Dew Stones Trail #1: Keighley Overview
The cache, a small camo-taped screw-capped plastic pot, is hidden adjacent to a single car parking spot at the trail-head for this short trail which leads to one of the seven the wonderfully carved Stanza Stones - the Dew Stones. See the final cache along the trail GC88QG DST #4: The Dew Stones for details of these stones.
From the cache location and along the trail there are panoramic views to the south down into and along the Aire Valley, and directly south, of Keighley.
This is a small town and civil parish within the City of Bradford located at the confluence of the Aire and Worth rivers.
It used to be in the West Riding of Yorkshire and is located between Airedale and Keighley Moors. It is the terminus of the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway (KWVR), a old steam branch line which has been restored and runs through the Worth Valley to Oxenhope via Oakworth and Haworth. It has a population of 56,348 (2011 census).
Its name has gone through many spelling changes throughout its history and means 'Cyhha's farm or clearing'. It was mentioned in the Domesday Book.
Its industries have typically been in textiles, particularly wool and cotton processing. Also there were several large factories making textile machinery.
Like many other British towns and cities, it was extensively remodelled in the 1960s and lost many historic buildings. However, the town managed to retain some of its heritage and has many fine Victorian buildings. The local millstone grit gives many of the buildings a distinctive look.
A few QI Keighley facts:
- It was first town in the world to have a recorded twinning agreement - with Poix-du-Nord, France in 1920
- The town was mentioned in the John Cooper Clarke poem, 'Burnley' . . . 'I'll tell you now and I'll tell you briefly, I don't ever want to go to Keighley.'
- In 2003, The Idler magazine ran an online poll on the 50 worst places to live in Britain. The results were published in the book Crap Towns: The 50 Worst Places to Live in the UK. Keighley came in at #40 (so not too bad then!). Hull was #1 (see here). Luton 'won' in 2004, London in 2013 and Peterborough in 2019
Some notable residents: the Bronte sisters (from 1816), Alastair Campbell (Labour spin-doctor 1957-), Kiki Dee (pop singer 1947-), Denis Healey (senior Labour politician 1917-2015), Paul Hudson (BBC weatherman 1971-), Mollie Sugden (TV actress 1922-2009), Ricky Wilson (musician with the Kaiser Chiefs 1978-)- In film: Blow Dry(set in Keighley), the KWVR railway has featured in several films including The Railway Children, Yanks, TV series Last of the Summer Wine, and the Pink Floyd musical The Wall
- The Airedale Shopping Centre houses the 3.7m tall statue of the giant Rombald holding a boulder above his head (after whom Rombald's Moor to the north of the town was named)
- Keighley's Picture House, a cinema on North Street which opened
in 1913 is one of the oldest in Britain
- The town's central library was the first Carnegie library in England opened in 1904 with a grant of £10,000 from Andrew Carnegie
See here for more fascinating info on the town including its history, geography, religion & architecture and here for a good blog page with info and interesting facts.