Shipley is a historic market town and civil parish in the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. Located on the River Aire and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, Shipley is directly north of the city of Bradford. The population of Shipley at the 2011 Census was 15,483.
Until 1974, Shipley was an urban district in the West Riding of Yorkshire. The town forms a continuous urban area with Bradford.
History
Toponymy
The place-name Shipley derives from two words: the Old English ('sheep', a Northumbrian dialect form, contrasting with the Anglian dialect form which underlies modern English sheep) Shipley Local Board was formed in 1853. Originally the board met at the Sun Hotel near the market. In 1880, it moved to the old Manor House, until it was demolished in 1915. Shipley became a separate civil parish in 1866. In 1894, Shipley Urban District Council was constituted with 15 councillors, and Shipley incorporated the Windhill district, formerly part of Idle. An attempt was made to gain borough status in 1898, but failed. Shipley Town Hall was built in 1932, as part of a scheme to relieve high unemployment during the Great Depression and was opened by the Earl of Harewood. It became the seat of Shipley's administration for the next four decades.
For many years, Shipley opposed joining Bradford for local government purposes whenever it was proposed. A large protest march marked the third attempt in 1937. In 1974 after local government reorganisation, merger into Bradford seemed inevitable, and no resistance was offered.
The Shipley parliamentary constituency was created in 1885, and its first MP was Joseph Craven.
A campaign for Shipley to have a Town Council was launched in 2018, resulting in the creation of Shipley Town Council in January 2020.
;Councillors
Shipley electoral ward is represented on Bradford Metropolitan District Council by three councillors; Anna Watson (Green Party), Kevin Warnes (Green Party), and Martin Love (Green Party)
thumb|right|2004 Boundaries of Shipley Ward.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Election!!colspan="2"|Councillor!!colspan="2"|Councillor!!colspan="2"|Councillor
|-
| 2004
|style="background-color: "|
|bgcolor="#99CCFF"| Hawarun Hussain (Green)
|style="background-color: "|
|bgcolor="#99CCFF"| Kevin Warnes (Green)
|style="background-color: "|
|bgcolor="#99CCFF"| Martin Love (Green)
|-
| 2006
|style="background-color: "|
|bgcolor="#99CCFF"| Hawarun Hussain (Green)
|style="background-color: "|
| Kevin Warnes (Green)
|style="background-color: "|
| Martin Love (Green)
|-
| 2007
|style="background-color: "|
| Hawarun Hussain (Green)
|style="background-color: "|
|bgcolor="#99CCFF"| Kevin Warnes (Green)
|style="background-color: "|
| Martin Love (Green)
|-
| 2008
|style="background-color: "|
| Hawarun Hussain (Green)
|style="background-color: "|
| Kevin Warnes (Green)
|style="background-color: "|
|bgcolor="#99CCFF"| Martin Love (Green)
|-
| 2010
|style="background-color: "|
|bgcolor="#99CCFF"| Hawarun Hussain (Green)
|style="background-color: "|
| Kevin Warnes (Green)
|style="background-color: "|
| Martin Love (Green)
|-
| 2011
|style="background-color: "|
| Hawarun Hussain (Green)
|style="background-color: "|
|bgcolor="#99CCFF"| Kevin Warnes (Green)
|style="background-color: "|
| Martin Love (Green)
|-
| 2012
|style="background-color: "|
| Hawarun Hussain (Green)
|style="background-color: "|
| Kevin Warnes (Green)
|style="background-color: "|
|bgcolor="#99CCFF"| Martin Love (Green)
|-
| 2014
|style="background-color: "|
|bgcolor="#99CCFF"| Hawarun Hussain (Green)
|style="background-color: "|
| Kevin Warnes (Green)
|style="background-color: "|
| Martin Love (Green)
|-
| 2015
|style="background-color: "|
| Hawarun Hussain (Green)
|style="background-color: "|
|bgcolor="#99CCFF"| Kevin Warnes (Green)
|style="background-color: "|
| Martin Love (Green)
|-
| 2016
|style="background-color: "|
| Hawarun Hussain (Green)
|style="background-color: "|
| Kevin Warnes (Green)
|style="background-color: "|
|bgcolor="#99CCFF"| Martin Love (Green)
|-
| 2018
|style="background-color: "|
|bgcolor="#99CCFF"| Vick Jenkins (Labour)
|style="background-color: "|
| Kevin Warnes (Green)
|style="background-color: "|
|| Martin Love (Green)
|-
| 2019
|style="background-color: "|
| Vick Jenkins (Labour)
|style="background-color: "|
|bgcolor="#99CCFF"| Kevin Warnes (Green)
|style="background-color: "|
|| Martin Love (Green)
|-
| 2021
|style="background-color: "|
| Vick Jenkins (Independent)
|style="background-color: "|
| Kevin Warnes (Green)
|style="background-color: "|
|bgcolor="#99CCFF"| Martin Love (Green)
|-
| 2022
|style="background-color: "|
|bgcolor="#99CCFF"| Anna Watson (Green)
|style="background-color: "|
| Kevin Warnes (Green)
|style="background-color: "|
|| Martin Love (Green)
|}
indicates seat up for re-election.
The four wards of Shipley Town Council are represented by nine councillors with two vacancies which will be filled by September 2020.
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Ward
!Councillor
|-
| rowspan="3" |Saltaire and Hirstwood
|Mike Connors (Chair)
|-
|Darren Parkinson
|-
|James Roberts
|-
| rowspan="2" |Nabwood and Moorhead
|Vacant
|-
|Ros Garside
|-
| rowspan="2" |Shipley Central & Dockside
|Darren Longhorn
|-
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |Northcliffe and Norwoods
|Dave Robison
|-
|Jenna Spiers
|-
|Anna Watson
|}
Economy
Commercial and retail
thumb|right|Shipley market hall
Shipley is dominantly residential in character serving as a commuter suburb of larger urban employment centres in Bradford and Leeds. Manufacturing activity includes information technology specialist ARRIS located in the Salts Mill complex. Marlin Windows, HC Slingsby and the offices of the Bradford Health Authority also feature among the larger employers in the town.
The town has one large scale supermarket, Asda in the town centre, but also supports smaller scale supermarkets and convenience shops. An open air market is a feature of the main commercial centre of the town as well as a covered market hall known for its landmark clock tower and 1960s brutalist architecture. Other shops in the same precinct include an Arndale Centre, retailers such as Boots. A pedestrian precinct with some shops and leisure businesses links Asda and its multi-storey free car park with Market Square. This area also includes the Shipley Library and the Kirkgate Centre, the town's main cultural focus offering regular a range of community activities in addition to holding cultural events such as live music, a regular alternative market and world cinema.
The town's secondary commercial centre, Gordon Terrace, part of the historic Saltaire Village development, features independent food and fashion retailers, as well as numerous restaurants and cafes. The town has a large volume of through vehicle traffic as it is on two of the main routes between Bradford, Leeds and the Aire Valley towns of Bingley, Keighley, and Skipton.
Visitor attractions
thumb|[[Salts Mill alongside the Leeds and Liverpool Canal]]
The village of Saltaire located in Shipley is a UNESCO designated World Heritage Site incorporating the Victorian era Salts Mill and associated residential district. Located by the River Aire and Leeds and Liverpool Canal the model village was planned by industrialist Sir Titus Salt as a processing facility for alpaca woollen cloth and as residential accommodation for his workforce. Salts Mill is no longer used for textile production, but now contains the 1853 Gallery, housing many works by the artist David Hockney, a variety of shops, restaurants and local businesses, including Pace Micro Technology (now Arris). Salts Mill is accessed via the nearby Saltaire railway station and together with the stone built terraced houses, ornate Victorian era civic buildings and Roberts Park, draws significant numbers of tourists to the area.
To the north across the River Aire, is Shipley Glen ("glen" refers to the little valley beneath a ridge). It has long been a popular beauty spot, and in 1895 the Shipley Glen Tramway was built to carry visitors up to the top. The tramway has weathered periods of neglect and closure, but in 2012 it ran most weekends through the summer, staffed by volunteers.
thumb|left|Looking over Shipley from Northcliffe
Parks and gardens
Crowghyll Park was once a quarry and the town's refuse dump. The land was given to church wardens in lieu of common rights when Shipley Common was enclosed and in 1889 it was landscaped. A public playground was opened by Mrs Titus Salt in 1890. A larger recreation area with playing fields, allotments, woods, and a private golf club is situated on the hill at Northcliffe. The woods and playing fields were opened to the public by Norman Rae MP and the playing fields are named after him. In the village of Saltaire is Roberts Park, built by Sir Titus Salt for his workers' recreation.
Theatre and cinema
The Victoria Hall in Saltaire is a concert venue, hosting bands such as Fairport Convention. However, there were once a number of entertainment establishments within the district:
- Queen's Palace – Formerly a temperance coffee house, an institution called Queens' Palace Theatre was sited on Briggate around the turn of the 20th century. It held twice nightly variety shows at 7 pm and 9 pm. In December 1915 it became Shipley Picture House and remained as a cinema until August 1932. The building was demolished following a fire in 1960.
- Glen Royal – The same fate met its successor, the Glen Royal Cinema, which was sited slightly further along Briggate. This 1,200 seat "showpiece super-cinema"
There is a small bus station in Shipley Market Place.
Rail
thumb|right|Platforms 1 and 2 at Shipley railway station
The Midland Railway's Leeds and Bradford line opened on 2 July 1846 and was extended to Keighley by March 1847. The Guiseley branch opened on 4 December 1876 and in the same year completion of the Settle-Carlisle Line put Shipley on the London to Scotland route. In 1885, the old Midland Railway station was replaced, and by 1900, 400 trains were passing through Shipley each month, carrying 50,000 passengers.
Shipley railway station has an unusual triangular layout, serving trains on the Skipton to Leeds line, the Leeds to Bradford Forster Square line, and the Bradford to Skipton/Ilkley lines. Saltaire railway station, reopened in 1984 on the Settle-Carlisle Line, serves the heritage village of Saltaire. Long-distance trains run south to London King's Cross and north to Carlisle, while local trains connect the town with Leeds, Bradford and Skipton.
Canals
The Leeds and Liverpool Canal was once an important navigation linking Shipley to the wider world. The Skipton to Shipley section was completed in 1773 and in 1774 a branch was extended to Bradford. Wharves were established on the north side of Briggate. The Bradford branch was filled in during the 1920s. The canal is used for pleasure cruising.
Trams
Trams ran along Bradford Road to the south and Saltaire Road to the north and between Baildon Bridge and the Branch. The intersection of these lines led to the main road junction of Fox's Corner being given the alternative name of Cobweb Square. The legacy of trams is the terminal building on Saltaire Roundabout, now a public house named Salt Bar & Kitchen. There was a second tram shed off the roundabout at the foot of Moorhead Lane.
Saltaire shed was converted for trolleybuses in 1939 until Bradford scrapped trolleybuses in the 1970s.
Newspapers
The town's first newspaper was the Shipley Times & Express run by stationer and printer, Johnny Walker. The paper was based in premises at Shipley crossroads, and the junction was sometimes called Johnny Walker's Corner as well as Fox Corner. In 1922, Walker sold out to printer/stationer, Osbaldiston, and the building still stands under his name. The building is now a scuba diving centre called Duck and Dive. The paper closed in 1981.
Notable people
Notable people from Shipley, England, educated there, or otherwise associated with the town.
Academics
- Sir Douglas Mawson, born in Shipley in 1882, Australian geologist, professor at the University of Adelaide, and Antarctic expedition leader
- Joseph Wright, author of the English Dialect Dictionary and one of the earliest users of phonetic notation, was born in Thackley but grew up in Windhill (now east Shipley). He wrote A Grammar of the Dialect of Windhill.
Arts and entertainment
- Helen Clare (1916–2018), singer who broadcast on BBC Radio and performed with British dance bands in the 1930s and 1940s
- Harry Corbett (1918–1989), creator of the long running Sooty glove puppet character, was born in the area.
- Laura Groves (born 1988) singer and songwriter was born in Shipley and now lives in London.
- Steven Hartley (born 1960), actor, born in Shipley
- Bryan Mosley (1931–1999), actor, known for playing Alf Roberts in Coronation Street, who was born in Leeds but lived in Shipley for many years until his death.
- Tony Richardson (1928–1991), film director was born in Shipley. He is known for directing films including, Look Back in Anger in 1959, The Entertainer in 1960, A Taste of Honey in 1961 and The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner in 1962.
- Rebecca Storm (born 1957), musical theatre actress and singer known for her roles in Blood Brothers Evita and Les Miserables
- Marie Studholme (1872–1930), actress and singer known for her supporting and sometimes starring roles in Victorian and Edwardian musical comedy. Raised in Baildon and Shipley and educated at Salt Grammar School in Saltaire.
Politicians
- Yorkshire and the Humber MEP Richard Corbett, Deputy Leader of the Labour MEPs, lives in Shipley, originally in Saltaire, now in Wrose.
- William Wallace, Baron Wallace of Saltaire, Liberal Democrat politician and Lord in Waiting from 2010 – 2015.
Science
- Roger Burton Land, animal geneticist
Sport
- 2007 British Rally Championship Stars of the Future Rally Champion, Luke Pinder.
- Jim Laker, England spin bowler from Frizinghall holds the world record for the number of wickets taken by one player in a first-class cricket match: 19 out of a possible 20 (Old Trafford 1956, vs Australia). A street in the Moorhead district of Shipley has been named Jim Laker Place in his memory and a blue plaque on the house he was born in on Norwood Road.
- Multiple Isle of Man TT winners, Nick Jefferies, Tony Jefferies and Tony's son David Jefferies.
Writers and journalists
- Poet and writer Nick Toczek
- Daily Telegraph columnist Michael Wharton.
- Writer Leo Walmsley
Criminals
- Peter Sutcliffe (1946-2020), serial killer dubbed in press as the 'Yorkshire Ripper'.
See also
- Bracken Hall Countryside Centre and Museum
- Saltaire United Reformed Church
- Shipley College
- Esholt
- Airedale line
- Frizinghall railway station
References
Bibliography
External links
- .