Thackley is a small suburb near
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 ...
in England. The village is loosely bordered by the village of
Idle
Idle generally refers to idleness, a lack of motion or energy.
Idle or ''idling'', may also refer to:
Technology
* Idle (engine), engine running without load
** Idle speed
* Idle (CPU), CPU non-utilisation or low-priority mode
** Synchronous ...
to the south, to the west by the West Royd area of
Shipley and elsewhere by 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 ...
. Thackley is the northernmost part of Bradford south 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 ...
.
History
Prehistory
An archaeological project during 2009 funded by the
Heritage Lottery Fund
The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom.
History
The fund's predecessor bodies were ...
, revealed the site in
Buck Wood of an enclosure that was in use as a settlement from Neolithic to post-Roman times.
The work, undertaken by the Friends of Buck Wood led by a professional archaeologist, showed that in the past a substantial boundary wall had been built of local unworked stone, enclosing a natural terrace of level ground now surrounded by woods.
This formed an oval enclosure, roughly 82 m by 78 m in size.
The remains of a
quern
Quern ( da, Kværn) is a former municipality in the district of Schleswig-Flensburg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populo ...
stone for grinding grain was found within this central area, as was a single
cup marked carved rock.
Leading away from the enclosure is an
orthostat
This article describes several characteristic architectural elements typical of European megalithic (Stone Age) structures.
Forecourt
In archaeology, a forecourt is the name given to the area in front of certain types of chamber tomb. Forecourts ...
wall of large stones, part of a network of such walls in the wood.
Industrial development
Historically the area formed part of the Lordship of Idle.
In the 17th century a tanning industry developed and in the 19th century sandstone was quarried, and mills were built for a local cotton industry.
Brackendale Mill was a woollen mill established circa 1800 in the north of Thackley.
The mill was extended in 1829 with an engine house and water wheel
and in the 1870s a steam powered weaving shed was added to the site.
Today the mill building is living accommodation.
Recent dwelling development on Weavers Croft off Crag Hill Road occupies part of the site of the former Bowling Green Mills.
Transport history
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 ...
was built through the far north of Thackley in the 1770s.
In 1845 railway construction began with the building of a two-track
Thackley Railway Tunnel under Thackley Hill
—in use up until 1968.
In 1900 a second adjacent and parallel tunnel was added on the northern side of the original to create a fast passenger line and a slow goods line on the
Airedale Line.
In 1875, the
Great Northern Railway opened its
Shipley and Windhill Line
The Shipley Great Northern Railway branch line was a railway line that ran east, south and then westwards from Shipley to Bradford in West Yorkshire. The route was opened in 1874 to goods traffic and then to passengers in 1875 by the Great No ...
, a double track branch line from Quarry Gap junction near
Laisterdyke
Laisterdyke is an area of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, situated to the east of the city on the border with City of Leeds and located in the Bradford Moor ward and in the Bradford East parliamentary constituency.
Laisterdyke borders Bark ...
to
Shipley and Windhill railway station
Shipley and Windhill railway station was a railway station in Shipley, West Yorkshire, England between 1875 and 1931.
During the 1860s, two small railway companies were formed to promote suburban railways in Bradford, the ''Bradford, Ecclesh ...
, passing
Eccleshill and
Idle
Idle generally refers to idleness, a lack of motion or energy.
Idle or ''idling'', may also refer to:
Technology
* Idle (engine), engine running without load
** Idle speed
* Idle (CPU), CPU non-utilisation or low-priority mode
** Synchronous ...
railway stations and
Thackley railway station
Thackley railway station was a railway station in Thackley, West Yorkshire, England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies ...
.
Thackley railway station, rebuilt in 1894, is in the middle of Thackley.
The line wasn't competitive and after 1931 it was made single line freight only, and progressively closed from 1966 to 1968.
The route through Thackley can be easily identified today—the rails have been removed and the route is overgrown by trees but the cuttings and original railway bridges in Thackley still remain.
A trolleybus service ran from
Shipley, West Yorkshire
Shipley is a historic market town and civil parish in the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, by the River Aire and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, north of Bradford. The population of the Shipley ward on Bradford City Council taken at ...
up to its terminus at Thackley Corner in the centre of Thackley.
The Open Air School
Between 1908 and 1939 sickly children from Bradford were bussed in to attend the Open Air School in
Buck Wood.
Near the main entrance to Buck Wood on Ainsbury Avenue (private road) is a plateau originally formed from waste material created when the first railway tunnel was built under Buck Wood.
This flat raised area was used as a playground by children at the school and traces of the foundations of the school buildings can still be seen beyond the steps leading down from the north-east edge of the plateau.
Geography
The village has no obvious focal centre such as a
village green
A village green is a commons, common open area within a village or other settlement. Historically, a village green was common pasture, grassland with a pond for watering cattle and other stock, often at the edge of a rural settlement, used for ...
however the road system is centred on a crossroads in the south of the village known as Thackley Corner.
From Thackley Corner Town Lane heads south toward Idle and Bradford while Thackley Road runs north into a largely residential area.
To the north of the village is the
Airedale Railway Line linking Shipley and
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
.
North of the rail line is 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 ...
separating Thackley from
Baildon
Baildon is a town and civil parish in the Bradford Metropolitan Borough in West Yorkshire, England and within the historic boundaries of the West Riding of Yorkshire.
It lies north of Bradford city centre. The town forms a continuous urban ...
and
Esholt
Esholt is a village between Shipley and Guiseley, in the metropolitan district of the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. It is situated east of Shipley town centre , south-west of Guiseley Main Street , north of Bradford City Cent ...
further north and then 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 ...
.
To the northwest at the end of Thackley Road is Buck Mill Lane leading down Buck Hill across the canal at Buck Mill Lane Bridge and then across the River Aire at Buck Mill Bridge, a foot and
bridle
A bridle is a piece of equipment used to direct a horse. As defined in the ''Oxford English Dictionary'', the "bridle" includes both the that holds a bit that goes in the mouth of a horse, and the reins that are attached to the bit.
Headgear w ...
bridge leading to the Charlestown area of Baildon.
To the west of the village is the Burnwells and Thackley End areas of Thackley and to the east Simpson Green.
Buck Wood
Buck Wood lies to the north of Thackley.
The wood covers an area of fairly level high ground, as well as the steep north-facing slope down to the Leeds and Liverpool canal.
Above this valley Buck Wood forms a broad semi-circular zone of woodland, adjoining other similar woods that are part of a woodland corridor stretching along the Aire Valley.
Covering 42 hectares, Buck Wood is bordered by the curving route of the canal at its lower perimeter around 60 m above sea-level.
Its highest boundary 135 m above sea level, is shaped by the tree-lined sweep of Ainsbury Avenue leading from Thackley through to Esholt.
Thackley itself forms the southern boundary of the Wood, and at the northern edge near Dawson Wood is where part of the land is taken up by
Yorkshire Water
Yorkshire Water is a water supply and treatment utility company servicing West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, the East Riding of Yorkshire, part of North Lincolnshire, most of North Yorkshire and part of Derbyshire, in England. The company has its ...
's waste water primary settling tanks.
Buck Wood lies above a layer of
millstone grit rock with numerous rocky outcrops, especially on the steeper slopes, where quarrying has taken place.
The wood contains a mixture of habitats, with areas of both broad-leaved woodland and mixed
deciduous
In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...
/
coniferous
Conifers are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All extant ...
plantations.
It has patches of marshland created by the many springs occurring throughout the Wood.
There are fields scattered within the woodland, some used as pasture for grazing.
Buck Wood has a variety of habitats and is an important reservoir for wildlife in Thackley and the surrounding area, and an area for walking and other leisure activities.
Landmarks
![Thackley Methodist Church - Thackley Road - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Thackley_Methodist_Church_-_Thackley_Road_-_geograph.org.uk_-_612245.jpg)
Notable buildings include the large
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...
church on Thackley Road and the Methodist Community Hall that serves as a village hall for various groups and societies.
![Thackley tunnel West portal - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/Thackley_tunnel_West_portal_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1439296.jpg)
The village is the site of
Thackley Tunnel
Thackley Tunnel is on the Airedale line between Leeds and Shipley on the lines to Bradford and Skipton.
Completed in 1846 and opened on 30 June, the tunnel is approximately long through Thackley Hill. The contractor was James Bray, an iro ...
, one of a pair of long railway tunnels running underneath Thackley Hill and around the north of the village.
Idle (L&BR) railway station was a short lived railway station located just to the west of the western entrance to Thackley Tunnel some distance from
Idle
Idle generally refers to idleness, a lack of motion or energy.
Idle or ''idling'', may also refer to:
Technology
* Idle (engine), engine running without load
** Idle speed
* Idle (CPU), CPU non-utilisation or low-priority mode
** Synchronous ...
itself.
There are a series of pairs of tunnel ventilation shafts across the landscape between the tunnel portals through the farms in the north of Thackley.
No longer used, the (older) southerly tunnel is blocked off midway down its length and the entrance portals gated.
![Field Locks - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1f/Field_Locks_-_geograph.org.uk_-_30857.jpg)
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 ...
runs parallel with the course 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 ...
in a distinctive bend around Thackley Hill.
A tow path runs along the north side of the canal where the Idle and Thackley Angling Association have fishing rights.
North of Thackley adjacent to Field Wood on the canal is the listed Field Locks (1774–77) a three-rise set of locks.
Just west of these locks is a long disused rail bridge part of the
Esholt Sewage Works Railway
Esholt Sewage Works Railway was a standard gauge works railway constructed in 1910 to serve a sewage works in Esholt, West Yorkshire, England.
The works were built to remove wool-grease and other wastes from effluent coming out of the many m ...
belonging to
Yorkshire Water
Yorkshire Water is a water supply and treatment utility company servicing West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, the East Riding of Yorkshire, part of North Lincolnshire, most of North Yorkshire and part of Derbyshire, in England. The company has its ...
.
Further east is a swing bridge and Yorkshire Water's Esholt Waste Water treatment works.
On the Thackley side of the canal at this point is Yorkshire Water's storm water tanks and waste water screening plant.
Further east and south along the canal is Idle Swing Bridge and Thackley Canal Bridges carrying the Airedale rail line over the canal a short distance east of the eastern portals of Thackley rail tunnels.
In 2006 the area around Thackley Road, Crag Hill Road, and Park Road was surveyed as the area was under consideration for conservation area status - but this was turned down due to the area's mixture of listed buildings with some modern features adjacent to modern buildings.
Listed buildings in Thackley are to be found on Burnwells, Crag Hill Road, Ellar Carr Road, Mitchell Lane, North Street, Park Place, Park Road, Thackley Road, Windhill Old Road, the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and farmhouses in an arc around the north of the village.
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and as part of the ''Thackley Urban Village Project'' a sculpture trail has been created in
Buck Wood.
[;
]
Governance
The village is located in the
Idle and Thackley
Idle and Thackley is a Ward (politics), ward within the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council in the county of West Yorkshire, England, named after the villages of Idle, West Yorkshire, Idle and Thackley around which it is drawn.
The ...
ward, and in the newly revived parliamentary constituency of
Bradford East—formerly
Bradford North
Bradford North was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Until it was abolished for the 2010 general election, it elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post sy ...
.
Economy
![Farm south of The Nosegay, Thackley - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/Farm_south_of_The_Nosegay%2C_Thackley_-_geograph.org.uk_-_247671.jpg)
Thackley Corner and a section of Leeds Road to the west are home to most of the village's shops, pubs and eateries. Amenities include a dry cleaners,
butcher, long standing established Estate Agents Martin Lonsdale, newsagent, hair salon, and
vape shop
A vape shop is a Retail#Retailing in the modern era, retail outlet specializing in the selling of electronic cigarette products. There are also online shopping, online vape shops. A vape shop offers a range of e-cigarette products. The majority ...
.
There are three public houses in Thackley, ''The Great Northern'', ''The Commercial Inn'', and a
micropub
A micropub is a very small, modern, one room pub founded on principles set up by Martyn Hillier of the first micropub, The Butchers Arms in Herne, Kent, which are "based upon good ale and lively banter".
Definition
A micropub, according to ...
''The Black Rat''.
Another
micropub
A micropub is a very small, modern, one room pub founded on principles set up by Martyn Hillier of the first micropub, The Butchers Arms in Herne, Kent, which are "based upon good ale and lively banter".
Definition
A micropub, according to ...
- ''The Ainsbury'' - can be found on the corner of Thackley Road and Crag Hill Road, opposite Thackley Methodist Church.
Many of the properties in the north of the village are historic farm buildings and some have specialised in horse riding.
Education
Thackley Primary School is situated on the south east of Thackley Corner, and
Immanuel College is located on Leeds Road in the east of the village.
Transport
The nearest
railway station
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
is
Shipley, with connections to Bradford, Leeds and
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 ...
. The main
'A' Road through the village is the
A657 Leeds Road running from
Shipley in the west to
Greengates
Greengates is a small suburban area in the north-east of the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, in England.
The area is bordered by Idle and Thackley to the north-west, and the large council estate known as Thorpe Edge to the west.
To the sout ...
in the east and onto
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
.
FirstGroup
FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.[Buttershaw
Buttershaw is a residential area of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. It is bounded by Horton Bank Top to the north, Wibsey to the east, Woodside to the south and Shelf to the west.
Buttershaw consists mostly of 1940s council housing with t ...]
(612, 613 & 614) providing a 15-minute frequency into Bradford and Shipley Monday to Saturday daytime.
Keighley Bus Company
The Keighley Bus Company operates both local and regional bus services in West Yorkshire, England. It is a subsidiary of Transdev Blazefield, which operates bus services across Greater Manchester, Lancashire, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire. ...
also provides a half-hourly daytime service to
Bingley
Bingley is a market town and civil parish in the metropolitan borough of the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, on the River Aire and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, which had a population of 18,294 at the 2011 Census.
Bingley railwa ...
,
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 ...
, Leeds and Shipley; this is operated as the Aireline 60, taking its name from the local
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 ...
. TLC Travel 660 service between Bradford and Shipley also runs on an hourly basis Monday to Saturday daytime.
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 ...
is used almost entirely by barge pleasure craft.
Sport
The village has a
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
team,
Thackley F.C.
Thackley A.F.C. are a football club based in Thackley, north Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the . Their home ground is the ‘Thank You Key Workers Stadium at Dennyfield’ and the primary colours of club are red and white. ...
, who play in the
NCEL Premier Division and have their home ground at Dennyfield in Buck Wood to the north-west of the village.
The village
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 ...
club, Thackley C.C., play nearby in their ground off Thackley Road.
Culture and events
The Friends of Buck Wood group was established in March 2004; membership consists of local residents and users of the wood. Working in partnership with Bradford Council, the owners of the wood, the group aims to protect and improve Buck Wood for the benefit of the wildlife, environment and the people of the surrounding area.
The 'Friends' organise a variety of events throughout the year aimed at adding to people's enjoyment and understanding of the woodland environment. Members meet regularly for activities such as clearing the
Open Air School
Open air schools or schools of the woods were purpose-built educational institutions for children, that were designed to prevent and combat the widespread rise of tuberculosis that occurred in the period leading up to the Second World War. The s ...
site,
cutting back overgrown bushes, planting native wildflowers and bulbs, and installing bat and
bird boxes. Oliver Rhodes, patron of Bradford Grammar School, resides in the Thackley area. His life is celebrated each year at the Thackley Methodist church.
Notable people
Joseph Wright Joseph Wright may refer to:
*Joseph Wright of Derby (1734–1797), English painter
*Joseph Wright (American painter) (1756–1793), American portraitist
*Joseph Wright (fl. 1837/1845), whose company, Messrs. Joseph Wright and Sons, became the Metro ...
, a distinguished 19th/20th Century professor of
linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
at Oxford University was born in Thackley and grew up in nearby Windhill.
He published in 1892 the boo
''A grammar of the dialect of Windhill'' which was one of the first attempts to apply
phonetics
Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that studies how humans produce and perceive sounds, or in the case of sign languages, the equivalent aspects of sign. Linguists who specialize in studying the physical properties of speech are phoneticians. ...
to an English dialect. He later published the
English Dialect Dictionary
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
in six volumes.
See also
*
Listed buildings in Idle and Thackley
Idle and Thackley is a ward in the metropolitan borough of the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. It contains 131 listed buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England. Of these, two are listed at Grade II ...
References
External links
* Schools
Immanuel CollegeThackley Primary School* Groups
The Idle and Thackley Theatre GroupIdle and Thackley Angling Association* Heritage
* .
{{Bradford
Areas of Bradford