Girlington is an area in

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

, England. Girlington is located to the west of Bradford city centre. The majority population of Girlington are of South Asian origin in particular Pakistani, Afghan and Bangladeshi.

History

The stone-built Elite Cinema was constructed for the Elite Picture House Company at the junction of Fairbank Road and Toller Lane with a barrel vaulted ceiling and seating capacity for 700 - opening in 1913. The cinema closed in 1924 to enlarge the hall to 1,304 seats, reopening the next year. An electronic organ was installed in 1925 and sound in 1928. The cinema had a large stage for live performances but these ended during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The cinema was sold to C & H Cinemas after the war and in the early 1950s the organ removed, the cinema refurbished and briefly supported live stage shows. Star Cinemas took over and installed a wide screen in 1954 but closed the cinema in 1968 - reopening as a

bingo Bingo or B-I-N-G-O may refer to: Arts and entertainment Gaming * Bingo, a game using a printed card of numbers ** Bingo (British version), a game using a printed card of 15 numbers on three lines; most commonly played in the UK and Ireland ** Bi ...

club. In 1986 the property was sold to become the Jamiyat Tabligh-Ul-Islam mosque but was partially destroyed by fire in 1987 and partially demolished. In the 1990s the auditorium was rebuilt but the building retained the original stone facade and entrance. Opened in 1914 the stone-built Victoria Picture Palace was constructed on Thornton Road and was operated by Hibbert Pictures Ltd. The cinema was refurbished in 1927 and reopened as the New Victoria. In 1929 a British Talking Pictures sound system was installed, and by 1934 a Western Electric Sound system had been installed. In 1955 there was a serious fire after which the cinema was refurbished, and a

CinemaScope CinemaScope is an anamorphic lens series used, from 1953 to 1967, and less often later, for shooting widescreen films that, crucially, could be screened in theatres using existing equipment, albeit with a lens adapter. Its creation in 1953 by ...

wide screen installed while the seating capacity was further reduced. The cinema closed in 1961 and after a short period as a

hall the cinema was bought by Wm. Morrisons Ltd for conversion to a supermarket. In 1961 Morrisons opened its first supermarket (Morrisons Victoria Supermarket) in the converted Victoria Cinema in Girlington. The cinema building was subsequently demolished and a nearby modern supermarket building replaces it. Over the years a number of

public houses A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

and former hotels in Girlington have closed - The Craven Heifer (named for the eponymous

Craven Heifer Craven Heifer (1807–1812) was a cow which lived in the early 19th century, and to this day remains the largest cow ever shown in England: weight , length nose to tip of rump , height at the shoulder , thickest girth . Craven Heifer was bred b ...

), The Girlington, The Shoulder of Mutton on Thornton Road, The George and The Royal on Kensington Street and The Travellers Rest (known locally as the Tut 'n' Shive) on Duckworth Lane - only one pub now remains open.

Landmarks

St Phillip's Church - Thorn Street - geograph

In the west of Girlington on West Park Road is West Park a small community park. There are areas for

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

five-a-side football Five-a-side football is a version of minifootball, in which each team fields five players (four outfield players and a goalkeeper). Other differences from football include a smaller pitch, smaller goals, and a reduced game duration. Matches are ...

, and

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

, a

bowling green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep on ...

, a fenced-in

play area A playground, playpark, or play area is a place designed to provide an environment for children that facilitates play, typically outdoors. While a playground is usually designed for children, some are designed for other age groups, or people w ...

and a

skatepark A skatepark, or skate park, is a purpose-built recreational environment made for skateboarding, BMX, scootering, wheelchairs, and aggressive inline skating. A skatepark may contain half-pipes, handrails, funboxes, vert ramps, stairsets, q ...

. Girlington has a

community centre Community centres, community centers, or community halls are public locations where members of a community tend to gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may sometimes be open for the whole co ...

on Girlington Road and churches include Saint Chad's on St Chad's Road, and Saint Philip's on Thorn Street. Mosques include Jamiyat Tabligh ul Islam on Hoxton Street and

Masjid E Umar A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers (sujud) are performed, in ...

on Durham road. There are a number of

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

s in Girlington - Rand's Almshouses (1876), a single storey range of

almshouse An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) was charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the medieval era. They were often targeted at the poor of a locality, at those from certain ...

s with 2-storey wings, mill buildings within Whetley Mills, the Parish Church of Saint Chad (1912) on St Chad's Road, 80 and 82 Duckworth Lane.

Economy

Morrisons Supermarket, Girlington - geograph

Around Ingleby Road is a shopping park consisting of shops and supermarkets such as

Morrisons Wm Morrison Supermarkets, trading as Morrisons, is the fifth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. As of 2021, the company had 497 supermarkets across England, Wales and Scotland, as well as one in Gibraltar. The company is headqua ...

Lidl Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG (; ) is a German international discount retailer chain that operates over 11,000 stores across Europe and the United States. Headquartered in Neckarsulm, Baden-Württemberg, the company belongs to the Schwarz Group, whi ...

, The Range,

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...

KFC KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) is an American fast food restaurant chain headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, that specializes in fried chicken. It is the world's second-largest restaurant chain (as measured by sales) after McDonald's, with 2 ...

, and

Domino's Pizza Domino's Pizza, Inc., trading as Domino's, is an American multinational pizza restaurant chain founded in 1960 and led by CEO Russell Weiner. The corporation is Delaware domiciled and headquartered at the Domino's Farms Office Park in Ann Arbor ...

. The area has a post office in Kensington Street.

Education

Schools in the area include Girlington Primary School on Girlington Road, St Philip's Primary on Whitby Terrace and St William's Catholic Primary School on Young Street.

Transport

The main roads through the area are the

A6177 The A6177 is a ring road around Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. It is mostly formed from existing roads and save for its southern section is single-carriageway. Route description Starting at Undercliffe going clockwise from the east of t ...

Ingleby Road - Whetley Lane part of the Bradford ring road, B6144 Toller Lane, and B6145 Thornton Road.

Sport

Cricket is played at Girlington Cricket Club.;

References

External links

{{navboxes , list1= {{Geographic location , Northwest = Daisy Hill , North = Heaton , Northeast = Manningham , West = Allerton , Centre = Girlington , East = Manningham , Southwest = , South = Lidget Green , Southeast =

Longlands Longlands is an area of South East London overlapping the London Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley and Greenwich. It lies north west of Sidcup and south east of Eltham. Some old maps and records have the name as two words "Long Lands", and show it ...

,
Lister Hills {{City of Bradford Areas of Bradford