Queensbury is a large village in the metropolitan borough of

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. Perched on a high vantage point above Halifax, Clayton and Thornton and overlooking

itself, Queensbury is one of the highest parishes in England, with fine views beyond the West Yorkshire conurbation to the hills of Brontë Country and the Yorkshire Dales to the north and north west. It had a population of 8,718 in 2001 which increased to 16,273 in the 2011 Census. Queensbury is most famous as being the home of

Black Dyke Mills John Foster (1798–1879) was a British manufacturer of worsted cloth. He was the son of a colliery owner and farmer in Bradford, West Yorkshire. In 1819 he married Ruth Briggs, daughter of a landowner from Queensbury, on the outskirts of Bra ...

, and the

Black Dyke Band Black Dyke Band, formerly John Foster & Son Black Dyke Mills Band, is one of the oldest and best-known brass bands in the world. It originated as multiple community bands founded by John Foster at his family's textile mill in Queensbury, West ...

History

Queensbury was originally known as Queenshead. That name was derived from a local pub, now a house on the High Street, which was popular with travellers on the pack horse route from Halifax to Bradford. The village was historically divided between the

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

of Clayton in the parish of Bradford, and the township of

Northowram Northowram () is a village in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England that stands to the east of Halifax on the north side of Shibden valley. Southowram stands on the southern side of the valley. The village was documented in the 19th century as ...

in the parish of Halifax, both in the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

.Vision of Britain website: Queensbury, West Riding
/ref> It became a separate

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

and

urban district Urban district may refer to: * District * Urban area * Quarter (urban subdivision) * Neighbourhood Specific subdivisions in some countries: * Urban districts of Denmark * Urban districts of Germany * Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland) (hist ...

in 1894. In 1937 the civil parish was abolished, and the urban district was merged into the new

Queensbury and Shelf Urban District Queensbury and Shelf was an urban district in the West Riding of Yorkshire from 1937 to 1974. The district was formed by a County Review Order by the amalgamation of Queensbury and Shelf urban districts. Queensbury and Shelf were included in ...

. In 1974 the urban district was split, and Queensbury was transferred to the City of Bradford in the new county of West Yorkshire.

Governance

Queensbury Ward is a

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

in Bradford Metropolitan District in the

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

of West Yorkshire, England, named after the village of Queensbury around which it is drawn. It includes the villages of Clayton Heights and

Horton Bank Top Horton may refer to: Places Antarctica * Horton Glacier, Adelaide Island, Antarctica * Horton Ledge, Queen Elizabeth Land, Antarctica Australia * Horton, Queensland, a town and locality in the Bundaberg Region * Horton River (Australia), ...

as well as several hamlets: Ambler Thorn, Calder Banks, Catherine Slack, Hazel Hirst, Hunger Hill, Little Moor, Mountain, Old Dolphin, Scarlet Heights, Shibden Head and West Scholes. indicates seat up for re-election. indicates councillor defection. indicates a by-election. Queensbury Ward 2004

Black Dyke Mills

Black Dyke Mills was built from 1835 onwards by John Foster as a wool spinning and weaving mill specialising in worsted and mohair fabric, and by 1851 dominated the town. John Foster & Son, the owners of Black Dyke Mills, were responsible for the construction of many of the buildings in and around Queensbury, each being for the benefit of the employees, be it housing/accommodation, shops and leisure facilities. In 1891 the company erected the Victoria Hall in Queensbury for the benefit of its workers and the local community - it had a concert hall, with gallery to seat 650 people, library, billiard room and many other facilities. It also sponsored the internationally famous

Black Dyke Mills Band Black Dyke Band, formerly John Foster & Son Black Dyke Mills Band, is one of the oldest and best-known brass bands in the world. It originated as multiple community bands founded by John Foster at his family's textile mill in Queensbury, West ...

. The mill has now been converted into individual business units. The company now manufactures elsewhere in the area.

Music

As well as being home to the world famous Black Dyke Band, Queensbury is also noted for its strong musical heritage. Home to the world-class rehearsal studio Backfeed, notable musical residents Giles Stocks and Joe Irish of Jon Jones and the Beatnik Movement, pop-punk trio State of Error, and the bands of the Sherry family, including the nationally successful Scarlet Heights (named after the hamlet), The Bad Beat Revue and Ti Amo.

Transport

Three railway lines once converged on Queensbury, one from Halifax,

Keighley Keighley ( ) is a market town and a civil parish in the City of Bradford Borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is the second largest settlement in the borough, after Bradford. Keighley is north-west of Bradford city centre, north-west of Bi ...

and

each, known as the

Queensbury Lines The Queensbury lines was the name given to a number of railway lines in West Yorkshire, England, that linked Bradford, Halifax and Keighley via Queensbury. All the lines were either solely owned by the Great Northern Railway (GNR) or jointly ...

, all belonging to the Great Northern Railway (later the

London & North Eastern Railway London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major se ...

). Where they met was located Queensbury station, which famously consisted of continuous platforms on all three sides of a triangular junction, an uncommon layout in the United Kingdom (the only other examples were

Ambergate Ambergate is a village in Derbyshire, England, situated where the River Amber joins the River Derwent, and where the A610 road from Ripley and Nottingham joins the A6 that runs along the Derwent valley between Derby to the south and Matlock ...

, on the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It am ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

and

Earlestown Earlestown is a town and electoral ward in the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens in Merseyside, England. It forms the western part of the wider Newton-le-Willows urban area. At the 2011 Census the ward population was 10,830. History Earlestow ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

). A short distance from the station on the Halifax line was

Queensbury Tunnel Queensbury Tunnel is a disused railway tunnel that connects Holmfield and Queensbury in West Yorkshire, England. It was built by the Great Northern Railway (GNR) and, at in length, was the longest on the company's network at the time of its ...

, in length (the second longest on the Great Northern system after Ponsbourne Tunnel in

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

), while close by on the Bradford line was Clayton Tunnel at . All these lines were closed to passengers in May 1955, later to freight in the 1960s, before finally closing to all traffic in 1972–74. The main Bradford to Halifax road

A647 road The A647 is an A road in West Yorkshire, England that begins in Leeds and ends in Halifax. The road is long. Route The road begins at the Armley Gyratory and goes via Armley, by-passes Stanningley and Pudsey, then onwards via Thornbury to the ...

runs through the village as well as the

A644 road List of A roads in zone 6 in Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island ...

. These roads intersect at the

Albert Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert (supermarket), a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street market in The Gambia * Albert Productions, a record label * Albert ...

Memorial.

First Calderdale & Huddersfield First West Yorkshire operates both local and regional bus services in West Yorkshire, England. It is a subsidiary of the FirstGroup, and is made up of three sub-division brands: First Bradford, First Halifax, Calder Valley & Huddersfield and Firs ...

First Bradford First West Yorkshire operates both local and regional bus services in West Yorkshire, England. It is a subsidiary of the FirstGroup, and is made up of three sub-division brands: First Bradford, First Halifax, Calder Valley & Huddersfield and Firs ...

bus route 576, runs through the village between

and Halifax along the

Gallery

File:Black Dyke Mills, Queensbury (14th September 2007).jpg, Black Dyke Mills File:Queensbury Sunset with tower detail (29th September 2010).jpg, Sunset over Queensbury in September 2010.

References

External links

Queensbury Directory: community news and business directory
*

Queensbury School

Queensbury Juniors ARFLC
{{authority control Villages in West Yorkshire Wards of Bradford Unparished areas in West Yorkshire Former civil parishes in West Yorkshire Geography of the City of Bradford