurants in the United Kingdom run by The Big Table. , it had 90 outlets nationwide. Frankie & Benny’s runs smaller outlets, trading as "Little Fr ...

and

Nando's Nando's (; ) is a South Africa, South African multinational fast casual restaurant chain that specialises in Portuguese flame-grilled, peri-peri style Chicken as food, chicken. Founded in Johannesburg in 1987, Nando's operates over 1,200 outl ...

restaurants. It is also home to a 14-screen ''Cineworld'', which underwent a refit in 2018 and is now home to a 4DX screen and a Screen X. Castleford has an open and an indoor market, a shopping centre on Carlton Street and a retail park; in addition,

Asda Asda Stores Limited (), trading as Asda and often styled as ASDA, is a British supermarket and petrol station chain. Its headquarters is in Leeds, England. The company was incorporated as Associated Dairies and Farm Stores in 1949. It expanded ...

Morrisons Wm Morrison Supermarkets Limited, trading as Morrisons, is the List of supermarket chains in the United Kingdom, fifth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. As of 2021, the company had 497 supermarkets across England, Wales and Sco ...

Aldi Aldi (German pronunciation: ), stylised as ALDI, is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 12,000 stores in 18 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and ...

and

Co-operative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democr ...

supermarkets are located there. Castleford Forum Museum April 2017

In December 2013, the ''Castleford Forum Museum'', a library and heritage museum, opened in a new building. The town's library had been in temporary accommodation for two years, while the old site was redeveloped. The existing frontage was kept, while the building further back was demolished. A new three-floor building was then constructed. The town centre has

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

s, bars and social clubs, although the number of these has declined in recent years with leisure becoming focused on the ''Xscape'' complex. In 2000, three nightclubs were situated in the town centre; today, none remain.

Media

Local news and television programmes are provided by

BBC Yorkshire BBC Yorkshire is one of the English regions of the BBC. It was formed from the division of the former BBC North region into BBC Yorkshire and BBC Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, based in Kingston upon Hull. Serving West, North and South Yorkshir ...

and

ITV Yorkshire ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...

. Television signals are received from the

Emley Moor The Emley Moor transmitting station is a telecommunications and broadcasting facility on Emley Moor, west of the village centre of Emley, in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. It is made up of a concrete tower and apparatus that began ...

TV transmitter. The town's local radio stations are

BBC Radio Leeds BBC Radio Leeds is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of West Yorkshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at St Peter's Square in Leeds. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audienc ...

on 92.4 FM,

Greatest Hits Radio Yorkshire Greatest Hits Radio (GHR) is a classic hits radio network in the United Kingdom, owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK. It currently includes 18 local and regional radio stations operating over 50 FM and DAB licences in England, Scotl ...

on 106.8 FM,

Heart Yorkshire Heart Yorkshire (previously Real Radio Yorkshire) was a regional radio station owned by Communicorp UK and operated by Global as part of the Heart network. It broadcasts to South and West Yorkshire.Capital Yorkshire Capital Yorkshire was a regional radio station owned by Global as part of the Capital network. It broadcast to South Yorkshire & North Derbyshire, West Yorkshire, North Yorkshire, the East Riding of Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire. Capi ...

on 105.1 FM and 5 Towns FM, a community online radio station serving the town and surrounding areas. The local newspaper is a weekly called Pontefract and Castleford Express. Stoneground Records is a local independent record label named after the Stoneground Flour Mills on the River Aire.

Transport

Roads

Castleford is only away from the M62 at Junction 32 via the A656 road. It has other A roads that criss-cross the town and provide access to Junction 31 on the same motorway.

Waterways

The rivers Aire and Calder have a confluence just north-west of the town and also feed the Aire and Calder Navigation. Whilst it is an industrial waterway, it also hosts tourism with moorings on the Castleford Cut of the Navigation.

Railways

Castleford railway station Castleford railway station serves the town of Castleford in West Yorkshire. It lies on the Hallam Line, Hallam and Pontefract line, Pontefract lines, south-east of . Although it was built originally as a through station, regular passenger ser ...

is situated on both the

Hallam Hallam may refer to: Places * Hallam, Victoria, Australia ** Hallam railway station UK * Hallamshire, an area in South Yorkshire, England, UK ** Royal Hallamshire Hospital ** Sheffield Hallam (UK Parliament constituency) ** Sheffield Hallam Univer ...

and Pontefract lines; these lines connect the town directly with

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

Goole Goole is a port town and civil parish on the River Ouse, Yorkshire, River Ouse in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The town's Historic counties of England, historic county is the West Riding of Yorkshire. At the 2021 United Kingdom censu ...

and

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

. All trains arrive from the west and leave in that same direction. In January 2021, the station was completely revamped, providing a modern waiting facility, sheltered cycle parking and changes to the car park layout. Train services used to travel eastwards to

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

, via

Burton Salmon Burton Salmon is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England, close to the border with West Yorkshire, and approximately north from Knottingley, on the A162 road. According to the 2001 Census the parish had a populatio ...

, but passenger workings ceased in 1970 with the section retained for freight workings only. Castleford also had a second service to Leeds that left the station eastwards and swung north onto the former Castleford–Garforth line, which saw services calling at Ledston and Kippax, before arriving in

Garforth Garforth () is a town in the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It sits in the Garforth and Swillington ward of Leeds City Council and the Leeds East parliamentary constituency. As of 2011, the population ...

and continuing to Leeds. In December 2023, services were restored towards York, with

Transpennine Express TransPennine Trains Limited, trading as TransPennine Express (TPE), is a British train operating company that has operated passenger services in the TransPennine Express franchise area since May 2023. It runs regional and inter-city rail ser ...

providing four round-trips daily, from

Manchester Piccadilly Manchester Piccadilly is the main railway station of the city of Manchester, in the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester, England. Opened originally as Store Street in 1842, it was renamed Manchester London Road in 1847 and became Manchest ...

to York via

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...

, Wakefield Kirkgate and Castleford. The

area of the town is served by its own railway station, which is situated one stop beyond Castleford on the Pontefract line.

Buses

In 2016, a new £6 million

bus station A bus station, bus depot, or bus interchange is a structure where city buses or intercity buses stop to pick up and drop off passengers. A bus station is larger than a bus stop, which is usually simply a place on the roadside, where buses can st ...

was opened adjacent to the railway station to allow an integrated travel site for the 12,000 people using the bus station per day. Local services are provided primarily by

Arriva Yorkshire Arriva Yorkshire is a major bus operator providing services primarily within and across West Yorkshire, although it also provides service in some parts of South Yorkshire, East Riding of Yorkshire and southern areas of North Yorkshire. It is a ...

, but also by Globe Holidays (Barnsley) and Ross Travel. Routes link Castleford with Leeds, Pontefract and Wakefield.

Education

The town's primary schools for young children are Wheldon Infant School, Castleford Park Junior, Smawthorne Henry Moore, Townville Infant School, Airedale Juniors, Oyster Park Primary, Fairburn View Primary, Three Lane Ends Academy, Ackton Pastures, saint josephs castleford catholic primary and Half Acres. Castleford's secondary schools for children aged 11–16 are

Castleford Academy Castleford Academy is a secondary school in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England for children aged 11–16 located on Ferrybridge Road, just east of the town centre and next to Queen's Park. History Castleford Secondary School was establish ...

and Airedale Academy. The town has a small further and higher education college on the Castleford Campus of

Wakefield College Wakefield College is a Further Education and Higher Education College in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It has provided education in the city since 1868. On 1 March 2022, the college merged with Selby College to form the 'Heart of Yorkshi ...

in Glasshoughton.

Sport

Rugby League

Castleford has multiple

teams. The local team,

was formed in 1926, Castleford was one of the twelve founder members of

when the new league format was introduced in 1996. The 'Tigers' nickname and logo were introduced in 1992 and the club's honours include four

Challenge Cup The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...

and one Super League Leaders Shield. The club have been based at Wheldon Road since 1927. Castleford also has two other lower league rugby league teams,

Castleford Lock Lane Lock Lane ARLFC are an amateur Rugby league Club in Castleford, West Yorkshire. Their home ground is the Castleford Sports Stadium, Hicksons Arena, part of the Lock Lane Sports Centre. The first team currently play in the National Conference L ...

and Castleford Panthers. Both Lock Lane and the Panthers play in the fourth tier of British Rugby League, meanwhile

have play in the top tier of British Rugby League.

have played majority of their Rugby League in the top tier and have done since their promotion in 2008, to present day. Rugby league in the town was originally represented by

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield district, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the t ...

, unrelated to Castleford RUFC, who did not participate in The schism in English rugby and still exist, nor were they predecessors of the current Castleford Tigers who were founded in 1926. The original Castleford rugby league club played in the Northern Union (Rugby Football League) from 1896–97 to 1905–06, and it had one player named Isaac Cole who won a

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in 1906 against Other Nationalities.

Motorcycle sport

From June 1979 to July 1980, Castleford had its own

Speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Daytona International Speedway, a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida. *Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta. *Indianapolis Motor Spe ...

racing team, The Kings, based at the Castleford Whitwood Stadium. The circuit was 202 yards and the team never entered the league – only challenge matches were staged. In the 1960s, motorcycle scrambling used to take place on the north side of the hill at Queens Park. This was often featured on the BBC's Grandstand sports programme on Saturday afternoons and was commentated upon by

Murray Walker Graeme Murray Walker (10 October 1923 – 13 March 2021) was an English motorsport Sportscaster, commentator and journalist. He provided television commentary of live Formula One coverage for the BBC between 1976 and 1996, and for ITV (TV netw ...

Football

Glasshoughton Welfare play in the Northern Counties East League, Fryston Colliery Welfare were members of this league until they left in 1991 due to ground grading problems. In the 1920s Castleford Town played in the Midland League alongside clubs such as Doncaster Rovers, Chesterfield, Scunthorpe United, Halifax Town, Leeds United (for 1919–20 season only), Lincoln City and Mansfield Town. This league also contained the reserve sides of Sheffield Wednesday, Barnsley, Nottingham Forest, Grimsby Town and Hull City. In 1920 Castleford reached the 2nd round of the FA Cup, losing 2–3 at Bradford Park Avenue. Castleford played at Wheldon Road – when they shut down the ground was taken over by the rugby league team.

Greyhound racing

Castleford hosted two greyhound tracks both of which are no longer in existence. The first was in Whitwood and held racing from 1939 until 2001. The second track was the slightly larger 1,500 capacity Castleford Sports Stadium located east of Lock Lane sitting on the north bank of the River Aire.

Notable people

People born in Castleford: * Paul J. Anderson (born 1971), rugby footballer *

Mark Aston Mark Aston (born 27 September 1967) is the head coach of Sheffield Eagles in the Championship. He is an English rugby league coach, and former rugby league who spent the majority of his playing career with Sheffield Eagles. He also had short s ...

(born 1967), rugby coach * Arthur "Bruss" Atkinson (1906–1963), rugby footballer * Dennis Baddeley (1921–2006), rugby footballer * Mark D. Bailey (born 1960), professor * George W. Banks (c.1909–????), rugby footballer * John Beaman (born 1951), politician * Ben Blackmore (born 1993), rugby footballer * Peter Broughton (born 1935), cricketer * Sonia Burgess (1947–2010), immigration lawyer * Mark Burns-Williamson (born 1964), politician * Wilf Burrows (1902–1985), footballer * Abi Burton (born 2000), rugby player * Harold "Harry" Burton (died 2009), rugby footballer * Mark Byford (born 1958), deputy director-general of BBC *

Fred Carter Fredrick James Carter (born February 14, 1945), nicknamed "Mad Dog" or "Doggy", is an American former professional basketball player and coach, who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for eight seasons (1969– 77) for the Balti ...

, rugby footballer * James "Sticks" Clare (born 1991), rugby footballer * Daryl Clark (born 1993), rugby footballer *

Gary Cooper Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper; May 7, 1901May 13, 1961) was an American actor known for his strong, silent screen persona and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, ...

(1938–2019), rugby footballer * Matt Crowther (born 1974), rugby footballer * Will Dagger (born 1999), rugby footballer * Jonathan Davies (born 1991), rugby footballer * Les Dyl (1952–2022), rugby footballer * Cecil Eastwood (1894–1968), footballer * Greg Eden (born 1990), rugby footballer *

Derek Edwards Derek Edwards (born 1958) is a Canadian stand-up comedian and actor from Timmins, Ontario. He went to Timmins High and Vocational School. In 1995, he was the winner of the Vail National Comedy Invitational in Vail, Colorado. He is the only Can ...

(c.1943–2020), rugby footballer * Brett Ferres (born 1986), rugby footballer * Richard Foulkes (born 1909), footballer * Tommy Gale (1895–1976), footballer * Sammy Gledhill (1913–1994), footballer * John A. Harman (born 1950), politician * Jack Hebden (born 1900), footballer *

Jonny Hepworth Jonny Hepworth (born 25 December 1982) is an English former rugby league and rugby union footballer. He played club level rugby union (RU) for Leinster Rugby, Clontarf FC, Leeds Tykes, and, Rotherham R.U.F.C., and club level rugby league (RL) ...

(born 1989), rugby footballer * Keith Hepworth (born c.1942), rugby footballer *

Gary Hetherington Gary Hetherington (born 1954) is an English professional rugby league executive and former professional rugby league footballer and coach. He is the chief executive officer of the Leeds Rhinos in the Super League. As a player, Hetherington pla ...

(born 1954), rugby footballer * Thomas Holmes (born 1996), rugby footballer * John Illingworth (1904–1964), footballer * Gill Isles (born 1972), TV producer * Neil James (1961–2014), rugby footballer * Kryan Johnson (born 1994), rugby footballer *

John Kear John Kear (born 25 November 1954) is an English professional rugby league coach, for the Wales national rugby league team. He also works as a pundit for BBC Sport and is a former professional rugby league footballer. He is perhaps best known a ...

(born 1954), rugby coach * Stan Kielty (1925–2008), rugby footballer *

Brad Knowles Bradley Aaron Knowles (born 29 October 1981) is an Australian cricketer who previously played domestically for Victoria and Western Australia. A right-arm fast bowler, Knowles made his Pura Cup The Sheffield Shield is the domestic first-c ...

(born 1993), rugby footballer * Shaun Le Roux (born 1986), squash player * Christopher "Cliff" Lethbridge (born 1963), cricketer * Joyce Lishman (1947–2021), professor * Walter "Ginger" Lynch (1896-c.1923), footballer * Dominic Maloney (born 1987), rugby footballer *

Lester Marshall Lester Marshall (4 February 1902 – 22 October 1956) was an English professional footballer who played as a full back, half-back or a centre forward in the Football League for Lincoln City and in non-League football for Rowntrees, Sel ...

(1902–1956), footballer * Nathan Massey (born 1989), rugby footballer *

Peter Meakin Peter Jeremy Meakin (born 12 October 1942) is an English Australian journalist who has worked as news/current affairs director for all three of Australia's commercial television networks (Nine Network, Seven Network and Network Ten). Early lif ...

(born 1942), journalist *

Roger Millward Roger Millward (16 September 1947 – 2 May 2016) was an English rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s and 1970s, and coached in the 1980s and 1990s. A goal-kicking , he gained a high level of prominence in the sport in England by ...

(1947–2016), rugby footballer *

Henry Moore Henry Spencer Moore (30 July 1898 – 31 August 1986) was an English artist. He is best known for his semi-abstract art, abstract monumental Bronze sculpture, bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. Moore ...

(1898–1986), artist *

Viv Nicholson Vivian "Viv" Nicholson (''née'' Asprey; 3 April 1936 – 11 April 2015) was a British woman who became famous when she told the media that she would "spend, spend, spend" after her husband Keith won £152,319 () on the football pools in 1961. ...

(1936–2015), expatriate * Julian Norton (born 1972), veterinary surgeon *

Steve Norton Stephen Norton (22 December 1951), also known by the nickname of "Knocker", is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s, and Coach (sport), coached in the 1990s. He played at representative level ...

(born 1951), rugby player * Danny Orr (born 1978), rugby coach * Stephen Payne (born 1975), footballer *

Daryl Peach Daryl Peach (born 8 March 1972) is an English professional pool player, from Lancashire, who resides in Blackpool, England. He won the 2007 WPA World Nine-ball Championship, where he defeated the Philippines' Roberto Gomez 17–15 in the final ...

(born 1972), pool player *

Mervyn Pike Irene Mervyn Parnicott Pike, Baroness Pike, (16 September 1918 – 11 January 2004) was a British Conservative politician. The name by which she came to be known, Mervyn, had been the name of her father's best friend, who was to have been he ...

(1918–2004), politician *

Harry Poole Henry Poole (31 January 1935 – 25 September 2023) was an English professional footballer noted for his swerving free kicks. Primarily a half back, he had the third highest number of appearances for Port Vale. He made 499 league and cup app ...

(1935–1977), rugby footballer * Gary "Slogger" Price (born 1961), rugby footballer * Greta Rana (1943-2023),poet & writer * Colin Roberts (1933–2017), footballer * Donald Robinson (1932–2017), rugby footballer * Ash Robson (born 1995), rugby footballer * Nicky Saxton (born 1984), rugby footballer *

Waen Shepherd Waen Origen Shepherd (born 23 October 1971) is an English composer, actor and comedian. He is best known for his role in ''The Inbetweeners'' as Mr Kennedy. He is originally from Yorkshire, he now lives in London. Career Following his days as ...

(born 1971), composer * Chris Smith (born 1975), rugby footballer * Harry W. Smith (1886–1955), cricketer * Tony "Casper" Smith (born 1970), rugby player * Reginald Soar (1893–1971), flying ace * Anthony Starks (1873–1952), rugby footballer *

Gary Stephens Gary Stephens (born 23 August 1952) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s as a , and Coach (sport), coached in the 1980s and 1990s. He played at representative level for Great Brita ...

(born 1952), rugby footballer * Harry Street (1927–2002), rugby footballer *

Gay Taylor Gay Taylor (, McDowall; pen name, Loran Hurnscot; 27 September 1896 – 29 November 1970) was an English writer and co-founder, with Harold (Hal) Midgely Taylor, of the Golden Cockerel Press. Early life Ethelwynne (nickname, "Gay") ) Stewart Mc ...

(1896–1970), writer * John "Jack" Taylor (1877–1951), rugby player *

Bob Tomlinson Robert Tomlinson was an English professional footballer who played as an outside forward in the Football League for York City, and in non-League football for Castleford Town and Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and civil parish in the ...

, footballer *

Andrew Townsley Richard Andrew John Townsley (born 24 June 1952 in Castleford, Yorkshire, England) is an English first-class cricketer, who played two first-class matches for Yorkshire County Cricket Club in 1974 and 1975, and five List A one day matches in 19 ...

(born 1952), cricketer * David Treasure (born 1950), rugby footballer * Calum Turner (born 1997), rugby footballer * John "Willie" Ward (1873–1939), rugby footballer * John "Johnny" Ward (1940/41–2019), rugby footballer * Liam Watts (born 1990), rugby footballer * Noel Wilders (born 1975), boxer * Kyle Wood (born 1989), rugby footballer *

Val Wood Val Wood, also known as Valerie Wood, is a British author of historical romance novels. She has written over 25 novels, all set in and around the city of Kingston upon Hull published by Transworld. She was born in Castleford and lives in Beve ...

, author *

Martyn Woolford Martyn Paul Woolford (born 13 October 1985) is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He has played in the Football League for Scunthorpe United, Bristol City, Millwall, Sheffield United, Fleetwood Town and Grims ...

(born 1985), footballer

References

External links

{{Authority control Towns in West Yorkshire Unparished areas in West Yorkshire Former civil parishes in West Yorkshire Geography of the City of Wakefield