Thornbury is an area of Bradford, in West Yorkshire, England on the border with the City of Leeds. Thornbury is located in the Bradford Moor ward and the Bradford East parliamentary constituency. Thornbury is contiguous with Pudsey – part of the City of Leeds conurbation and borders Laisterdyke, and Fagley in Eccleshill ward.
| Thornbury | |
|---|---|
 Thornbury Roundabout, Thornbury | |
  Thornbury Location within West Yorkshire | |
| OS grid reference | SE185336 |
| Metropolitan borough | |
| Metropolitan county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BRADFORD |
| Postcode district | BD3 |
| Dialling code | 01274 |
| Police | West Yorkshire |
| Fire | West Yorkshire |
| Ambulance | Yorkshire |
History
editThornbury was originally a distinct village,[1] in 1894 Thornbury became a civil parish, being formed from the part of the parish of Calverley with Farsley in the County Borough of Bradford, on 25 March 1898 the parish was abolished and merged with Bradford.[2]
In the late 19th and early 20th century, Thornbury was the seat of various enterprises such as Crofts Engineering[3] and John Sharp & Co textile manufacturing machine engineers[4][5] and the Phoenix Dynamo Manufacturing Company. On Leeds Road there were some large former tramsheds and former bus depot[6][7] dating from when Bradford had its own tram, trolleybus and bus services. Bradford Corporation Trams had their own works in Thornbury where over 150 tram cars were built.[6]
Buffalo Bill staged a performance of his Wild West Show in Thornbury when touring England in 1903.[8] The Kozey Picture Hall on Leeds Old Road was converted from a boxing stadium and gymnasium starting operation as a cinema in 1912.[9] The cinema closed in 1920 principally due to competition from the larger Lyceum Cinema that opened in 1919 in nearby Laisterdyke, and became a weaving shed.[9]
Economy
editOn Gain Lane are British Bakeries' Hovis bakeries, and the headquarters of Wm Morrison Supermarkets.[10]
Off Leeds Old Road in the Woodhall Retail Centre are supermarkets and the Thornbury Medical Centre. On Leeds Old Road is the Thornbury Centre - a conference centre, library and church opened in March 1999, built on the site of the demolished St. Margaret's Church with £1.19 million funding from the Millennium Commission.[11][12] There is only one working public house remaining in Thornbury.[13]
On Dick Lane in the Gallagher Leisure Park is the Odeon Leeds-Bradford a 13 screen multiplex cinema.[9]
Education
editOn the edge of old Thornbury village is Laisterdyke Leadership Academy. Thornbury has a public lending library in the Thornbury Centre on Leeds Old Road.[14]
Transport
editThe main roads through the area are the A647 Leeds Road, the B6381 Leeds Old Road, Gain Lane and Dick Lane. Leeds Road, Leeds Old Road, and Dick Lane meet at Thornbury roundabout, the biggest roundabout in Yorkshire,[15] where Leeds Road, Gipsy Street, and Dick Lane encircle a roughly triangular green space.
New Pudsey 1 mile (1.6 km) east is the nearest railway station.
Thornbury is served by First Bradford's 72, 508, X11, 671 and X6 bus services and TLC Travel's 660 service.
Sport
editTo the east of Thornbury is the Phoenix Park Golf Course.[16]
Thornbury Trojans reached the national final of the Amateur Baseball Cup in 1937, along with Birmingham side Durex, a final that was never played.[17]
Notable people
editThe poet and novelist Joolz Denby lives in Thornbury.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "History of Bradford, Yorkshire – 1850 to 1899". Bradford Timeline. Retrieved 6 March 2010.
- ^ "North Bierley Registration District". UKBMD. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
- ^ "Crofts (Engineers)". Grace's Guide to British Industrial History. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
- ^ "John Sharp and Co". Grace's Guide to British Industrial History. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
- ^ "Benjamin Dobson (Bradford)". Grace's Guide to British Industrial History. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
- ^ a b "Bradford Corporation Transport: 1898–1974". Local Transport Histories. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
- ^ "Former tramshed, Thornbury". Geograph. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
- ^ Greenhalf, Jim (23 April 1999). "How Bill Tamed the Wild West". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2009.
- ^ a b c Sutton, Colin (2003). "Bradford - Cinemas of Laisterdyke". Bradford Timeline. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
- ^ "Company history". Morrisons. Archived from the original on 7 October 2008. Retrieved 3 July 2009.
- ^ "The Thornbury Centre". The Thornbury Centre. Archived from the original on 18 November 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
- ^ "Millennium Commission announces £1.19 million to Thornbury Centre in Bradford" (PDF). Millennium Commission. 17 December 1996. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 June 2011. Retrieved 11 March 2010.
- ^ "Pubs in Thornbury". Pubs Galore. Retrieved 31 December 2012.
- ^ "Thornbury Library". Bradford Metropolitan District Council. Archived from the original on 30 September 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2010.
- ^ Wainwright, Martin (18 October 2002). "Bradford plans angel of the not-so-far north". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 March 2010.
- ^ "Phoenix Park Golf Club". Golfcourses.co.uk. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
- ^ 'Team Failed to Arrive: Baseball Wait at Bradford'. Bradford Observer. 30 August 1937. p.9 - retrieved via British Newspaper Archive