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History

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Facts

People

• Flight Lieutenant 'Ginger' Lacey, a Battle of Britain flying ace, was born in Wetherby. Lacey Grove is named after him.
• Hayton Drive is named after schoolboy David John Hayton, who drowned in the River Wharfe while trying to save a friend.
• Actress Jessica Barden is a resident of Wetherby.
• Former Chapeltown resident Manchester City and England footballer Micah Richards was educated in Wetherby at Wetherby High School.
• Middlesbrough F.C. footballer Seb Hines was born and raised on the Hallfields Estate in Wetherby.
• Former goalkeeper Stuart Naylor was born in Wetherby in 1962. He was capped three times for the England B team in the 1980s
• Director of professional cricket at Yorkshire CCC, Martyn Moxon, currently resides in Wetherby.
• Yorkshire Cricketer Charles Midgley was born in Wetherby in 1877.
• Karen Drury, best known for her role as Susannah Morrisey (nee Susannah Farnham) in former Channel 4 soap, Brookside was brought up in the Micklethwaite area of Wetherby
• Former Conservative MP and MEP Robert Sturdy was born in Wetherby. He has never represented Yorkshire constituencies, contending seats in the Tory heartlands of Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire.
• England Cricketer Fred Cooper was born in Wetherby in 1888
• Middlesborough FC under-18 Goalkeeper Samuel Filler is a resident in Wetherby.
• Leeds Rhinos, loose forward, Gareth Ellis, currently lives in Micklethwaite, Wetherby.

World War I

Many Wetherby men served with either the 5th or 9th West Yorkshire Regiments, who had great losses at Flanders. A war memorial designed by E. F. Roslyn was dedicated on April 22, 1922.

Wetherby Bulldogs

Wetherby Bulldogs are the town's rugby league side who play at the Ings with Wetherby Athletic. The Wetherby Bulldogs play in the Pennine League Division Four (out of a possible eight). The club was formed in 1983, originally 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 had worked their way up to Yorkshire League Division One.

Wetherby RUFC

The town's rugby union club play at Grange Park (adjacent to the South Wetherby A1(M)/A661 intersection). They ground share here with the towns cricket and bowls clubs. Although the ground is also situated adjacent to the River Wharfe, unlike the Ings it isn't prone to flooding due to its height above the river. The club relocated here after playing temporarily at Kirk Deighton Rangers AFC's Loshpot Lane ground in 1990. Since then they've built a new clubhouse, car parking and floodlit pitches. The club have plans to develop their Grange Park ground in the future. These plans include the extending of the current clubhouse (which has been planned now in some form for over a decade) and a new stand. adjacent to the first pitch.

Wetherby Golf Club

Wetherby Golf Clubproudly boasts an 18-hole golf course, constructed in two loops of 9-holes, with stunning views of the River Wharfe as it winds its way from Collingham to Wetherby along the Wetherby Ings where, 100 years ago, steeplechase racing was the major sporting activity. In order to meet the requirements of the modern game the course has been recently extended to almost 6,700 yards with five variable tee positions providing a course to suit all ages and golfing abilities. The clubhouse also boasts a snooker room and 100 seat diners lounge.

Professional sports teams

Besides Horse Racing no professional sports are played in Wetherby. However, within a 20 mile radius a whole host of professional sports are played. The nearest professional football team is Leeds United, the nearest professional Rugby League side is Leeds Rhinos and the nearest professional rugby union side are Leeds Carnegie.

Public transport

Bus

The bus station is at the lower end of the Market Place, it was redeveloped in 1995. Since the partial pedestrianisation of the lower end of the Market Place in 2007 the capacity of the bus station has been reduced. The Hallfields Estate, Ainsty Estate and Sandbeck Industrial Estate also have bus services. From Wetherby Bus Station, many services operate, including several National Express services. The 98, X99 and 99 run to Leeds, the 770 runs to Leeds, Boston Spa and Harrogate, the 780 runs to Knaresborough and Tadcaster, while arriva buses run to York, Selby, Wakefield and Garforth and the Utopia bus runs to Otley and Menston. The daily footfall is estimated at 1634.

Rail

see Wetherby Railway Station Local passenger services between Leeds-Wetherby-Harrogate, and Wetherby and Church Fenton were withdrawn on January 6 1964, involving closure of Wetherby railway station, amongst others. Currently the closest mainline station to Wetherby is Leeds City Station. Cross Gates Station, Garforth Station, Harrogate station, Knaresborough station and Cattal station are also close.

Air

The closest Airport to Wetherby is Leeds Bradford International Airport. This is situated in the town of Yeadon. Currently the York Airbus (bus service from York Railway Station to Leeds Bradford International Airport) runs through the town but doesn't stop. Currently to get a bus to the airport you must catch a 98/X98/99 bus into Leeds and then a 757 bus to the airport.

Industry

Wetherby has a large manufacturing presence, both in the town and on the near by Thorp Arch Trading Estate.

Goldenfry

Perhaps the most notable company to emerge from Wetherby is Goldenfry Foods Ltd. Goldenfry started life as a Wetherby fish and chip shop, the company now make many products, the most notable being their own brand gravy. Goldenfry manufacture every UK supermarket own brand gravy.. Goldenfry is situated on Sandbeck Way

Inspirepac

Formerly Safepack and Mondipack, Inspirepack have a large factory in Wetherby producing boxes and packaging on Sanbeck Lane.

Moores Furniture Group Limited

Moores Furniture Group Limited has a large furniture factory on the Thorp Arch Trading Estate. The employee bus picks up many of their employees from various parts of Wetherby and is a common site on the streets of Wetherby.

Farnell

Farnell (also trading as Premier Farnell or Farnell Instruments) opened their first factory in Wetherby in 1956 (made up of former W.D. huts) on Wetherby's York Road Industrial Estate. The company grew so much that by 1963 they required new premesis and moved to a purpose built factory on the town's Sandbeck Industrial Estate. The company specialise in the manufacture and wholesale distribution of Electrical, Electronic and Measurement, Control and Instrumentation equipment. In the 1990s the company left the town and now have their main offices in Armley. The company is one of the largest engineering wholesalers.

Employment

The majority of residents in Wetherby work in Leeds, however many work on the Sandbeck industrial estate, major retailers in the town centre or the Thorp Arch Trading Estate. Particularly big employers in Wetherby are the British Library, Morrisons, Goldenfry Foods and, Moores Furniture and The Forensic Science Service. It is also not uncommon for Wetherby residents to Work in York, Harrogate, Bradford or Wakefield.

Education

There are four primary schools situated in Wetherby and one secondary school. There is a further secondary school serving Wetherby situated in Boston Spa. The local college in Wetherby is Park Lane College. There are larger colleges in the area such as Thomas Danby College, Leeds College of Technology, Leeds College of Building, Wakefield College and Bradford College. Outside of West Yorkshire there's also York College and Harrogate College. The nearest Universities are The University of Leeds and Leeds Metropolitan University. There are also smaller universities in the are such as The University of York, York St John University, The University of Bradford and The University of Huddersfield.

Crime

Crime is generally lower in Wetherby then in most areas of the City of Leeds. In recent years the town centre has had problems with anti social behaviour. To combat this CCTV has been installed, the Horsfair Centre is closed at night and a series of ASBOs have been issued by Leeds City Council. Problems with anti social behaviour has been blamed for driving away shoppers.
   The town has slight problems with shop lifting, burglary, anti social behaviour, vandalism and violence in the town centre on a night after closing time. More serious crimes are on the whole rare.
   Although crime is low in comparison to that across Leeds, it's higher then the national average. Wetherby has above average statistics for theft of motor vehicles, theft from motor vehicles, burglary and violence against the person.
   The town has its own Police Station and is in the Chapeltown Police division. The local police force is the West Yorkshire Police. The towns magistrates court recently closed down.
   Wetherby Town Council released the following statement, following the recent 'epidemic' of anti social behaviour in the town centre. The antisocial behaviour of the few is once again affecting the pleasure of living, working or just visiting Wetherby. There are reports of a group of ‘hoodies’ intimidating people down at the River Wharfe. They are targeting every age range with their obscene language, threatening remarks and general conduct. In addition, I think we've all seen the havoc and devastation to the picnic area which may have been the handiwork of the same group.

Politics

Wetherby is represented by Labour Party MP Colin Burgon. Wetherby is in the Elmet Constituency, a traditional Labour stronghold, taking in towns and areas such as Garforth, Swarcliffe, Kippax, Cross Gates and former mining villages such as Allerton Bywater.

Religion

There are five churches in Wetherby

Bank Street Methodist Church(External Link)

St James Parish Church(External Link)

• The Church on the Corner is a part of St. James Church which meets in the old Cemetery Chapel on Hallfield Lane

Wetherby Community Church of the Salvation Army(External Link) The Wetherby Secular Forum(External Link) is a Wetherby based campaign group of Atheists from the North East Leeds Area.

Media

The town's local Paper is the Wetherby News(External Link).

Tempo FM(External Link) is the local radio station.

Wetherby Film Theatre(External Link) is an independent, traditional single screen cinema situated on Caxton Street. The regional BBC televised news is Look North (Yorkshire), although topographical features between Emley Moor transmitter and the town mean many buildings can only receive Tyne Tees from the Bilsdale transmitter. Regional radio stations include Radio Aire (Leeds), The Pulse of West Yorkshire (Bradford), BBC Radio Leeds, Minster FM (York), Viking FM (Kingston Upon Hull)

Racecourse

Wetherby Racecourse is a medium sized racecourse situated on the B1224 York Road. It is the only racecourse in Yorkshire to solely run jump racing. The course is a left hand oval with easy bends. In 1999 the new millennium stand opened, providing the racecourse with executive facilities - something which it had lacked, making it difficult for the racecourse to compete with other courses in the area (for example York, Pontefract, Ripon and Thirsk). 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 aforementioned Millennium Stand.
   There has been some debate in recent times whether to introduce a flat course. The racecourse was originally located on the King George V playing fields (commonly referred to locally as the Ings or Scaur Bank) on Linton Road. Wetherby is a firm favourite with northern race-goers, who come to enjoy the Wetherby Steeplechases. Total Travel

Housing

In 1914, 100 dwellings in Wetherby were considered unfit for habitation. This and previous reports under the Housing and Town Planning Act 1909 led to the building of many 'villas'. There are many surviving examples of these, such as Park Villas, York Place, Grosvenor Terrace and Sandringham Terrace. Landlords found these hard to let due to exorbitant rents and many remained empty for years. This also led to the demolition of the towns Bishopgate Area. In 1910 the parish council started a programme to install street lighting in the hope of bettering the standard of living and reducing crime. It wasn't until the post war years the large housing estates appeared throughout Wetherby. From the 1940s until the 1980s, many large estates were built from scratch. Both the local corporation and the private sector built many houses to satisfy the huge demend for homes in Wetherby. Most housing in the town is from these years. There is a wide variety of housing types in Wetherby, including waterside penthouses, council flats and maisonettes, large detached houses, small terraces and probably the most common, the three bedroomed twentieth century semi detached home.

Population

According to the 2001 UK Census, the Wetherby ward has a population of 22,000 and the immediate town has a population of 10,562. However since this was taken, the immediate town area has grown considerably. 150 new dwellings were built in one development in Micklethwaite, then a further 20 were added, flats have also appeared at the former Motorworld, La Locanda Restaurant, Deighton Road car garage, Fields Works and the cattle market. Expected Growth
Since the relocation of the A1(M), to the North of Wetherby, several acres of previously cut off land has become part of the town. A smaller piece of land will also become available to the south of Wetherby. Although there are no plans to develop these as yet, high land values and demand for housing may bring about large scale development in the near future.

Public houses

In its hey-day Wetherby had seventeen pubs in its town centre. There are now only twelve pubs and bars in the town centre. A local pub crawl "The Wetherby Eleven" involves consecutively drinking in each one of these establishments. The town's oldest surviving pub The Brunswick closed in 2003 and reopened as Harris' Bar, the Three Legs public house closed in 2007 and became "bar Thr3" (Wetherby's first non smoking pub).
   During the second world war, The Angel public house served German and Italian prisoners of war from the nearby camps. They were the only pub in Wetherby to do so and attracted some controversy in their policy Pubs in Wetherby High Street

The Duke of Devonshire (situated on Westgate, where the Halifax Estate Agency is now situated). Private Members Clubs Wetherby has several private members clubs. The Wetherby Sports Association is based on Lodge Lane, adjacent to the swimming baths and the ings. The facilities there were recently built with National Lottery funding. This serves both the football and Rugby League teams as well as other members of the association. There is also a similar club at Grange Park, serving members of the towns Rugby Union, Cricket and Bowls clubs as well as members of its committee and association. The towns main Working Men's Club, Wetherby and District Social Club is based on the Sandbeck Industrial Estate. This burnt down in a fire in 2002. The fire was initially treated as suspicious by the Police, however investigations were taken no further. The club was rebuilt in its original location. As was the case in Belle Isle the rebuilt club was significantly larger then its predecessor and offered its members far superior facilities.

Events

Wetherby is the starting point for the Great Yorkshire Bike Ride. This is an annual event, held every June. The seventy mile ride starts at Wetherby Racecourse and ending in Filey. The event has raised nearly two million pounds for charity since starting out in 1984 with only 284 riders. In 2007 1,494 riders raised £119,575.
   The Wetherby Festival(External Link) is held in the town, across various venues, annually. Both Leeds City Council and Wetherby Town Council sponsor the event. The Wetherby Festival is on every year it's a festival put on to promote the arts in Wetherby by providing a platform for local groups to perform and to bring in other performers and art forms. Total Travel

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