Wetherby
Wetherby | |
---|---|
West Yorkshire | |
Ambulance | Yorkshire |
UK Parliament | |
Website | www |
Wetherby (
The town sits in the
Etymology
Wetherby is first attested in the
History
Historically, Wetherby was a part of the Claro Wapentake (as part of the parish of Spofforth) within the West Riding of Yorkshire.
In the 12th and 13th centuries the
From 1318 to 1319 the North of England suffered many raids from the Scots. After the Battle of Bannockburn Wetherby was burned and many people were taken and killed. According to the blue plaque at the entrance to the lane, Scott Lane could be named after the Scottish raiders in 1318 or the 18th-century drovers who used Wetherby as a watering place.[7]
In the
In the heyday of the coaching era, Wetherby had up to forty inns and
In 1824, William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire sold the town of Wetherby (except one house) to finance work at Chatsworth.[6] Wetherby provides the setting for the novel Oldbury (1869) by Annie Keary.[9]
20th century
During the
In 1918, residents contributed to support the crew of the Racecourse-class minesweeper HMS Wetherby despite hardship and shortages caused by the war.[10]
During the Second World War, nearby
Wetherby had the only
Throughout the 1960s the town council deliberated over how best to enlarge the town centre to cope with the needs of a growing population and to provide the town with a purpose built supermarket. Plans were put forward to enlarge the town over the ings, or to develop the town centre into a pedestrian precinct. In the end it was decided to build a purpose built shopping precinct, which was built in the 1970s and underwent a significant redevelopment throughout 2003. By 2006 the remaining open parts of the Horsefair Centre were enclosed under a glass canopy roof.[citation needed]
The 1986 Ordnance Survey 1:50 000 map (sheet 104) shows a 'hospital' at the corner of Spofforth Hill and Linton Road (grid 398484); this no longer appears on the 2009 edition, and the buildings are currently (2021) private housing.[relevant?]
Governance
Wetherby Town Council | |
---|---|
Town Council | |
Motto | |
"Imperium in Imperio" ("One government within another.")[11] | |
Meeting place | |
Wetherby Town Hall | |
Website | |
www |
Since 2010 Wetherby has been in the
The a coat of arms transferred over from the former Wetherby Rural District Council, it was the first such arms to be granted by the College of Arms to a rural district council, on 7 January 1938.[11]
Twinnings
- – Privas, France
Geography
Divisions and suburbs
- Micklethwaite was a village in its own right but its identity as a separate place has disappeared since the Micklethwaite Farm's buildings were demolished in the 2000s and replaced by 150 dwellings known as 'Micklethwaite'. It is situated south of the River Wharfe and contains the police station, magistrates court, the Mercure Hotel and the town's Leisure Centre and Swimming Baths. Wetherby Athletic and Wetherby Bulldogs RLFC play on the Wetherby ings, while Wetherby RUFC and Wetherby CC play at Grange Park.
- Co-op, a dog grooming shop and a decorating shop.
- Hallfield in the southeast is a large council estate and has some houses built by the prison service and some sheltered housing. The area is home to Wetherby High School, St James' Primary School, the cemetery, the Church on the Corner and Mason House Community Centre. A new medical centre has been built on the edge of the estate on the site of the demolished Hallfield Mansion.
- Deighton Bar is situated in the northeast bordering Ainsty and Sandbeck and the village of Kirk Deighton in North Yorkshire, as is one street in Deighton Bar, Autumn Avenue. The oldest houses are in a row of terrace houses on Deighton Road. The area is home to Deighton Gates primary school between Ainsty and Deighton Bar. Most housing in Deighton Bar was built in the late 1970s by Barratts.
- Barleyfields – Barleyfields is a residential area of housing in central Wetherby. Barleyfields' oldest houses are large Victorian terraces on Sandringham Terrace and the former quarry workers' cottages behind Prospect Villas. The area situated in the middle of a large triangular dismantled railway junction. The area is home to St Joseph's Primary School, Crossley Street Primary School and Barleyfields Community Centre.
- Sandbeck is home to the Sandbeck Industrial Estate, some 1960s Norman Ashton Houses and some 1970's council houses. The industrial estate is home to West Yorkshire Steel, Goldenfry Foods, Mondipack, Swift Research, Dunwood Polymer Services, Value Self Store and Arvilles Textiles, TracsisTraffic Data Ltd and the ICC group's Head Office. The former Wetherby & District Social Club is based on the industrial estate, now a pub and events space called The Wetherby.
- Linton Park View an affluent area of private houses, mostly built in the 1970s between Spofforth Hill and Linton Lane in the northwest of Wetherby.
- Spofforth Hill named after the road that passes through is an affluent area off the A661. It contains many large detached houses from Victorian times onwards. In the 1980s and 1990s the area was expanded after Shepherd Homes built a housing estate on former agricultural land, the Glebe Field Estate.
Weather and climate
Wetherby has a cool, fairly moist climate with changeable weather year-round. Liquid equivalent precipitation totals about 630mm per year and is fairly well distributed through the seasons.
Cloudy weather tends to predominate, but settled, sunny spells occur at times, as well.
Winter temperatures average just above freezing for lows, with highs about 5–9 C.
Frost and snow are not uncommon, but are rarely severe or prolonged. Temperatures very rarely drop as low as −10 C.
Summers are mild, with lows mostly 10–15 and highs 15–25, with a few hot days approaching 30.[12]
Demography
According to the
Economy
The Wharfedale Brewery became Oxley's mineral water factory during the inter-war years.[6] It was demolished in the 1950s and redeveloped as the West Yorkshire Road Car Company bus depot and bus station, and has been further redeveloped to include shops, offices, and a restaurant and the bus station. The site of the watermill by the weir, is now occupied by riverside flats.[citation needed]
Wetherby has a manufacturing presence in the town and on the Thorp Arch Trading Estate. Many residents work in Leeds or on the Sandbeck industrial estate, major retailers in the town centre or at Thorp Arch. Large employers include the British Library, Morrisons, Goldenfry Foods and Moores Furniture.
2017 saw the return of brewing to Wetherby when the Wetherby Brew Company established a new microbrewery and taproom on the York Road Industrial Estate.[16]
Present day
Goldenfry, which started as a fish and chip shop but which now makes other products including own-brand gravy for every UK supermarket, is situated on Sandbeck Way.[17] Inspirepac has a factory on Sandbeck Lane.[citation needed]
The ICC Group is a multi national UK IT reseller and service provider which started in 1998. ICC has its HQ at Sandbeck Lane. Supporting over 10% of the FTSE100, it specialises in HP/IBM and Dell products and associated IT services.[citation needed]
Farnell opened its first factory in 1956 on the York Road Industrial Estate, leasing some former W.D. Nissen huts. By 1963 it required new premises and moved to the Sandbeck Industrial Estate.[18] In 1997 GSM Valtech Industries Limited GSM purchased the metalwork fabrication site of Farnell Electronics. GSM Valtech's operations were transferred to the Wetherby site, increasing the manufacturing area to 28,000 sq ft and gaining staff with 40 years' experience in manufacturing electronic enclosures. Substantial investment followed.[citation needed] The company specialises in the manufacture and wholesale distribution of electrical, electronic and measurement, control and instrumentation equipment. In the 1990s the company moved to offices in Armley.[18]
The Forensic Science Service had a laboratory in Wetherby on Sandbeck Way. This closed in 2012 and has been demolished, with a new housing estate now on the site. HM Prison Wetherby is located on York Road.[19]
The Horsefair Centre has a
Since the closure and demolition of the cattle market in 2001, the site has been redeveloped as a Marks & Spencer food store, with apartments above. In August 2008 the Wetherby service station, operated by MOTO, opened on the B1224, A1(M) intersection.
On 1 October 2008 the healthcare centre on Hallfield Lane was opened by
Transport
For many years from 1959, the town's bypass started at a roundabout near a
Wetherby bus station in the Market Place was redeveloped in 1995.
Wetherby had two railway stations with services to Leeds, Harrogate, and Church Fenton on the Cross Gates–Wetherby line and the Harrogate–Church Fenton line. These services were withdrawn on 6 January 1964, involving closures of both Wetherby (Linton Road) railway station and Wetherby (York Road) railway station (closed to passengers in 1902) and then closed to goods traffic in 1964. Both of these stations were closed as part of the Beeching Axe.[25] The nearest railway stations are both Pannal railway station and Cattal railway station.
The closest airport is
Education
There are four primary schools situated in Wetherby and one secondary school, Wetherby High School (formerly Wetherby Secondary Modern School). There is Crossley Street Primary School, Deighton Gates Primary School, St Josephs Primary School and St James C of E School. There is a further secondary school serving Wetherby situated in Boston Spa. The local college in Wetherby is Leeds City College.
Sport
The town is home to several sporting clubs: Wetherby Athletic AFC, Wetherby Bulldogs RLFC and Wetherby RUFC, all playing at a higher amateur level. Wetherby Athletic play in the
Wetherby Bulldogs rugby league team play at the Ings with Wetherby Athletic. The club plays in the Pennine League Division Four. The club was formed in 1983 playing in the York and District Sunday League. In the 1997/98 season, Wetherby won the league without losing a game, and won the White Rose Cup, playing the final at Featherstone Rovers' Post Office Road ground. By 1999 the club was in Yorkshire League Division One.[28]
The town's rugby union club plays at Grange Park sharing with Kirk Deighton Rangers Junior Football Club[29] and also with the town's cricket and bowls clubs where it has a clubhouse and floodlit pitches.[30]
Wetherby Cricket Club plays at Grange Park (adjacent to the South Wetherby A1(M)/A661 intersection). It plays in the Wetherby League and the Whixley Evening League fielding two senior and junior sides ranging from U-9s to U-17s.
Wetherby Bowling Club was established in 1986 at Grange Park Sports Centre between the cricket club and the rugby union club. It has crown and flat greens and takes part in a floodlit mini league. The club has six crown green teams (playing in the Harrogate and Tadcaster Leagues) and three flat green teams. Formed in October 2004, Wetherby Runners Athletic Club is based at Wetherby Sports Association with a membership of over 160. A junior section competes in West Yorks Track & Field & cross country Leagues. It competes throughout the region in Harrogate Road League,[31] Yorkshire Dales Race Series,[32] West Yorks Cross Country League and takes part in cross country, fell, road races and marathons.[33] The club organises the Wetherby 10k Run on the second Sunday in September at Wetherby Racecourse.[34]
Wetherby Golf Club has an 18-hole golf course, constructed in two loops of 9 holes along Wetherby Ings where, 100 years ago, steeplechase racing was the major sporting activity. The course is almost 6,700 yards with five variable tee positions.[35]
Wetherby Castlegarth Tennis Club has had a presence in the town since 1904.
The route of The White Rose Way, a long-distance walk from Leeds to Scarborough, passes through the town.
Wetherby Racecourse was originally located at the Ings before moving to York Road. The course is a left-hand oval with easy bends.[36] The racecourse has three stands, one constructed in the 1930s with football-style terracing, a two-tier seated stand constructed in the 1970s and the new Millennium Stand which opened in 1999 providing executive facilities.
Wetherby Racecourse is the starting point for the Great Yorkshire Bike Ride, an annual 70-mile (110-kilometre) ride to Filey in June, which has raised nearly £2 million for charity since its inception in 1984.[37][38]
Crime and law enforcement
The nearest police station of West Yorkshire Police is in Boston Road.[39]
Religion
There are five churches in Wetherby.[40] The parish church is dedicated to St James[41] and its daughter church The Church on the Corner meets in the old Cemetery Chapel on Hallfield Lane.
There is a Methodist church on Bank Street, a Baptist church and the Community Church of the Salvation Army. St Joseph's Roman Catholic Church's building was opened in 1986 and won the Leeds award for Architecture in 1987.[42] Two smaller Catholic churches in Bardsey and Sicklinghall operate as satellite churches to the Wetherby one and do not have their own ministers.
The Baptist Church was originally Anglican and was known as Barleyfields Church. Early in 2009 it became part of the Baptist Union of Great Britain. It originally met in the Barleyfields Centre, but moved to Deighton Gates School in September 2009.
Culture and media
In 1989 the 'Wetherby in Bloom' committee was set up and has charitable status. The town won the Entente Florale gold award in 1999 and an International Communities in Bloom award in 2005. It achieved success in the RHS Britain in Bloom competition in 1998, 2002 and 2010, along with numerous regional gold awards over the last 15 years.
The annual Wetherby Arts Festival[43] is sponsored by Leeds City Council and Wetherby Town Council.[44] It promotes the arts by providing a platform for local groups to perform and to bring in other performers and art forms.
The local newspaper is the Wetherby News[45] and the Lifestyle magazine is the Excelle magazine.[46]
Local radio stations are BBC Radio Leeds, Heart Yorkshire, Greatest Hits Radio Yorkshire, Capital Yorkshire and Tempo FM is Wetherby's very own 100% volunteer-run community radio station, with studios located in the old council offices in Westgate.
Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC Yorkshire & ITV Yorkshire from the Emley Moor TV transmitter.
Housing
In 1914, 100 dwellings in Wetherby were considered unfit for habitation. This and previous reports under the
Public houses
In its hey-day Wetherby had seventeen
During the
The Angel was sold in 2010 and re-opened as Sant Angelo Italian Restaurant and Ice Cream Parlour. The pub was recreated on the first floor and has become one of the town's busiest weekend drinking venues.
Wetherby Sports Association (WSA) came about in 1999 as the brain child of Wetherby Bulldogs and Wetherby Athletic who identified a need for a “home” they could call their own after years of playing out of concrete bunkers by the river and holding meetings in local pubs – the outcome of which was the Lottery/FA funded building on Lodge Lane which is used extensively by the local community today.
WSA is a registered charity which provides a community hub for sports clubs and societies in Wetherby that would otherwise struggle to fund a place of their own. WSA has seen its ranks grow over the years and in addition to Wetherby Bulldogs and Wetherby Athletic is now home to Wetherby Runners, Wetherby Wheelers, Wetherby Petanque, the local branch of the Military Vehicles society, Wetherby & District Angling Club, Pilates, Zumba, Wetherby Park Run, Gym Gems and many more.
There is also a similar club at Grange Park, serving members of the town's rugby union, cricket and bowls clubs as well as members of its committee and association.
The town's main Working Men's Club, Wetherby and District Social Club is based on the Sandbeck Industrial Estate, opened by former MP Austin Mitchell in the early 70s. This burnt down in 2002. A new club was rebuilt in its original location. In 2018, the social club closed and was taken over by new owners and opened as a pub and community space called 'The Wetherby'. This closed during the COVID outbreak of 2020, and remains so as of 2021.
In 2017 brewing returned to Wetherby as the Wetherby Brew Co opened on the York Road Industrial Estate. The brewery tap room serves the public from Thursday to Sunday.
Notable people
- Beer and whisky expert Michael Jackson (1942–2007) was born in Wetherby.[50]
- Flight Lieutenant 'Ginger' Lacey (1917–1989), a Battle of Britain flying ace, was born in Wetherby.[51] Lacey Grove is named after him.[10]
- Former goalkeeper B teamin the 1980s
- Yorkshire Cricketer Charles Midgleywas born in Wetherby in 1877 and died in Bradford in 1942.
- Former Conservative constituencies, holding seats in the Tory heartlands of Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire.
- Fred Cooperwas born in Wetherby in 1888.
- Hallfields Estatein Wetherby.
- Skins Actor Sam Jacksonalso comes from Wetherby, and was born in October 1993.
- Reginald Wickham, cricketer
- Emily Wardman, museum curator
See also
References
- ^ "Wetherby (Parish, United Kingdom) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map and Location".
- ^ a b "Wetherby Conservation Area". West Yorkshire Archaeology Advisory Service. Retrieved 4 August 2007.
- ^ "Six Yorkshire postcodes appear in Sunday Times Best Places to Live guide for 2018". The Yorkshire Post. 16 March 2018. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
- ISBN 9780521168557.
- ISBN 9780904889956.
- ^ a b c Wetherby & District Historical Society (1995). Wetherby. The Archive Photographs Series. Stroud: The Chalfont Publishing Company.
- ^ "Wetherby Blue Plaques – Scott Lane". Wetherby Civic Society. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
- ^ John Rushworth (1721). "Historical Collections: Proceedings in the North, 1644". Historical Collections of Private Passages of State. Vol. 5, 1642–45. London: D. Browne. pp. 603–653. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
- ISBN 9781317863328.
- ^ a b c d e f g "About Wetherby – Fascinating Facts". Wetherby Online. Archived from the original on 4 October 2006. Retrieved 4 August 2007.
- ^ a b "West Riding Civic Heraldry". Civic Heraldry.
- ^ http://www.wetherbyweather.org.uk/forum/read.php?4,7 Wetherby Weather / Thomas Ehrensperger
- ^ UK Census (2001). "Local Area Report – Wetherby Parish (00DA028)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
- ^ UK Census (2001). "Local Area Report – Wetherby Ward (as of 2003) (00DAGH)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 9 June 2022..
- Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
- ^ Wetherby News (15 December 2017). "Wetherby business brewing up a success". Retrieved 15 December 2017.
- ^ "It's Right. It's Proper Yorkshire. It's Goldenfry!". Goldenfry. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
- ^ a b "About us". Advance Product Services. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
- ^ "Wetherby Prison information". www.justice.gov.uk. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
- ^ "Wetherby resident marks official start of work on £61 million A1 Bramham to Wetherby upgrade scheme". Government News Network. Highways Agency (Yorkshire and Humber). 3 July 2007. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 27 August 2008.
- ^ Highways Agency – A1 Darrington to Dishforth Archived 17 April 2010 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Highways Agency – A1(M) Bramham to Wetherby Archived 18 January 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Highways Agency – M1 – A1 Lofthouse to Bramham". Retrieved 13 December 2018.
- ^ "Wetherby Bus Station". West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Authority. Retrieved 4 August 2007.
- ^ "The Beeching Axe". David Hey. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
- ^ "Wetherby Athletic FC History. 1949 – The Birth Of Wetherby Athletic.". Retrieved 29 March 2016.
- ^ Property Address Leeds United Training Ground
- ^ "Wetherby Bulldogs". www.pitchero.com. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
- ^ "Directions to Grange Park". Kirk Deighton Rangers JFC.
- ^ Wetherby Rugby Club – future developments
- ^ "HDSRL". HDSRL. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
- ^ "Home – Yorkshire Dales Race Series". 25 June 2011. Archived from the original on 25 June 2011. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
- ^ "Photos and Articles". Wetherby Runners AC.
- ^ "Wetherby Run". 17 September 2007. Archived from the original on 17 September 2007. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
- ^ "Wetherby Golf Club, a Premium Course in West Yorkshire". Wetherby Golf Club. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
- ^ "Wetherby Racecourse – Going Racing at Wetherby Races". www.racing-index.com. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
- ^ "Student Travel Information & Discounts – Events: Great Yorkshire Bike Ride (Wetherby, England)". Retrieved 13 December 2018.
- ^ "Facts & Figures". Retrieved 13 December 2018.
- ^ "Welcome to Leeds". West Yorkshire Police. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
- ^ "Wetherby Churches Together". Retrieved 4 August 2007.
- ^ "St James". www.stjameswetherby.org.uk. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
- ^ "St. Joseph's Parish Wetherby". Retrieved 4 August 2007.
- ^ "Wetherby Festival". Wetherby Festival.
- ^ "Wetherby Festival sponsors". Wetherby Festival.
- ^ "Wetherby News". www.wetherbynews.co.uk. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
- ^ "Excelle Magazine – advertising, leeds, wetherby, harrogate, wakefield". Excelle Magazine. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
- ^ "Wetherby Film Theatre". Cinema Treasures. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
- ^ "Tough stance on Wetherby pub smoke". Wetherby News. 25 May 2007. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
- ^ "BBC – WW2 People's War – A Kind Thought". Retrieved 13 December 2018.
- ^ Roger Protz (4 September 2004). "Michael Jackson". The Guardian.
- ^ "Ginger' Lacey. Biography". IMDb. Retrieved 4 August 2007.
Bibliography
- Wetherby The History of a Yorkshire Market Town, Robert Unwin
- Wetherby (The Archive Photographic Series)