This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations .(November 2008) |
Micklefield | |
---|---|
Location within West Yorkshire | |
Population | 1,893 (2011) |
Metropolitan borough | |
Metropolitan county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | Leeds |
Postcode district | LS25 |
Dialling code | 0113 |
Police | West Yorkshire |
Fire | West Yorkshire |
Ambulance | Yorkshire |
UK Parliament | |
Micklefield is a village and civil parish in the City of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. It neighbours Garforth, Aberford and Brotherton and is close to the A1(M) motorway. The population as of the 2011 Census was 1,893, [1] increased from 1,852 in 2001. [2]
The village is typical of Yorkshire's former coal mining communities with its mix of local authority and private houses. It has undergone a rapid expansion in recent years with former commercial premises being demolished to make way for new private housing. The police house, fire station, community centre and local miner's welfare club have closed leaving the village with one public house, the Blands Arms, and two local convenience stores, in addition to land known locally as the "Mickie Rec" (recreation ground) which contains a football pitch, cricket pitch and two bowling greens. The "Rec" was owned and operated by the Coal Board before the closure of the local pit in 1980.
The 1½ mile, £460,000, Micklefield Bypass opened in 1960. It was replaced by the A1(M) in 2005. Nearby, to the west, is the A656 Roman Ridge Road.
Micklefield railway station is approximately midway between Leeds to the west and York/Selby to the east. In June 2006 it won the award for "best kept railway station" in all Yorkshire, after making huge strides in the refurbishment of the station. In April 2017 work was undertaken in Micklefield to realign the track as part of the Transpennine route upgrade, and the position of the Leeds bound platform was altered. [3]
There are proposals for a new station called East Leeds Parkway. This would have a park and ride scheme with space for 500 cars. This station would be sited close to Micklefield but the scheme was put on hold due to a lack of central government funding.
Through the 1970s and 1980s Micklefield had a sometimes poor reputation locally as a result of crime on the Garden Village local authority housing estate and the policies then occupied by Leeds City Council.
Micklefield was briefly mentioned on the BBC 3 series "Ladhood" alongside neighbouring Garforth, the primary setting for the show.
Micklefield is a village of two halves. One road – the Great North Road or "the old A1" – links the two with a distinctive S bend surrounded fields giving a fair indication of when moving from one half to the other.
The southern part is known as "new Micklefield". It contains the railway station, landfill site, industrial park and allotments. Housing consists mainly of late 19th century/early 20th century terraced cottages built for miners, some larger pre-war semi-detached houses, and the Garden Village housing estate. In recent years, new flats have been built next to Pit Lane. The old fire station is used as a community centre. Nearby is a sandwich bar, and a small independent shop.
The northerly part of the village (Old Micklefield) has fewer visible ties to the village's industrial past, and contains most of the village amenities, including the church, school, pub, farm shop, general stores (formerly the post office) and Doctors surgery. The parish church is dedicated to St Mary the Virgin. The Churchville housing estate consists of 1950s brick semi-detached houses, retirement bungalows and terraces, and is bordered by large detached houses, character properties and modern town houses.
In recent years Old Micklefield has seen new developments of additional higher end detached/semi-detached properties, including the Grange Farm Development on Great North Road, and a further 12 properties called 'Manor Chase', situated opposite the village school. In spring 2019, work began on a larger expansion to the village, which will eventually infill the land between the existing Great North Road and adjacent motorway. It will also tie together the two parts of the village, taking up much of the green space in-between the two. The developers involved are Strata, Barratt Homes (developing Drovers Court) and Persimmon. The Strata development is advertised as being made up of 4–5 bedroom homes. Local concern centres around how the villages amenities will cope with the expansion, as little is currently planned in terms of improvements.
The area had been a site of coal mining since the 13th century. In 1835 and 1836, Micklefield Colliery was sunk. A second colliery, Peckfield, was sunk between 1872 and 1875, producing high volatile bituminous coal in the Westphalian Coal Measures.. Peckfield was still open at the time of nationalisation. After the financial year 1965–66, plans began to close the colliery, which was nearing exhaustion. Owing to the being one of the nearest collieries to the new Selby Coalfield, the Peckfield workforce was amongst the first to have the offer of relocation to Selby on the pit's closure in 1980. The Peckfield site remained open for the washing of coal from nearby Ledston Luck Colliery until the end of the 1982–83 financial year. The site is now a landfill. [4]
In first half of the 20th century, two seams of coal were worked. The first was the Beeston seam at 170–180 yards depth; the second was a deeper Blackbed seam at 210–220 yards.
Up to the 1980s the pit was served by a 2' 6" gauge rail link which transported coal from Ledston Luck Mine to the south, from where the coal could be shipped via the mainline rail.
The pit came into operation in the 1870s and was the location of an enormous explosion on 30 April 1896, in which 63 of the 300 workers (men and boys) died. Twenty died from the explosion, the rest from afterdamp. Only four of the 23 pit ponies survived the disaster. Ninety children were rendered fatherless in the disaster, and plaques in the village school, church and pub are dedicated to their loss.
Micklefield AFC are an amateur football team. They play their home fixtures in the village recreation ground. The pitch consists of 1 small covered terraced stand and a metal barrier runs round the perimeter to prevent encroachment.
Micklefield AFC was established in 1953, although it wasn't until the late 1960s that it rose to prominence. The club enjoyed great success throughout the 1970s and 80s, winning several amateur leagues and cups. The 1990s saw the retirement of many key players and subsequently the club's form on the pitch deteriorated. In 2002 the club reached its first final since the 1970s and 1980s only to lose in injury time. In 2004 the club folded due to a lack of players. The club was revived in 2007.[ citation needed ]
There is a cricket pitch in the rec. Micklefield do not have a team but the pitch is occasionally used by Kippax Welfare and Aberford.
The recreation ground contains a skate park, built in 2009.
In late 2016, fundraising was undertaken in conjunction with a local supermarket to raise funds for a multi use games area. In July 2017 construction began on the surface which is situated in the recreation ground, on the disused site of the former village bowling green.
Since records began Micklefield has been noted to have three primary schools, with one of them tragically burning down at the bottom end of the village, in the early 1980s. During the period when Micklefield had no school, students attended primary schools in Sherburn-in-Elmet and Garforth Barley Hill Road school for a short period. [5] During this period the current school was built. It is situated in the middle of the village. Micklefield CofE Primary School was rebuilt using portacabins on the site of the old school which had burnt down until 1987 when it was relocated to the middle of the village besides the local public house,the Bland's Arms.
Proposals brought by Banks Renewables Ltd to build a wind farm on Hook Moor, to the east (and slightly north) of the village but separated from it by the A1(M) motorway section, provoked strong emotions and divisions within the community. Village opinion was polarized along north/south lines, with some Old Micklefield residents accusing New Micklefielders who support the plans, of "Schadenfreude". To which, the standard reply was, if the plans were situated in New Micklefield, nobody would be against the proposals at all.
Banks submitted a planning application in 2008, which was refused by Leeds City Council in 2009, and an appeal by Banks in 2010 was rejected. Banks then sought a judicial review, and the High Court found that the criteria on which the wind farm had been rejected were invalid. A second planning application in 2011 was approved. [6] [7]
Construction of the wind farm began in 2015, and came online the following year with a total of 5 turbines with electricity production capacity of 10 MW.[ citation needed ]
Rothwell is a town in the south-east of the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. It is situated between Leeds and Wakefield.
Ledsham is a village and civil parish 4 miles (6 km) north of Castleford and 11 miles (18 km) east of Leeds in the county of West Yorkshire, England. The village is in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough and near to the A1(M) motorway. It had a population of 162 at the 2001 Census, increasing to 181 at the 2011 Census.
Ledston is a village in the Leeds metropolitan borough, in the county of West Yorkshire, England. It is 3 miles (5 km) north of Castleford and 10 miles (16 km) east of Leeds. The parish had a population of 400 in 2001, which decreased slightly to 394 at the 2011 Census.
Askern is a town and civil parish within the City of Doncaster, in South Yorkshire, England. It is on the A19 road between Doncaster and Selby. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it had a population of 5,570 at the 2011 Census. Askern was also known in for its Greyhound Stadium, which closed in 2022.
Woolley Colliery is a village in Wakefield district in West Yorkshire, England. The village is near the border with South Yorkshire. The former colliery was in the Wakefield Rural Ward in West Yorkshire. The village is known locally as Mucky Woolley, as a tribute to its coalmining heritage and to distinguish it from the more affluent village of Woolley two miles away.
Middleton is a largely residential suburb of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England and historically a village in the West Riding of Yorkshire. It is situated on a hill 4 miles (6 km) south of Leeds city centre and 165 miles (266 km) north north-west of London.
Rossington is a civil parish and former mining village in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England and is surrounded by countryside and the market towns of Bawtry and Tickhill.
Normanton is a town and civil parish in the City of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England. It is north-east of Wakefield and south-west of Castleford. The civil parish extends west and north to the River Calder, and includes the large village of Altofts. At the time of the 2011 Census, the population of the civil parish was 20,872.
High Shincliffe is a village in County Durham, England. It is situated about two miles south-east of Durham City, on the A177 road to Stockton-on-Tees. The altitude of High Shincliffe is approximately 90 metres (300 ft), and it lies 55 metres (180 ft) above the River Wear at Shincliffe bridge. Latest population figures are available from the 2011 Census.
Aberford is a village and civil parish on the eastern outskirts of the City of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 1,059 at the 2001 census, increasing to 1,180 at the 2011 Census. It is situated 10 miles (15.5 km) east, north east of Leeds and west of the A1(M) motorway.
Cross Gates is a suburb in east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.
Kippax is a town and civil parish in the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is situated to the east of the city, near to Garforth and Great Preston.
Allerton Bywater is a semi-rural village and civil parish in the south-east of the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 4,717. The village itself is 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Castleford, with neighbouring villages Kippax and Great Preston all providing local amenities. St Aidan's Nature reserve borders the village attracting many visitors with its beauty and charm. Additionally "The Lines Way" bridle path which runs from Garforth through to Allerton following the old train track provides a pleasant route for walkers, joggers and cyclists alike. The River Aire flows through the village to the south-west.
Tadcaster Rural District was a rural district in the West Riding of Yorkshire from 1894 to 1974. It was named after Tadcaster.
Outwood is a district to the north of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England. The district is centred on the A61 Leeds Road south of Lofthouse. It grew up as a pit village and was only a small settlement until the 1970s, when construction of new houses caused it to grow and merge with neighbouring settlements such as Wrenthorpe and Stanley. In 2001, it had a population of 7,623.
Woodlesford is a suburban village in the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, 6 miles (10 km) south-east of Leeds city centre. Formerly part of the Rothwell Urban District, it is now within the Rothwell ward of Leeds City Council. The village sits on the banks of the Aire and Calder Navigation and river system.
Ashington is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, with a population of 27,864 at the 2011 Census. It was once a centre of the coal mining industry. The town is 15 miles (24 km) north of Newcastle upon Tyne, west of the A189 and bordered to the south by the River Wansbeck. Many inhabitants have a distinctive accent and dialect known as Pitmatic. This varies from the regional dialect known as Geordie.
Brown Moor is an area in the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England, east of Austhorpe and north of Colton. The M1 motorway and the A63 road pass it on its eastern flank and the A6120 road in the south. The area is named after a nearby hill. A colliery operated here in the 19th century and was accessed by a spur off the Leeds and Selby Railway, but was already disused in the early 20th century. At that time, some cottages had been erected nearby. Those had been sold by 2002 when Thorpe Park was established in the area.
The Peckfield pit disaster was a mining accident at the Peckfield Colliery in Micklefield, West Yorkshire, England, which occurred on Thursday 30 April 1896, killing 63 men and boys out of 105 who were in the pit, plus 19 out of 23 pit ponies.
Parlington is a civil parish that includes part of Aberford, in the City of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 the parish had a population of 87. The parish touches Aberford, Barwick in Elmet and Scholes, Lotherton cum Aberford, Micklefield and Sturton Grange. Aberford & District Parish Council includes Parlington along with Aberford, Lotherton cum Aberford and Sturton Grange. There are plans to build a garden village in Parlington.