Rodley is a suburb in the

City of Leeds The City of Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. The metropolitan borough includes the administrative centre of Leeds and the towns of Farsley, Garforth, Guiseley, Horsforth, Morley, Otley, Pudsey, Rothwell, W ...

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. The village is situated within the Calverley and Farsley ward of Leeds Metropolitan Council, just inside the

Leeds Outer Ring Road The Leeds Outer Ring Road is a main road that runs around most of the perimeter of the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The ring road is approximately long and consists of single and dual carriageways. The road is not a loop and so is ...

, north-west from Leeds city centre and north-east from Bradford. The hamlet of Bagley borders Rodley.

History

Rodley village is not recorded in the 1086

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...

, although several nearby places such as

Horsforth Horsforth is a town and civil parish within the City of Leeds, in West Yorkshire, England, lying about five miles north-west of Leeds city centre. Historically a village within the West Riding of Yorkshire, it had a population of 18,895 at the ...

Calverley Calverley is a village in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England, on the A657 road, about from Leeds city centre and from Bradford. The population of Calverley in 2011 was 4,328. It is part of the City of Leeds wa ...

Farsley Farsley is a town in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough, West Yorkshire, England to the west of Leeds city centre, east of Bradford. Farsley is situated between the two cities and near the town of Pudsey. Before April 1974, Farsley was pa ...

and Bramley are. The earliest use of the name Rodley appears to be "Rodele", who was listed as a tenant in the Domesday Book, and "Redlega" who was recorded in Yorkshire in 1157. In the 19th century Rodley was part of the parish of Calverley. Part of the north-western end of the suburb is in what was, before the Local Government Act 1972, the

Municipal Borough of Pudsey Pudsey was a local government district in the West Riding of Yorkshire from 1872 to 1974 around the town of Pudsey, covering Farsley, Calverley, Stanningley, Swinnow and Rodley. A local board formed for the parish of Pudsey in 1872. It became an ...

; a sign, next to The Owl public house on Rodley Lane, still notes this heritage in 2020.

Industrial history

In 1820 Thomas Smith's

Steam Crane A steam crane is a crane powered by a steam engine. It may be fixed or mobile and, if mobile, it may run on rail tracks, caterpillar tracks, road wheels, or be mounted on a barge. It usually has a vertical boiler placed at the back so that ...

Works was established and by 1888 it had gained a reputation internationally for the manufacture of cranes and lifting gear. In 1847, next to the Thomas Smith works, another crane manufacturer was established:

Joseph Booth & Bros Joseph Booth & Bros was an English company notable for making cranes used in large construction projects. History Jeremiah Booth, the father of Joseph Booth, entered the crane making business with partners Jeremiah Balmforth and David Smith. They ...

, founded by Joseph Booth's father Jeremiah, a former partner of Thomas Smith's father. The cranes produced by these two prominent companies and in smaller numbers by other local ironworks are known as being of 'Leeds Type' or 'Rodley Type', and several examples have been preserved. Rowley Workshop of Ian Rowley, makers of ''

3-2-1 ''3–2–1'' was a British game show that was made by Yorkshire Television for ITV. It ran for ten years, from 29 July 1978 to 24 December 1988, with Ted Rogers as the host. It was based on a Spanish gameshow called '' Un, dos, tres... res ...

'', '' Wizbit'' and ''Dusty the Dawg'', was once housed in the former Bethel Chapel which has been converted into flats since. The Rodley

microcar Microcar is a term often used for the smallest size of cars, with three or four wheels and often an engine smaller than . Specific types of microcars include bubble cars, cycle cars, invacar, quadricycles and voiturettes. Microcars are oft ...

was made in Rodley by the Rodley Automobile Company between 1954 and 1956.

Community

The

Leeds and Liverpool Canal The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is a canal in Northern England, linking the cities of Leeds and Liverpool. Over a distance of , crossing the Pennines, and including 91 locks on the main line. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal has several small branc ...

passes through the suburb, running parallel with Rodley Town Street. Many of the stone-built industrial buildings and

mills Mills is the plural form of mill, but may also refer to: As a name * Mills (surname), a common family name of English or Gaelic origin * Mills (given name) *Mills, a fictional British secret agent in a trilogy by writer Manning O'Brine Places Uni ...

that once lined the banks of the canal have been demolished and replaced with modern apartments and houses, as Rodley has developed into a commuter suburb, being situated roughly equidistant from Leeds and Bradford. Some of the area is now protected as a conservation area. Rodley has four public houses and a

Working men's club Working men's clubs are British private social clubs first created in the 19th century in industrial areas, particularly the North of England, Midlands, Scotland and South Wales Valleys, to provide recreation and education for working class ...

: The Railway close to the nearby Calverley Bridge, The Owl, The Rodley Barge next to the canal, The Crown & Anchor and Rodley Social Club on Town Street. The

Rodley Nature Reserve The Rodley Nature Reserve is a wetland reserve created in 1999 on the site of a former sewage works on the outskirts of Rodley, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom. It is situated just north of Town Street on the north bank of the River Aire. History ...

is a wetland reserve created in 1999 on the site of a former sewage works, just north of Town Street on the north bank of the

River Aire The River Aire is a major river in Yorkshire, England, in length. The ''Handbook for Leeds and Airedale'' (1890) notes that the distance from Malham to Howden is direct, but the river's meanderings extend that to . Between Malham Tarn and Ai ...

. Adjacent, on the opposite bank to the nature reserve, is Canal Bank Sports Ground, which is the base for a cricket club. Rodley Cricket Club plays in the Airedale and Wharfedale Senior Cricket League.

Notable people

* Charles M. Maud (1898–1974), World War I flying ace"Charles Maud"
Theaerodrome.com. Retrieved 15 May 2012

Location grid

Gallery

Image:Rodley, Rodley Lane. (080712.113532).jpg, Rodley, Rodley Lane. Image:Rodley, Canal Road. (080712.113746).jpg, Rodley, Canal Road. Image:Rodley, Wesley Terrace.jpg, Rodley, Wesley Terrace. Image:Rodley, No.1 Rodley Lane. (080712.113836).jpg, Rodley, No.1 Rodley Lane. Image:Rodley, Town Street. (080712.114920).jpg, Rodley, Town Street.

References

External links

The Ancient Parish of Calverley
of which Rodley was part in the 19th century

{{authority control Places in Leeds Villages in West Yorkshire