West Yorkshire
Keighley is 5 miles south-west of Ilkley, 8 miles north-west of Bradford , 8 miles south-south-east of Skipton , 10 miles west-north-west of Halifax and 10 mile east-north-east of
There was later more substantial growth during the industrial revolution where the textile industry was dominant and represented not just by woollen but, more unusually for Yorkshire, cotton manufacture and the town was also a centre for the manufacture of textile machinery.
Today the town has a variety of industries and there is more modern construction in the midst of the town centre's fine buildings, mostly dating from the Victorian era. The town's strong heritage and access to old vehicles has attracted film-makers on many occasions, very frequently to the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, a five-mile heritage railway line to Oakworth, Haworth and Oxenhope, most famously used for the film The Railway Children.
Town features
Keighley is on the River Worth, which joins the River Aire just to the north-east of the town.
The Leeds and Liverpool Canal runs through Riddlesden about 1.5 miles to the north-east of Keighley.
The town has a broad range of traditional independent shops around its streets together with big high street names at its central Airedale Shopping Centre. The centre is very accessible as it adjoins the town's bus station, has an eight-level multi-storey car park and is about 400 metres from the town's station. Keighley has a Market Hall near to the shopping centre with a large selection of traders. The town also has large supermarkets and two out-of-town retail parks just to the north of the town.
Keighley Post Office is in Cooke Lane at The Airedale Centre.
The town has bank and building society branches.
There are several pharmacies in and around Keighley.
Keighley has a good selection of pubs in the town and surrounding villages. With several microbreweries and the Timothy Taylor brewery based in the Keighley area, many offer a high standard of real ales.
The town offers a range of cafes, restaurants, bistros and takeaways with some of its neighbouring villages bringing even wider choice of places to eat.
Keighley Library is a grade II listed building in North Street, built in 1904 and refurbished in 2007. It was the first public library in England to be funded by Scottish-born philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, who made great wealth in the USA through investments and the building of the Carnegie Steel Company in Pittsburgh, USA.More about
Keighley Library 
See below for museums in the Keighley area.
The town's parish church dates from 1848, a medieval church having been demolished some years earlier. It is now Keighley Shared Church, being used for Anglican and Methodist worship.
Places of worship: Anglican, Catholic, Methodist, Baptist, United Reformed, Islamic.
There are several schools in and around Keighley.
Entertainment
Keighley PlayhouseDevonshire Street, Keighley
Keighley Playhouse provides a variety of drama, comedy and thriller productions. The active amateur theatre company was formed back in 1947 as the Keighley Little Theatre. The group now stages several productions each year at Keighley Playhouse.
Website 
Sport
Keighley Cougars play rugby league at Cougar Park, Royd Ings Avenue, Keighley. Keighley Cougars Keighley RUFC play rugby union at Skipton Road, Utley.
Keighley Cricket Club is based in Hardings Road, Keighley and plays in the Bradford Cricket League. Museums
Cliffe Castle Museum
Spring Gardens Lane, Keighley
Originally the home of a Victorian millionaire textile manufacturer and exporter, Cliffe Castle was a showpiece of international art and French decoration. The house was bought in the 1950s by Sir Bracewell Smith, a Keighley-born hotel-owner businessman and Conservative MP, who served as Lord Mayor of London just after World War II and later as chairman of Arsenal Football Club. He saw Cliffe Castle remodelled to create a grand public park for Keighley with the house becoming a free museum. In addition to the splendidly restored Victorian rooms, there are galleries covering the geology and natural history of the Airedale Valley, a collection of stained glass by Morris and Co and a variety of special events. The museum is now run by City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council.
Further information at
Bradford Museums & Galleries - Cliffe Castle Museum Keighley Bus Museum
River Technology Park, Dalton Lane, Keighley
The Keighley Bus Museum Trust was established in 1992, aimed at filling a gap which would be left in preserving buses after the demise of the West Yorkshire Transport Museum and its successor Transperience, which were based at Low Moor, Bradford. The Trust has been active in preserving many old buses including examples from Keighley, Bradford, Huddersfield, Halifax, Leeds and other operators in Yorkshire together with a few examples from Lancashire towns, a London bus and a other municipal vehicles and lorries. The museum holds three major open days each year.
More information at the
Keighley Bus Museum Trust Museum of Rail Travel, Ingrow
Ingrow station yard
This is one of two museums at the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway's Ingrow West station, the first stop out of Keighley and just over a mile south of the town centre. The Museum of Rail Travel is operated by the Vintage Carriages Trust and opens daily to show its collection of historic railway rolling stock and memorabilia.
More information at the
Vintage Carriages Trust Ingrow Loco Museum
Ingrow station yard
The Ingrow Loco Museum and Workshop is run by the Bahamas Locomotive Society in the former Midland Railway goods warehouse at Ingrow West station of the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway. The museum has items of railway interest, two steam locomotves and a gallery to view the workshop.
Further details at the
Ingrow Loco Museum Places to visit
East Riddlesden Hall
The attractive 17th century home of a cloth merchant includes an array of needlework from the era. The house is set in colourful and peaceful gardens with an outdoor discovery garden and children's play area. The property, around 1.5 miles to the north-east of Keighley , has a car park, accessed through its narrow entrance. The property is managed by The National Trust.
Find out more at the
National Trust - East Riddlesden Hall Locate on map:
East Riddlesden Hall 
Keighley and Worth Valley Railway
Keighley Station and stations along the Worth Valley
The earliest of Yorkshire's Find out more at the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway website.
Keighley and Worth Valley Railway Haworth
Haworth, around 4 miles south of Keighley , is an attractive village popular with tourists. It was the one-time home of the literary Brontë sisters, their home having now become the Bronte Parsonage Museum. The village has attractive shops and cafes on its steep cobbled Main Street. Haworth also has a station on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway from which there is an uphill walk through Central Park to the village centre. The village can also be reached by bus from Keighley or Hebden Bridge. More on our page on Haworth .
Saltaire
Near ShipleyAbout 4 miles north-north-west of Bradford, Saltaire village on the River Aire is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The huge Salt's Mill, a former textile mill, is at the centre of a late 19th century village of stone houses which were built for the mill workers by architects employed by mill owner Sir Titus Salt. More information on our page about Saltaire .
Travel
Keighley
Keighley is a stop for Northern services linking Bradford Forster Square or Leeds with Skipton . Some trains continue beyond Skipton on to the Settle to Carlisle line through the
Station is managed by Northern. Operators: Northern and Keighley and Worth Valley Railway.
Northern - Keighley Keighley bus station
Regular buses operate from Keighley bus station in the centre of the town to most surrounding towns and also to local villages. Among services are buses to Harrogate via Ilkley and Otley, to Skipton ,
Road travel
The main Aire Valley trunk road runs around the north of the town centre, with the Keighley usually has plenty of parking space available and has a large multi-storey car park in the centre of the town.
Emergency services
West Yorkshire Police West Yorkshire Police West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service
West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust
Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust 
Local government
Town council
Keighley Town CouncilKeighley Town Council was formed in 2002, restoring a local tier of government lost in the town's absorption into the City of Bradford metropolitan district in 1974. The town council is based at the Civic Centre in North Street and has 30 councillors representing 15 wards. The council elects a town mayor and deputy mayor. The council's role involves running allotments and maintaining some gardens, providing grit bins and grants to voluntary organisations, running the Civic Centre, civic events and publicising and representing the interests of the town.
Link to
Keighley Town Council Metropolitan district council
The City of Bradford authority covers an area extending many miles beyond the city itself, including areas of moorland of The Pennines and Ilkley Moor, parts of Wharfedale and Airedale and the Worth Valley.
The area includes many separate small towns and villages, among them Addingham , Baildon , Bingley ,
Councillors are elected across 30 wards with three councillors per ward.
One councillor per ward is elected for a four-year term on each of three years out of four.
Link to City of Bradford MDC website.
City of Bradford MDC Political composition after May 2026 election:
90 members
Political composition after May 2024 election:
90 members
See our Yorkshire.guide Gazetteer for more about the 
Bradford metropolitan district and places within it.County strategic authority
West Yorkshire Combined AuthorityCovers some combined services of the five metropolitan district councils of
Bradford , 
Calderdale , 
Leeds , 
Kirklees and 
Wakefield — which were at one time provided by a West Yorkshire metropolitan county council, with the addition of the non-contiguous unitary authority area of the City of 
York council as well as the unelected Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership. Since 2021 it has operated with an elected mayor as chairman and decision-maker for some responsibilities. These include transport, housing and planning and finance powers. The responsibilities also include those of Police and Crime Commissioner, a role substantially delegated to an appointee deputy mayor. Elected mayor:
West Yorkshire Combined Authority Police and Crime Commissioner
The Police and Crime Commissioner for West YorkshireThis role has become one of the many responsibilities of the West Yorkshire elected mayor since May 2021.
West Yorkshire Combined Authority Fire Authority
West Yorkshire Fire AuthorityThe fire authority is made up of elected members of each of the five metropolitan district councils of West Yorkshire - Bradford, Calderdale, Leeds, Kirklees and Wakefield.
West Yorkshire Fire Authority Parliamentary constituency
Keighley and IlkleyElected MP:
National government region
Yorkshire and the HumberCeremonial county
West YorkshireHistoric
1882-1974 Municipal borough (within the West Riding of Yorkshire).1974-present within the City of Bradford metropolitan district of West Yorkshire.
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