Utley is a village that forms a suburb of the town of

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 ...

within the county of

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, approximately from the town centre.

History

In 1086 the Craven section of the Domesday Book lists ''Utelaia'' as owned by the Viking Vilts. He was taxed on about of arable ploughland here. He also owned Newsholme but shared Oakworth with Gamel Bern. It has been suggested that the name means oat field or outfield (of Keighley) or that it was a meadow (Ley) owned by Utta. Utley was a small collection of buildings when the Keighley to Skipton Turnpike opened up in the early 18th century. The road became the dividing line between Low and High Utley and in the 1930s, the road became the

A629 road The A629 road is an inter-Yorkshire road that runs from Skipton to Rotherham through Keighley, Halifax, Huddersfield and Chapeltown in Yorkshire, England. The road runs through North, West and South Yorkshire, but before 1974, the entire leng ...

. The A629 was downgraded into the B6265 when the A629

Kildwick Kildwick, or Kildwick-in-Craven, is a village and civil parish of the district of Craven in North Yorkshire, England. It is situated between Skipton and Keighley and had a population of 191 in 2001, rising slightly to 194 at the 2011 census. K ...

to Beechcliffe bypass was opened in August 1988. In 2001 the area had a population of 5,000 which had risen to 5,500 by the 2011 census.

Facilities

It has a large secondary school on Greenhead Lane ( Carlton Keighley), and previously had a primary school on the same road. Utley also has a local newsagents, pub, restaurant, a children's park in the Beechcliffe area and a

Fish and chip shop A fish and chip shop, sometimes referred to as a chip shop, is a (often fast food) restaurant that specialises in selling fish and chips. Usually, fish and chip shops provide takeaway service, although some have seating facilities. Fish and c ...

that was named as one of the best 50 chip shops in Britain for three years running between 2014 and 2016. Within Utley is a large cemetery covering . The cemetery is the final resting place for many people from Utley and

, including surrounding villages such as Riddlesden and Steeton and is the oldest cemetery maintained by Bradford Council having been opened in 1857. Near to the cemetery, just across 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 ...

, is Keighley Golf Club, an 18-hole private members course.

Transport

The road access to Utley is via the

B6265 road New B roads are numbered routes in Great Britain of lesser importance than A roads. See the article Great Britain road numbering scheme The Great Britain road numbering scheme is a numbering scheme used to classify and identify all roads in ...

(Skipton Road) which runs through it and on to Steeton. Local buses are mostly provided by

Burnley Bus Company The Burnley Bus Company operates both local and regional bus services in Greater Manchester and Lancashire, England. It is a subsidiary of Transdev Blazefield, which operates bus services across Greater Manchester, Lancashire, North Yorkshire a ...

and

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. ...

with a handful of journeys by Jackson's of Silsden. Utley was formerly a terminus on the Keighley Tramways Corporation line from Ingrow via Keighley town centre. Originally the trams were horse-drawn and gave way to electric trams in 1904. The network closed in 1924 to be replaced by buses.

Notable people

Mike Jones (canoeist) Mike Jones QGM was a 20th-century canoeist, best known for his expeditions on the Blue Nile and Dudh Kosi. Early life Jones was born in the early 1950s in Yorkshire, England. He attended Keighley Secondary Technical School, and then Keighle ...

, died whilst trying to rescue a companion on the

Braldu River The Braldu River (; ur, ) flows in the Skardu District of Gilgit Baltistan in Pakistan. The Braldu River joins the Basha Basna River, and together they form the Shigar River, which is a tributary of the Indus River. Geography The Braldu Rive ...

for which he was posthumously awarded the Queen's Gallantry Medal (QGM)

References

External links