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Keighley in West YorkshireKeighley Extended Schools Cluster
Introduction In this section you can find more information about the location, history, regeneration, representation in local and national government as well as census data for the Keighley area. Our cluster of extended schools currently serves the families living in the wards of Lawkholme & Showfield, Guard House and Highfield. Location The town of Keighley is located in the Aire Valley of West Yorkshire, at the mouth of the Worth valley and the adjacent moorland countryside. By road, Keighley centre is 9.9 miles north-west of Bradford and 19.2 miles west of Leeds. There are also regular rail connections to the two city centres and the regional Leeds/Bradford airport provides access to a range of destinations for business and tourism. A brief history of Keighley Keighley was first recorded in William the Conqueror's Domesday Book in 1086: "In Chichelai, Ulchel, and Thole, and Ravensuar, and William had six carucates to be taxed". Over 200 years later, on 17th October 1305, King Edward I granted the privilege to Henry de Kighley (Keighley) a market charter to "hold a Market, Fair, and Free Warren in Keighley". Impact of industrialisation In 1801 the population of Keighley was 5,745 but by 1901 had expanded to 42,106. It was transformed by the rise of the textile industry, initially in the cotton industry, but then the worsted industry. Machine manufacture was a further important industry. By the latter half of the 19th century Keighley possessed around 10% of the worsted production capacity of England and the textile machine works of Prince Smith and Son was the largest of its kind in Europe. This was a meteoric rise from the manufacture of small hand-turned spinning frames - known as throstles - that started in two cottages during 1795.  Local mill owners built the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway line - opened on 15th April 1867. Train operation was 'franchised' to the Midland Railway, operating the Bradford/Leeds - Skipton line passing via Keighley on the Aire valley route. In 1870, the Mechanics' Institute was opened and the borough was incorporated by Royal Charter on July 28th, 1882. In the following year, the Herald's College granted the Borough Arms of Keighley on the 7th February. In 1904 Keighley gained distinction with the first library sponsored by the industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie through his donation of £10,000.  During the 1960s a significant number of newcomers settled in Keighley from the Azad Kashmir region of Pakistan and the Sylhet district of Bangladesh. Most were initially employed in the textiles industry until its demise. Currently the town is home to around 8,000 Muslims, representing 15% of the population. Currently, around a quarter of Keighley's workforce is employed in engineering and manufacturing sector, greater than the national average of 14% across the country. This potentially makes the town vulnerable to any downturns in the economy allied to these two industries. Keighley forms part of the Airedale Partnership, "a regeneration initiative supporting the growth and renaissance of the local economy". Proposals for regeneration  In March 2005, the partnership launched "Airedale Corridors", a Masterplan and Strategy for Airedale. One specific section of the masterplan is devoted to the regeneration of Keighley. This includes proposals to improve access and the range of education programmes to support teh development of the town and the economy of the local area. The Keighley section of the masterplan is available to download as a PDF document (2.7 MB file) together with a detailed annex, also available as a PDF document (5.8MB). Local government Following local government re-organisation, Keighley became a part of the newly formed Bradford Metropolitan District Council after the demise of the West Riding County Council (1889-1974). Nowadays, Keighley has its own town council with 30 councillors covering 15 electoral wards. Each each ward has at least one elected Councillor. Parliamentary constituency The town forms part of the parliamentary constituency for Keighley and Ilkley, which is located to the north in the adjacent Wharfe valley. The current serving Member of Parliament for the constituency is Ann Cryer, first elected to represent her constituents at Westminster in May 1997. Census information Information from the 2001 Census for the new Keighley Ward (2004) provides some valuable information about the profile of the local population from start of this millenium. Full details of the three electoral wards (2004) can be downlaoded via City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council website for:
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