Denholme
Denholme is a small town and civil parish in the Bradford Metropolitan Borough, West Yorkshire, England. It is about eight or seven miles west of Bradford. Seven from miles from Keighley and roughly the same from Halifax. Administratively, it is part of the Bingley Rural ward of the City of Bradford. It has 2 cricket teams (Denholme Cricket Club and Denholme Clough Cricket Club) who have their own grounds. It also has a football team (Denholme United AFC) who play in the local park. There is a Gala (fair) every year held in the local park and organised by members of the village town council. It is usually held on the first Thursday, Friday and Saturday of July. The local Scout Group usually have some part in its organisation and take part in a precession which starts at Ogden Lane and ends in the centre of the village, taking a turn past the Royal Pub and along Stradmore Road into Foster Park. Foster Park was given to the people of Denholme in 1912 by William Foster. The Main Road running through Denholme is the A629.
Recently there has been a skate park built into Foster Park as well as courts and football nets. Rumours of a Cafe/Bar for the younger villagers have been circulating. There has however, been no confirmation. Stores include a papershop, fish shops and a co-op including some speciality shops.
History
Denholme was originally a Viking settlement, though the only mark the Viking settlers left behind was their name. Holme usually refers to an Island or some place near the sea and Den means "it", in Swedish. Which would roughly translate to "It is upon an Island" or "it is near the sea" Although, anyone living around the surrounding area will know that Denholme is a good 70 miles from the sea. According to the Swedish Wikipedia (citation needed please, because I can't read Swedish) Denholme can translate into "A flat amongst the hillside" Which makes a lot of sense because Denholme was built in a huge valley, of which, stretches (moderately) right into the Aire Valley. Denholme is also in the middle of the Pennines commonly known as the "backbone of England"
Denholme has an old Roman Road running through it which can be seen clearly on some maps. Most notable is the Map held in the Denholme Town Council Chambers.
Denholme had a working railway station from January 1st 1884. It closed to passengers on May 23rd 1955 and closed completely on Apil 10th 1961 when sometime after it was demolished. Great Northern Railway Opened the station and owned the lines. Over the years it changed hands and on closing was owned by British Railways (North Eastern Region). At 850 ft above sea level, Denholme was the highest station on the entire GN system. The line was mostly rural and needed the construction of many earthworks, viaducts and tunnels. Its hilly nature earned it the nicknames of "the Alpine route" or "the switchback" from its drivers.
The entire Victorian housing sites of Denholme were built by the Fosters who also built the old Mills of Denholme. The houses were for the workers of the Mills. this was common in Victorian England for wealthy businessmen to build entire towns to house the workers of their mills.
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