Keighley
West Yorkshire
Keighley is 5 miles south-west of Ilkley, 8 miles north-west of
There was later more substantial growth during the industrial revolution where the textile industry was dominant and represented not just by woollen but, more unusually for Yorkshire, cotton manufacture and the town was also a centre for the manufacture of textile machinery.
Today the town has a variety of industries and there is more modern construction in the midst of the town centre's fine buildings, mostly dating from the Victorian era. The town's strong heritage and access to old vehicles has attracted film-makers on many occasions, very frequently to the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, a five-mile heritage railway line to Oakworth, Haworth and Oxenhope, most famously used for the film The Railway Children.
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Entertainment
Keighley PlayhouseDevonshire Street, Keighley
Keighley Playhouse provides a variety of drama, comedy and thriller productions. The active amateur theatre company was formed back in 1947 as the Keighley Little Theatre. The group now stages several productions each year at Keighley Playhouse.

Sport




Museums
Cliffe Castle Museum
Spring Gardens Lane, Keighley
Originally the home of a Victorian millionaire textile manufacturer and exporter, Cliffe Castle was a showpiece of international art and French decoration. The house was bought in the 1950s by Sir Bracewell Smith, a Keighley-born hotel-owner businessman and Conservative MP, who served as Lord Mayor of London just after World War II and later as chairman of Arsenal Football Club. He saw Cliffe Castle remodelled to create a grand public park for Keighley with the house becoming a free museum. In addition to the splendidly restored Victorian rooms, there are galleries covering the geology and natural history of the Airedale Valley, a collection of stained glass by Morris and Co and a variety of special events. The museum is now run by City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council.
Further information at

Keighley Bus Museum
River Technology Park, Dalton Lane, Keighley
The Keighley Bus Museum Trust was established in 1992, aimed at filling a gap which would be left in preserving buses after the demise of the West Yorkshire Transport Museum and its successor Transperience, which were based at Low Moor, Bradford. The Trust has been active in preserving many old buses including examples from Keighley, Bradford, Huddersfield, Halifax, Leeds and other operators in Yorkshire together with a few examples from Lancashire towns, a London bus and a other municipal vehicles and lorries. The museum holds three major open days each year.
More information at the

Museum of Rail Travel, Ingrow
Ingrow station yard
This is one of two museums at the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway's Ingrow West station, the first stop out of Keighley and just over a mile south of the town centre. The Museum of Rail Travel is operated by the Vintage Carriages Trust and opens daily to show its collection of historic railway rolling stock and memorabilia.
More information at the

Ingrow Loco Museum
Ingrow station yard
The Ingrow Loco Museum and Workshop is run by the Bahamas Locomotive Society in the former Midland Railway goods warehouse at Ingrow West station of the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway. The museum has items of railway interest, two steam locomotves and a gallery to view the workshop.
Further details at the

Places to visit
East Riddlesden Hall
The attractive 17th century home of a cloth merchant includes an array of needlework from the era. The house is set in colourful and peaceful gardens with an outdoor discovery garden and children's play area. The property, around 1.5 miles to the north-east of
Find out more at the

Locate on map:

Keighley and Worth Valley Railway
Keighley Station and stations along the Worth ValleyThe earliest of Yorkshire's
Find out more at the

Haworth
Haworth, around 4 miles south of
Saltaire
Near ShipleyAbout 4 miles north-north-west of Bradford,



Travel

Keighley
Keighley is a stop for Northern services linking
Station is managed by Northern. Operators: Northern and Keighley and Worth Valley Railway.

Keighley bus station
Regular buses operate from Keighley bus station in the centre of the town to most surrounding towns and also to local villages. Among services are buses to
Road travel
The main Aire Valley trunk road runs around the north of the town centre, with the Keighley usually has plenty of parking space available and has a large multi-storey car park in the centre of the town.
Emergency services
West Yorkshire Police 
West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service

Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust

Local government
Town council
Keighley Town Council
Keighley Town Council was formed in 2002, restoring a local tier of government lost in the town's absorption into the City of Bradford metropolitan district in 1974. The town council is based at the Civic Centre in North Street and has 30 councillors representing 15 wards. The council elects a town mayor and deputy mayor. The council's role involves running allotments and maintaining some gardens, providing grit bins and grants to voluntary organisations, running the Civic Centre, civic events and publicising and representing the interests of the town.
Link to

Metropolitan district council
The City of Bradford authority covers an area extending many miles beyond the city itself, including areas of moorland of The Pennines and Ilkley Moor, parts of Wharfedale and Airedale and the Worth Valley.
The area includes many separate small towns and villages, among them
Councillors are elected across 30 wards with three councillors per ward.
One councillor per ward is elected for a four-year term on each of three years out of four.
Link to
City of Bradford MDC website.

Political composition after the May 2022 election was:
Political composition after the May 2023 election is:
County strategic authority
West Yorkshire Combined Authority
Covers some combined services of the five metropolitan district councils of






Operates with elected mayor Tracy Brabin as chairman and as decision-maker for some responsibilities after May 2021 election.

Police and Crime Commissioner
The Police and Crime Commissioner for West Yorkshire
This role has become one of the many responsibilities of the West Yorkshire elected mayor since May 2021.

Fire Authority
West Yorkshire Fire Authority
The fire authority is made up of elected members of each of the five metropolitan district councils of West Yorkshire - Bradford, Calderdale, Leeds, Kirklees and Wakefield.

Ceremonial county
West Yorkshire
Historic
1882-1974 Municipal borough (within the West Riding of Yorkshire).
1974-present within the City of Bradford metropolitan district of West Yorkshire.
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